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MP3 players: Clueless about MP3 players, need help!
- 12/12/08 4:12 PM
It does not require a music subscription ......
by Watzman - 12/7/08 7:01 PM In reply to: Mp3 player for Christmas by CashenaNone of the Sandisk Sansa products require a music subscription service. If you have digital music on your computer (MP3, WMA [without any DRM copy protection], WAV or other common files, you can just "drag and drop" them into the music folder on the Sansa. If this does not seem to be working, go into settings and make sure that the Sansa is in the MSC USB mode rather than the MTP mode.
Cool MP3 player
by random truth - 12/6/08 7:54 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would suggest an ipod touch for them, if your comfortable going a little over your budget as it is the coolest mp3 player right now. However if that's a bit on the pricy side for you I would recomend an iPod nano in their favorite color. Also if your grandchildren like to watch a lot of movies than I would suggest an iPod classic as it would be able to hold all of thier movies. I'm suggesting these players because not only do they have good feature sets but also scream "coolest grandma".
There is no longer a thing called "years to come"
by Willoch - 12/7/08 4:07 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Grandma Louise,
When I read your question, I recognize myself. When I buy something, I would like it to be long term sustainable, good quality and value for money. Despite endless market investigations, me and my husband usually turn out disappointed. We have entered into an era where product life cycles are SHORT and quality is moderate. The technology develops so quickly, so whatever you buy, there will be significantly better products around in two years time. Think about what you would like to pay for a product with 2-3 year life cycle at maximum.
When I bought players for the teenagers and myself, I bought IPOD Nanos. These has stayed quite ok. The previous version of IPOD's we had, lost ability to load the batteries, which could of course not be changed, so they went to the garbage. BUT, going for anything starting with an I, means different and proprietory file formats. I choose this because this format is a bit better than the others, and the availability of old music is great. But I find that my huge library of music is quite unmanageable, so if I would start over today, I would go for a more simple solution, and definately for the teens. I would choose Creative Zen, since they have been around forever in this business.
Good luck
50+ Mother of teens
Recommended MP3 player
by Rodgman - 12/7/08 6:24 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't consider myself the expert on digital audio players (being an old codger myself), but I have been using a Sony Walkman for the last year and I have been very happy with it. I chose this player because it is a small, higher quality player and it seems to be more geared towards the user who is primarily interested in listening to music (mp3's) as opposed to looking at video's, pictures, etc. To avoid getting into anything technical, let’s just say that it offers more control over the playback of the music, allowing for a better quality sound. But what is best suited for me is not necessarily best suited for your grandkids. Frankly, both my daughters have Apple iPod Nano's and they've been very pleased with them. I would recommend an iPod in your situation also for several reasons. First of all, Apple rules the market in digital apple players. Probably 90% of all peripheral devices available for digital audio players are made for Apple devices. In addition, Apple’s iTunes software (the program used to control and load music onto the players), despite what some people think about it, is very easy to use and is a very capable program. Finally, I believe your grandkids will relate to the iPod better since this is the player that most of their friends will have also. In your situation, I recommend a flash memory based iPod (either the Nano or the Shuffle) as opposed to the larger hard drive based iPod Classic model. The Nano or the Shuffle models will be less expensive and are better suited for children who might be prone to dropping the devices, etc.
Differences between MP3 players
by taekguy2001 - 12/7/08 6:35 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Most people find a MP3 player and really like the brand they have. Some are only for certain MP3 players because of the brand. iPods are the most popular because they were some the of the first out there for people. Now, there are quite a few different versions of MP3 players even in the under that same brand (Ex: iPod touch, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, etc). Each player provides something over the other with the bigger names. A good list of things to compare can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_portable_media_players.
Choosing a MP3 player depends on what you want for features: Video, iTunes compatibility, expansion slot (Micro SD), radio, etc.
In my opinion, I have found the SanDisk Sansa series to be the brand I prefer. SanDisk has been top notch in flash storage and I heard (but not verified) audio. But those reasons weren't the ones I liked the best when buying my player. The SanDisk Sansa E200 series had everything the iPod Nano provided (except the iTunes compatibility - that is exclusive to iPods) and more. Besides the video, MP3 playback, playing capability, and scroll wheel, the player also had a Micro SD expansion slot, Radio Receiver, and Audio/Radio recording capability. This allows me to keep expanding my player with more space when I need it, switch to Radio when I am tired of my music, and allows me to save messages or songs I hear for later reference.
I now have 2 Sansa versions (one for my spouse) and plan to get my kid one later on. If I had to choose a new player, I would choose the SanDisk Sansa Fuze or View with 8 GB of storage or more.
