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General discussion

Rhapsody Compatable MP3 players...

Nov 12, 2008 11:32AM PST

I signed up for Rhapsody unlimited, i was wondering if anyone had used this service and what device they used with it for the "to go" option, where you can load up your approved MP3 player with songs....anyone use this and can you recomend a Small-ish device....

thanks---

Discussion is locked

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I use it with...
Nov 12, 2008 12:57PM PST

SanDisk Sansa Clip, Sony NWZ-A816 (newly supported, but doesn't do Rhapsody Channels), and the Sony E436F (which does support Rhapsody Channels). I believe all of the new Sony models which were released in September of this year fully support Rhapsody, including the channels.

When I first got the Sony NWZ-A816 six months ago it did not support Rhapsody. I only tried it recently after I got my second Sony player, which I already knew supported it.

All three of these are pretty small, but the SanDisk Sansa Clip is the smallest. For me it's so small that I misplace it on occasion. I really like the build quality of the Sonys.

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happy with the service??
Nov 12, 2008 1:12PM PST

how does the rhapsody work?? are you happy with it??

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what did you need to know about it?
Nov 12, 2008 2:52PM PST

It is an all you can download or stream service. You don't have to download to your computer. You can just stream it, which is what I do if listening on my computer. If I'm downloading, I do so to my player for offline listening. You can play them on up to 3 computers and 3 portable devices. If you download to your computer, you'll need to connect Rhapsody with the internet once a month to renew your license or the songs stop playing. And if you download to your player, you'll need to connect it to Rhapsody (and be online) to renew the license on it.

If you stop paying for the service, the songs will cease to play after the expiration date. How is this possible? The songs have drm, which allow them to be in a subscription service to begin with. The drm restricts what you can do with the songs (what players you can play them on and how long you can play them for). You also won't be able to burn them to an audio cd, unless you purchase the tracks. No, in this subscription model you do not own the songs. You are renting them. But if you do purchase, they are in drm-free mp3 format. And you put them on as many computers and players as you would like.

I'm very happy with it. I've been using it for a year. I use it to preview albums in their entirety to decide whether or not at a later date I would like to own them in whole or in part. It's a lot better than doing the 30 second preview. Sometimes if I want the whole album, I will buy the physical cd. Or I just listen to songs/albums I like until I get sick of them. Then I'll delete those from my library.