So? What’s so great about dragging and dropping? Isn’t it better to be able to create multiple playlists (not to mention the “Smart Playlists” feature that iTunes has)?
Um, I guess. Personally I want a player that just plays whatever MP3 files I copy to it, in whatever directory structure I have them in, without all the software shit.
To reiterate what others have said, find out if what your daughter wants is an IPOD specifically or an MP3 player in general as there’s a big difference, and if it’s an IPOD get the red as it’s “socially conscious” and hip (and that’s just a cool as hell fundraiser all around- totally Pro Bono).
That said, if she wants an IPOD consider ordering it directly from the company. One advantage is that they will engrave her name/email address on it free of charge which is a plus. Working at the reference desk of a college library you wouldn’t believe how many of these things from the $75 shuffle to the $400 gazillion GBw/screen things have been turned in to me over the past couple of years. They’re so tiny and lightweight that students lose and leave them all the time, so even if you go with an MP3 or don’t buy one from Apple directly (has anyone else seen those vending machines incidentally? That’s odd- you can buy an IPOD with your debit card as if it were a Coke) be sure to get her a carrying case that’s significantly larger than the device so that she won’t lose it.
The big Ipod is only $250 now, probably less with student discount or B-stock, so I’d only get the Nano if you want the small size or the ruggedness of the flash memory.
Slight hijack: I have a Nano and it’s nice, but it’s bigger than I’d need to hold things I’m going to listen to immediately, so I fret over how to fill the rest. If I got an Ipod I’d have nothing to do with the Nano though. It has my name engraved so I don’t want to give it away. Is there an inexpensive player with the following characteristics:?
-hard drive, 30GB maybe
-handles AAC as that’s what all my files are in
-can use standard batteries
-doesn’t need software
-good audio
I was thinking something like that would be better for long-term storage of my whole music collection, while I could use the Nano for podcasts and whatever I’m listening to at the moment. I’d like having something with all my music that I could take places, but I don’t think I actually like having my old kid/teenage music with me every day on my Nano.
Why are you assuming that the ability to drag and drop means that there can’t be playlists 
My Creative mp3 player certainly lets you have playlists, but doesn’t require you to use iTunes (which I despise with the passionate hate of a thousand suns).
I had a chip-based MP3 player before I got my big clunky 30 gigabyte Ipod, and it had a very annoying delay inbetween songs.
This is especially annoying when listening to mixed cd’s or live concerts.
The (harddiskbased) Ipod also has a pause, but it is much shorter (less then a second) which is a lot less annoying.
Actually, IIRC, the latest iPods support gapless playback. I think if you update your firmware (you probably also have to update to the latest iTunes), you should be able to take advantage of that.
Presumably, you’re using some sort of software to create the playlists (whether it’s on the player or on the computer). control-z wants to play whatever MP3 files he copies to it, in whatever directory structure he has them in, without all the software shit. And thinks this is better. I find that being able to create different playlists is an improvement. Not to mention the convenience of being able to find what I’m looking for via artist/album/song/genre etc. To give all that up just so you can control how the music is organized on the player’s drive seems to be cutting off your nose to spite your face. Why does it matter how the music files are stored and organized as long as it’s easy to find what you’re looking for?
What does drag-and-drop give you that iTunes (or whatever software/hardware combo you use) doesn’t?
Sorry for the hijack but it’s been a reasonable amount of time:
If I burn my MP3 files onto a CD, can I then upload them to ITunes and convert them to IPOD playable? If not, is it possible to convert MP3 files to the IPOD format?
iTunes and the iPod can play MP3s, no need to convert.
If you purchase music from the iTunes music store, it comes in AAC format. If you want unprotected MP3s, you have to burn your AAC files to a CD, then rip those AAC files to MP3, with some (but not necessarily too bad) quality loss. PITA for sure, although I’m sure there are (legitimate?) software tools to get around that by now.
To each his own of course, but the way everybody talks about iTunes, I would swear I’m using a different program. I guess iTunes is the only thing I ever knew so it makes sense to me. I’m an iPod drone though so not unbiased
Maybe iTunes is great if its style is your style. But if your sense of organization and so on is different, it can be very frustrating.
I love iTunes. Keeps everything organized beautifully. Sorts are near instanteous. Finding songs is absurdly easy. And the interface is very intuitive (drag & drop works beautifully). I’ve very rarely come across something I wanted to do that iTunes couldn’t handle (I suppose the smart playlists could be a bit more sophisticated).
WinAmp has a lovely iPod plugin that lets you pull your music back off the iPod, and generally behaves like a decent darn player should.
The Zune looks like utter pain in the ass, to me.
I think it’s a matter of what you’re used to. As a Windows user, iTunes feels very clunky and looks strange, with it’s vast empty gray areas. Very scattered too, especially the top part. Classic form over function IMO. When you’re browsing the iTMS it’s hard to find stuff, and hard to go back a page.
To me Windows Explorer is much easier to navigate. I’m used to manually managing my MP3 files for my Dension hard-drive (80GB) based car player, and when I buy a portable MP3 player I expect to be able to manage my files in the same way.
I will admit it’s nice how easily an iPod can play by Album, but most of the time I just play by Artist anyway, which is how my MP3s are stored. OTOH, the iPod doesn’t display the album track number, is it so difficult to display a 2-digit number? Form over function.
BTW, there is a group of people that are rewriting the iPod firmware, and many other MP3 players as well. Computer geeks might want to take a look: http://www.rockbox.org/
I like my iPod, but I don’t love it. But it’s good until something better comes along.
I know this is a semi-dead thread, but I’ve been reading nothing but bad reviews about the Zune. This was one of the most vehement. All in all, it sounds like the Zune would be about the worst choice of digital music player you could make.
My son wants one of these things, as well; I’m looking to spend less than $75 on it, and it probably won’t be an Ipod. My concern is, he lives with my mother, and her computer is one of those 4 year old straight-out-of-the-box dealies with maybe a few gigs of hard drive and a $10 a month dial-up connection. I suspect this may be a problem when the boy wants to download music or upload music or whatever the hell you do with these things, am I right?
For $75 you won’t get an iPod, but that’s ok. You should be able to get a flash-memory based player that will hold hundreds of songs.
Don’t even try to download songs over a dial-up connection. It’s horrible, probably 20min or more per song. You’re better off buying him CDs and letting him rip (copy & convert) the songs into MP3 format.
What kinds of MP3 players need special software on the host computer, and which kinds can I just mount like a normal USB drive and dump music onto? I’m looking to get an MP3 player and I don’t want to get chained to any crappy software (and, yes, all special-purpose software is crappy) just to use it.