Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 52

Thread: MP3 Players

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    MP3 Players

    As part of my New Year's Res to listen to more music I have decided to buy an MP3 player. (Yeah, yeah, I know, about a quarter of a century after everyone else, but better late than never.) Although bewitched by the sleek beauty of the iPod I thought i'd try to get some info on alternatives, especially cheaper alternatives.

    I've got lots of stuff saved on my PC in my itunes playlists that I've bought from itunes or loaded from CDs - would I be able to transfer them to any MP3 player or would I have to buy an iPod? Put it another way, if i bought an alternative MP3 player would i have to use different software? And would i then find all my existing music is unavailable to me?

    Also, how do I check if I'd be able to play it in the car and through other sound systems that don't have a special dock?

    Sorry if these queries are bit basic - technology is not really my strong suit, but then you probably already know that.

    Eagerly awaiting replies from the ForumGeeks - you've never let me down yet!

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Hartlepool
    Posts
    106
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: MP3 Players

    why not just use you mobile phone instead, most modern mobiles are decent mp3 players provided you have enough phone memory

  3. #3
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Sussex by the Sea
    Posts
    9,276
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Eagerly awaiting replies from the ForumGeeks - you've never let me down yet!
    I'm not a geek at all. We use Napster to Go and have done for over 5 years. It's a subsription service where you get almost every track download within your £14.95 a month subscription. This lets you download to 3 PCs and 3 MP3 players.

    However, you need a Napster to Go compatible MP3 player. Have a look at Napster for the list. My 3 daughters use diverse models of Creative Zen players and they work just fine and are often on ebay for about £20.
    Last edited by Andy McGregor; 3rd-January-2011 at 04:17 PM.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I'm not a geek at all.
    Oops. Muchissimo apologies.


    We use Napster to Go and have done for over 5 years. It's a subsription service where you get almost every track download within your £14.95 a month subscription. This lets you download to 3 PCs and 3 MP3 players.

    However, you need a Napster to Go compatible MP3 player. Have a look at Napster for the list. My 3 daughters use divers models Creative Zen players and they work just fine and are often on ebay for about £20.
    Yes, i was looking at the Creative Zen players. Not sure if I'd get one on Ebay, though. There seem to be enough lifespan probs with new ones!

    With Napster, do you still own the tracks after you end the subscription, or is it one of the sites where you need to continue paying?

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy Razzle View Post
    why not just use you mobile phone instead, most modern mobiles are decent mp3 players provided you have enough phone memory
    I have a £25 basic model 3 yr old Samsung phone - it never occurred to me it could be used like that, not sure if I ever read the instructions once I discovered how to phone/text on it.

  6. #6
    Registered User Goose's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    27
    Rep Power
    7

    Re: MP3 Players

    iPod touch with Spotify app (£10 a month for all the music you can eat).

    The best thing is all the other useful things it can do - well worth a little extra.

    Otherwise if you want simple, go for the nano or shuffle...

  7. #7
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Sussex by the Sea
    Posts
    9,276
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Yes, i was looking at the Creative Zen players. Not sure if I'd get one on Ebay, though. There seem to be enough lifespan probs with new ones!
    I think they're variable. One of my daughters has had the same one for 5 years. The other two daughers seem to think they can survive being immersed in fizzy water, trapped in doors or sat on ...

    I did fix one of them recently as it had a problem with the headphone socket. I found the fix instructions on the net and was quite proud of myself when fixed it with a soldering iron - maybe I have become a geek!

    I think there's some other Napster to go compatible players. Also, I saw something about getting Napster to Go on your phone - but that might be USA only.

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    With Napster, do you still own the tracks after you end the subscription, or is it one of the sites where you need to continue paying?
    You own all the tracks you buy and they will continue to play even if you don't keep up your subscription. But you lose the ability to play all the tracks you downloaded as part of your subscription as they are DRM protected.

    You need to pay for the tracks if you want to burn them on to a CD. Also, there are some tracks that are only available for purchase - nine times out of ten there's another version of the same track that can be downloaded.

    I think you can have a week's free trial of Napster so you can see what you think.

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Zurich
    Posts
    1,060
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    I've got lots of stuff saved on my PC in my itunes playlists that I've bought from itunes or loaded from CDs - would I be able to transfer them to any MP3 player or would I have to buy an iPod? Put it another way, if i bought an alternative MP3 player would i have to use different software? And would i then find all my existing music is unavailable to me?
    The music that you have can be broken down into two groups.

    1. The music that you bought from Itunes will most commonly be in a format called AAC which is basically a copyright protected MP3 format. It used to be the case that this format was only playable on an Ipod and no other player would play it. This may no longer be the case but if you are buying something other than an Ipod it would definately be a question to ask before buying. Some tracks bought on Itunes (at this time 99p instead of the ususal 79p) are not copyright protected but I am not sure if these are plain MP3 files that can be played on any player.

    2. Music that you have loaded from your own CDs. These tracks are read into your computer and encoded according to your preferances in Itunes. The default setting for encoding on my Itunes was AAC format and files encoded were only playable on Ipods. You can change the default encoder in Itunes to the MP3 format by altering your setting in your preferences for importing music. If all of your CDs were imported using the MP3 encoder then those tracks will be playable on all players.

