Any recommendations? I've been looking at the Sansa Clip 2 GB, but it seems that suffers from severe reliability issues after a very short period of time. I'd like to keep it at about 2 GB and under $100, since I'd be using it to workout and don't need above a couple hundred songs on it.

I have the Philips GoGear (2Gb)

It's fine : you can clips it to your cloth, it seems solid...
Avira detects something when you plug it in but you can just block it

No software needed

I see the Zune 4 GB for $67.

Anyone have a yay or nay on Zune?

Get a Windows Phone. It has all the Zune features, plus more.

My niece got a Zune last Xmas, nice player but it was tied to the software. By "tied to the software" I mean, unlike my old Creative or my Cowon, she has to use the MS software to manage her music. May have changed by now. I found some registry hacks that allowed it to be seen as a drive but it never seemed to act as a drive, she ended up using the software as it would not consistently allow her to add / remove music as a drive normally would. It does sound good and she likes the interface.

For outstanding sound quality and multiple format support I recommend the Cowon line but . . . they are kind of pricy . . . I listened to several brands but the Cowon was, by far, the best quality sound, even with the standard ear buds, IMHO . . . =)

I have a cheap Denver MPG-2018CPLL 2GB one. It plays music...I think that's about as generous as I can get. My old Denver one had quite good sound and nice features, but this one just sound cheap and it's "random" function consists of playing 3 Random songs from a random folder, then repeating the first four songs put onto the device, then selecting another folder and playing 3 random songs. Repeat ad-infinitum.

I've got a Sony S739F. It has been taking a beating for about 3 years now and it works like a charm. Very solid and reliable player, and it sounds great. The only downside for me is that it doesn't play uncompressed audio. I'm having a hard time finding a player that does.

Anyways. Sony E-series should be within your price-range.

I use my Sony PSP as an MP3/FLAC player. Yes, it's a little bulky but I can just about play all formats on it and I can change the amount of memory within it.

It's pretty damn odd that just about all the reviews have about 15% saying any given mp3 player is a money eating shit stain just waiting to die on you.

I have a 30 GB Zune and I can say I love it, and would definitely recommend it to you as a great MP3 Player. Granted with the Zune you do use Microsofts software, but honestly its no different then Apples IPOD software.

I agree, no different from iPod. She was used to dragging and dropping files to her player and found it annoying that she had to use the MS program (had to create an account IIRC), especially did not like the ads, etc. She uses it every day now with no complaints, just prefers being able to do the transfers manually.

No big deal, especially if you have always had a mp3 player that required software for access. Just wanted to mention the requirement for the consideration of others who may prefer the manual method . . . =)

As long as you only load songs at home or on another computer that has the Zune software installed . . . not a problem . . . of course the software wants to "sync" every time you plug it in . . . =D My old Creative 1 GB and 20 GB players from several years ago play as if they were new. I wanted more space hence the purchase of a new player. When I started reading reviews about the "new" creatives i was surprised at how many complaints there were from all sources. They were rated so low on dependability that I did not consider buying another one even though the two I owned worked perfectly, seems to be a quality problem with the Creative players now.

I ended up buying a Cowan which has worked flawlessly since I bought it, the player is not for everyone, but the sound quality, battery life and multiple file format support was what won me over. May tell a different story as time goes on but for now . . . best player I ever had . . . =)

My only complaint about the Cowon is the interface is not as intuitive as my 1 GB and 20 GB Creative interfaces were but . . . there are way, way more options to deal with including video support which I like.

I am not an Apple fanboy, I actually quite dislike their products, but I bought myself an iPod Shuffle for workouts and it has been great. It weighs very little and can be fastened to anything very easily with a clip. This was maybe 4 years ago now, so there must be newer versions now or something? At the time it cost me 50 pounds. You had the choice of either playing all your songs through the way you put them on, or shuffling. You could obviously also press next / previous song. It was quite nifty and I like it.

Oh and I despise iTunes, so I found some very simple lightweight Python program that allowed you to drag & drop. When you were done, all you had to do was to run the program once and it was fine. Worked perfectly.

Was it something like Foola or however it's spelled?

I have a Transcend MP850 (gift from my girlfriend) and it's excellent.

The only thing I would have to say is don't get the zune. I used to have one and it broke very month. Eventually I just stopped getting it replaced.