6 ms·

I have the exact same problem: two (Rockboxed) Sansa Clip Zips I've taken everywhere for years, from snowy mountains to the beach; one is already dead and one a

I have the exact same problem: two (Rockboxed) Sansa Clip Zips I've taken everywhere for years, from snowy mountains to the beach; one is already dead and one about to take its final breath. They're not available anymore for purchase and the few used ones remaining in still good condition are sold ridiculously overpriced. To me there's only one solution: Either develop a a player from scratch or port a subset of Rockbox (no games, FX, etc.) on a small SBC plus added display, DAC, SD and LiPo circuitry. The SBC could well be the ESP32 which would add wireless functionality; *Pi and other Linux boards would be tremendously overkill for the task. Shouldn't be that hard for skilled developers, and it would surely sell among those of us who don't want to use a cellphone.

andai 7y ago
Why don't you want to use a cellphone? Privacy/surveillance and/or stimulation addiction? I miss my old mp3 players and RockBoxed iPod classic, and I've been meaning to get rid of my cell phone as well. Really I'd prefer a pocket computer to a cell phone, surprised there isn't anything like that for sale.
- serf 7y ago
  my reason : phones (mostly) make lousy MP3 players. high battery use, bad DACs, and clumsy interfaces. There are exceptions, but not many. Single purpose devices that are designed to do a specific thing just work better -- go figure.
- squarefoot 7y ago
  "Why don't you want to use a cellphone? Privacy/surveillance and/or stimulation addiction?" Pretty much all of this, plus not risking a device that I have to rely on for communications. Each of my Sansa players fell like a dozen times without getting a single scratch because they were very light and the screen was small and sturdy; had I used a cellphone I would probably have destroyed at least its screen multiple times or ruined it from prolonged exposition to salty air at the sea. Also I don't use smartphones due to the above points, and I still have to see a traditional phone with a decent player (and a decent camera, but that's another story). The PinePhone might change this, however. Silently waiting for it to hit the market.
  - frabbit 7y ago
    That's pretty much it on all points for me: light and small with a sturdy plastic case meant that dropping it was not disastrous. Am definitely interested in the PinePhone, but suspect that its dimensions will mean that I shall be restricted in not using it while running/cycling and (more importantly for me) as a cheap audiobook player that I fall asleep to in bed and occasionally drop out of the bed onto the floor or sleep on top of.
    - squarefoot 7y ago
      A hint for the folks at pine64: please take into consideration the PinePod :)
      - tllim 7y ago
        Check on my response :-)
- _emacsomancer_ 7y ago
  The physical interface on a standalone player is also better than a cellphone. I always take a standalone player when I travel - it's easy to be able to control it just by feel (and I don't have to worry about running down the battery in my cellphone).
- TrueDuality 7y ago
  When I'm on a longer hike I don't know how long my phone battery will need to hold out (don't get me started on solar and extra battery packs) so it stays off with periodic check ins to stay in contact. Dedicated music players tend to have a much longer battery life, are lighter, cheaper to replace (weather, drops, being left on wet ground...). It allows me to listen to things without sacrificing my safety net.
- fouc 7y ago
  Maybe some raspberry pi or arduino setup could do the trick?
DanBC 7y ago
I have loved all my Sansa MP3 players, but I find my current Sandisk Clip Jam a bit annoying for some things (very long files names; playlisting; working out what fields it sorts on and why). It won't take rockbox. If you want a cheap device to run rockbox... > Either develop a a player from scratch or port a subset of Rockbox (no games, FX, etc.) on a small SBC plus added display, DAC, SD and LiPo circuitry. The SBC could well be the ESP32 which would add wireless functionality; *Pi and other Linux boards would be tremendously overkill for the task. Shouldn't be that hard for skilled developers, and it would surely sell among those of us who don't want to use a cellphone. ...this feels like it's going to end up as being an expensive device. There are a bunch of other MP3 players available from companies like FIIO, Cowon, Shanling or others. Would you be able to build something that competes with these? https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Digital_Audio_Players.463/?sort=4a&am3sid=tc49ts9uj1l74l1mjuo8d25k80#guide_result https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Digital_Audio_Play... EDIT: Thinking about it, if you had braille on the buttons and a clear simple layout you could push it to both markets: people who want a hackable MP3 player, and people who want an accessible mp3 player for things like audio books. (Which is something my Clip Jam is not great for).
- frabbit 7y ago
  Just looking at your link the price of those is astoundingly high. It seems like they've taken a modest tool and sought to turn it into some sort of Veblen-good by replacing plastic cases and mechanical buttons with high res touchscreens and aluminum cases. The rockbox-compatible sansas (and earlier cowons) were: 1. cheap (circa 30 bucks) 2. very small (I just measured my Clip Zip as: 5cm x 3cm x 1cm ) 3. very light 4. has an SD slot (I don't know its max supported size but 32GB works fine for my audiobooks) 5. is easily flashable with rockbox
  - benologist 7y ago
    There's a lot of funky semi-open handheld retro gaming devices that might repurpose if you're into buttons - https://obscurehandhelds.com/ https://obscurehandhelds.com/
    - 7y ago
Scoundreller 7y ago
> They're not available anymore for purchase and the few used ones remaining in still good condition are sold ridiculously overpriced. Thanks! I have one in original packaging somewhere. Bought it to give away but never did for various reasons.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

andai 7y ago

Why don't you want to use a cellphone? Privacy/surveillance and/or stimulation addiction? I miss my old mp3 players and RockBoxed iPod classic, and I've been meaning to get rid of my cell phone as well. Really I'd prefer a pocket computer to a cell phone, surprised there isn't anything like that for sale.

