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General discussion

Need advice for a new MP3 player

Mar 30, 2009 9:41AM PDT

Hey, I currrently am using a Sansa C240 (1GB). It's my first MP3 player and I had it for a few years. It's near its max capacity of songs, and I'm gonna need a new one soon.

My birthday is August 6th, and I was wondering if anyone could give advice for a good MP3 player. I was looking at the iPod Touch, saw it was awesome, but from seeing reviews ppl say it needs iTunes and stuff...so Idk if I should get that...

So can anyone suggest me a good MP3 player I could ask for my birthday? Thx.

Discussion is locked

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iPod, just don't do it.
Mar 30, 2009 9:54PM PDT

I say this because a friend who has been using PCs since 1985 was given an iPod Touch recently.

He loves the Touch but when I visited last week he was struggling to find stuff he'd just ripped in iTunes -- echoing my own frustration with this program. Even Mac users who have had iPods several years confess to being befuddled by iTunes.

Until Apple dump iTunes for something better -- or (better still) enable regular drag and drop file transfer on their players, I would avoid the brand.

There are lots of other MP3 and video players out there -- personally I'd look at Sony because they are widely distributed and seem to offer excellent value right now. Also check out Cowon, some Samsung models and Creative.

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MP3 players
Mar 31, 2009 4:29AM PDT

I use MP3.I listen MP3 songs form iPod so ilike MP3 songs....

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iPhone like Mp3 player
Mar 31, 2009 5:34AM PDT

I recommend this one.. its just like an iphone without the phone part. Its a smidge pricey but well worth it. At 4 gigs you can put a ton of songs on it and not worry about filling it up for a very long time.

http://www.sarahsmp3s.totalwarehouse.com/

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Holy crap that's expensive....
Mar 31, 2009 9:42AM PDT

Damn, that's even more expensive than my Nintendo Wii bundle pack was!

So why is the Touch not a good choice? All because of the iTunes thing? What's so bad about it?

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what some people say...
Mar 31, 2009 1:53PM PDT

iTunes is a resource hog, which it is. But I can still surf the web, edit pictures, and back up my DVDs while iTunes is running. I do, however, have 4GB RAM and running 64bit Vista so that might have something to do with it.

iTunes likes to organize things the way it wants to. True, but you can kind of organize it your way. But after moving my library to two different laptops, I decided to let iTunes do the organizing for me. Made it easier to transfer library to new laptop and have my iPods think they're still on the same computer.

Commenting on the fihart's post about his friend not being able to find the stuff he's ripped on iTunes: Really? The default setting is to put music in the "My Music" folder. Within that folder is another folder called "iTunes", then "iTunes Music." Or if you can see the songs within the iTunes application, right click on the song and select "get info." On the bottom of the first tab, "summary" page, will be the path where the song is located.

iPods are married to one iTunes library. Try auto syncing it to another one and you can lose your content. There are some hacks to get around this. You can also do a manual sync and just do the drag and drop thing within iTunes, but I like autosyncing.

You might want to try iTunes. If you love/like it or hate it that will give you your decision about whether or not to get it. It also may help to try one out. My best friend and her family played with mine over Christmas...she ended up buying one for herself and her 9 year old daughter(who maintains her own iTunes library). Her husband is probably going to be getting one shortly. He keeps borrowing hers.

Whatever you do, stay away from iPod Touch/iPhone wannabes. What I mean is the look alike knockoffs. Yeah, that one was extremely expensive and it's only 4GB. Camera probably sucks. And that picture screams, "cheap." And touch screen? Looks like you have to use a stylus (which may be a bonus for some). You can buy a 32GB Touch for that kind of money. I've seen knockoffs that are a lot cheaper. Don't do it!

I've lived with iTunes for 5 years and I've had no problems with it. I loved my 1st gen Touch, so when 2nd gen came out I bought one too. I also own a bunch of other players (a couple of Sonys, Creative Zen V plus, SanDisk Sansa Clips). I keep coming back to my Touches. I carry them with me everywhere.

But iPod/iTunes isn't for everyone. That's why you should try iTunes before getting anything.

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In reply to ktreb
Mar 31, 2009 10:20PM PDT

"Commenting on the fihart's post about his friend not being able to find the stuff he's ripped on iTunes: Really? The default setting is to put music in the "My Music" folder. Within that folder is another folder called "iTunes", then "iTunes Music."

Problem when ripping with iTunes is that it dumps the tracks in with all the other tracks you've ever ripped. iTunes will not display files by date and time --(which seems at odds with Windows standards to me). Instead I have to drill down into the file system using Windows Explorer and sort the new tracks by date and time. I can then group them in a folder which I name after the album.