I hope this helps. If you do get a player, I suggest you check out websites like www.buy.com or www.pricegrabber.com to find a good price.
ipod mp3 only.
by chronic99 - 12/7/08 11:25 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Buying a good mp3 player for grand kids is a good way surprise them. They may differ in size of capability to price. But this only best player which they can spent using itunes and listen for hours with single charge. It has best feature like they can listen to it while displaying the lyrics. plus more. I remember most cause my brother gave me to me when it was first release and back of ipod's body there was a message written and my name on it. It's not only the player but the name matter to me mostly. Thanks.
MP3 Player
by kacey_45 - 12/7/08 1:03 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hey I bought a real cheap one at wal-mart for less then $30(cnd)just to try it out about a yr ago and its still working just great.
Its 1 gb and holds 500 songs and takes 1 AAA battery which last app. 8 hrs and it came with everything I needed.
Compared the sound to a friends ipod and this 30 dollar one sounds every bit as good.
Expensive is not always better I have found and as far as I'm concerned ipods are overrated and overpriced.
When this one goes kaput I will buy a little better one with a bigger screen as I find the screen on this one a little small.
It will more then likely be a Sandisk as I've had good luck with their products
MP3 purchase...
by forkboy - 12/7/08 1:49 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Louise.
Your desire to purchase MP3 players for your grandchildren should be greeted with great fanfare on Christmas day. It’s a wonderful choice and hopefully you have come to the right place for some help. So…on to the task….
Keeping your budget in mind you should be able to find two very nice and competent players in today’s market. Apple, and its ubiquitous iPod line, would undoubtedly serve your grandchildren quite well. In addition, the software necessary to run these players, iTunes, is a competent piece of software enjoyed by millions around the globe. Keep in mind that your grandchildren will have to use iTunes with any Apple MP3 player as their players do not work with other software (this is neither good nor bad, but just a fact of life). However, Apple MP3 players do tend to be more expensive than non-Apple products. Not only are they more expensive in general, but they typically have fewer features than non-Apple products. Apple MP3 players eschew FM radio, voice recording and other such features, while costing the same (or more) as other comparable products. Again, this isn’t good or bad, but simply the way Apple prefers to make their products. If the lack of FM radio and such won’t bother your grandchildren then it’s a moot point.
Your budget of $100-$200 is, I’m assuming, for both players. This budget restriction makes the purchase of Apple products a bit easier in that it is only the iPod Shuffle you could afford to purchase two of. Unfortunately for your budget the current iPod Nano starts with 8GB of memory, but also comes with a price tag hovering around $150/each. The Shuffle is competent, but very, very basic, coming with no viewing screen. Your grandchildren’s needs might be met by the Shuffle, but it will seem lacking when compared to so many other MP3 options. As such, you may need to reconsider your budget, if possible, or look at non-Apple options.
In the world of other MP3 players there really are so many from which to choose. Many companies have good to great reputations and include the likes of, but not limited to Creative Labs, Microsoft, Archos, Samsung, Sony, SanDisk and Philips. Amongst this crowd I myself have owned units from four different manufacturers and I have no complaints about any of them. They all provide roughly the same features and abilities, all sound good (better with third-party headphones) and each offers a nice return on your dollar.
A model from any of these companies will likely make your grandchildren quite happy. SanDisk offers very competitive pricing thanks to the fact they are a memory manufacturer and flash memory is the heart of these MP3 players. Some of the more recent Sony models have received very positive reviews for their sound quality and battery life (as can be found on the CNET Reviews web site). Archos has long offered great sounding players, but isn’t as well known as the other players in this field. Having owned a few Creative Lab products I can personally say that I like the way they work, they sound good and offer plenty of battery life.
If forced to offer the most direct advice I’m going to use my personal experience to state that I would consider products from one of the following three: Microsoft (the Zune line), SanDisk or Sony. The 4GB Zunes can be had for around $100 and have received much in the way of positive press for their sound quality and interface (the touchpad that allows the user to interact with the player). The SanDisk Sansa Clip or Sansa Fuze offer plenty of features at a very reasonable price and you could possible get the 8GB versions for roughly the same price as 4GB models from other manufacturers. And the more recent offerings from Sony in the way of the 8GB Walkman models are receiving plenty of positive feedback in the press and would suit anyone’s needs very nicely. I like what I’ve read so much that I have one on its way to me right now.
Keep in mind that turn around in the MP3 world is pretty quick and that these devices, regardless of the manufacturer, can be damaged rather easily and we all know that kids (11 & 14) can or will be rough on them. It is quite possible that they will want or need new players in only 18-24 months so don’t be offended if your lovely gift is yesterday’s news in short order!
Hope some or all of this helps and have a Merry Christmas with the grandkids!
Flash MP3 payer
by rajavesw - 12/7/08 9:21 PM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi,
1. The MP3 is one of the file formats how the songs are compressed and stored.
2. AAC is another little bit better format than MP3.
3. It would be nice, if you can watch video the same player too.
4. Should have at-least 20hours or more non-stop music.
5. Should be small enough to carry in pocket.
6. Out of all, should have the best bang for bucks with top-notch audio quality/clarity.
If you look for the above things in mind, then, I would recommend Creative Zen 2GB (It comes with expandable memory slot – if the 2GB space I n not sufficient on later date you can add extra 2 GB memory card) The latest max 32 GB (its bit expensive).
