posted
I've been thinking about getting myself an MP3 player. My daughters have iPods that their dad bought for them, and they seem to enjoy them a great deal. I'd be especially interested in listening to podcasts and perhaps downloaded books while I knit.
Can anyone tell me if this is worth the price? Would I be able to listen to downloads with it at all? I've been pricing them lately and this one seems quite reasonable.
Anything else I should be aware of? I have a windows machine, but my girls have no trouble running i-tunes for their iPods, so I don't know if that is even an issue. (I'm really out of the loop on new technology I'm afraid ).
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
You wouldn't be able to buy off of iTunes. Apple uses their own format for music files. You'd probably be able to use another service though. Also, you'd be able to listen to any CDs you had (once you ripped them to your computer as mp3s).
At a high quality mp3 bit-rate, you'd be able to put about 250 songs, depending on their length.
posted
I bought a Sandisk mp3 player once, but immediately returned it, as there was no way of separating out mp3 files into different groups, so that I could choose to either listen to music or audio books.
Personally, I've been extremely pleased with my Creative Zen Nano, which I believe I have seen on sale for about that same price.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
Here's a link to the 1gb Creative Zen Nano (edit: actually that's the plus, so it has an FM tuner as well) for $34 after rebate. I've been a big pusher of Creative mp3 players here because I've had nothing but positive experiences with them.
The Sansa, I don't know that much about. Perhaps other people have used them and can give you better advice, but even so, it is refurbished.
One thing to consider, however, is tha the Sansa has upgradeable storage capacity while the Zen doesn't. That is, you can buy memory cards to add more space and thus more songs to the Sansa. You're stuck with 1Gb with the Zen.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I recently bought my wife the Samsung YP-T9. It is an incredibly good looking player, sounds great, plays video, records voice, plays FM radio, views pictures, includes some fun little games, and can be bought for a very reasonable price (I found the 2GB model for under $100 on eBay). It also works well with subscription music services (we use Yahoo music ToGo).
There's only one reason I personally don't like it, and it's just because I'm a nerd. My wife said that for her its a complete non-issue. I like my players to be able to act as external storage devices by putting them in UMS mode, which this player doesn't support.
The link I provided above has a fairly comprehensive review, with some nice pics and a video of the product. I think CNET rated it as an Editors Choice Award product.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Sorry to double post...but the one I talked about above may be more than you were wanting to pay. If so, I'm sorry.
The real reason I'm posting again is to strongly suggest you NOT buy a refurbished electronic product-ever. For one, the warranty is usually crappy, like 90 days compared to a year for a new product. I didn't see a warranty on that product though, so maybe it's better *shrug*. The second reason I really don't like refurbished products is from an engineering standpoint. I'm an electrical engineer, and often times when a component goes bad in a circuit it can subtly damage other components without causing those components to immediately fail. This may not show up immediately, and almost certainly won't show up under factory tests. However, its lifespan may be considerably shortened and fail several months out.
I strongly suspect that companies know this, which is why they are generally only willing to warranty refurb products for ~3 months.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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