iPod Alternatives?

[Hitman079]

Good evening, fellow CCers.
I have recently lost my iPod nano (2nd generation), and I was wondering if anyone has seen it...it's lime green and 4 GB...Just kidding. I've given up looking for it.
Well, I'm looking for another mp3. But this time, I'm not jumping on the iPod bandwagon. I've already owned the iPod Shuffle and Nano, and although they were enough for my needs, I still craved more.
Okay, so does anyone know any good mp3 players out there? I'm looking for a flash-drive based player around $200. Video playback is a not a must, but it'd be a really nice plus. A FM tuner and a voice recorder are not essential, but they'd also be a nice plus. Also, it should be somewhat durable and have decent battery life (12 hours or more). I've been looking around and the iRiver Clix and Sony Walkman NWZ-S718 both look promising. Is one of these the right choice, or something different altogether?
I'm just looking for something around 4GB.

[2dimes]

www.creative.com

That's some pretty good stuff there, check it against your other choices for sure.

[static_ice]

http://www.creative.com

That's some pretty good stuff there, check it against your other choices for sure.

Seconded.

[Pedronicus]

I wish my girlfriend would lose her ipod. Normally her singing voice is okay, but as soon as shes got her headphones on and she can't hear her own voice - she sounds like a strangled cat.

[Hitman079]

Need more suggestions....gah!!!

[Ronaldinho]

Microsoft Zune is the fucking bizzz google it

[Hitman079]

Microsoft Zune is the fucking bizzz google it

Looking for a flash-drive based player.

[Hitman079]

Okay, well, I've narrowed it down to the iRiver Clix and the Creative Zen. Which one?!

[Ray Rider]

The Creative Zen, definitely. That's what I'll be buying pretty soon

[AlgyTaylor]

iRiver's are the shizzle. Got one myself, they're EL FANTASTICO!

[Anarkistsdream]

Just don't expect any tech support from Creative... I worked at their call center for 2 years before moving up to Tester... The support sucks.

[The1exile]

I've heard the Zen is good, but I think it's crap frankly.

[Ray Rider]

Just don't expect any tech support from Creative... I worked at their call center for 2 years before moving up to Tester... The support sucks.

Seriously?

Hey Hitman, did you check out any of the Cowons? I think they're pretty good also.

[Ditocoaf]

Get the iRiver Clix. I want one of those, and I'd get it if I didn't already have an iPod nano... Creative is awesome, but the Clix is just... perfect. In my opinion, anyway.

[Hitman079]

Just don't expect any tech support from Creative... I worked at their call center for 2 years before moving up to Tester... The support sucks.

Seriously?

Hey Hitman, did you check out any of the Cowons? I think they're pretty good also.

Haven't really seen much about them. All I've heard is that their FM tuner sucked, but I'll check them out right now.

[sfhbballnut]

I've got a Sansa and its pretty sweet, if you're just looking for a music player, it can do pics as well, but i don't really care about that, you might check it out, I'll vouch for its durability amoung other things

[Hitman079]

Well, so far I'm leaning towards the iRiver for the little things: it has flash games and can view text files. The Zen takes 10 seconds to boot up, according to some reviewers.

[static_ice]

Wow 10 seconds? My mp3 takes about 5 and that feels like too much.

I would get the Clix myself if it had a version with atleast 15 GB.

[Hitman079]

Then the Clix seems to be winning this battle.

[Hitman079]

One more question before I finally decide...
how exactly do you control the Clix? I saw that you press arrow buttons on four sides of the screen, but I don't actually see any physical buttons. How would you play/pause a song or skip and repeat them? Are these buttons touchscreen, or what?