[corkoman]

I have eliminated all iPOD products from my upcoming mp3 player purchase as I dont want to be hamstrung with using iTunes - I want to be able to use windows explorer to move files onto and off of my mp3 player.

I keep hearing apple geeks proclaim this is possible with an iPOD but I found out for myself - nope.

Lots of mp3 players out there now.

[jude24]

It is possible. Turn on hidden files in Windows, and copy the MP3's in "iPod control." Once that has been done, set iTunes to the task of re-organizing the folder, and you have extracted your MP3's.

It's needlessly complicated, but it is quite doable.

[Last Dakotan]

Lots of mp3 players out there now.

Just bought one for my daughter for the same reasons - loves it.

[SunStar]

You can use an iPod without iTunes. There are a lot of Windows programs out there to replace the functionality (and more) of iTunes.

Such as: Anapod Explorer

[kingu]

I want to be able to use windows explorer to move files onto and off of my mp3 player.

'tis why I have a Creative Zen Micro.

[JSteff]

iPod Shuffle. Article is in PC Magazine for June. It is free and will even allow you to use your IPod as a storage device while you have your tunes on it. It can be found for free at http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/

The article on PCMagazine is here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1825075,00.asp

Enjoy

[luckystarmom]

I'm pretty sure you can. My husband got his iPod from work. His company makes the touchpad for the iPods. He doesn't use iTunes. He uses whatever he used with his old Creation Jukebox.

If you really want to know, I can ping him. He's a freeper also.

[MarkL]

Gee, I just rip and burn my MP3s to CDs. I've got a portable Sony CD player that understands them, I've got an Alpine auto CD player that also plays MP3s, and when I'm at home and want to listen to music, I can either play the CDs on my computer, or my home DVD player through my home theater sound system.

I guess I just don't feel the need for a dedicated MP3 player.

Mark

[piperpilot]

I, too, have rejected the iPOD and iTunes because of the format. My primary device for playing music is my PDA (an HP iPAQ 5455) with a 1GB SD card for storage. I simply don't see the utility of carrying around a separate device to play music when my iPAQ plays music and does so much more--videos, games, ebooks, Quicken, photos, contacts, calendar, Internet, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, notes, etc. With the 1GB SD card, I have plenty of room for music that would keep me entertained on long plane rides. Besides, you can't play games on an iPOD while you're listening to music at the same time.

[antiRepublicrat]

I have eliminated all iPOD products from my upcoming mp3 player purchase as I dont want to be hamstrung with using iTunes

Try this.

Of course, depending on your player, you could be hamstrung with Windows Media Player, which is worse.

[Terabitten]

Tech question for you. I have approximately 500 cd's. What size memory do I need if I want to put all of it on an iPod or other mp3 player?

Do you figure 11 songs per cd? Just curious.