Internal HD File Browser for Zune 120

[Darkflame]

Hi Guys,

Been searching through this forum and not had much luck finding what i want so bear with me if im asking something stupid.

I'm currently on a prehistoric MP4 player the Archos 504 which i bought in 2006.

I've been eying up the Zune 120gb for a couple of months now but it's useless to me if i am forced to make play lists / use album / artist search.

I have over 10,000 songs which i already have sorted in Genre, Artist, Album order in Windows using folders and all i need is a big HD mp3 player that can show and allow me to play the files using the same structure.

The Archos 504 allows me to do that, but the new Archos are way too big to be used as portable mp3 players.

Bottom line is, i like the Zune, want to get one, but only if i can bypass play lists completely and get a browser like function so i can play files / folders from a FOLDER structure.

Is it possible?

Many thanks

Darkflame

[Forty Four]

I'd be weary of the older Zunes just because Microsoft seems to be phasing them out.

[roebeet]

You need a player with MSC mode, which the Zunes don't support (there is a hack to get folder access to the legacy Zunes, but it requires firmware downleveling and some registry changes on your PC. Plus, you have to find the old 2.x software).

You have a few options, depending on your needs. If you must have a player with large storage (80GB or more):

- 80GB iPod Video 5.5G. I know, it's an iPod. But, you can add the alternative Rockbox firmware (Rockbox - Open Source Jukebox Firmware) to allow for MSC and browsing by folder structure. The biggest caveat is that the SQ is lacking - I know because I owned one. You can fix that with a line out cable + a headphone amp, but that makes it bulkier and more expensive.

- Upgrading an older HDD-based player. Best examples are the old iRver Hxxx or Gigabeat F players. It's a bit of a DIY and requires some work - I did this on my 40GB Gigabeat F to take a 120GB drive, and I love it. It's also running Rockbox.

- Archos 5 Android tablet (the new one coming out soon). They will have flash based versions, but also HDD-based ones. For the latter, I'm not sure how large they'll be. But, it might be worth checking out.

If you can live with 32GB, you can get a Cowon S9 flash-based player and it will allow MSC and folder browsing.

[Darkflame]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Im definitely going to look into getting the Apple 5.5g and apply the hack.

Sounds good to me