MP3 Anyone? HELP!

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frustratedpoolmom

frustratedpoolmom

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May 20, 2007
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Key West, FL
So my about to be 11 year old received a generic MP3 player for Christmas last year. It worked for about a week. I don't know how much was paid for it or where it was purchased, no gift receipt and no ability to return it. It never worked right, had no instructions and was hard to figure out. IT never held a charge, plug it into the computer but I don't know if it was charging or not.

I don't know how to work the darn things, IPod or otherwise and was wondering if anyone could advise me on a new one. She really wants one, but I don't want to throw good money after bad. A good, inexpensive MP3 player would be nice, preferably under $60 if possible. Any recommendations? I know nothing about Ipods or MP3 players. Other than that they cost alot of money.

And is there a book "MP3 Players for Dummies?" that I can borrow from the library? :oops:
 
Okay, I'll give you my 2 opinions.

The first opinion, would be to spend a bit more and get an iPod. It's debatable whether or not the iPod is the best mp3 player on the market, and probably not the best value...HOWEVER, it is way high in the "cool, gotta have it and all my friends have them", factor. When your kid tells you they want an iPod, they probably don't mean that they want an mp3 player. They mean, they want an "iPod." The closest one to your desired price is the new nano, which you can get for about $140 for the 8 gb version - which actually holds hours of video and thousands of songs. It has some very cool features comes in a variety of colors.

My second opinion, if brand really does not matter, would be to get a Zune. Zune is Microsoft's answer to the ipod. You can get a 4 gb Zune for $99, which also plays music and video.

If you are dead set on staying under $60, then you could get an iPod shuffle, but it does not do video and it does not have a display screen. It's okay for younger kids, but I'd say age 8 and older would probably be a little disappointed.

The other benefit of getting an iPod is you'll have no shortage of adults and kids who own them and will be happy to help you get it set up.

HTH
 
Well Sansa is a knockoff of the Ipod series and much cheaper. I own one of their models that does the video as well and really like it. This model should do what you need and much more.

http://www.buy.com/prod/sandisk-2gb-san ... 43116.html

Here is another model almost the same much cheaper, for a kid it has more bells and whistles than the plain ones and not quite an Ipod...Personally I dont like the zunes, but some do...I'm kinda anti-Microsoft.

Basically its kinda ranked Ipod, Zune, then Sansa as far as popularity, but at the end of the day they all play MP3s.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-m25 ... 847&sr=1-2
 
I've got a Sansa myself, had it about a year now, and it works great. Most of the Sansa's have a memory card slot too, so you can add memory. I bought a 2Gb, and put in a 2Gb card. The headphones leave a bit to be desired, though. Get a set of Skullcandy's to go with them.

Ironically, I don't use my Sansa anymore, even after upgrading the memory. I got tired of lugging my Sansa as well as my company Blackberry with me when I walk the dog in the evenings, and when I'd go to ballgames on the weekend (the Sansa has a built-in FM tuner, too). So, I bought myself a Sony-Ericsson Walkman cell phone (W580i). It has an MP3 player, FM tuner, and a 2mp camera. So now I forward my company crackberry to my cell, and only have to carry one device. If I'm listening to the radio or MP3 player and the phone rings, it cuts in so I know i'm getting a call. :goodjob:

Loading and charging a generic MP3 player is pretty easy. Just plug it into a USB port on your PC, and it should charge. You can use any number of media players to sync and download music to it. I use good ol' Windows Media Player.
 
I agree with Sean on this - if you want to stick to the $60 number, get an ipod shuffle. Easy to use, and if you have difficulty, loads of people will be able to help get it set up and working - and the screens and video for these little devices are way overrated, imo. Once the novelty wears off, the kids resort to just listening to music... Only you can judge if this would be disappointing to your child.
 
waterbear said:
Technically, Ipods are NOT MP3 players since they do not support the MP3 music format...
Click to expand...

Sure they do. My kids rip music in mp3 format and have it loaded on their ipods. Apple doesn't sell MP3s, rather they sell AACs in iTunes, but if you have an mp3 library, the ipod will play it. If you have a WMA library, look elsewhere.
 
waterbear said:
Technically, Ipods are NOT MP3 players since they do not support the MP3 music format but, instead, use the AAC music format.
Click to expand...