And 16GB will cost around 180$. where as a 2GB you may find on line for 70$ + Shipping.This is player is flash memory player, meaning it has no moving parts. So no skipping of songs while doing Gym / jogging. Even if its dropped accidentally not much damage will happen.
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=16999
Review of it is here :
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/creative-zen-2gb/4505-6490_7-32824134.html
But there are other hard disk based players, where you can get 80+GB like that. But, it consumes more power, needs frequent charging. If dropped accidentally, there is every possibility that they fail permanently.
Happy Holidays,
Greetings,
Swami.
MP3 [player
by Ninjarama - 12/8/08 5:26 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I purchased the Sansa view (8GB) a few months ago and absolutely love it. It cost around $80 at walmart (on line) and has so many features. It is very easy to use and down load music to. It is small and holds tons of music. I have over 500 songs downloaded to it and barely touched the amount of memory. I looked at several reviews and they were all very positive. I think for the price it is a great investment. It even has an FM Tuner as well and you can also down load photos to it. I hope this helps.
Get the I-pod
by meg1725 - 12/8/08 7:10 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While there are many brands of MP3 players, what the kids want is the Ipod. They are more $, but go with the 8gb Nano and you will be OK with plenty of memory for songs and video. With the new bright colors, the kids love them. I have 4 kids ranging in age from 10-15 and they love their Ipods. I buy within my budget and then give them the option of spending the extra $50 or so if they want to upgrade to the next model, which in this case would be the 16gb Nano I believe. If you buy an off-brand, the kids will not like it!
Clueless about MP3 players - I can relate!
by dblair - 12/8/08 7:54 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Until recently, I was clueless about MP3 players too. I understand computers, but I've never been one for gadgets. A couple weeks ago, I went to Best Buy and purchased a Samsung MP3 player (normally $79.00 but there was a $30.00 instant savings on it). It had a 4GB storage capacity and was less than the iPod that only had 1GM of memory. It also has video and a FM Radio functions, as well as the ability to read text documents -- options that the iPod in the same range didn't have. The downside was that I had purchased a whole bunch of music over the years from iTunes, which I wasn't then able to put on my MP3 player without jumping through hoops to do it. However, I discovered that music can be purchased from Amazon so I've switched to using them for my music downloads.
It took me several hours to get things downloaded to my player and to figure out how to use it. Of course, I was researching about iTunes and finding additional things to download, so that took time. However, it was fairly easy to use. My 11 year old son picked it up while we were driving to visit family and he figured out how to use it without even reading the instructions. They adapt so easily to technology.
Overall my advise would be to buy something that has good storage capacity. Unless they already have a bunch of music from iTunes, I wouldn't suggest buying them an iPod -- that'll create more headaches for the parents than it's worth.
I hope this helps you to become the coolest grandma ever!
Even if they have music from iTunes
by Crash2100 - 12/8/08 8:04 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players - I can relate! by dblairEven if they do have music from iTunes, they can always burn it to a cd, then rip the music back off of the cd for the other player.
Avoid ipod, itunes etc
by mmac110 - 12/8/08 8:45 AM In reply to: Clueless about MP3 players, need help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm not expert, but my daughter got an ipod and downloads songs on itune. I have a generic mp3 player and found out that it will NOT play the files downloaded from itunes, apparently because they are a different format (mp4?). It turns out you can get around this problem by burning the songs you want onto a cd, then ripping them back into the computer as mp3 files, but this is slow and a waste. I see no reason to use itunes when it's a limited format. Get a mp3 player.
an iPod is an mp3 player
by ktreb - 12/8/08 9:34 AM In reply to: Avoid ipod, itunes etc by mmac110For those who are considering an iPod, here's a little advice:
1. Change settings in iTunes so that when you rip cds, they will rip into mp3 format rather than aac. The default setting is aac. They are unprotected aac, so they can be easily converted to mp3s. But save yourself the trouble by changing your settings.
2. Do not buy music from iTunes. Buy from Amazon's mp3 downloads store. If you d/l the Amazon Downloader, then the tracks will go straight into your iTunes library. If you feel the need to buy from iTunes, try to buy the un-DRM'ed iTunes Plus tracks. That way, you can easily make mp3 copies without burning to an audio cd then ripping back to mp3s as well as put them on players that can play unprotected aac (such as the newer Sony Walkman players and ironically, Microsoft Zune).
Apple has been in talks with the other (3?) major record labels so that they can sell their songs DRM free. Hopefully this will happen in the coming year. Currently, only EMI lets Apple do this. All of the majors already have deals with Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon, and Microsoft to sell their songs DRM free and they have done so for the last 6 months or longer.
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