    If you find that you have imported all your CDs using the AAC encoder then all is not lost. You can delete those tracks then reimport them once you have changed the encoder to MP3. Time consuming but possible if you want to go the non Ipod route.

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Also, how do I check if I'd be able to play it in the car and through other sound systems that don't have a special dock?
    You don't always have to have a special dock. Some newer car radios have an AUX 3.5mm jack socket and Maplin electronics sell a 3.5mm jack plug to 3.5mm jack plug cable which will connect from your headphone socket to the radios AUX input.

    If your car has a cassette player you can get cassette adaptors to link from your MP3 player to the cassette slot.

    You can also get devices that connect to your MP3 player and transmit that signal as a low powered FM transmission that you can tune your radio into. I have tried a couple of these and they have be only just usuable in rural areas but totoally useless anywhere near London or major towns where there are took many radio stations (both legal and illegal) to get any clear wavelength.

    That is the best that I can tell you. If anyone knows that my information is out of date please correct me.

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Goose View Post
    iPod touch with Spotify app (£10 a month for all the music you can eat).

    The best thing is all the other useful things it can do - well worth a little extra.

    Otherwise if you want simple, go for the nano or shuffle...
    I think i'm going to get a secondhand one - Not willing to shell out the £200+ necessary for an iPod touch even if every teenager in the universe has one. So it will probably be a 4th generation-ish one - any thoughts on those? A shiny red one, hopefully.

    I'm quite intrigued by the idea of paying to access unlimited music but probably couldn't eat a whole £10 worth per month. I think some might be cheaper - iMesh, for example?

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
    The music that you have can be broken down into two groups.

    1. The music that you bought from Itunes will most commonly be in a format called AAC which is basically a copyright protected MP3 format. It used to be the case that this format was only playable on an Ipod and no other player would play it. This may no longer be the case but if you are buying something other than an Ipod it would definately be a question to ask before buying. Some tracks bought on Itunes (at this time 99p instead of the ususal 79p) are not copyright protected but I am not sure if these are plain MP3 files that can be played on any player.

    2. Music that you have loaded from your own CDs. These tracks are read into your computer and encoded according to your preferances in Itunes. The default setting for encoding on my Itunes was AAC format and files encoded were only playable on Ipods. You can change the default encoder in Itunes to the MP3 format by altering your setting in your preferences for importing music. If all of your CDs were imported using the MP3 encoder then those tracks will be playable on all players.

    If you find that you have imported all your CDs using the AAC encoder then all is not lost. You can delete those tracks then reimport them once you have changed the encoder to MP3. Time consuming but possible if you want to go the non Ipod route.

    Thanks, Chef. All my music is on my creaky, ancient PC which I only really use as a storage device now. So, I'll have to wait the required 10 mins or so to power it up and investigate. Presumably, it'll be under "properties" or some such label?

    I don't mind reloading stuff that was on CDs but I really would like to play stuff I've had to pay for, so maybe it will have to be an iPod.

    You don't always have to have a special dock. Some newer car radios have an AUX 3.5mm jack socket and Maplin electronics sell a 3.5mm jack plug to 3.5mm jack plug cable which will connect from your headphone socket to the radios AUX input.

    If your car has a cassette player you can get cassette adaptors to link from your MP3 player to the cassette slot.

    That is the best that I can tell you. If anyone knows that my information is out of date please correct me.
    The car only has a CD player.

  11. #11
    Registered User Goose's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    27
    Rep Power
    7

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    I think i'm going to get a secondhand one - Not willing to shell out the £200+ necessary for an iPod touch even if every teenager in the universe has one. So it will probably be a 4th generation-ish one - any thoughts on those? A shiny red one, hopefully.

    I'm quite intrigued by the idea of paying to access unlimited music but probably couldn't eat a whole £10 worth per month. I think some might be cheaper - iMesh, for example?
    Just to clarify, only the iPod touch can run 'apps' and therefore Spotify. However even the first gen touch will run pretty much all apps, so I'm sure you can pick up one on eBay for under £100.

    Also, it's only available in black and silver - but you can get a funky case.

    There are a bunch of apps for music if Spotify isn't your thing...

  12. #12
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Hastings
    Posts
    4,386
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    10

    Re: MP3 Players

    Personally I would never touch an iPod, Pda Phone or anything else Apple claims to have invented. They all tend to be cheaply made yet expensive versions of what is already out there.

    My recommendation would be to ditch itunes and get a decent download service like 7digital or emusic and have a look at either using your phone or getting a generic MP player (most will be as good if not better than an iPod)

    PS my brother is on his 7th Ipod in 2 years after they have all broken. (oh and his 3rd iPhone in 8 months)

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bartholomew View Post
    Personally I would never touch an iPod, Pda Phone or anything else Apple claims to have invented. They all tend to be cheaply made yet expensive versions of what is already out there.

