MP3 players: Clueless about MP3 players, need help!
- 12/12/08 4:12 PM
Apple may be fashionable, but there's better stuff
by Crash2100 - 12/5/08 6:34 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Apple products are a lot like expensive sports cars, it's fashionable to get one, but they don't do much more for most people that buy them.
For crying out loud, a 1GB Apple iPod Shuffle costs $50. You can get an MP3 player that has 4GB of storage, an FM Radio Tuner, and also plays MP4 video and picture files, for $10 LESS! Something like this:
Mach Speed Onyx 4GB MP3/MP4 Player w/ FM Tuner/ Voice Recorder 1.8" Display
http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3476975
Unless they specifically want the Apple iPod for its geeky style, I say, get them a cheaper, more feature soaked product.
I like the ZUNE players
by kingskid50 - 12/5/08 6:46 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
We have purchased the ZUNE players. They have a larger screen and can do more in my opinion than the I pods. Our son has an 80 GB player and our daughter has a 30GB one. They are from Microsoft Corp.
WHERE TO GET THE ZUNE?
by jerrysbaby - 12/13/08 12:40 PM In reply to: I like the ZUNE players by kingskid50are these compatible with iTunes?
Creative and zune players good places to get
by Father Time4 - 12/13/08 3:49 PM In reply to: WHERE TO GET THE ZUNE? by jerrysbabyI always go to newegg.com for alot of my computer gadgets... I try and stay away from the IPODs.. to me they are a waste of money.. you cant have 2 IPODs on the same computer.. it will automatically add those songs of the oth persons favorites.. or delete his or hers play list and you will have to start all over,, excpecially if you buy them the same one.. it will recgonize it as the same one.. to me its a pain.. not worth the time..
My 11 yr old daughter has a Zune
by gflash128 - 12/15/08 11:23 AM In reply to: Creative and zune players good places to get by Father Time4My 11 yr old daughter has a Zune. She loves it and so do I. It was affordable and has many features of the IPod, if not more. It looks cool and the battery charges through the USB cable that you connect to the computer to download your music, videos, etc...
There is no doubt that the cooooolest MP3 with the pre-teens and young teens is the IPod touch screen. It's the newest and as such, the coolest.
The IPod is gonna be $$$$!, and most, if not all, of the features will be outdated before a year is up. If you want them to enjoy it for years, I would suggest getting a Zune, or other that you have read about, that are less expensive yet have the most features for the buck. That way, if new features come out that are the latest,and by default the coolest, you'll have enough cash to upgrade to a newer model.
Technology changes too fast to try to keep the latest and greatest all the time. Keep in mind that your grandkids will soon be getting, if the don't already have, the notorious CELL PHONE!! Most kids are using there cell phones as MP3 players as the phones are incorporating more and more features, and, they usually get upgraded each year or so depending on your cell phone plan.
Like I said, a cool MP3 player, with lot's of features yet not as $$$ as IPOD is probably your best bet for this year.
Peace and Merry Christmas.
The best , coolest present they can get this year is their "way cool" Grandma who would go through all this trouble for them. You go with yourself Grandma!
Gordon
Seriously?
by His SHadow - 12/23/08 2:18 PM In reply to: My 11 yr old daughter has a Zune by gflash128That's your advice? Buy a hopelessly outclassed MP3 player because the top of the line, which is actually similarly priced or more likely even cheaper, keeps evolving? So rather than have something that is the latest and greatest and deal with the fact that technology changes, buy a dumbed down MP3 player which won't be superseded by another model because the Zune evolution is glacial? We won't even get into how much more advanced the iPod Touch is...
Clueless about Mp3 players
by mittens - 12/5/08 6:49 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Not a solution, but a suggestion; considering the age of the kids involved, they probably know already what they like and don't like, and what is cool with the kids they hang out with--and at this stage you might be the coolest grandma going if you could go with them (the surprise will be when you get to the store) and said, "this is how much money I have to spend, get the Mp3 players you like that I can afford".
I dont know how practical that sounds, but if'n it were me, and I had two grandchildren at that age, I'd rather get them something they want rather than something you THINK they want.
good idea
by jerrysbaby - 12/13/08 12:41 PM In reply to: Clueless about Mp3 players by mittensgood idea...I cld be a grandma since I am in that age group...but I wld try this approach too...
Best MP3 player for your Grandchildren
by rdturner127 - 12/24/08 1:07 PM In reply to: Clueless about Mp3 players by mittensI agree with you wholeheartedly. It's better to get them something they want than something some grown folk think they want. iPods offer the coolness factor a lot of kids crave. However, your grandchildren might not want iPods. Their friends might be into something else. For coolness alone, and for no other reason, you usually can't go wrong with any iPod. Creative Stone and Zunes do have many more features and generally better sound quality. However, it's best to either find out from their parents what your grandchildren have been talking about or take them to a store, tell them your budget and let them pick their own. Also, I suggest talking to their parents because they might already be planning on getting your grandchildren MP3 players.
MP3 Players...Clueless
by BillyReeves - 12/5/08 7:04 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello clueless, lost Grandma.
Using my cool factor and the top opinions of teens' tastes by just checking the sites, it appears that the "iPod Touch" is "awesome."
The 8MB model is great for your price range. Do a little googling for "top rated MP3 players" "best selling mp3 players"
Make sure you use quotes to limit your search to those words in a phrase.
