Well, after 3 and a half years of faithfull service, my Zune 120 finally died. Seeing as how Microsoft is pulling all support from it and they want 119 dollars (!) to fix it, I'm exploring other options. I have about 600 cds, so I need lots of memory. The obvious route is to pick up an Ipod 160, but I'm wondering what you other fellows recommend.

Ive got a 64gb zune HD, but if I didnt, Id probably get the Ipod classic, mainly because its 160 gb and its at a good price, but used.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_f ... 2204841011
Or maybe a sansa clip mp3 player. You can get an 8gb for $35, add a 64gb memory card for roughly 50. $85 for 72gb

By the way, when you say died, how did it happen?

Ipod is probably the way to go. Had this dilemma myself, but they dominate the market to such an extent that there aren't many viable alternatives. Creative have a couple, including this: http://uk.store.creative.com/entertainm ... 20866.aspx which can hold a Micro SD card and plays FLAC if you're into that. 64GB isn't going to be enough for you though, I suspect, so I'd just get an Ipod.

I bought a 120GB Cowon X7, and now I have no money...

On the plus side, it seems very solid so far - it's a brick in terms of size, but it's got some great features - no firmware is perfect, but it's certainly adequate. The battery-life is great, and it's got good sound quality.

It was weird. One minute it was working, the next moment it has this black screen that says" Contact Support". Thanks for the suggestions!

Android phones with huge SD card extensions are the best option there is. The best part: Getting to choose the music player app and not being stuck with some awful firmware. Unfortunately the flash storage format normal phones can read AFAIK goes only up to 32 GB and at least with my phone you can only change the SD if you take out the battery.

I tried a Sansa Clip-Zip once, re-formatted a 64GB MicroSD card which wasn't compatable before-hand, put it in, and it worked for a couple of days, before, as far as I can tell, committing electronic suicide - now it won't even turn-on when I dig it out of the draw it has been consigned to.

See, this is my outlook on portable music players. First of all, it's a pain to transfer music using the proprietary software like itunes etc. I prefer mine to be simple and along the lines of 'usb-plug-and-play-and-copypaste-shit'. Secondly, I really can't stand the whole idea of syncing songs from the computer harddisk with the player and viceversa. And turdly, for the life of me, I can't manage many devices offering different services (phone, mp3player, videoplayer...). I prefer some level of consolidation in this space. But that's just me

Apologies for not really recommending a good mp3 player but I suggest that if you have a phone that can withstand long hours of usage, use it. It's convenient.

A thread like this pops up every so often, maybe a thread dedicated to this would be better?

definitely.
when I had an iPod I had to use Winamp. fuck iTunes (compatibility issues). ...but then I dropped it twice and it broke. I prefer flash media mp3 players now...I just wish Apple didn't have a patent on the clickwheel, that shit is the best.

I have a Rockboxed Clip Zip with a 32GB card and it works great, only about $70 total. Are people saying that 64GB cards work with the Clip Zip? I'll be pissed off as hell if this is true.