We’re thinking of buying our son an mp3 player and are looking at
Anyone compared these two?
They seem to be pretty close in features.
I’m concerned about:
a) Music format. I tried the Walmart music download and it’s in some freaky format only playable on proprietary software. I’d like a straight mp3 download that I can backup to CD.
b) Availability of selections. Is pretty much anything available for either unit?
What other stuff should I consider?
The ipod beats everything in the market when it comes to ease of use. iTunes can play mp3s (and can convert between AACs and MP3 or audio CD format), and the Apple Music store is arguably the largest online music retailer around.
The only thing to be noted is that downloads from iTuines are in their own format. They’re really versitile though. You can burn a whole bunch of times, transfer to different computers, upload to (I think) an unlimited number of iPods.
I don’t have a Dell DJ myself, but can’t speak highly enough of the iPod.
For anyone who has stored music in .wma (Windows Media) format, the iPod is out.
iTunes works with the iPod, but not well with other players. I don’t know if other music services work well with the iPod.
I’m in the same boat, RumMunkey, although my son (15) has said he prefers the Dell DJ20 (on what basis, I have absolutely no idea, and neither does he) over a comparable iPod.
Me, I love my 5gb Rio Carbon, and wouldn’t trade it for an iPod mini if you paid me. (On second thought, if you paid me, I would trade it, but that’s not the point.) Much better battery life than the iPod mini and 20% more storage. Only mini advantage I can think of is the ability to create playlists on the device itself.
Oops, I meant NutMagnet, not RumMunkey
You can backup your iTunes purchases to CDs, and burn them as audio CDs. They’re AAC-protected (“Fairplay”) music files, though, and currently will only play via Apple’s stuff.
I think so, though the iTunes Music Store has the biggest selection.
Not quite – the latest version of iTunes has an option to convert your (unprotected) .WMA files into (unprotected) .AAC files.
You can find a list of non-Apple MP3 players that iTunes works with here.
If they sell music in non-proprietary formats (MP3, WAV, unprotected AAC), yes.
Get him a Creative Labs player or an RCA Lyra. No proprietary formats, can burn from any other format (except iTunes downloads), way cheaper than iPods, been around longer than Dell DJs. Both brands make quality players.
Once you burn them as CDs, you can rip them as MP3s. May lose some sound quality though.
Until now, I’ve figured the iPod beats everything out there for sheer ease of use, form factor, and just general neat-factor.
But I think iPod’s competition may have caught up. I haven’t seen these new players, but these look pretty cool:
I’ve done this a few times and haven’t noticed any difference, but I’ve got a tin ear anyway (I think 128-bit MP3s are perfectly acceptable).
As for wanna-be iPods, the consensus seems to be that they’re still rather short of the original.
Just to be abundantly clear, the iPod will play any regular old MP3s that you make from your own existing CDs (or wherever) not just the AACs from iTunes.
Though I also have to add, we just got the iTunes store here in Canada, and so far I am impressed!
Um, RumMunkey?
The ipod will most definitely play AAC. It is infact the preferred, by apple anyway, method of playing music on the Ipod.
There are tools out there that will strip the copy protection from itunes downloaded music.
WSJ’s Walter Mossberg had the only negative review of the Rio Carbon I’ve seen. PC Magazine, PC World and Maximum PC all raved about it, putting it on par with the Mini. His main complaint was poor sound, which I don’t get on my Carbon. Maybe, if my family gets me those nice Shure headphones, I may notice something. Otherwise, I’ll stick with my comfortable $15 set.
Most reviews like the iPod Mini’s ability to compose playlists on the machine, but offset that with the Rio Carbon’s greater storage (5 gigs to the mini’s 4) and battery life (20 hours to the mini’s 8).
Personally I didn’t like the Carbon’s interface. The side wheel and button just wasn’t my cup of tea, although part of that is probably I’ve cut my teeth on the iPod scrollwheel rather than any innate flaws in Rio’s design. To me, it all comes down to your personal choice. This is one area where free market forces have driven most competitors into providing a quality product with marginal differences.
I would go to CNet.com and read, not for the reviewer’s ratings, but for any issues you might have. They’ll usually mention things like interface problems or proprietary software (ala Sony’s new player). They’ll also mention any built-in features (voice recorder, playlists on the fly, etc.) you might be interested in.
I’m going to be a wet blanket here, but I would like to avoid getting this thread locked down… discussing ways around the copy protection violates the DMCA, as far as I can tell (and as a librarian I’ve spent some time reading up on the DMCA).
So SHHHHHH!!!
Harmonix, I’m pretty sure that’s what RumMunkey was saying. He/she was just pointing out that the iPod will play MP3s too. I think the parentheses got in the way.
I just got an iPod 20Gig, and I have to say, I love it. The only thing I wish I could do is erase songs on the fly. The scroll wheel is pretty sweet too, and iTunes isn’t that bad of a piece of software. You can use other software with it too. WinAmp has a plugin that allows for you to manage your iPod library, and there’s a bunch of freeware/shareware/payware that is floating around too, if iTunes isn’t your cup of tea.
Of course, I have no experience with the Dell DJ so I can’t really say how good it is. But my only other choice I was really considering was the Rio Zen Touch or whatever it’s called. I ended up with the iPod before I had really decided because my girlfriend is too good to me.
Owner of a Gen 1 DJ checking in. While I’m happy with my no-frills jukebox, Dell’s “DJ Explorer” transfer software is kind of slow and bogs Windows down (for example, with DJ Explorer running it takes a while for Windows to display other drives). If you visit the Dell support boards, you’ll see that a lot of posters instead use a third-party program called Dudebox , which costs $25. MusicMatch and Windows Media Player 10 are also compatible DJ file managers, but I’ve never heard anybody say a good word for MusicMatch. WMP10 is faster than DJ Explorer, but not as fast as Dudebox.
BTW, Red Chair Software also makes managers for other brands of audio player, including Creative and Apple.
Oh. One thing about the Ipod.
You can’t do a damn thing without looking at it. Thats fine when you’re just walking around, but if you ever plan to hook the thing into your car. You either have to be ok with pure random, or have playlists set up.
Another nice thing about the ipod is that there are accessories galore. Granted that thats because the ipod is pretty much featureless on its own.