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[Xvareon]

I'm in the market for a straight-up MP3 player, because I'm tired of bulky tablet computers and complicated, expensive smartphones. I want a dedicated, reliable, and hopefully not too expensive MP3/MP4 player that I can take with me on the go and immediately queue up whatever music I want at the touch of a button. Since I've never owned one before and I don't know anyone who does, though, I'm hoping one of you can tell me what would be a decent model to look for. It should have all or most of the following items:

• A way to connect it to my computer easily so I can upload songs/video to it (I know this is probably a given, but meh)
• An intuitive control interface; I want something that's easy to use that will let me store, access, and queue up songs without hassle
• Decently priced - $20/30 range, though I may be willing to go to $35/40
• At least 2 gigabytes of storage space
• Would fit in pocket comfortably
• Decent enough battery life to last most of a day, at least
• Durable and reliable; will not fail or break easily
• Preferably black-and-silver colored
• Regular headphone jack (again, probably a given, but meh)

I'm not looking for one of those 'mini' ones, by the way; I want a decent-sized one with a screen. Thanks!

[alexandertnt]

How big is "decent-sized"?
How much space do you think you may need?

perhaps something like this?. Its a major brand, but stretches the budget a bit at $50 (though you might be able to find it cheaper online). The screen is tiny at 1.1" though.

If you want to get a bit risky, there are also some of the generic-chinese players, which you can get for $10-$40. Something like this, this or this perhaps? (that website has a whole bunch of others too). The build quality and intuitiveness can be a crapshoot though.

(Note: I haven't used any of the above, they are what I found from a quick search).

You could also have a look at second hand ones on eBay, something like an older-gen iPod (mini or 1/2 gen Nano perhaps), or a Creative Zen.

[Mephisto]

I had pretty good luck with a ~$20 Philips device I purchased several (5+) years ago. Good quality, fantastic navigation, could play video (though in something probably less than 480p), 8+ gigs of space. I can only imagine that they've improved since then, but I just listen to music on my phone now. My only issue with it is that I had a job mowing for a state park at the time. It didn't handle interference from the mower wellat all. I did accidentally mow over it once. Aside from water marks in the LCD and a fractured cover (easily "fixed" with duct tape), it came out still serviceable.

I also had a Creative Zen V a few years before that. It broke the bank for me at the time, however, weighing in at ~$100. It did not have the interference problem my Philips device had. I'm pretty sure the person I gave it to is using it to this day. It felt quite solid in construction.

[Xvareon]

Sorry, I forgot about the memory of the device. Yeah, I'd say about 2 to 8 gigs would do well for me -- it doesn't have to be too much, since I should be able to pick and choose what content I put on the device, and I don't really have that much of a repertoire to listen to. 2 gigabytes of space would probably be plenty, though the more the better, since videos can take up a lot of space (but I mostly plan to put music on there, anyway). The more the better, of course, but I'm looking to go as inexpensive as possible at 2 gigs or thereabouts.

'Decent-sized' would be small enough to fit in my pocket and in my hand comfortably, yet large enough to have plenty of buttons, about 1.3 to 2 inches of screen at the least, and peripheral slots to hook up headphones and to my computer. I'm not so good with exact measurements, since I've never really owned one of these before. I don't want one that's too small, like those little 'mini' MP3 players I sometimes see.

[Sappho]

I can't help with a dedicated MP3 player, but if you don't find a good one, I bought my phone specifically for music-listening capabilities. It is NOT a smartphone (I hate those things). It's small, lightweight, has a headphone jack, and for just a few dollars more I got a MicroSD memory card that stores 8 GB of data. It's also a really good, reliable phone. The battery lasts for a week or so if you use it for music for a few hours a day. It does play video, but the screen is small and it must be .3gp format. I have the home screen customized to give me access to music with one click, and I've dropped it many times without any adverse effects. I've had it over a year with no complaints at all.

I know it's not exactly what you're looking for, but it's an option, and it offers most of what you want. It runs around $80 new, which I know is a lot more than you want to spend, but if you decide to replace your phone with this and combine it as a music player, it's a really good price. You could also find a used one for cheaper. This particular model is more popular in Europe, but if you look at the lower-end Nokia phones in your area you can probably find a cheaper one with the same features.

Nokia 113

[Aklyon]

I had a Sansa Fuze+ before, it worked well enough for a plain mp3/video player. Don't remember the amount of space it had though.

[alexandertnt]

Ah, you wanted to watch video's too, I missed that part. Most of the video players around that price play the awful AMV format at awful resolutions with awful screens.

this seems to play many more normal formats, and is more likely to work without video conversion necessary, but is largeish at 4.3"

The phone recommendation is a pretty good idea if you also want a phone, but the video quality will be quite bad.

Where I live there are these phone recycling bins at some stores. If you find something like that you may be able to ask the store if you can just take a phone from there. (Thats where I got my last phone (Samsung Galaxy S1) from. It would be hard to argue against a "complicated smartphone" for $0 )

[Xvareon]

Actually, screw the video, honestly. The video is just a bonus extra. What I really want the MP3 player for is straight-up music. If it can play video too, great, but I've got a tablet for that already. I just want something simple, easy to use, lightweight and expensive that can play music whenever I want it, without having to wrestle with a ton of apps or a complicated interface.

[aristabulus]

Actually, screw the video, honestly. The video is just a bonus extra. What I really want the MP3 player for is straight-up music. If it can play video too, great, but I've got a tablet for that already. I just want something simple, easy to use, lightweight and expensive that can play music whenever I want it, without having to wrestle with a ton of apps or a complicated interface.

Then something in the Sanza Clip family is probably your best bet.  The music player market has shrunk a lot, with most people getting that functionality from their smartphones now.  Sanza is the only not-iPod thing out there that seems to be doing alright at it still...  and I wouldn't be surprised if it's low margin for SanDisk; probably staying alive as someone's pet project.

[Xvareon]

Hmm... Sanza Clip doesn't look too bad, actually. That's probably what I'll go with; there's some decent-priced ones on YouTube right now. Thanks! 

[SquatchHammer]

Could we turn this into a bigger thread since I am looking for a similar device since I have a Zune 120 GB MP3 player and I am getting worried when will it finally call it quits. I would like around 30 + GB of storage because I like to put mostly music on it. I do want the option of having video and picture storage on it too. I wish Samsung didnt discontinue their MP3 player a year or two ago or else I might look into buying one. Also NO APPLE PRODUCTS!!

[alexandertnt]

Did you have a price range?

[SquatchHammer]

Anything right now will be fine. I'll save up to the price if need be.