Drag and Drop Mp3 Player

Jesse1984

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has come across an mp3 player that has:
-drag and drop file support for windows explorer.
-ipod like (but not an ipod) id3 v1&2 metadata processing (eg. browse: artist->album->songs | genre->artist->album->songs | plays tracks in track number order (according to metadata).
-Shuffle that can be used to shuffle a genre or album not just a global shuffle that shuffles all songs on device.
-8gb minimum capacity (hdd or flash)
-manual firmware updating (if available)
-rechargeable lithium / polymer battery

I dont care about flashy looks, video, niche extra's etc. just a solid player that i can sort my own playlists, albums & random tracks within windows explorer.
Am i asking way to much!? -i thought such a device would be easy to find. I have looked at all the usual suspects- Iriver, ipod, zune, etc. they all have proprietry software that sucks. I know there are a handful of 1-2gb units but they lack in overall functionality and generally they are cheap and nasty.
I believe some of the cowons used to do it? but i think you have to use their jetAudio for the latest ones (ie; iaudio 7). Price is not really an issue if theres something good enough.

It'll make my Christmas if someone knows of something.
Cheers.

eric93se

I have the Sansa e280, 8gb flash player and it has all the features your looking for. Also has FM radio, video, and now supported by RockBox. There is a very good support forum for it over at anythingbutipod. You don't want to get the Rhapsody version though, it would have an 'R' in the model number. I think it could be formated however, and any firmware can be put on it. I havent updated my FW since I heard they took away the drag and drop, but there is a work around already for it. As with any mp3 player the factory earphones suck, so geting a good earphone that has the rubbery bladder around it is the best because it acts as an earplug to keep out noises. Pricegrabber says directron.com has the best price at ~146 shipped. I bought mine for about 180 a year ago.

There is a new model the 'sansa view' as well as some others, go to sandisk.com, it has 8gb and 16gb sizes, check amazon.com too. I don't know if it has all that your asking for, but I'm sure it kicks ipods arse.

Jesse1984

Thanks heaps! ill look into that one. I didnt think of SanDisk. So your pretty sure you can browse the id3 tags like i suggested? if so thats awesome...

eric93se

Yup, I don't have a current pic, but this is pretty much it. I think the later firmware versions look a litle differenet, but I think thats what you were looking for. Personally I don't do all the tagging, I just make playlists of albums. I use a little program called "sansa playlist editor" works great.

The one on the right is the e2xx series
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archi...200-c100-1.php

Here is a link to that review, its old now, any bugs they list have been corrected.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archi...ies-review.php

eric93se

That one menu screen in the above pic, is now this:

Play all
Play previous
Artists
Albums
Songs
Genres
Playlists
My top rated
Recordings /its has a microphone to do recording/
Music options

-The Rockbox software has too much stuff IMO, I wanted an MP3 player not a recording studio, so I stuck with the regular software.