VANITY - MP3 Players?

11/13/07 | bear_slayer

[Bear_Slayer]

I'm thinking about getting an MP3 player.

I know IPOD is the standard, but what other options exist? Which should I avoid?

What features should I look for, total storage size, &etc?

[RayChuang88]

Nope, the data connector is not the same between different brands of MP3 players. Third party support for the iPod data connector is huge, mostly because there are enough iPods with the iPod data connector to justify building third party peripherals such as chargers, clock radios and high-quality speakers with the iPod data connector dock.

[Randy Larsen]

Thanks for posting this, I’m considering the same thing.

[Titan Magroyne]

I’m interested in mp3 portability myself, simply wanting to listen to music already on my puter. But the proprietary crap turns me off.

So you say all you have to do with yours is drag and drop, no hassle with a nanny software reporting every move to an online entity? No big learning curve?

I used to actually support artists and buy CDs. With each “improvement” in DRM technology, the more difficulty trying to make them play on my tabletop stereos. F’em. They can keep their useless CDs.

[skr]

Do you want to be able to replace the batteries yourself? Do you want to be able to record directly from something other than a computer? Do you want to use headphones or a built-in speaker?

Just some things to consider.

[Stoat]

Nope, the data connector is not the same between different brands of MP3 players. Third party support for the iPod data connector is huge, mostly because there are enough iPods with the iPod data connector to justify building third party peripherals such as chargers, clock radios and high-quality speakers with the iPod data connector dock.

Thank you very, very much.  I sincerely appreciate your spending the time to give such a precise and complete answer.  Cheers!  :-)

[John Valentine]

I have an iPod (80 gig classic - my third iPod)) and I almost never buy songs from the iTunes music store.

The reason you might want to consider iPod, other than the fact that the iPod has the most intuitiive user interface, is the music management software (iTunes) that resides on your computer and manages the music you carry around on your MP3 player.

This is VERY important if you chose an MP3 player using flash ram, as your MP3 player will have MUCH less capacity that the library you will build up on your computer, and you will need to occasionally change out the several hundred songs you are carrying around with you. You will want to do this, trust me.

Or, if you get a high capacity player with a mini hard drive, (like the iPod classic 80 gigabyte or 160 gigabyte models) in addition to a huge library of music (I have about 9,300 songs on mine) you can put a number of full length movies on your iPod as well (I have six now) which can then be played on any TV. I don’t know how many of the vanilla MP3 players have this feature.

[MississippiMan]

A few thoughts on djSunzi's iPhone recommendation...

• If you're a power texter, someone who sends text messages many times per day, you might not want the iPhone. I moved from Blackberry to iPhone. The onscreen keyboard sucks.
• If you're not a power texter, the iPhone is a great tool. I love having genuinely useful Internet access, being able to see who voicemails are from, etc. I also LOVE having iPod functionality built in. If I'm stuck in an airport or a lobby or some other place-of-waiting, I plug in the headphones and watch an episode of LAW AND ORDER, or maybe HOUSE, or whatever.
• Do remember that while the iPhone gives you the dual function of phone and iPod, the top model still only offers 8GB. 8GB will hold a lot of songs and audiobooks, but it's pretty stingy when you start loading video.
• If you want the player functionality only, my rec is the iPod Classic. I've traditionally not been an Apple fan and for years avoided the iPod in favor of other players. Glad I finally got past that.
• The iPod is without a doubt the finest player I've had by a long shot, and I owned several in my pre-iPod days. Gorgeous aesthetics, incredibly well supported as far as accessories and interactivity. As an example, I just bought a new car. Like many of today's cars, it came with an auxiliary input that will accept the audio output from virtually any player on the market. Only one player, however, is able to jack into the car's network and be highly controllable via the navigation/audio screen, and that's the iPod.

MM (in TX)

[Fiji Hill]

Thanks for posting this. A heavy user of analog media, I have a large colledtion of 45 and 78 rpm sound discs, and when I download music from the Internet, it is mostly onto audiocassettes. However, I would like to upgrade to digital media, so I am reading this discussion with interest.

[perfect stranger]

So you say all you have to do with yours is drag and drop, no hassle with a nanny software reporting every move to an online entity? No big learning curve?

Yes. It came with software and I tried using it with, but it doesn't need the software because XP already does the job.

[RichardW]

These are really remarkable devices and the sound is terrific. They don’t cost much and they sure come in handy when exercising. You can probably find one for about $50 that will do everything you need. And some cars have a plug in that you can just run through your car radio. That’s a great feature that I like out in the boondocks where the radio reception is poor unless you want to shell out for Sirius or XM.

[John Valentine]

My son’s car has an iPod formatted digital connector in the central storage bay between the front seats. It keeps the iPod charged, links it to a control right on the steering wheel, and displays the song/artist information on the dash.

It’s great, and it’s iPod specific.

[bigred44]

Whatever you do (I have the 30 GB Creative Vision M), GET A 2-YEAR WARRANTY!

[tflabo]

My niece gave me a Zen V Plus Mp3 with 2 GB of storage. It has the option of compacting files to .wma to free up extra space. I use free Limewire.com to download many songs and use a Western Digital portable hard drive to store my music library and it’s easy to transfer music to and from the Zen V. I use it for airplane travel mostly andhave a pretty full sound for such a small device. I used to carry my portable CD player on board prior to the Mp3 player. For me I’m pretty low tech but the Mp3 is great. Make sure you dont unplug them while files are still being transferred because they can get hosed that way.

[tflabo]

Hey Bear I feel the same way about radio these days too. Used to be that you could find good options on FM radio years ago....now FM is filled with so many commercials and nonsense chatter from the DJ’s. Plus the music selections not often to my liking.. Mp3 for me....

[Caesar Soze]

I dearly love my Rio Karma. The Karma, though old and bulky, is wondrously ergonomic and handles all my OGGs and FLACs. I will replace it, but I'm not in a big hurry.

Its spiritual successor seems to be the TrekStor vibez [sic]. It doesn't look as comfortable for the hand, but it replaces the shock-vulnerable hard disk with flash memory and increases the number of audio formats it plays. I just worry that the big iPod-inspired scroll wheel will be harder to manage or slower to use than the Karma's elegant do-almost-everything-with-your-thumb-and-muscle-memory model.

Keep in mind that you're not necessarily stuck with the manufacturer-provided firmware in some players. If you find one with good hardware, but it doesn't support the audio format(s) of your choice, see if Rockbox will work on it. Rockbox is a user-created firmware originally designed to correct several deficiencies in Apple's iPod line.

[bmwcyle]

I also have the 8GB photo version of this. This is my first Creative. It works great. I just wanted to go to a video version.

[Titan Magroyne]

Wonderfully simple. Thanks for your reply!

[EEDUDE]

Bookmark.

[pray4liberty]

I got a cheapie (under $50) from Walmart by Phillips, plugs right into the computer, even plays 'protected' WMA files.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7789719