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Post by Knotty Kitty on Jul 19, 2009 20:33:45 GMT -7
I'm finally about to catch up with the rest of the world and buy myself an MP3 player. But I don't know what I'm doing, so I need all you people with MP3 players to give me some recommendations.
I was at Walmart and casually priced MP3 players last night. I really like the iPod Nano (largely because it comes in pretty colors, which is a big selling point for me), but at $145 it's a pretty expensive way to listen to music. They have other brands of MP3 players that were less expensive, but when buying technology I prefer to stick to name brands.
If I buy a non-iPod MP3 player, can I use iTunes? Or would I have to download music elswhere? I'm still back in the Stone Age listening to CDs on my boombox....so yeah, this digital music thing is still pretty new to me. *blush*
Also.....people in the US, what cell phone service do you use? I'll be switching to a new one when I move in a few months, so I'm looking for any good or bad feedback about various cell companies. I've been using Cricket for like six years, so I'm looking for something with unlimited text and hopefully unlimited minutes. I think Verizon has that top five thing where you can talk to five people as much as you want. Something like that would work. But nothing beats first-hand reviews, so let me know your cell phone experience!
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on Jul 19, 2009 22:05:31 GMT -7
Wish I could help you KK - Ive got an ipod, and have no clue on other types of MP3 players, I brought an ipod cause I had already mucked around with a friends one, so sort of knew hw to use it, im hopeless with technology. I know there are some good cheaper MP3 players out there, but I have no clue if you could use itunes on them, at least you dont feel as bad were as behind as each other
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Kanthaka
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Fakie Restore Queen
Posts: 423
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Post by Kanthaka on Jul 19, 2009 22:35:49 GMT -7
I'm technology impaired, so I have a cheap little MP3 player. It's really basic (I mean, I can use it, and I have some very serious technological issues). I use the Windows Media player to rip music off of my CDs--although I have purchased a couple of songs off of iTunes--and then all you do is plug the MP3 player into your computer, drag and drop the songs you want on it, and away you go.
I had an iPod that a wealthy, tech-happy relative gave me, and it just confused the heck out of me and didn't get along with my computer (apparently, iPods and Vista aren't friends... I don't know). My cheap little MP3 player works just fine for me.
As for cell phones, Verizon is very good. I think. My mum's in charge of the phones since I absolutely hate them, but our family has Verizon and it's never given me any trouble. Yay, free text messaging (which my little brother taught me to use. Kids these days).
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Post by Zainin on Jul 19, 2009 22:44:22 GMT -7
DO NOT GET AN iPOD.
MINE LITERALLY CAUGHT ON FIRE AND I'M SHIT OUT OF MUSIC WHEN I'M NOT AT HOME. I wish I was joking, but I'm not.
Okay, I openly admit I hate Apple and their products, but they're well known for their iPods breaking in fairly ridiculous ways and then they refuse to fix it reasonably. Their response is usually to "buy a new one". They also design their products to where a layman cannot fix it without voiding the warranty, and so it requires a trip to an Apple store. My iPod was a wreck even when it was brand new. Always crashing, overheating... my roomie's Nano isn't any better. I wouldn't have ever bought the damn thing. I got it for free, though, sooo.
I'm personally eying a Zune myself, in the tune of 180 gig, because... well, I literally have about 130 gig of music on my computer, plus tons of CD's I haven't ripped. I'm sadly not exaggerating. If you can go without bells and whistles, though, RCA makes a lot of cheap MP3 players (seriously, like $10-$20) that are dinky (less than a gig) but have SD slots so you can put in a several gig SD slot (that'll cost about $30-$50) and you'll have just as much room if not more than a Nano for tons less. I have an RCA Lyra for 8 years before I finally wore it out.
I don't use iTunes so I can't tell you on that, but I would imagine you can. I managed my iPod with Winamp, after all.
