So, I'd recently bought the Creative Labs Zen X-Fi MP3 Player, mostly for the external speaker (which I thought would make it a miniature-sized boombox with all my music on it), and secondly, for the audio enhancements it's supposed to provide your music with.

Every so often, I end up jogging with someone who actually wants to listen to the same stuff I am, and I thought the external speaker would be great for sharing music out loud, especially in public places where it's acceptable: Like the beach. Otherwise, I use it to listen to music while I'm moving about my place, keeping house.

Just one problem: The external speaker is WEAK! It's weaker than the external speaker on my cellphone (Sony-Ericsson W580i)!

So, I ask you, isn't there an MP3 Player / Digital Media Player that also has a strong external speaker in it?

Now taking recommendations!

I'm happy with my iPhone's external speaker. Good volume and detail.

How much memory does it have for holding music?

8, 16 or 32 GB. You can pick your poison. But then there's stuff like the Youtube app and streaming radio, which are nice.

Ooh. 32's modest. And being able to look up the internet's at my convenience would be pretty...convenient, as well!

Every time I walk by the Apple, it's always so crowded, so I can never get someone to talk to me. Creative and Zune look they might be biting the dust any minute, so I'm starting to do research into other avenues...I don't really equate with Apple's product culture, but I wouldn't be buying it for the sub culture they're trying to create; I just want something practical.

Anyone else got any other recommendations? Keep 'em comin'!

Another question: Are Apple products compatible with MP3s? 'Cuz, I know, up until at least, they've been playing with their own crazy, insidious DRM format.

Apple products have been compatible with MP3s since the very first iTunes and the very first iPod, nine years ago.

From the Wikipedia iPod article:
"The iPod line can play several audio file formats including MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless."

Anybody have any opinions about the Motorola Droid?

Or, perhaps anyone has comparative experience with the Apple iPhone versus the Motorola Droid?

You must be thinking of Sony and their precious ATRAC which can go screw itself. I had one of their mini-disc players and loved it except the fact it used this format and had no way to use a AC adapter (which forced you to use batteries which it chomped through batteries when recording.)

Anyway, I had to take my mp3s and convert them to ATRACs before putting them on discs. So pointless and time consuming I eventually decided the cool favor wasn't worth all the extra work. Sony's loss. Also, screw the draconian digital rights management it slapped on those files.

Thought I'd renew my inquiry for this.

Just recently checked out an iPhone 4. If I wanted an expensive phone/MP3 player combination that was dodgy to control at best, I'd actually get one: The external speaker is the best (loudest with the least amount of distortion) that I've found so far.

Too bad I don't want an expensive phone, the likes of which I'd have to pay a monthly data plan for. Seeing as how I can get internet for free on my laptop via Wi-Fi.

Oh yeah, did I mention how the controls on the iPhone 4 are EXTREMELY dodgy? I can't imagine anyone, aside from the diehard Apple fan, who's willing to put up with such controls...I had to touch and tap so many times just to get it to accept a command...

SO!

Portable audio devices with external speakers. Got anymore?

I've already tried:

Creative Labs Zen X-Fi

Sony NWZ-S545

iPod 4

The Sony unit has a better external speaker than the X-Fi, but not by much.

And the iPod 4's external speaker is negligible.

I want something that'll have external sound enough to compete with the wind on a normal day...or the sound of the waves, when I'm actually on the beach...

Looking for something with at least 16GB of hard disk space, but preferably as much as 32GB...

Why not an iPod Touch?  Most of the functionality of an iPhone, without the phone part.

Two possibilities.  One, were you testing out a display model who's screen was scratched, smudged, or dented up to hell?  Or two, perhaps you were using a model equipped with a processor that was slower than the operating system it can handle.  I've been perfectly content using my 2nd generation Touch running on OS 3.1.1, but that's because it was optimized to use that particular OS.  Makes a huge difference in overall performance, even for something as fundamentally basic as touch controls.  As a result, controls for me have always been snappy and smooth as silk.

What exactly is an iPod 4?

That's the iPod Touch, 4 Generation. Misnomer. My mistake. The iPod Touch's external speaker is SIGNIFICANTLY weaker than the iPhone 4.

It sounds like you're looking for a digital audio player with a built-in speaker as opposed to a separate external speaker for a digital audio player.

Built-in speakers are not really in demand when it comes to digital audio players, so I can see why you're having a hard time locating one. With that said, I think I read somewhere that the Cowon X7 will have built-in speakers, but I have no idea when that's going to become available to those outside of Korea (could be available somewhere in Europe, though). I believe the Cowon J3 has a built-in speaker as well and it comes in both 16 GB and 32 GB form. There's also the Cowon i9 which comes in a 16 GB form. Though looking at the pictures of both Cowon players, I don't think the speakers will be that impressive, but it's worth a look into considering how limited your options are.

YES, built-in speakers! Bad choice of words on my part, I meant built-in speakers!

Those are good leads, thanks for the help!

I guess the next best idea would be for me to find headphones that actually offer a LOT of external noise, as opposed to canceling it out...I wouldn't wear them in my ears, of course, but around my neck...come to think of it, that possibility would be cheaper.