Community Newsletter: Q&A: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed!
- 12/7/07 8:11 AM
MP3
by deaths_little_helper - 11/22/07 9:21 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As far as music quality, all MP3 players play MP3 files. Quality of music isn't an issue, you need to decide if you want any extra features from your player, such as radio or the ability to hook up to the car stereo. Size capacity is a factor as well, and you really should ask yourself if downloading new software, and converting all of your existing music files to that program is something you want to do. If not, and your already running Microsoft XP or Vista, then I would suggest the Zune, as it works with Media Player. There's no downloading, and no installing special software, and it truly is the very essence of plug and play...just make sure not to get a brown one!
Creative MuVo
by froliclavish - 11/22/07 10:27 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Get the Creative MuVo, any that take an AAA battery. The battery will last a long, long time, and you won't have to worry about it losing its chargeability. It's small, it's capacious (up to 1 or 2 gigs), and the MuVo TX FM even gets radio. Best gadget I've ever bought--and I've got 3 of em.
batteries cost money
by johnrf - 12/1/07 12:22 PM In reply to: Creative MuVo by froliclavishDon't buy one that takes batteries. With the money you will save on batteries by buying an iPod you can buy music.
Ipod
by handycamfan - 11/22/07 10:33 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The ipod is good, but the risk is in geting one and then a new one comes out which is alot better. Its the same with all technology but the ipod shows it more. Ipods have a simular life to other mp3 players depending how careful you are with them. Then theres the question of wich ipod touch, nano, classic the list goes on. my advice if your looking for performance look around, pay close attention to the specs and try them out in the shop. Also just try the ipod because it is a good machine.
apple
by johnrf - 12/1/07 12:24 PM In reply to: Ipod by handycamfanYes the worst thing about apple products is that as soon as you buy one another comes out that is cheaper and better. Better to go with windoze, they just keep getting worse and only upgrade every decade or so.
mp3 playah
by wav.1.file - 11/22/07 11:08 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Nancy,
I would stay away from Ipods if at all possible. There are SO many good ones out there for you to buy something just because it's the "known" one. Also, much more importantly, you don't want to get locked into proprietary software and file formats. With Ipods you have to use Itunes and the format they use cannot be moved around easily. Some folks say "thats not true- you can move things" and yes, thats true you can- BUT (big but) its a cumbersome and difficult process. Why not go with a good Creative Labs or Sansa one that is just a regular digital playah (joke, I'm from Boston). Then you are not locked into any kind of format or mandatory software. I bought a Creative Labs MuVo and I've been thrilled with it. I don't want to use Itunes, and I don't want to be crippled by the DRM (digital rights management) that make it impossible to copy, move and share my files. Of course, this is my own humble opinion, but i say why get locked into something, when you can buy one that uses all kinds of audio formats and allows you to download from anywhere you want to... I'm a proud NON-Ipod person! Pictures are gonna make the playah a little more expensive but again there are bunches available. Keep in mind some are flash based, which means they have a 'set' amount of space on it- wheras some use SD cards, which means you'd have as much room as is on the card. Sounds like you'll need ALOT of space so you may want one with the removable SD cards for extra memory. You could buy extra cards and make one for this library, and another for another library. Good idea to keep one exclusive for backup, in case something happens to the "everyday" one. Check out the Sansa View playah for one, and go to www.comp-u-plus.com, they have a wide selection. Be sure to check all the system requirements as these things are generally NOT returnable. Make sure its compatible with your operating system. Do a google search and read everything you can get your hands on before you actually purchase.
Best regards,
Kaysee
iriver
by DonKelly - 11/22/07 11:40 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I like mine, drm free and it has a radio - but it is an older model
Less is More - unless you really really really need more
by Eradikator - 11/22/07 11:46 AM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Nancy,
If you're sure you need an MP3 player to do all the stuff you said, get the iPod -- it only costs a lot more to go first class, as they say. But if you're like me, you really need an MP3 player for playing music - while you're on the go. I store my photos and my enitre music collection in multiple back ups in three different external hard drives. Currently my music collection weighs about 41 gigabytes and includes about 12,900 files. My family photos cweigh only about 3 gigs for the 11,000 photos. I suppose I could carry all that around on an iPod -- I saw a nice 80 gig refurbished iPod at the Apple store for $200.00, but the operative word here is refurbished. More on the reliability of MP3 players in a bit.
