I would really like to start playing my collection of ogg files on a portable player (and get rid of my bulky Walkman) and have decided to purchase an iRiver model. My question is, do you need WMP to transfer files to the player? Thanks.

I can't speak for the newer models, but the two I have do not require software of any kind to transfer files. They appear as a USB drive in Windows Explorer when plugged in, and I imagine they would work just as well with Linux as they require no special drivers.

The iRiver Clix2 (U20) I recently bought allows transferring the files using both MTP and UMS (note: the original Clix player (U10) does not work in UMS mode, so don't confuse it with its successor!). Selecting the latter enables the OS to use the player as a usual drive, i.e. filling it with music using any possible file manager works. The only issue is the fact that iRiver's plus 3 software must be used in order to update the player's internal database, which is needed for the Clix2 to be able to browse the music collection based on its metadata. Otherwise, you'll have to fiddle around with those unsexy directory trees instead.
Problem: Plus 3 is only available for Windows XP and Vista. I for my part gotta switch from Linux to Windows XP Pro every time I wanna mess around with the player. Kinda annoying.

Can you tell me what model(s) you have or are they no longer sold? The reason I ask the question regarding WMP is I found a support page on the iriveramerica website that says the T10/T30 series players require WMP to transfer music to the player. Can ogg files be transferred to the player with WMP?

I just found the answer to my question on their support page:

Windows Media player does not recognize OGG files. How do I transfer OGG files to my player?

Open My Computer after connecting the USB cable between the player and PC.
Open the T10/T30 series player drive and you will see a Data folder and a Media folder.
Drag and drop your files from their location on your computer to the Data folder.
Once your music is done copying, you can disconnect the T10/T30 series player and play the music

So chuffed today my Bro sent me a H320 in the post today, the player acts as a storage drive, so files can be just dragged from explorer, I actually use the Foobar file operation utility to copy my ogg tracks straight onto the player, works a charm

I wouldn't limit my selection to DAPs that support Ogg Vorbis natively, instead I'd have a look at Rockbox, too, and what players it runs on.

I'm using an iAudio D2 4GB with touchscreen interface and 8GB SDHC card.
This player is totally awesome. You can just drag and drop and you can search by tag or folder.
Very good software with ogg and flac support, so no rockbox needed.
I was a big iRiver fan before I discovered iAudio, I highly recommend that you check the models
iAudio D2, 7 and X5.
Have fun and good luck.

Me 2 has the D2. Just get it!

The D2 is a beauty to behold...

Yours still running well Naylor? From what I've intuit from your blogs, you're not particularly gentle to your D2...

I'll save up

I would recommend iAudio!
IAUDIO 7 (4GB or 8GB)
Seems like 16GB flash is coming soon, hope it's true


About iriver:
IRIVER X20 8GB is cheap here in Sweden.
1 595 kr/ 173 €/ 238$
Seems to be good player, supports SD memory cards and battery is removable.

Seems to me Cowon iAudio are the best sounding MP3 players, although Sony one have a very good sound quality too. I'll stick to my H320 for a while though