Mods, this is something of a crossover subject; if you think it belongs in IMHO, feel free to relocate it.
My 14 year old daughter wants an mp3 player for Christmas. We like the iPod because there are so many accessories available; but it’s pricey. You can get much cheaper ones that don’t have as many features, but it wouldn’t eat up as much of our Christmas budget.
What say the Dopers? Do you have an mp3 player? What kind? Are you happy with it? Any other thoughts on the subject?
Thanks!
I got my 14yo daughter an iRiver 512MB player last year. She’s pretty happy with it. We also got our 12yo girl a SanDisk 256MB one an she happy with it as well. Our girls are not into being trendy so as long as the music plays they’re good to go. If your daughter cares about being hip and with it the Ipod is the ticket.
Thanks, Mr. Blue Sky!
Mods, since I’m obviously brain dead, feel free to lock this if you want.
If your daughter is really tied to iTunes, an iPod will make her life easier. There’s ways to get iTunes songs on other players, but there’s extra steps like having to burn the songs to a disc first and ripping to mp3 (and maybe losing some quality) or using conversion programs of dubious legal status.
My kid is not married to the idea of iTunes. We have lots and lots of mp3 files already on our 'puter, and she’ll start with those. Plus, there are lots of places now where you can pay money to download an mp3. Also, she’s not the kind to be overly concerned with being hip.
Norinew, do not get a Zen Micro for your daughter. It’s too fragile and the software too frustrating. See my post on the other thread for details.
Thanks! one of the things we don’t want is something too fragile! She’s pretty careful with her stuff, but we don’t want to give her something she’ll be afraid to use! Right now, she’s leaning towards an iRiver. She is really fond of the idea of having a player with accessories available.
Don’t confuse accessories with features. iPods have relatively few features for the price you pay. Most other mp3 players have a built-in FM receiver, so the unit can function as a radio, and many have built-in mictrophones so you can take notes.
Any player that uses a hard drive will be fragile, no matter who makes it. Those are the bigger, chunkier players with several gigs of capacitiy. If you expect your kids to be a bit rough with their players, then I’d recommend choosing a flash memory player.
I think that’s why she’s leaning towards the iRiver. You can get more features for about the same price. We’re prepared to pay up to $200.00 for a player for her, and the iRiver you can get for that price has more features than the iPod you can get for that price.
The only reason to get an iPod is to be “hip”? Really?
No, but I do think that’s ONE of the reasons people buy them. Anyone with a little knowledge will see that it doesn’t offer much bang for the buck. IMHO
One might choose an iPod because they’re so ubiquitous, so any store you go into is likely to have a good selection of them. Or because they have more available accessories than Barbie. But hipness is definitely a factor.
I don’t know about the durability of other players but my iPod has fallen off my desk several times and still works perfectly. I really should get a dock for it.
Why’d I get an iPod? I already had iTunes so it seemed the natural thing to do.
Is it possible that one buys an iPod because they’re damn good at what they do? Or is it only their “hipness” and “ubiquity”. I’ve got plenty of “knowledge” about MP3 players and find that the iPod offers plenty of “bang” for my “buck”. Worth every buck I spent on it.
The anti-iPod elitism reminds me a lot of the Macintosh elitism.
iPod is crap. Get something less expensive.
iTunes really is a huge disappointment. There are better file managers out there… even on Windows.
Just one man’s opinion.
I love my nano. I did keep some of the plastic covering on it (I just cut off all te covering but the rectangle covering the screen) to protect the screen prior to the screen protectors coming out, and I haven’t had time to buy a true one (I hear they scratch easily but so far several months in and plenty of punishment, it seems perfect), but other than that (and that has worked fine and given me piece of mind), it IS pretty cool. It may not have a radio or a notepad, but let’s face it: these features are pretty much near pointless (the radio perhaps not, but I can get all the radio programs I want online anyway) for an MP3 player (you want that: get a palm) and I’ve never used them and would never have used them even on other devices. The regular iPod can record audio, and you can buy radio adapters if you want: they are extra, and if you want it all integrated, then that is a downside I guess.
What I love about the iPod over the other players is precisely its simplicity and slick design. It does what it does, it was clearly well thought out for doing it, and it does it well. The interface is simple and responsive (sometimes a little TOO responsive in the case of the overzealous clickwheel, but you get used to it) They’ve thought of near everything, from autopause when the headphones are pulled out, to clean playlist syncing and menus, to the rating system and the sound quality is simply sweetness. The nano is a fantastic size (never obtrusive, but not so flimsy that I’ll ever forget its there). The only downside is that it’s not like the huge 60GB drives a lot of people are used to. At 4GB, it still holds more music than I could ever listen to in a day, but I can’t thoughtlessly store my entire music collection on it at once as some are accustomed to doing (14GB and counting for me) and certainly is appealing. But then, with all the playlists, I can switch things in an out at the end of the day and so have everything I might want that day at my fingertips. The photo function is a little silly to have, but fun enough and like everything else, very easy to use and show off. The store is great, and I like iTunes just fine. All in all, I’m very happy with my purchase.
Is it trendy and a do you pay a little extra for that? Sure. But it’s so appealing, and frankly, that’s actually worth something. It’s nice to have a nice solid piece of technology that simple and direct. It looking cool doesn’t hurt.
On the other hand, I’m not at ALL sold on the video iPod, simply because I can’t see watching video on that screen when I have a laptop and better ways to watch. I mostly use the ipod driving and walking places and doing other things: it’s meant to be a background activity freeing you to do other things, not a foreground one you have to focus on exclusively. At this point, I’d consider video a huge waste of money.
If you are directing this bit of snarkiness at me, you can back down now. I started this thread admitting that I know nothing about any of them, really. They certainly are ubiquitous, and they certainly do convey a hipness factor. There are also other players around with as much storage space and as many features, for less money. Is it possible that iPods are superior mp3 players? Sure it is. That’s why I wanted to get everyone’s opinion.
Squee, what is it that makes you say they’re crap?
In my case, I use Napster, so it makes the most sense for me to get a non-iPod player. Actually, I’m getting it for Christmas. I asked for the the Sandisk m250. Granted, it’s the not the most attractive player out there, but it has all the bells & whistles (FM tuner, voice recorder, compatible with Secure WMA) that I’m interested in, it has 2 gig of memory, and it’s flash memory so I won’t have to be paranoid about breaking it. I’ve already gone through my CD collection and ripped all the songs I’d care to put on an MP3 player. Those, plus my Napster songs, come out to about 1.2 gig, and I don’t expect it to grow much in the future, so 2 gig should set me up for a while.
As I said in the vPod thread, I wouldn’t get one unless it came with a TV tuner.