The point of all this is that if I use iTunes, I may not want to port the tracks only to an iPod but also to another player -- so I want them in some sort of logical order on my hard drive.

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(NT) thanks for clarifying that
Mar 31, 2009 11:52PM PDT
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Ok but a new post to this thread....
Apr 1, 2009 5:54AM PDT

The new post to this thread the guy said the new firmware ruined it and all. But I'll try iTunes and maybe I'll get the Touch.

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If you decide to get it...
Apr 1, 2009 11:59AM PDT

If you can, buy it from Costco or Sam's Club. That way, if you hate it, you can return it. No restocking fees! Just tell 'em you hate it!

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What about Amazon or BestBuy?
Apr 2, 2009 5:55AM PDT

I don't think I have a Sam's Club around were I live, and I never even heard of that other store u mentioned.

What about Amazon or BestBuy?

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go ahead
Apr 2, 2009 8:07AM PDT

They're fine too. The only reason I suggested Sam's Club and Costco (also a warehouse store) is that they have really good return policies without restocking fees if returned within a reasonable amount of time (90 days for Costco and I think 180 days for Sam's Club). So you can fully "try" out the Touch without having to commit to it. With Amazon, unless the product is defective, you may have to pay to ship the item back if you don't want it (or Amazon takes the cost of shipping out of your refund). And with Best Buy, once you open the package, there is a 15% restocking fee if you return it, unless defective.

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Ok
Apr 2, 2009 8:18AM PDT

So I guess I'll ask for a 16GB iPod Touch for my birth-day then.

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I forgot to say
Apr 2, 2009 8:25AM PDT

Since Sam's Club is nowhere near you and you've never heard of Costco, suffice to say that you or your family are not members (you have to pay a yearly fee to shop in those store). So you're probably better off buying from Amazon or Best Buy. I prefer Amazon, since you might get it for slightly less than retail and may avoid sales tax. Best Buy is fine too, but I hate it when they try to do the hard sell on extended warranties. But some people swear by the warranties.

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I've been to Sam's Club
Apr 2, 2009 9:37AM PDT

I think I've been to Sam's Club before like a really long time ago. But yea I'll have to use Amazon or BestBuy to get it. My mom will probably use Amazon cuz she likes that site and gets most of my stuff from Amazon. She got my camcorder for my last birth-day from Amazon too.

Also I may be wrong about not having a Sam's Club around where I live. My family just like never shopped there before really, but maybe a really long time ago I think. I live in southern New Jersey.

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Its the worst working device I've ever used.
Mar 31, 2009 9:22PM PDT

Being part of the current generation I am pretty well adjusted to this techo-bliss. I went and bought a 32gb Ipod Touch. IT WAS A DREAM...for the first few weeks. It had amazing apps, a fairly large screen to watch videos and movies, internet access, it updated all of my contacts/emails/almost everything....

...then apple released a new firmware...

Now, if I turn my volume up one notch, it will go up all the way (making me jump in fright). This same goes for turning it down. Also, it freezes, it crashes, randomly reset all of my settings, pops up random windows in safari. Basically Apple ruined the product that they were trying to perfect.

You say "if iTunes is the only thing against the iPod touch" then I say you're wrong. Apple is.

BTW. I was a huge apple fan. Just not now.

p.s. I recommend the
Sony NWZ-E438F Walkman

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iPod. I just did it.
Mar 30, 2009 11:12PM PDT

Had another player and was not impressed. Back to another iPod now and it just works grand. iTunes is not hard to use and I'm just using it and not worried about much other things.
Bob

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I'm confused...
Mar 31, 2009 5:22AM PDT

...Ok so I'm confused...so should I get the Touch or some other MP3 player? And if so could some recommend me one?

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See this site
Mar 31, 2009 6:51AM PDT

There's a specialist MP3 player site http://www.anythingbutipod.com/
which has loads of comparisons and personal advice on every brand of player except Apple (as you might imagine from the name).

In the end, it's up to you -- the iPod Touch is a lot of fun but I maintain my belief that it's crippled by its reliance on proprietary software that's not very good.

I think anyone who's used rip and burn software such as Roxio -- even the early Easy CD versions -- will marvel at how intuitive they were and how confusing iTunes is.

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I didn't get the touch but may.
Mar 31, 2009 7:11AM PDT

What you may not know is I'm porting my old PalmOS applications to WinMo (see google.) Just one more thing and that is I'd like to have my applications on the touch and iphone but for now the clients are just on WinMo so that's where I'm at.

Your choice at the end of the day.
Bob