Call me paranoid for having three copies of everything sitting on three diffeent hard drives, but my family photos and music collections are that important.
With that said, regarding the MP3 player, I use mine daily on my walks/jogs, when I'm sitting around waiting for anything (slow fast food; medical appointments; in queues at the post office, super market, etc.).
I'm not a trendy, super cool guy who dances as I do my daily walk along the bike path with a need to have a elitely branded music box (although I do like my name brand underwear), so I opted for the cheapest MP3 player I could find for a couple of reasons: first, my research of anecdotal reviews of MP3 players suggests flash drives and the like are much more prone to fail than physical drives like a hard drive on a computer, and secondly, I want to hear what I want to hear without having to search -- for example, when I'm out walking or jogging, I don't want to have to page thru lists to find what I want to hear. So, I purchased an MP3 player with 256MB of storage and I put 20 or 30 songs on it. At any given point in time, tose are the songs I want to hear. I listen to them until I get tired of them at which point I put different songs on it. I am surpemely happy as I listen, and my wallet hasn't taken too big a hit: $40 actually. So instead of paying $200 or $300 or more on the iPod or iPhone or whatever, my recommendation is to assess your real needs in a player. With the $160 or $260 or more that you save, you might buy a first rate photo printer a mega-gig external hard drive to store photos and music, or????
iTunes
by puma - 11/22/07 12:13 PM In reply to: Less is More - unless you really really really need more by Eradikatoras iTunes is the best digital jukebox available, bar none, my preference is the iPod. as the saying goes: iPod, therefore i am...
It all depends...
by raiderhemi - 11/22/07 12:30 PM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I own a 30GB Appli iPod and a Sony NWZ-A818 MP3 player and I love them both for different reasons.
With the iPod, you can store a HECK OF A LOT of music, photos, videos. I also really prefer the customization features of the itunes software. Another great plus with the iPod is that there are so many accessories you can buy for it: FM transmitters, sound systems which you can dock your ipod directly to without the use of cords, adapters, etc. However, the 30GB iPod is a bit heavy if you want to strap it to your arm or keep it in a pocket for walking, running.
I also love my Sony NWZ-A818. It has an 8GB capacity and also stores a lot of music, but not as much as the iPod. I use my sony to download podcasts, etc., the kind of stuff that I will listen to, then replace after a short period of time. Since it is only an 8GB, I keep mainly my FAVORITE music on it, whereas I can store a large portion of my entire music library on the 30GB iPod. I really LOVE the Sony's bright display and EXCELLENT sound quality. Plays great quality video and pictures too. It is very small, light, and powerful. It is also compatible with Napster and other music downloading software, whereas the iPod only uses iTunes.
With everything, there are tradeoffs. The iPod is like a "Mac", and just about everything else is like a "PC". There is a much greater selection with traditional MP3 players than there is with the iPods. Also, the iPods are expensive compared to everything else. My dilemma was deciding how much money to spend. For $200, I bought my Sony with 8GB "flash drive" capacity. For $100 more, I could have over 3 times the capacity with a "hard drive" unit like the iPod or the Zune. I really wish there were MP3 players with an in-between storage capacity like 15-20GB. So again, it's all what you prefer or wish to settle for.
If you want to save money, go with something smaller, but if you are willing to shell out the bucks, go with an iPod.
Hope this helped!
It really depends on what you want!
by wolf_odonnell9000 - 11/22/07 1:25 PM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you're looking for an MP3 player to view pictures, or maybe even videos, I'd say either a Video iPod or you could go with another brand of MP3 player out there (there's a lot!) If you are planning to use a wireless headset (they're a little bulky, but wires can be annoying) I'd say go with a Bluetooth enabled MP3 player. iPods are not Bluetooth enabled but there are hardware add-ons. iPods have a lot of accessories to make it your own, but regular MP3 players are brand specific. Also iPods do not have expandable memory, if you run out of room, you've also run out of luck! So if you are getting a plain MP3 player, make sure it has what you want. If you're getting an iPod, all you have to worry about is the memory size and whether or not it plays videos and you can view pictures.
Why you should have an iPod
by Nuggits63 - 11/22/07 1:36 PM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Nancy,
Well....I personally have 2 iPods. A 5th Gen. (60GB Video) and a 16GB iPod touch.
