What is the best MP3 player? NOT iPod

IMHO, iRiver are the most open and straight-forward machines.
I hate the trend started by iPad/iTunes where the system arranges the library for you and makes it difficult to do stuff from the file system (the "we know what's best for you" attitude). iRiver has (at least had - last time I checked) a no-nonsense play-folder-sorted-by-filename option, and not having this is a handicap (disguised as progress).
Also - iRiver machines have (at least had) regular AAA or AA batteries and not something proprietary and irreplaceable that dies after 2 years.

If your looking for something cheap (but somewhat nice) try the Sansa Fuze. If your willing to spend $150, you might as well get an iPod Nano 5G 8 gig.

ipod

I remember my friend having a mp3 player, black, that was about the size of a stopwatch with buttons on top and it howed you what song it played. I looked for it everywhere and i could never find it. I always thought that was the best.

Zen

Sansa fuze.

Simplicity at it's finest. No software, no updates, no special interface, no iTunes.
Works on any platform( Windows XP or Vista, Linux and Mac OS), opens in a simple folder, drag & drop songs.

music
radio
video
voice recording
plays MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA, secure WMA, WAV, Audible, MPEG4
no bogus software to install or use
all for under $80 (4gig version)

slays the iPod in every way.

Zune HD. though, it comes with software needed to sync songs to it.

Zen. I has it and it survived a tough life.

well if you have lots of money there is the philips GoGear SA3346/37 which has 4 gband costs like 159 dollars i think or there is the sandisk sansa 2gb which i own both:) whick im selling the sansa

Rio but they are went out of business mine was a 20gig for 100$ refurbished

How about a sansa?

Zune.

Zune!!! I love the zune!

I like my sansa. I don't really need more than 2 gigs of space (I switch out my playlists often, I can't stand listening to the same thing over and over). It was like, 80 bucks, and it has worked fine for about a year now, and it's still a-workin.

I like the iRivier Click

Sandisk Sansa series.

I've always had a lot of luck with the little chinese ones on Ebay, look for one big enough to keep you happy for the amount of time you'll be between computers, keeping giant amounts of music on you doesn't make sense if you have a set of playlists in folders. The one that got found by Iwoot and Firebox was great, it was dubbed smallest MP3 in the world at the time, cost me half of the price it did once it was on those sites and lasted about two years, despite having been beaten beyond anything a normal user would put an MP3 through... The other nice thing is that though any warranty is hard to follow up on most big sellers are more than happy to replace them if you're nice about it and the fault is real. Plus if it lives six months you have already got your money's worth, they also seem oblivious to bits breaking off and things, one of mine still worked after the screen cover was smashed, the buttons snapped off the board and the microphone being ripped off the side completely, true I slid a piece of the button contacts up and spent half an hour figuring the four contacts out, then used a paperclip to operate the buttons but it worked just as well, plus they've gone up in quality massively and down in price...

You will pay significantly less for significantly more storage and functionality if you opt for an iPod.