AAC is actually less compressed. It's really neither here not there though since you can still upload cd's and mp3s to the ipod.

jmas, we don't actually quite agree. ;) I put a very high value on the video screen. You can download movies of videos that the kids can watch in the car, etc. The new iPod touch even has a lot of apps and games. I have the older iPod classic with video and like being able to scroll through the song list and pick what I want.
 

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MikeInTN said:
Loading and charging a generic MP3 player is pretty easy. Just plug it into a USB port on your PC, and it should charge. You can use any number of media players to sync and download music to it. I use good ol' Windows Media Player.
Click to expand...

I plug it in the USB port and it works while plugged in, but the battery symbol shows zero charge even after hours. We've left it overnight and zero charge. Honestly I think the battery was defective from the start, I just didn't know enough about the darn things to determine that.
 
Thanks for all the advice and tips, I'll check it all out. But some of it is over my head, you might as well be speaking German. I meant what I said about Ipods for Dummies....

So, dumb question, can I use an Ipod with my Windows-based computer? I don't have a Mac.
 
You can use an ipod with a windows machine. Likely your child can operate and manage any of the players - ipod, zune, sansa or others. Can you ask what they would prefer within a certain budget?

SeanB said:
jmas, we don't actually quite agree.
Click to expand...

I hear you, SeanB - Most people disagree with me about the screen, but it's because I'm happy to listen to whatever is on my ipod. What I actually meant, but didn't say clearly, is that many ipod users will know how to get it set it up and help create playlists etc.
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Thanks for all the advice and tips, I'll check it all out. But some of it is over my head, you might as well be speaking German. I meant what I said about Ipods for Dummies....

So, dumb question, can I use an iPod with my Windows-based computer? I don't have a Mac.
Click to expand...

Yes, the iPod comes with the software you need, or you can download it from iTunes.com - it works with Mac or PC. We have and use several iPods on both types of machines.
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
I plug it in the USB port and it works while plugged in, but the battery symbol shows zero charge even after hours. We've left it overnight and zero charge. Honestly I think the battery was defective from the start, I just didn't know enough about the darn things to determine that.
Click to expand...
Some of the Sigmatel chip based players need to be turned ON when plugged into the USB port or the battery will NOT charge. Make sure the power switch is turned on first then plug in the USB cable and see if that works.
 
waterbear said:
frustratedpoolmom said:
I plug it in the USB port and it works while plugged in, but the battery symbol shows zero charge even after hours. We've left it overnight and zero charge. Honestly I think the battery was defective from the start, I just didn't know enough about the darn things to determine that.
Click to expand...
Some of the Sigmatel chip based players need to be turned ON when plugged into the USB port or the battery will NOT charge. Make sure the power switch is turned on first then plug in the USB cable and see if that works.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, I tried it both ways but nothing, I left it plugged in and playing for quite awhile the other night while I listened to Hannah Montana... :hammer:

It seemed to be this way from the beginning, it was defective, but I didn't know enough at the time to alert the gift giver and have it returned. Once the battery discharged it didn't work again, unless plugged in. I thought we were doing something wrong. Then my daughter lost interest in it and it sat idle in a box on her desk for months. Now suddenly she's interested again.

And yes, I'm getting the "but all my friends have one" mantra. :roll:

I'm leaning towards the shuffle, I think it will suffice for her needs, seeing as she virtually ignored this one for 6 months I'm not about to spend more than that at this time....LOL plus her BFF has one and can show her how to work it, since I seem to be inept. :wink:
 
H2O_Keeper said:
I know you kinda already made up your mind after the guilt trip for an iPod but if it were my $60 I'd buy this and your kid would be up one being able to do video as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ET ... d_i=507846
Click to expand...

Not a guilt trip - just my observations. I've got 3 kids, two of them asking for iPods and I listen to lots of co-workers with kids and have heard the reactions when they got an "mp3" player for Christmas. It wasn't that the kids weren't or wouldn't be grateful, but it's just one of those cultural things - they all seem to want one.
 

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