Tips on portable mp3 player?

[Autarchist]

I've been using my mp3 player a lot lately to listen to audiobooks. Of course, listening to an entire audiobook usually takes more than one listening session, and sometimes I want to listen to something else in between sessions of the same book, like music while working out. Right now if I want to remember where I was when I go back to the audiobook, I need to make a note of it on paper of what track and how far into it I was.

The mp3 player I am using now works just fine. I paid 40 bucks for it years back (amazon sells an updated model for $25 right now it seems). I like that I am not forced to use iTunes (I just dump mp3's on it like a USB jumpdrive, no software required to 'sync'), I like that it is very portable, and I like that it I can use rechargable AAA batteries with it. My only gripe is that it has no way to "bookmark" or otherwise save my location when listening to an audiobook that is broken up into multiple, sometimes dozens of mp3's.

Any recomendations? Preferably <$100 unless it is totally frickin' awesome. I also tend to avoid anything that has an Apple logo on it, I purchased an iPod touch at one point and shortly after ended up selling it on craigslist because it was collecting dust.

[ocabj]

http://reviews.cnet.com/2795-6490_7-717.html

[MyOdessa]

good place for MP3 reviews, since you share my love for apple. ;D

http://anythingbutipod.com/

Sansa MP3 players generally good. You may also take a look at your cell phone, most can play variety of audio formats.

[Autarchist]

Thanks, guys. Looks like the SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip in my favorite color (blue) will do the job for a mere 42 bucks. It even has built-in audiobook support, apparently audiobooks are more popular than I expected.

Also has memory card expansion - take that, Apple.

[high_revs]

+1 for the sansa. i just bought one 2 weeks ago (the non-clip version). i got the 6th gen ipod nano as part of a replacement. but the touchscreen drove me nuts in that it always wanted me to press the on/off to get the screen to pull up, plus you cannot use "touch" to see where you are pressing. it had to be visual.

pretty happy with sansa. just need to figure out why it's not playing the songs in a pattern i like, i.e. i already renamed them to with a prefix of 1a, 1b, etc. for most it plays in that order. but some don't for some odd reason.

[gorn5150]

High revs, It doesn't play by the file name, it plays by the metadata tag. You will need to get a tagging program to change that tag or find out if you can change sorting in the preferences.

[gorn5150]

I have a 6th gen ipod nano just for audiobooks. I haven't found any other mp3 player that handles them so nicley. There is lots of freeware programs that allow you to convert to the m4b format and make chapters. That makes it so much easier to listen to the books after you have come back to one.
I am not an Apple hater or fanboy. The nano just works for what I want it to do. If anyone knows of non apple mp3 players work as well i'd love to hear what they are so I can check them out.

[bohoki]

i got a lg500 tracfone and it takes a 4 gig microsd and plays mp3s and mp4 movies 176x144 it was like $20 on sale i like that it uses bluetooth stereo headphones so no wires

[high_revs]

High revs, It doesn't play by the file name, it plays by the metadata tag. You will need to get a tagging program to change that tag or find out if you can change sorting in the preferences.

that was my next guess. haven't gotten to removing that part from the files.

[edit] i do have the sansa clip version.

[the86d]

Android devices are WELL worth it if you have $150 to spend (used OR new off of eBay).

It can even do everything over WiFi aside from making calls or texting (without tweaking), such as Web Browsing, Youtube, Play Music, shoot e-mail, deposit checks, and no iTunes to clog up your computer.

[speedrrracer]

I've been using the Sansa Clip for a coupla years now. 8 GB, AM/FM, voice memo recording, great battery life, plays all the formats I care about, sound quality seems good, no proprietary crap required -- I only run Linux and I've never had an issue.

I think I paid in the 40-50 range. I take it to the gym (get an arm band + holder; I've read reviews it doesn't like moisture), hook it up to my car audio for long trips, etc, etc.

There might be even better units out there, but the Sansa is decent enough.

[Autarchist]

I have a 6th gen ipod nano just for audiobooks. I haven't found any other mp3 player that handles them so nicley. There is lots of freeware programs that allow you to convert to the m4b format and make chapters. That makes it so much easier to listen to the books after you have come back to one.
I am not an Apple hater or fanboy. The nano just works for what I want it to do. If anyone knows of non apple mp3 players work as well i'd love to hear what they are so I can check them out.

What does an iPod Nano do that the Sansa I linked to above can't?

EDIT: This guy reviews the Sansa and makes some pro/con comparisons to the Nano:

[Autarchist]

I've been using the Sansa Zip Clip for a few days now and it definitely is what I was looking for. I got my wife on as well and she also seems to enjoy it a lot. I ordered the 4GB model and just ordered a 32GB microSD card - less than $75 bucks and I've got a real nice mp3 player with 36GB of space, I can fit an entire library of audiobooks on this thing. Compare that to the largest iPod Nano, which is less than half the space and about double the price.

Just a few minutes after I got it in the mail I had the firmware updated and was loading it with media by simply clicking and dragging what I wanted onto it - no proprietary software or anything, just how I like it. The interface is also very intuitive and user-friendly. When you open an mp3 that you partially listened to previously, it asks if you want to resume from where you left off or start over.

The included earbuds feel pretty cheap, but that seems standard with any mp3 player. Fortunately I've got some Panasonic SLIMZ earbuds. They are blue as well, so I'm big pimin' it up.