    My recommendation would be to ditch itunes and get a decent download service like 7digital or emusic and have a look at either using your phone or getting a generic MP player (most will be as good if not better than an iPod)

    PS my brother is on his 7th Ipod in 2 years after they have all broken. (oh and his 3rd iPhone in 8 months)
    Oh, right. What should i do with all the music i've already bought from itunes, then? What generic MP3 player would you recommend?

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Inverness for now
    Posts
    1,863
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bartholomew View Post
    PS my brother is on his 7th Ipod in 2 years after they have all broken. (oh and his 3rd iPhone in 8 months)
    What's he been doing to them??? One five year old ipod and one 18 month old iphone, both working fine.

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Oh, right. What should i do with all the music i've already bought from itunes, then? What generic MP3 player would you recommend?
    Jivecat don't worry too much. If you don't want/need an Apple device you can still get your music out from itunes. You need to have a look in itunes to see what type of file it is. This can be done in itunes by right clicking up in the "headers" bit where Artist, Song Title etc. are. There is an option to have a "Kind" column, this column will give you an idea of which tracks are protected and which aren't as only some older ACC files are protected, one's bought in the last year or two from itunes will not be protected and can be transferred/converted to whatever format your new player will handle.

    "AAC Protected" means just that, it will only play on an authorised computer/apple device BUT most older protected tracks can be converted to an unprotected version for ~20p a track direct from itunes.
    "AAC Purchased" means that you have bought them and they aren't protected and you can play them wherever you like.

    Some MP3 players will also play AAC format, others will require conversion to MP3 from AAC but it's fairly easy to do, even using itunes.

  15. #15
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Northeastern Parts
    Posts
    5,221
    Rep Power
    14

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bartholomew View Post
    PS my brother is on his 7th Ipod in 2 years after they have all broken. (oh and his 3rd iPhone in 8 months)
    Well - if he will keep buying them from China for $10 apiece, I'm not entirely surprised...

  16. #16
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Northeastern Parts
    Posts
    5,221
    Rep Power
    14

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Oh, right. What should i do with all the music i've already bought from itunes, then? What generic MP3 player would you recommend?
    I wouldn't worry about certain - ahem - statistical anomalies. I've been using Apple kit for around fifteen years, and while I certainly have had very occasional equipment failures, they have been extremely rare, and Apple have always provided exceptional customer support on the very rare occasions when I've had to go to them. I have a number of friends and relatives who have had similar experiences to myself.

    In terms of iPods, I've owned one 80gb iPod for the last four years which is still going strong, and two iPhones - the 3G (two and a half years old, no problems at all) and the iPhone 4 - also hassle-free, but it's still a youngster, so there's no conclusions to be drawn from that.

    The latest customer support experience I've had was when the battery died on a three-year old MacBook - it as two years out of warranty, but Apple decided that it was a manufacturing fault, so replaced the battery free of charge.

    There's plenty of valid reasons not to go Apple, but rest assured that reliability concerns are not among them.

    Anyway - don't just take it from me - have a look at the various reliability surveys that are available out there.
    Example here, and another here.
    Last edited by straycat; 5th-January-2011 at 12:17 PM.

  17. #17
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Hastings
    Posts
    4,386
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    10

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by pmjd View Post
    What's he been doing to them??? One five year old ipod and one 18 month old iphone, both working fine.

    Just using them alot.

    My other brother is on his third iPod in 2 years and Claire is having no end of trouble with her 6 month old iPhone (not ringing, shutting itself off, crashing etc)

  18. #18
    Registered User Goose's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    27
    Rep Power
    7

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bartholomew View Post
    Just using them alot.

    My other brother is on his third iPod in 2 years and Claire is having no end of trouble with her 6 month old iPhone (not ringing, shutting itself off, crashing etc)
    Then she should take it back - the great thing about Apple is their customer service. Usually they give you a brand new phone without quibble.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    2,041
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by straycat View Post
    Well - if he will keep buying them from China for $10 apiece, I'm not entirely surprised...
    So, are there fake ipods about? How can I avoid buying one on ebay?

    Apart from not buying one on ebay, of course. No need to state the totally bleedin' obvious. I am prepared to take a punt with a modest amount of cash.

  20. #20
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Hastings
    Posts
    4,386
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    10

    Re: MP3 Players

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    Oh, right. What should i do with all the music i've already bought from itunes, then? What generic MP3 player would you recommend?
    Whare you out jogging with it? do you need a screen or to DJ off it etc or are you just after something that plays music now and then?

    Quote Originally Posted by jivecat View Post
    So, are there fake ipods about? How can I avoid buying one on ebay?
    He is refering to these .........
    http://www.chinavasion.com/product_i...en-worldphone/

    You can tell the difference from the iphone by looking so dont worry too much about fakes.

    I have had one of these phones (use an omnia as my main phone atm) and it is an amazing little phone. The interface is not as clean as an iphone (just) but it's performance and features are way above what a iphone 4 has to offer.

    Also shows the massive markup Apple make in there products (comapre the prices and tech involved in the 2) what you are paying for is a brand

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. MP3 recommendations
    By Missy D in forum Geeks' Corner
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 24th-September-2009, 10:36 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •