My dear old Dad has asked for a new personal cd player for Christmas, but I think I’d like to surprise him with an mp3 player, instead.
I think that since the elements that I’m looking for are pretty much the opposite of what most people want, I’m not really finding anything. I don’t want compact and stylish and technical… I’m hoping to find something substantial with a screen that can be easily read, controls that can be easily manipulated, and not too complicated to use.
Dad thinks my Ipod is pretty neat, but although the screen is good on that one, I think he didn’t quite get how to use it.
This is the best one I’ve found so far. If anyone has any other recommendations, or opinions about this one, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.
Did your dad ask for a CD player because he isn’t too keen on computers and wouldn’t be able to rip a CD to .mp3? You might look into a CD player that supports .mp3 format, like this one. He would have to burn any .mp3s that he gets onto a CD, but it would allow him to plays CDs while he gets comfortable with the technology.
I think any MP3 player is going to require some basic technical knowhow. Being able to convert your CD’s to MP3 can be tricky if you’ve never done it before and don’t have a basic understanding of current computers. Then there is the process of transferring the MP3 files to your player, again requiring a basic understanding of a computer’s file system.
If your dad has this basic knowledge, then I say go with an IPod. From what I’ve seen it’s the most user friendly to use as well as to hook up to the computer.
Although I am speaking for the OP, recognize that the OP may be willing to handle all of the conversion issues (or downloading, etc.), so the father’s ability to perform the ripping and conversion functions may not be an issue.
Yes, I was planning on putting all of my Dad’s cd’s on for him. The extent of his computer skills is pretty much getting on the internet to see how UT’s football team is doing, and playing solitaire. Between my Mom, my brother, and me helping him out, though, I don’t think there will be any problems with that side of it.
I’m more concerned with the controls. His eyesight isn’t the greatest anymore, and I don’t want him to have trouble manipulating the player to find what he wants to listen to.
I told Mom that I wanted to get him an mp3 player, and she thinks he’ll love it once he gets the hang of it. I suspect she’ll love it too, since one of the reasons I thought about getting it is because Dad tends to leave cd’s and cases lying around everywhere… in the kitchen, in the living room, in the office, wherever.
I’ve got one of those Dell DJs.
The main reasons I got the Dell was because it has good battery life and it was cheap.
I’m mostly pleased with it. The scroll wheel thingie is kind of finicky to click (it’s kind of like clicking the scroll wheel on a mouse) so that might not be great for your father.
Also it shipped with the most irritating software I’ve used in some time (MuchMusic). I ended up getting rid of that and buying Dudebox Explorer from Red Chair software.
I have a Creative Labs mp3 player and I love it. The screen is easy to read, and the buttons aren’t as sensitive as the ones on the iPod (which seem to react to just a brush of the fingertips) so it’s a lot easier to handle. You have to really press down on the buttons if you want to cycle through songs. I’ve not heard anything about the Dell player, but it seems like a solid enough player. I hate scroll wheels, though. I’d avoid the new Sony player; I heard it has lots of licensing issues. (You can only use the Sony version of iTunes with the player, and it won’t accept legal downloads if they’re not from the Sony site. That might be a non-issue though if you’re only copying from CDs.) I’d also recommend checking these players out in a store first, since it’s hard to determine things like button sensitivity over the Internet. Circuit City sometimes has non-iPod players on display.
I agree that the MusicMatch jukebox is crap, so check and see if your dad’s computer has Windows Media Player instead if you get a player that’s bundled with MM.