Good Luck and Merry Christmas
BillyReevesNet
Get them something with replaceable batteries
by ethanw - 12/5/08 7:05 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If your grandkids are teens, the one bit of advice is to get them a player where the batteries can be replaced easily. Though this will make MP3 and iPod snobs cringe, I rely on iRiver players when I can get them but, in lieu of that, Sansa. They're easy to use and your grandkids won't have any problem at all in filling them with their kind of music. The iPods (plural) that I have had have had to be sent in every nine months to have their batteries replaced (and that isn't cheap). However, iPods are the favorites of teens, overrated and expensive but favorites. You should get an MP3 player with 8 GB of storage (about 1100 songs) and you'll still be well within your budget.
EthanW (with 2 grandkids and 4 MP3 players)
try the refurbished ones
by jerrysbaby - 12/13/08 12:45 PM In reply to: Get them something with replaceable batteries by ethanwOK...might not sound too cool. but I got my girls (16 and 18) refurbished 2GB and 8GB...they look like new and they cost less and they didn't think I was a miser...they were awed since they didn't not expect it! Work like a charm and they handle them on their own thru iTunes which is installed on all our laptops and desktops....plus they get extra stuff swapping with their friends using a small software gizmo called iPod transfer...
just my 2c.
gri up in cold alaska
MachSpeed players are ok and Apple is just over priced
by tbowers8993 - 12/5/08 7:17 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I like My MachSpeed Player, i have the Eclipse 2gb model, and it even looks close to that of a Silver Apple Nano. MachSpeed does not even list it on there website yet. I found it at FYE for $20. It does good with Mp3 files, as long as they are properly encoded, or funky random ID3 tags will show up. WMA does not seem to work so well. As with most of the lower end models, they are Z80 or eZ80 Zilog/Simtel based players. they use .AMV for the video codec which, is based on the motion Jpeg standard. It comes with the converter software for AMV. If they break it what the heck it's only $20 - $40 a player. Just make sure to throw out the cheap headphones it comes with, and get them some nicer onces like some over the ear Ifrogz or Koss. As for Apple to me it's JUNK. All there products are over priced and use Property formats, and not to mention ITUNES which is bad on Windows and $.99 and up for a song or video. I have a niece who works for the apple store in San Ann. TX, and told me not to buy Apple. If that does not say something about Apple, that some of it's own employies hate them, I don't know what will. Be smart don't buy into the Apple Hype.
Not an easy answer, but maybe a sensible one
by grtgrfx - 12/5/08 7:23 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who like iPods...and everyone else. Now the folks who dislike Apple's MP3 player have lots of reasons for their opinion, ranging from a lack of interoperability with other music providers (true) to the gall of Apple to make something that's, ahem, "cool," instead of (insert your hyper-technical wishlist items here). Most complaints fall into these two categories.
Fact is, Apple did the world a lot of good by inventing iPods, by making older often cumbersome techie-only devices easy to use, attractive and fun. Unfortunately Apple does charge a premium for the pleasure of owning their products, and many feel the cachet just isn't worth the cash. But millions of iPod owners can't all be drinking the coolaid; iPods are indeed some of the nicest, simplest and, yes, coolest MP3 players you can buy. For the average citizen, an iPod is a great gift because there's almost no learning curve and the thing just works.
Since the iPod's debut, however, the other music player manufacturers have had to get in the game or lose whatever market share Apple's left for them. This means, Creative, Sansa, Archos, Microsoft and all the other companies have had to make their players better just to compete, which is great for everyone. So you will find players from the other makers that are cheaper, roomier, more flexible and have asked-for features like integral radios, recording capability, etc. And that's a good thing. Apple's making them produce nicer players just by being in the same room. However, no matter what their marketing departments promise, these other players do not provide the silky-smooth user experience of an iPod.
This is one case where following the herd can truly get you a great product instead of some compromised, lowest-common-denominator piece of mass-market junk (see GM cars). And yet you can still strike out on your own and find alternative players which can combine competitive pricing and better feature sets with a somewhat more challenging user experience, without settling for crud. It's your choice: premium product for the premier sensibility, or alternatives that deliver more value with a bit less bliss.
Competition has forced iPod to improve not vice versa
by wdbintx - 12/12/08 10:36 PM In reply to: Not an easy answer, but maybe a sensible one by grtgrfxIf the kids are followers, iPod may be the only choice. But if they are more into function and features, or simply are able to think for themselves, they may prefer another brand. And as many have already commented, one can easily find better function and/or a broader feature set for less money with any number of other brands - in fact, it would be difficult to not do so.
I did see some mention of it in another post, but perhaps the most important thing for Grandma to consider is that going for cool for tweens simply does not fit with the desire to give them something they will get years of use from. Apple understands this very well. That's why new models appear every 6 to 8 weeks. Some good friends who live in another state have 2 teenage daughters. When they visited here 2 years ago, each of the girls was on their 4th or 5th iPod. When we visited there a few months ago, the older one who had just graduated from highschool had just gotten her 10th iPod. What happened to the old ones? Most broke/stopped working, but a few just became obsolete.
Are iPods less durable/reliable than other brands? Perhaps, but likely not - Apple probably knows. But they're all about what's cool this week, so if it lasts more than 90 days, their goal is that the customer will replace it whether or not it is working. And it seems the majority of the Apple faithful happily comply.
And for those iPod/Apple lovers who are fuming at this point - I'm not Apple-phobic. In fact, the first Apple computer that I bought was about the time Steve & company moved out of his parent's garage into their first home away from home. As I recall, that was nearly 30 years ago, and about 5 years before I bought my first PC.
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