serf 7y ago
my reason : phones (mostly) make lousy MP3 players. high battery use, bad DACs, and clumsy interfaces. There are exceptions, but not many. Single purpose devices that are designed to do a specific thing just work better -- go figure.
squarefoot 7y ago
"Why don't you want to use a cellphone? Privacy/surveillance and/or stimulation addiction?" Pretty much all of this, plus not risking a device that I have to rely on for communications. Each of my Sansa players fell like a dozen times without getting a single scratch because they were very light and the screen was small and sturdy; had I used a cellphone I would probably have destroyed at least its screen multiple times or ruined it from prolonged exposition to salty air at the sea. Also I don't use smartphones due to the above points, and I still have to see a traditional phone with a decent player (and a decent camera, but that's another story). The PinePhone might change this, however. Silently waiting for it to hit the market.
- frabbit 7y ago
  That's pretty much it on all points for me: light and small with a sturdy plastic case meant that dropping it was not disastrous. Am definitely interested in the PinePhone, but suspect that its dimensions will mean that I shall be restricted in not using it while running/cycling and (more importantly for me) as a cheap audiobook player that I fall asleep to in bed and occasionally drop out of the bed onto the floor or sleep on top of.
  - squarefoot 7y ago
    A hint for the folks at pine64: please take into consideration the PinePod :)
    - tllim 7y ago
      Check on my response :-)
_emacsomancer_ 7y ago
The physical interface on a standalone player is also better than a cellphone. I always take a standalone player when I travel - it's easy to be able to control it just by feel (and I don't have to worry about running down the battery in my cellphone).
TrueDuality 7y ago
When I'm on a longer hike I don't know how long my phone battery will need to hold out (don't get me started on solar and extra battery packs) so it stays off with periodic check ins to stay in contact. Dedicated music players tend to have a much longer battery life, are lighter, cheaper to replace (weather, drops, being left on wet ground...). It allows me to listen to things without sacrificing my safety net.
fouc 7y ago
Maybe some raspberry pi or arduino setup could do the trick?

DanBC 7y ago

I have loved all my Sansa MP3 players, but I find my current Sandisk Clip Jam a bit annoying for some things (very long files names; playlisting; working out what fields it sorts on and why). It won't take rockbox. If you want a cheap device to run rockbox... > Either develop a a player from scratch or port a subset of Rockbox (no games, FX, etc.) on a small SBC plus added display, DAC, SD and LiPo circuitry. The SBC could well be the ESP32 which would add wireless functionality; *Pi and other Linux boards would be tremendously overkill for the task. Shouldn't be that hard for skilled developers, and it would surely sell among those of us who don't want to use a cellphone. ...this feels like it's going to end up as being an expensive device. There are a bunch of other MP3 players available from companies like FIIO, Cowon, Shanling or others. Would you be able to build something that competes with these? https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Digital_Audio_Players.463/?sort=4a&am3sid=tc49ts9uj1l74l1mjuo8d25k80#guide_result https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Digital_Audio_Play... EDIT: Thinking about it, if you had braille on the buttons and a clear simple layout you could push it to both markets: people who want a hackable MP3 player, and people who want an accessible mp3 player for things like audio books. (Which is something my Clip Jam is not great for).

frabbit 7y ago
Just looking at your link the price of those is astoundingly high. It seems like they've taken a modest tool and sought to turn it into some sort of Veblen-good by replacing plastic cases and mechanical buttons with high res touchscreens and aluminum cases. The rockbox-compatible sansas (and earlier cowons) were: 1. cheap (circa 30 bucks) 2. very small (I just measured my Clip Zip as: 5cm x 3cm x 1cm ) 3. very light 4. has an SD slot (I don't know its max supported size but 32GB works fine for my audiobooks) 5. is easily flashable with rockbox
- benologist 7y ago
  There's a lot of funky semi-open handheld retro gaming devices that might repurpose if you're into buttons - https://obscurehandhelds.com/ https://obscurehandhelds.com/
  - 7y ago

Scoundreller 7y ago

> They're not available anymore for purchase and the few used ones remaining in still good condition are sold ridiculously overpriced. Thanks! I have one in original packaging somewhere. Bought it to give away but never did for various reasons.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]