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[sixrivers]

I’d like to pose a few questions to this group about digital audio players.

I am about to go buy a third ipod (or DAP) in as many years.  My last two (3G 30GB & 4G 60GB) have both died.  The 3G was never right to begin with.  I just never understood the signals.  I spent too many hours reformatting and reinstalling music.  (I actually returned 3 different ipods in 1 week at CompUSA thinking each one was defective – I gave up and accepted the final ipod assuming that they all had problems.)  The 3G ipod finally refused to accept any more music at about 18 months and I purchased a new 4G.  I had about 9 good months of use and then the 4G ipod hard drive started crashing.  Tech support confirmed it was a hardware problem and had me send it in (it was an HP branded ipod.)  But am fully expecting to receive the notice “ipod damaged by user – please send $300 to repair.”  According to the threads I read, this is fairly common when an ipod is sent in for repairs.  (I treat my ipods with care.  They sit beside me in the car and then into the office.  They are not subject to abuse.)  So I anticipate that I will need to purchase a new DAP.

I am sick and tired of feeding the Apple monster.  I will not keep sending them $400 or $500 each year for the privilege of listening to music.  I have considered the Gigabeat or the Zen Vision M.  But will I run into the same problems with these?  I’m not 100% sure, but I think all three models use the Toshiba series of hard drives.  Are these the real culprits for the problems?  Are the Zen’s and Gigabeat’s having the same problems?  While the ipod interface is nice, I usually just navigate to a playlist occasionally forward past some songs.  Just about any interface could accommodate that.  I like to 60GB of space, but am willing to use a 30GB if another brand is more reliable.  Video is not important to me.  Also, it must be supported by Media Center! ;-)

And how do most people address the warranty issue?  Who offers the best return policy for broken DAPs?  Circuit City?  Best Buy?  I have returned broken cell phones to Costco after 9 months of use for full refunds – maybe I should go to them.  I would pay for an extended warranty as long as it covered the DAP 100% and covered damage by the user (Most denied warranty claims seem to use the excuse that the user broke the DAP through rough use.)  Does anyone offer that?

I apologize of this is off topic for this forum.  This just seems like a good place to screen a number of portable music enthusiasts.  I’d appreciate any advice that could be offered.

Thanks. ?

[LonWar]

I purchased an Ipod last year, with there Applecar warranty.

I have sent the pod in twice, and have never had problems. The units that I received back were new.
I found out after that I could have Hard Booted the device and reformated it, Live and learn I guess.

I have always found apple service to be fair and fast. But the extra warranty by the sounds of it, would have benefited you.
I have used the Pod and the Creative player, and definately prefer the pod.