iriver question (+ other mp3 players)

Mutant_Fruit

Basically, my MP3 player is broken. After 3 long years, the harddrive has kicked the bucket, and it just clicks as if it was trying to start spinning, but cant quite make it.

So, my options are either A) A new one or get it repaired.

How expensive would it be to get my origional Creative Zen Jukebox 20gig (firewire and USB1) repaired? Would it be worth my while?

Secondly, i have a limited amount of cash available for a new player. I might be able to mooch some off the parents for a "christmas present". So, what are the recommendations.

I was thinking about the new iRiver models, but theres one thing that really annoys me about the ihp120 or whatever its called. You can't make playlists in them. Has this been fixed in the newer versions? I.e. can i load up a radiohead album, then a sigur ros album + several others, then stick em in random and listen? Or can i only choose one album, and then when i'm done with that, do i have to go choose a new album, etc.

carrotcake

unfortunately the iriver ihp-100 series has been discontinued (much to my dismay, as i was gonna buy a 140 yesterday!), replaced by the h300 series. i'm not sure about features since the price was enough to turn me off

jessy

I afraid Repair is not an option it sounds like the harddrive is gone.

if your looking for a new mp3 player then the new "U2 ipod" is so sweet.

Venom

Repair is not really an option as like walkmans, once a mp3 player breaks you are really ment to just replace them. iRiver while offering good equipment overall have a nasty habit of ignoring the wishes of there customers. My cousin got a h120 a few months ago and the software that comes with it is a total joke and consisted of nothing more than a windows driver.

Check the various review sites to get a good breakdown on a new mp3 player. Gonna be very upset when I need to replace my Zen 2.0 USB. Any one who even consider's the U2 iPod to be good needs to get their eyes examined as its one of the most ugly designs out there and nothing more than a badly painted basic ipod.

matrim

I got the iriver h120 a couple of weeks ago. For playlist it supports winamp playlists. But you cannot create without connecting to a computer.

As for software it doesn't come with anything but there are so many different encoders out there you don't really need any (especially if you have the creative playcenter because I have this and find it good), and because it's plug and play you can use it anywhere unlike the creative or ipod.

tribble

Venom wrote:

Repair is not really an option as like walkmans, once a mp3 player breaks you are really ment to just replace them.

There are HUNDREDs of sites on the net detailing how to go about upgrading the hard drives in MP3 players.
If you are short on cash then buy a 60 or an 80 gig 2.5inch drive, upgrade the firmware of the MP3 player with a (freely available) hacked version and listen away...