Cheap alternative to Ipods

[Gary_Robson]

@Raguleader

That may be the case for you, but it seems that I have to have iTunes installed if I want to use an iPod, even if I’m just hooking up my room mate’s iPod to copy files onto my computer when we’re using it as a 60GB jump drive (the only use he’s found for it, he seems to listen to most of his music on his pickup truck’s CD deck :rolleyes:

Just as an experiment, I plugged my old 3rd gen iPod into a Windows XP/home system that did not have iTunes loaded. It popped up a message saying it had detected a USB storage device and asked if I wanted to mount it. Next thing you know, there was a new G: drive on the system. Worked beautifully.

NOTE: That was when my iPod drive was formatted for Windows. When I reformatted for Mac, this didn’t work anymore. It appears that Mac will read Windows USB drives, but Windows won’t read Mac USB drives. What a surprise :rolleyes:

@Frylock

Holy crap! I had no idea there was such a thing!

See post #14 above, where I explained the capacity and how to use it. My son picked up a used MP3/CD player for about $20 and did exactly this. It was cheap because the hinge didn’t work on the lid, so he just loaded it up and taped the lid shut.

[gazpacho]

@Dog80

I don’t understand the iPod craze. There are better MP3 players out there at a fraction of the price. For example, this baby: iAudio X5.

And no iTunes crap. You just copy the songs from your computer into the X5

That is the same price as the 30 gig Ipod $299. It may be better but it is not cheaper.

[CBCD]

I’m such a slut!

I bought a 512mb iPod shuffle this evening at Best Buy. It was originally $69.99, and I used a Best Buy discount certificate to bring the price down to $52.49.

That’s* less* than a USB jump drive with the same amount of memory would cost.

[FlippyFly]

I love my creative nomad MuVo. It’s like a shuffle, the self contained USB flash drive, but it has a screen too. I don’t understand why these aren’t more popular.

[Raguleader]

@gazpacho

That is the same price as the 30 gig Ipod $299. It may be better but it is not cheaper.

Uhm… 1/1 is a fraction too?

[CurtC]

If you’re getting an MP3 player, one feature I’d be sure to check out is that if you stop it in the middle of a selection, it resumes the next time from the same point. My MP3 player, a Philips, has the nice “feature” of starting up each time at the beginning of the selection you were listening to last. So if I’m listening to a two-hour long podcast on it, and pause it for more than 30 seconds (I did this exact thing last weekend), then you have no choice but to listen from the beginning again - there is no fast-forward function either.

I would hope that most players have fixed this, but if you’re looking for a used one you may want to look out.

[Mr.Blue_Sky]

@CurtC

If you’re getting an MP3 player, one feature I’d be sure to check out is that if you stop it in the middle of a selection, it resumes the next time from the same point.

My Zen Nomad will do this even if you’ve left the player off for several days.

[Dragonblink]

@CBCD

I’m such a slut!

I bought a 512mb iPod shuffle this evening at Best Buy. It was originally $69.99, and I used a Best Buy discount certificate to bring the price down to $52.49.

That’s* less* than a USB jump drive with the same amount of memory would cost.

Really? The 1gb USB drive I wear around my neck (next to my 1gb Shuffle) cost me about forty-five bucks. Your jump drive dealer is rippin’ you off.

[Gary_Robson]

@CurtC

So if I’m listening to a two-hour long podcast on it, and pause it for more than 30 seconds (I did this exact thing last weekend), then you have no choice but to listen from the beginning again - there is no fast-forward function either.

Ouch! When I’m listening to podcasts, I frequently want to rewind, fast-forward, or pause and come back to the same spot. I wouldn’t put up for very long with an MP3 player that couldn’t do those things.