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Comment by raehik | Hacker News Reader

Where are my Rockbox users at? My tiny plastic Sansa Clip+ MP3 player has been going for years, I'd be nothing without it. >10hrs playback, supports >128 GB microSD, plays OGG/FLAC/MP3/AAC/anything. The Rockbox firmware is still being developed, albeit at a slow pace.

By far the best combination of hardware+firmware I own. Unlikely to replace it for another few years. Sadly not produced any more :(

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My tiny plastic Sansa Clip+ MP3 player has been going for years, I'd be nothing without it

I have three iPod Shuffles I keep in my work bag. The blue one has my most recent music, the red one has various work-related playlists, and the orange one has crooners and relaxing music.

I have the same music on my phone, but it's just not the same. The shuffles bring CD/cassette/album intimacy and focus to the music in a way that a do-everything contraption can't.

I was a happy user of a Sansa Clip+ circa 2009-2011, but I think like most others, once we started getting decent smartphones, carrying a dedicated music player just didn't seem worthwhile anymore, except maybe for a long plane ride where preserving my phone's battery life was critical.

I suppose with headphone jack and SD slot becoming an increasing rarity in the Android world, the Clip might become more relevant again. But I hold out for the models that keep both.

Just today I thought how much I appreciate that exact setup and that I should donate considerable money to the project.

So hereby I pledge that I will send 100 dollars this weekend. This is not even 2 dollars per months that this project provided me with a perfect portable media player setup.

Who's with me?

I have high respect for you. As for myself, I'll play the student card and bow out, haha :)

Done!

Found my circa 2007-2008ish Sansa the other day. Gave me that wonderful feeling "this was a quality purchase" that only seems to come along every so often. The default firmware was actually pretty solid, but I had Rockbox installed a week after buying it.

I have the same set-up. The Val Down button doesn't work anymore, but aside from that, it is an awesome little device. I use it for my Gym mp3 player.

Sadly I outgrew my Clip+, and I am using a FiiO X5 Gen 2 for my main player.

Yeah, I really liked it. My last Sansa Clip+ broke a couple of month ago, though. I couldn't find a decent replacement yet.

Try the Goodwill auction site. They show up there occasionally, though often mislabeled as iPods.

The AGPTEK Rocker is okay, runs Rockbox and is reasonably small and affordable.

I have an Xduoo X3, which has a community Rockbox port, and supports 2 x 200GB cards. Imagine the Sansa Clip+, but double the size, double the capacity, and double the ports (it has line out as well as headphone out).

But it's so much easier to listen to music on my phone, because:

1. Spotify's UI makes it easy to find something to listen to, so time I would spend navigating folders is instead spent listening to music.

2. My phone works with my Bluetooth headphones. Sure, the headphones also support a wired connection, but wireless literally just gets out of your way.

I once had a little red mp3 player manufactured by ilo. One of the most reliable pieces of hardware I every owned - the thing just worked. Drop some files on it, and it played them. That simple. Wish it were as easy on my smartphone.

I really loved the Sansa Clip but the battery in it failed on me and I never did replace the thing. Sad to hear that they stopped making them because being reminded about it makes me want to pick up a new one.

Sansa Clip+ was dollar-for-dollar possibly the best music player ever made.

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