The remote control on my venerable Creative Jukebox 3 has died and is not readily available, so I'm thinking of replacing the whole thing with a new mp3 player.

My requirements:

1. 30-40 gigabytes. My music collection is, currently, around 23 gig and growing, so 30gig is the bare minimum, and 40gig would be better.

2. Loooooooong battery life. I fly to Asia a lot, and those flights are 12-16 hours, frequently with a connection beyond that. My JB3 was good for 24 hours on a single charge.

3. Excellent sound quality. Adjustable EQ would be nice.

4. Remote control. I like to drop the player into the seat pocket in front of me, and then control it with a remote.

My "it would be nice if"s:

5. Small and light -- shirt pocket sized would be ideal.

6. Sufficient power to drive my Bose QC2s without using my headphone amplifier (a Total Airhead which works very nicely).

My "I really don't care"s:

7. I only listen to mp3s that I rip from CDs. I don't need wma or ogg capability, or anything else.

8. I don't download from music sites, so I don't care about compatability with the various DRM schemes.

9. I don't care about graphics, photo display, color menus or whether it can play games, cook breakfast or wash my socks -- as long as I have access to lists of my music by album I'm set (I always play an album at a time, never individual songs).

10. I don't care about video. If there was a player that met all my other requirements, I might consider video (I watch movies on my laptop, which has a much nicer, bigger screen).

Is there such a beast?

I just posted this in another thread but have a look at http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=14331

My first thought was an Ipod. It meets requirements 1, 2 (about 15 hrs for the 30GB, 20+ for the 60GB) 3 is ok, 4 is an optional accessory, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. But you've probably heard of that one, and are looking for something else. The Cowon X5L meets requirements 1 (30 GB), 2(35 hrs!),3, 4 (optional accessory), 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to support ID3 tags, which means no listen by album. If you can work around that (via playlists or directory structure), it's basically the exact player you described.

Actually, I wasn't up on the latest iPod. The 60gig model looks like it might meet my needs, though it sure is expensive. I've never heard of Cowon - I'll have to investigate some more.

Yes, I would say the 60GB iPod fits your needs well especially because it has longer battery life than the 30GB model. It's also thinner than previous models. For a remote, you'll need to purchase an accessory, though.

I'm a huge fan of the 60GB iPod. Seems to get good battery life, though I don't think it would make it all the way to Asia. I find it extremely easy to use, and the integration with iTunes is top notch.

My only caveat is that if you start using the iTunes Music Store, it becomes tough to stop!

It can't make it to Asia? That's only 12-14 hours from SEA. I need a lot longer than that. Hmmm. Creative has a 40 gig Zen Touch with a 25 hour(!!) play time. It doesn't have a remote (or, more accurately, it's no longer possible to buy one), but it's priced pretty low because it's being discontinued. Maybe I should go back to considering that.

It seems that what I need is not what everyone else needs.

zen vision m, or maybe the cowon. If you don't care about the screen and want long battery life, then a sony is probably the way to go. Some of theirs run forever, and are pretty small. dapreview.com and headfi.org forums have some good info.

100% ipod. Battery life is not important since there are so many third party battery add-ons for the device.

Yep, I plug mine into my iGo and charge it along with the laptop and cellphone.

What happens when the Ipod battery wears out and needs to be replaced as most do eventually? Is it user replaceable? If not, this would be deal breaker for me.

There are battery replacement kits available nowadays at stores like Fry's. It is a pretty simple operation. There are also many online vendors that will change the battery for you.

It isn't "user replaceable" as in opening a small panel and sliding in a new one, but it can certainly be done.

The battery on the 60GB iPod lasts over 20 hours for music while the battery on the 30GB iPod lasts around 14 hours.

http://www.ipodbank.com/showthread.php?t=149

There are settings that you can tinker with to extend battery life such as turning off the backlight, putting it on hold.

Also, by the time the battery wears out for most people the warranty will be expired, so you won't be risking voiding your warranty by changing the battery yourself.

Apple offers an extended warranty that includes battery replacement if it depletes by 50% within 2 years. The extended warranty costs $59.

I'm no quite sure what you mean by that, but battery life is critical for me. I already carry a headphone amp and my Bose QC2s, so I definitely don't want to cart around any additional plug-ins to supplement the internal battery. The 20 hours claimed for the 60gig iPod should do it though, if the thing is going to play videos, I wish it got a little better than 4 hours.