I'm looking for opinions. I would like to have a player with at least 20GB storage, so it has to be hard-disk based. I would love to be able to play OGG and FLAC besides MP3. I don't care about DRMd music. I would like to spend not much more than US$200. I would like to be able to move music in and out of the device through the USB connection without needing special software (no iTunes, Winamp, etc).

What's out there? Should i just get an iPod and instal Rockbox in it?

Any ideas, opinions, welcome.

Thanks!

glauber

I recommend an Iaudio or a Gigabeat. Rockbox support on those is much more mature then the ipod.

I rockboxed a 20GB Gigabeat I got off ebay. New in box, only cost me $90.

Hmmm... this is looking like a good option.

thanks,

glauber

+1 Gigabeat

BTW What's a HD DAP?

Hard-Disk Digital Audio Player

Gigabeat it is... found a MEG-F40 (40GB) in eBay for $130 plus shipping, and pulled the trigger. Thanks!

Damn it! With all the High Definition crap flying around, I really thought you meant High Definition Digital Audio Player. That's when I thought..huh?
And I'm a full time geek...

Here's a followup. I'm very happy with the Gigabeat and Rockbox combination. It has frozen on me a couple of times, requiring a hard reset to fix, but most of the time it works reliably. Battery life is excellent - i haven't timed it, but i can usually get 3 days of heavy usage before i have to recharge. The only down side of Gigabeat versus iPod is the lack of the miriad accessories, speakers, etc, made specifically for the iPod.