I personally love them. They are VERY easy to use they have an excellent user interface
(meaning they are very easy to use) and Apple couldn't have done a better job designing
both iTunes and the iPod. They literally just work together; and don't give you random errors
for whatever reason.
I have tried using a Zune (Microsoft's MP3 player, aka. "The iPod killer" ...yeah....those things
really aren't that great. They're bulky, hard to use, the software on the computer is just a
buttload of crap, it's slow, and.......I swear; I'm not making this up but, the Zune does lockup
on you.
Go for iPod. I promise, you will NOT be disappointed.
MP3 PLAYERS
by wwwgjsnet - 12/1/07 6:15 AM In reply to: Why you should have an iPod by Nuggits63Some of us with massive collections of MP3 spoken word files are irritated by "number of songs" criteria in comparing MP3 players. GB capacity is what counts. Also, it appears that all too many are held hostage to Apple iPod. My favorite players act like external hard drives which makes it very easy to move files into the player without fuss. My latest player with 8 GB flash memory requires no "syncing" of anything. Moving files into and out of ANY computer into the player is no strain on the brain. For too much attention is given to Apple iPod.
Buy a Zen
by mvmone - 12/1/07 8:47 AM In reply to: Why you should have an iPod by Nuggits63It sounds to me like you won't need a huge amount of storage. If not, you're best off with a player that does not contain a harddrive. Typically, anything with a capacity of over 8GB has a harddrive in it. These units will probably not last as long as a non-drive unit because they have moving parts, this makes them a bit more fragile. Along with that, battery-life is typically shorter with harddrive units because they have to spin up and spin down the harddrive continually.
A good 8GB Sansa, or Ipod should work for your needs, unless you have a need for storing video and a very large music catalog. Then you need a 30G minimum. Personally, I have a Creative Zen M, which I've owned for over a year now. I absolutely love it. It holds video, pictures, and music. I also has an FM radio and can be used as a portable harddrive for storing just about anything. The screen and look fantastic. As far as battery-life goes, I typically get about 8 hours of continuous play time, with the screen lit, between charges. You can extend that time by "locking" the unit. This shuts down power to the screen and controls so that it lasts longer. I don't often use it, but it's a nice feature to have.
Best of luck in your search.
Ipods not necessarily the best fit for everyone
by steve293000 - 11/22/07 1:54 PM In reply to: Buying my first MP3 player, advice needed! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've had lots of mp3 players over the years from many different manufacturers. I've had the original Ipod Shuttle (terrible!), 2nd generation Nano, 2nd generation Ipod Classic 20gb, Ipod Video 30gb, 5 or 6 Creative mp3 players, a couple Rios, and a bunch of others from various manufacturers. I would say that the sound quality doesn't vary that much from mp3 player to mp3 player. Ipods do have very good sound, but so do Creative, Sandisk, Iriver and many other brands. One big difference I have found is whether you want to have one with a rechargeable battery. I don't like them, myself. Seems you always run out of battery when you least expect it. It's so much easier to keep batteries around and pop one in when you need one. Rechargeables are cheaper, however. Another factor is the fact that Ipods don't have radios built in them. Creative mp3 players I have had have had excellent radios, and you can record off the radio in excellent quality as well. Not all mp3 players are equal in this category.
Ipods also have Itunes. I hate Itunes, it's the worst interface I've ever seen for an mp3 player. However, many like the selection offered on iTunes and it becomes a plus for them when considering a purchase. You also have to decide whether you want a hard drive based mp3 player or a flash memory based mp3 player. Hard drive based players are more sensitive to motion so if you go to the gym or run you would probably want a flash based player. You have to decide who much memory you need for your music. The bigger 30, 80, and 160gb Ipods hold alot, but they are much heavier. I always liked the lightest players because you can always have them with you without feeling weighted down. Also, selecting a song on a filled up 80gb Ipod Video can be a real chore, and take a while. Ipods do have an excellent menu system that help in this, one of the best around.
One more thing to think about is the Ipod dominance. Apple Ipods bring a huge amount on the resale market in case you find you don't like it. And they are the most popular, have the biggest cool factor, and are very reliable and time tested. I would have to recommend Ipods for your situation, and do recommend them to all the people looking for mp3's. The only reason you might not want one is if you want a radio. The big decision is whether you want a hard drive based Video, or one of the flash memory based Nanos. Hoped this helped!
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