Best MP3 / Video player?

[tmiranda]

Well, my 9 year old daughter just uttered the words I was dreading to hear: "Daddy, can I get an iPod?" OK, it could have been a lot worse

I'm not too willing to pay the "iPremium" so am looking for an iPod alternative for MP3s and video that integrates nicely with Sage. Suggestions?

I've been browsing over at http://www.anythingbutipod.com but there is a lot of material to wade through. When it comes to iAnything I know little to nothing. I do not want to spend a lot of money, I just want something that works fairly well.

If anybody can share any experience with different players I'd appreciate it.

Tom

[stuckless]

The 2 alternatives that I would suggest are...

1. the ipod clones (just google for it, you'll find 100s). These usually look like an ipod, but they are NOT an ipod. They are not compatible devices. Usually they'll have a much smaller screen size in pixes, but they will usually play all your music and videos. Some of them may not even require that you transcode them.

2. Sansa c200, e200 and e200R series (not the v2 models). These are small and cheap. you can pick these up for about $35. The nice thing about these devices is that they are expandable using a micro sd card. The next great thing is that you can then replace the firmware with Rockbox. Rockboxe firmwar will play mpeg1 video on these devices and pretty much any music file.

[planetc]

I got my daughter a PSP for xmas. It does the mp3s and videos from sage can be converted for it. I have 'borrowed' it to watch CSI during quiet spells whilst out on the road working. It's a fairly universal device and with some effort and custom firmware I understand it will accept streamed content wirelessly too. With this solution we also get the option to play PSP games which has kept her busy for hours.

[tmiranda]

Thanks for the advice. After reading up on a few things I purchased a factory refurbed Sansa e250 for $29.99. I think this will do what I need and the price is hard to beat.

[tmiranda]

The Sansa e250 arrived a few days ago and it is exactly what I was looking for. Very capable (especially for a 9 year old), intuitive to use, and relatively cheap.

Converting recorded TV shows to a format playable by the unit is problematic, mostly because the media converter that comes with the Sansa is a POS.