I’ve finally decided I’m tired of toting CDs around and not having the one I want because I left it in the truck. So, I’ve started investigating hard drive based MP3 players.
I bought a 30 gig IPod video for my wife last Christmas and I like the package and it’s interface. I do not like Itunes. Mostly, I do not like the fact that it automatically connects to the internet when I start the application. I also dislike the fact that it stores files in a format not compatible with other players. I do, though, appreciate the fact that you load it and go. I’m too old and cranky to spend a weekend loading firmware updates and patches to open source or fly-by-night software vendors. Been there, done that.
However, I understand the Zune has similar issues (crappy PC software) and I get the impression that Creative Vision has reliability issues (DOA) and neither is as slick a package as the IPod.
So, I started shopping a little. The IPod Classic has impressive storage capacity and an attractive price. But, on Amazon, it looks like there is a dearth of accessories. Mainly, A/C and 12 Vdc power adapters and FM transmitters. There seems to be a question in my mind whether or not the older versions of accessories are compatible. The reviews on the Classic are less than flattering, but most of the faults are related to playing videos, about which I care very little.
So, I considered the G5.5 Ipod. For $100 more, I get less than half the storage, but there are plenty of power cables and FM transmitters available.
All I’m looking for is a high capacity music player. Any thoughts and information is appreciated. I’m putting this here instead of GQ because I expect the usual Apple Borg Continuum to jump in and razz me for daring to question anything Apple.
Do you mean it rips CDs into AA files instead of MP3? If so, go to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Importing, and change the “Import Using:” setting to “MP3 encoder.”
What I look for in an MP3 player is the ability to act like a USB mass storage device and play anything. That way I can drag and drop any songs that I want to play without any fuss, and can use any software I want to sort the songs. Sandisk comes to mind as players with this capability.
I’ve had a Creative Zen (30g) MP3 player for a couple of years now, and have had no issues with it at all. I love being able to edit my playlists either from my laptop or on the MP3 player itself.
The only complaint I had about it was the size/weight–it’s heavy and not the smallest player on the market. Since I travel a lot, every ounce counts. I bought a 2g Creative MuVo earlier this year and like it a lot also. I especially love it combined with my Sony noise cancelling ear buds.
I’m not a fan of Apple though, so I never even considered buying an iPod (although I did get my husband one because that was what he really wanted–sucks to be him with a battery that won’t hold a charge ).
Full disclosure: I once worked for Apple in a very small-time capacity. I do not anymore.
Threads about MP3 players tend to bring out a disproportionate share of people who own non-iPod mp3 players. But there is in fact a reason the iPod is so popular, and it’s not all because of marketing. It’s a good product, and almost always receives extremely good reviews on major technology sites (i.e. the CNET’s of the world). I have an 80GB iPod Classic and I think it’s great. Apple got some software updates for it out pretty quickly that have solved some of its problems (a weird bug where it would restart itself after a sync, and some interface sluggishness). Any accesssory that worked with the 5.5G iPod’s dock connector will work with the Classic – odds are, the makers of those devices just haven’t updated their web pages. And cases for it should be hitting the market right about now.
I’m not sure what to tell you about iTunes connecting to the Internet. Plenty of other applications do and it’s almost inescapable in this age. You can easily turn off the “Ministore” that shows up in iTunes under the default settings. If, from there, you don’t buy anything from the iTunes Music Store, Apple won’t be gaining any identifying information about you.
scr4 already covered the encoding issue. If you want ultra-high-quality MP3s, iTunes will let you make them. And the default format, AAC, is supported by more and more players (it’s also an open-source format, unlike the proprietary Windows Media format).
I have heard good things about Sansa players, and I think you should look into those as well. But getting a non-iPod player because “it’s not Apple” is being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.
My wife said she’d like an mp3 player (not an iPod) for Xmas, and I went to look at the SanDisk models. Do they only support mp3 (I won’t need WMA)? Or can you drag .wav files onto it from Windows Explorer? It’s not that important, but with 2 gigs or more, you could listen to several uncompressed CDs or a large compilation of songs. Is it possible to do?
I recently bought a 2gig SanDisk Sanya. For the most part, I love it. It’s dead simple, drag and drop (once you configure it correctly on your computer). The best thing about it is that it’s tiny.
I’d love to get an iPod, but I think I’m going to wait for the next-gen iPhone and just use that. I’d like to keep my number of bulky items to a minimum.
Any current mp3 player should support both .mp3 and .wav, though I would discourage you from taking the latter approach. I assume your wife will be listening to the player through headphones – the speakers in which aren’t good enough to take advantage of the uncompressed audio’s quality. My guess is it would sound no different to her ears than an 160kb bitrate mp3 file. Plus, big-ass files run down the player’s battery. And you’ll have to spend a lot more time moving files on and off.
I don’t know how you get files on that player specifically, but it might have software that manages it, or it might allow drag-and-drop, or both.
I may have that same make/model Creative Zen (30g). I love it. It isn’t light though and it doesn’t fit in that new sleek boombox speaker/charger that the (60g) Zen Vision M does. I bought both of those for my wife last Christmas and I was kinda hoping she’d reciprocate. She hasn’t and has even said that when my 30g dies, there is ‘no good reason why you need a 60g unit’ to replace it. :dubious:
[Charley Sheen]“My friend, you’re trading in the wrong thing.” [/Charley Sheen]
I’m very happy with my Sansa player. I don’t ask for a lot out of it (mainly just hit “Random”) but it’s worked without trouble for me, is easy to use and loading music is as easy as plugging in the USB cord and copying files Windows style. It came with the Rhapsody software which also manages tunes but I usually only use it if I want to change ID3 tags.
One downside is, as you note, there are a lot less gadgets for non-iPod players. This doesn’t bother me because I’m all set with my FM transmitter for the car and desk speakers for the office. But if you want dancing dogs or to play music through your toaster, you’ll notice that they’re all “iPod Accessories”
If I can leech onto this thread, remora-like…or, I guess, leech-like…I’m interested in knowing which models of MP3 players have bookmarking capability. You know, so you can mark a spot in a file and come back to it later without having to search through big long files to find where you were. So as you all recommend players, could you do me a solid and include whether or not they have bookmarks? Groovy.
I will now slide silently back out of this thread. Like a leech in sneakers.
I can only speak to the iPod on this… if you pause within a song and then “turn it off” by letting it sit for 2 minutes or holding the play button, when you bring it back on, it will be at the same spot in the song.
But it won’t remember if you switch to another song. Maybe it does with audiobooks… I’ve never listened to one on the iPod.
My SIL used a Winamp plugin in place of iTunes. I don’t think you have to use it. Take a look around the net for alternatives if this is your only real complaint about iPod. I got a lot of hits on Google for the search term “iTunes alternatives” (no quotation marks).
I use an iRiver H320 and absolutely love it. It works as a USB mass storage device, supports multiple file formats (WMA and Mp3) and you don’t need anything else to get it to work on your pc. Plus it sounds great. Also, it is totally optional, but I flashed mine with the Rockbox firmware and got a whole lot of extra functionality, though you can do the same with Ipods nowadays.
I’ve got a Sandisk (e250) and I love it. It’s simple and works great. My husband just bought at iRiver Clix, after his Zen Micro basically exploded (it literally fell apart) and after some conversion issues, he’s really enjoying it. It’s pretty tiny and very cute.
Yes, the iPod does remember your position within an audiobook. Although if you accidentally hit the “rewind” or “fast foward” button, it’ll skip to the prevous/next chapter, and there’s no “UNDO” for that. Then again, that’s why there’s a key lock switch.
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