??? About MP3 Players

Topic: ??? About MP3 Players (Read 3074 times) previous topic - next topic

??? About MP3 Players

August 29, 2006, 12:57:10 PM

I have no idea about these things LOL But, Hunter wants one for Christmas, and I am starting to look for them now.... so, I thought maybe someone here would know about them and be able to help me out.

What size GB should I get?
How do you download music onto them?
Do I-Pods only able to be downloaded from an Apple computer/program?

We use Windows XP on our computer

So...can anyone help me out with this?
Thanks!

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #1 – August 29, 2006, 01:00:38 PM

My collection of MP3s ia about 55GB thats about 10,000 songs. Rought estimate about 10GB is fine.

Most of them come with the software to put the music on them.

You have to use I tunes to put music on the Ipods but you don't have to have an apple computer.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #2 – August 29, 2006, 01:04:47 PM

Is there any particular brand to try to get or to stay away from??

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #3 – August 29, 2006, 01:30:17 PM

Apples iPods are great. I won a low end iPod shuffle that is 1/2 GB. Aside from it being a little small (can't fit much music on it, but it's very portable) I love it. I don't know anyone that has another brand, that is how popular the iPods are.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #4 – August 29, 2006, 01:35:01 PM

Last week when I was at Wal*Mart and Staples, a few different MP3 players were on clearance. Honestly, other players besides an iPod usually offer more features and sometimes even more capacity than an iPod. Quality...that is subjective. Some are good, some were turds. Ease of use...none can rival an iPod. That's why iPods sell like they do. It is increasingly difficult to find a non-iPod MP3 player. Before Apple entered the market, Rio was the king. A few people here have noted Samsung players which are currently #2 in the U.S. behind the iPod. The Samsung players look to have a nice feature list. It is very easy to just 'give in' and buy an iPod like everyone else. If you think he'd be happy with it, cool. Otherwise...there are other alternatives on the market and all with work with Windows XP.

All iPods can be used with XP. It just requires iTunes + Quicktime software (packaged with an iPod or via Apple's site) and an available USB 2.0 port. The iTunes software works very well on XP...almost verbatim compared to the Mac version. The software works with the iPod absolutely seamlessly. I don't know what Samsung players use for software but some of the reviews I've read have mentioned that the typical XP-compatible software isn't as forgiving as iTunes. Also, iTunes has a unique digital rights management (DRM) system that makes sure purchased iTunes songs only work on an iPod. There is a workaround to that to convert it to a simple MP3 file, though. Any MP3 file works on an iPod. WMA files will not.

I will say that failure rates among iPods is probably a little above industry expectations. Every iPod I've ever owned has had an issue, in one way or another. Apple is pretty good about covering them under warranty, though. I wouldn't let that deter you from buying one, if that's what you'd be worried about. Unless you accidentally wash one (ahem...Alex) it's pretty indestructible. Right now the hot one is a 4GB nano in black.

Pricing...if you are leaning toward an iPod, here is a great comparison page: http://www.apple.com/ipod/

Keep in mind that the shuffle and nano are flash-based players, and the regular larger iPod is hard-drive based. Flash based players have no mechanical parts, longer-lasting battery capacity and theoretically last longer but have less song storage capacity. Hard-drive based players take a little longer to access songs but have much bigger capacities. Battery life is getting better too.

Did we confuse you yet?

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #5 – August 29, 2006, 01:42:37 PM

^^ Yeah what he said. :D

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #6 – August 29, 2006, 01:44:40 PM

That was very helpful, actually!

I was looking at Radioshack.com and they have some that are reasonabley priced, and seem to have a good amount of storage.... but I'll definately look at the Ipods.

I'm trying to start my Christmas shopping now, since we have 5 kids to buy for. We usually try to get them each one 'big' or more expensive item, and I gave them a limit of $100 for that item. Of course, I can give or take a little on the amount, but I figured that would give them a round about idea for it.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #7 – August 29, 2006, 02:06:39 PM

I have a 1.5 gig Rio that I like. I think I paid $95 for it but it might have been on clearance. Your budget will dictate the size. For 100 bucks you can forget about I-pods. From my experience with a teen daughter, she changes her music taste more often than her brother changes his underwear. I'm thinkin a 512mb up to 2.0 gig would be plenty. I would look at the smaller Rio players and comparable brands. Rio has a good web site, I dont have the link but you could google it.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #8 – August 29, 2006, 03:14:15 PM

I have a 1GB Samsung YP-Z5. You can get them up to 4GB (they're flash memory based = will never skip unlike the HD based type)

I love it.......I looked at several players and in the end it was an easy choice for me. All the features I need, super easy interface and easy to load (you can simply drag and drop in "My Computer)

Review:

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/03/samsung-ypz5-review.php

http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_YEPP_YP_Z5_4GB_silver/4505-6490_7-31644076.html?tag=lst

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #9 – August 29, 2006, 05:40:47 PM

Lol, now I feel outdated. I still use a little Rio Fuse that I bought for $40 like 2 years ago because it was small enough to fit in my pocket and I wasnt worried about crushing it when I was on my longboard. That thing only has 64Mb of memory, Im sure you can get that from a Cracker Jack box now...

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #10 – August 29, 2006, 07:14:44 PM

I have an Apple Ipod
20gb
Look up small dog electronics on google. I bought mine from this company. I bought my refurbished for like 150. It's amazing and I love it.

No you dont need a mac to run it.

Ipod for life...

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #11 – August 29, 2006, 07:26:56 PM

Quote

Look up small dog electronics on google. I bought mine from this company. I bought my refurbished for like 150. It's amazing and I love it.

Cool, another Small Dog customer on the board. :)
Refurbished iPods are a pretty good deal, and usually carry the same warranty. That's the smart way to get one.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #12 – August 29, 2006, 07:35:10 PM

Yah I was really impressed with that company. Lot of support and everything that i got looks brand new. Never opened packages, the ipod had NO scratches or fingerprints. For being refurbished it looked amazing.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #13 – August 29, 2006, 09:44:17 PM

Ehh, if you're talking about buying for kids I'd stray from the Hard-Drive based (big) Ipods. They're quite sensetive to shock, etc.

I had a 30 gig for a few months and even though it was pretty cool, it was sort of buggy. Not to mention the lack of features.

I recently bought 2 Mobiblu 2 gig Flash MP3 players. The battery life is pretty decent, but the small size is pretty awesome.

??? About MP3 Players

Reply #14 – August 29, 2006, 10:54:48 PM

I've got a RCA Lyra player 4gb had it for a year now and works great. It only cost me $140 at wal-mart. It doesn't play video like the new Ipods do but it works for me. I even made a mount for it in the bird.