I need a new mp3 player that also plays videos. Right now I have been holding off, using a creave zen stone for my music.

What i need:
High storage. 8gb minimum but would rather be 16gb and up.
SD Slot would be really handy
long battery life
easy to transfer videos (ie. divx, xvid etc)
small and light.
it would be handy if i could record direct from the tv, but not essential.
wifi would also be cool. but again not really essential
not expensive
not apple.
easy to use on the commute. (i live in london so trying to negotiate getting out an mp3 player is rather hard on the train/tube)

i have looked at a few but cannot make up my mind. the new creative zen (16gb) although i would have to import that as the uk models only go up to 8gb.

cowon d2 again seems to fit all the requirements but the price does seems steep.

i looked at the archos too for a laugh but seems far too expensive to me.

any ideas? help?

Whats your budget?

I use a Cowon A2 myself and am very happy with it. It handles DivX and Xvid very well .... about a 90% success rate. Battery life on the A2 is fantastic ..... still the best on the market as far as I'm aware. (10 hours for video)

If you went for the D2 you'd be doing a fair bit of transcoding I suspect as it only handles video files up to a certain resolution.

The Creative Vision:M is also worth a look.

Dunno much about the new Zen's but they do look nice.

wouldnt go over £300.

was just checking the sansa view apparently they will be shipping a 32gb version but i am not really down with the mini sd card slot. i've got a wii and digial camera that use sd, so i do not really have to buy into another format.

Well, you can pick up a 30gb A2 for about £200 odd now. The 20gb model being even cheaper (obviously). These are bigger units geared towards video. (they aren't much larger than their 4" screens. Bigger than an iPod but I still pocket mine quite happily. They're well protected so no extra case required - the Archos units have the LCD screen directly exposed .... that would worry me!)

The A3 is also due out soon although from what I've seen, it's not that much better than the A2. More of an update than a total revamp.

No card slot on the A2 but it does act as a USB host (only at 1.1 speed ... the A3 is 2.0). Depending on your camera it may connect directly (if it's UMS you'll probably be safe .... my old Nikon was fine. My current Canon and Fuji are not) but you can always hook a card reader up to it instead I suppose.

How come you rate the Archos units as too expensive with a budget of £300? Some of the top end models are over that but something like the 404 retails for a fair bit less than £300 I think?

when i say £300, that is like the extream limit. but it is highly unlikely id spend that much. i am really taken with the ZEN. it looks good, it has an SD card and I assume you can use that to transfer photos to it via the slot.

Creative are generally pretty good when it comes to video (at least as far as DivX is concerned).

Their equivalent to the A2 (the Vision:W) is not bad. 0.3" larger screen but no AC3 support, no subtitle support (unless they're encoded into the video stream obviously) and shorter battery life than the A2.

Still a decent player though. But if I had to choose between the Vision:W and the A2 now I'd still go for the A2.

As I mentioned, I know little about the new Zen. It wasn't around when I was looking for a PMP. From what I have seen though, it looks nice.

Oh .... final afterthought, the D2 also has a version with built in DAB now if that holds any sway?

ah yeah i saw that, but i dont think it comes in the 8bg version and to be honest i really cant stand the music radio stations play these days. the only time id use a DAB would be to listen to the cricket commentry