Best MP3 Player on the market right now?

[otnemem]

I used to love the iPod, but for a few reasons I decided to branch out and look at other players. The first reason is because the sound sucks, and when you listen to the quality of a few other players, this becomes evident pretty quickly. For a while, I had an iAudio X5. The interface is sort of [censored], and the screen is a little smaller (if you're into watching TV and movies, too), but the sound is astoundingly better. You just have so much more control over the settings. It works on Macs and PCs, but in the Mac mode it functions as an external hard drive. There's no synching software of anything - you have to build your own file structure and whatnot. This is good or bad, depending on how much control you prefer. I enjoyed it. You can get two versions of the X5. One comes with an extended, 30-hour battery. That's what I had, and it was [censored] awesome. I'd have to recharge like once every two weeks. It also has an FM Tuner, line-in, built-in microphone, and a bunch of other stuff. You chould check it out. Note: This is not a "pretty" mp3 player. It's pretty lunky and heavy, especially with the extended battery.

Now I have a 30 gig Creative Zen Vision. Sound quality is probably on par with iPod, but it does have an adjustable EQ and a few more options. It also has FM radio, built-in mic, and line-in. It isn't mac-compatible at all, which is the only reason I'd prefer an iPod right now. Besides that, I enjoy it a lot. It has a touch sensitive scroll bar, many cool shortcuts and functions that the iPod hasn't picked up on or doesn't do well. I would recommend this one, if you're a PC person. You can probably find it in most stores, unlike the iAudio X5 above.

The iPod certainly isn't the best mp3 player on the market. There are a lot of players that are good for different reasons, and the iPod is not good for many reasons. What I can't stand about the iPod are its restrictions, and I hate Steve Jobs for protecting purchased music, so as a long time Mac-user, looking elsewhere is sort of my silent protest...