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Post by skimble on Jul 19, 2009 22:55:05 GMT -7
*takes deep nerdy breath* I love my iPod. I worship it. That, and iTunes. I've got Vista, iTunes and an 8 gig iPod Nano, and we all get along like a house on fire. (Clearly not in the same way as Zainin, though!) If you have the money, I can't recommend the Nano enough. LOVE. A Nano is also pretty simple to use, too, and syncronizing music on iTunes is so much easier than on Windows Media Player, I swear. However, I used to use an LG MP3 player that was pretty easy to use. (I used it with WMP.) I've also heard Zune's pretty good, but don't have any experience with them. I just have no reason to past the iPod, to be honest. It's freaking brilliant. I WOULD stay away from the very very cheap no-name brand players, because I had one of them first, and they are often prone to faults like faulty buttons (you press them and they stay stuck in) and also download errors (this happened to my aunt's player and gave us so much hell because the shop wouldn't accept their players - three in succession - were faulty and issue a refund. After three players!). I swear, if you have the money, get the best you can afford; your sanity will thank you later. Rundown: To use the iPod, it's easier to use iTunes. This is good because iTunes, at least in Australia, is the only online downloading service with any decent range in music. If you like to buy online and like non-popular. alternative or obscure music, it's the only way to go for me. (Why I upgraded from my old MP3 player, because I ended up buying all my music from iTunes anyway.) You can rip your CDs through iTunes and put them on the player. To use another player, you generally need to use another music player (winamp, Windows Media Player. There's others around, too.). I've never yet found a music player that I like using as much as iTunes, however, and I used to use WMP pretty exclusively until a few years ago. But you can certainly live on WMP. However (although, in the US, you'll probably have a better range of music downloading choices than we do in the sticks) you might have problems buying online music, depending on what you listen to. You can certainly rip CDs and the like. If you only buy CDs, it's never going to be an issue for you. However, and I did this for years, if you have music you can only buy on iTunes and want to put it on your regular MP3 player? You'll need to chose a player that can also play AAC files (so, look for something that says WMA, MP3 and AAC.) If you can't get one that plays AAC files, you CAN convert an iTunes AAC file to an MP3 using a program like Nero Wave Editor. (You might find a free program by searching 'wave editor' on download.org.) If you want to use iTunes with a regular MP3 player, you won't be able to automatically synchronize your music files onto the player. However, you can add those files (if they're file types your player will play) to the player manually, like you would a regular USB jump drive. (I used to do this with my LG all the time.) What size is the Nano in question, KK? Mine was 8 gig and cost my parents (it was for Christmas) about a hundred and twenty, I think, but since everything's double the price here in AU then it is in the US... *goes out of geek mode now* Edit because I can't spell...
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Post by Knotty Kitty on Jul 19, 2009 23:04:08 GMT -7
Well shit. My laptop has Vista. Not super thrilled about the catching on fire part either. :/ Looks like I'll be going with another brand. I honestly don't need a ton of space, since I'll just be putting the dozen or so Maynard-related albums plus a few random songs on it. I think quality (as in, can I drop it and not have it shatter?) is the most important aspect, followed closely by size and customization options (available in different colors, or with "skins", stuff like that). I'm going to assume that hardware is more or less universal....speakers and headphones and whatnot. They all have an audio plug and some sort of USB-type plug, right? EDIT: Wait, Kim posted a wall while I was typing this. BRB with update. EDIT again: Damn....I was hoping for more of a concensus. iPod might rock, or it might be the devil incarnate. This is gonna take a bit more research than I expected.
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
Posts: 958
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Post by fingerpaints on Jul 19, 2009 23:07:46 GMT -7
lmfao! I love it when kim gets all geeky - so cute <3 all I can say is that if I can use an ipod, any idiot can, mine hasnt caught fire yet, and I hope it doesnt, cause I like it XD
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Post by skimble on Jul 19, 2009 23:11:11 GMT -7
Sadly, KK, Apple is like Microsoft. You have your haters or your lovers, and not much middle ground!
Sorry for the wall of text, LOL. I AM a geek... *blushes* Good thing Amy thinks it's cute rather than terrifying!
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fingerpaints
Sparkly Warrior Princess
Magic Meadow Marvel
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Post by fingerpaints on Jul 19, 2009 23:15:47 GMT -7
lol! *pfft* terrifying XD that is one word that just doesnt go with you kim
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Post by Knotty Kitty on Jul 19, 2009 23:18:18 GMT -7
Oh and I have no idea how many gig the Nano had. I didn't even think to look. It's all Latin to me anyway, I sort of rely on my slightly more tech-savvy boyfriend to give me advice about such things, haha.
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Post by Zainin on Jul 19, 2009 23:20:50 GMT -7
Well, I THINK most if not all Nanos are 8 gig?
Basically, do you have a LOT of music or just a little? If you don't have much, the Nano's fine. If you have a metric buttload like I do, you'll want to go for something like a Zune 120 or an iPod Classic with 120 gig or somesuch.
And remember that while it SAYS you get, say, 8 gig, you don't REALLY due to, for one, how that sort of thing works, and for two, the OS on the device.
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Post by skimble on Jul 19, 2009 23:21:56 GMT -7
Well, for the kind of usage you were talking about, you shouldn't need a massively big player. You could probably get away with the 4-8 gig sizes and have space left over. As for dropping the iPod ... I'm a klutz, remember? I drop mine all the time. It hasn't complained yet! ETA: Here in AU, at least, you can get a 4 gig Nano.
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Post by Knotty Kitty on Jul 19, 2009 23:28:52 GMT -7
Ok, can someone put this in numbers that make sense to me? Like, how many songs or how many hours of music will 8 gig hold?
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Post by Zainin on Jul 19, 2009 23:32:09 GMT -7
That's a sticky question, depending on the file format and quality of the files, but I'd say about 800 songs on a Nano, going by how many I had on my 30 gig before it crapped out.
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Post by skimble on Jul 19, 2009 23:31:00 GMT -7
Right now, my 8 gig is 5 gig full (or thereabouts.) I have a playlist containing 500 songs, plus another ten albums, I think.
Does that help?
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