Posted on 08/24/2012 9:08:35 PM PDT by This Just In
There’s a lot of things in this world that are obsolete and still being used. I work on fax software, it’s been obsolete since Bush 1 was in the White House, and the fax end of our company pulls down over $300 million a year and we grow our revenue at 4% over inflation year after year after obsolete year.
Both the MP3 players I’ve own you can make playlists on the device. My P3 comes with 5 “on the fly” lists you edit on the player, it can also have “permanent” lists you need to use something else to make, but that “something else” can be pretty much any MP3 software out there, WinAmp, Windows Media, Media Monkey. My first one, a super cheapy, only had the one playlist, but again totally editable on the device.
That's for sure. I'm old so that's my excuse. But my daughter and son-in-law love old vintage stuff, as do many of their young friends. They're always looking for old vintage stuff and put it to good use. I collect old electronics and enjoy restoring them. I have a 1977 Apple computer running on a compact-flash drive that I still use. A mid-1990s Apple Mac with built-in TV, CD and Bose sound-system serves as my entertainment machine. I even use a mid-1940s typewriter and mid-1960s cassette recorder (one of the 1st ones sold). Get those cheap MP3 players while you can before they disappear, they will be the next collectible.
The correct answer is, of course, what's best for YOU. Otherwise, "best" has no good definition. The iPod Classic is on the way out. Get it only if you must have all your huge music collection with you at all times. The Nano is good, but memory is limited, you'll only carry a subset of music at a time, depending on the size of your library (16 GB is thousands of songs). But then also forget the Zune, it's been discontinued as a market failure. There are others out there though.
And of course, how will you use it? These touch-screen devices aren't as good to use eyes-free. With the old click-wheel you could feel your way around the interface. If that's important, get a previous-generation Nano used, really cheap.
But my answer is to wait. Apple will likely update their iPod line within the next month or so. That will change the equation regardless of what you end up buying.
Apple doesn’t put restrictions on the audio anymore. They’re just files you can use in any player that plays AAC (and no, AAC is not an Apple format).
My bad. I should have assumed they had that capability by now. (The cheap ones I used several years ago didn't.)
I should make my points more clearly:
1. To the original poster: if you buy an iPod, you will have to use iTunes to move song files onto it. On the PC, you can also use MediaMonkey. But you will need to use something, rather than just dragging files to the device, which some other, cheaper players let you do.
2. To the person who responded by saying they didn't want to have to learn iTunes or any other software to use an MP3 player: fair enough, but using software like that gives other benefits—for example, the ability to make "permanent" or complicated playlists that are then available on the player as well. That process is a lot easier on the computer than on the device itself. Plus, you can have playlists that are automatically generated by criteria you set up, like "all classic rock tunes with 4- or 5-star ratings." And you can use the same software to listen to your music on your computer, with all the playlists and ratings and such available there too.
The point for the original poster is to be aware that you'll have to learn to use a piece of software if you get an iPod, but learning it lets you do things you can't do otherwise.
I think it’s very dependent on the device. And what you want. Like I never use the ratings, all my players (device and software) have them I’ve never used them. I also completely ignore the genre labels, in fact I hate the genre labels because so much of the software uses them to organize things their way and I don’t want things organized like that. I have them organized on disc the way I want them organized, don’t mess with it. Which is why thumb drive style access was my must have feature #1, it was OK to have software, but because those things are always addicted to doing things their way I needed to be able to avoid it.
Which is why I push research:
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/
Figure out what you want and figure out where that combo is available. It’s there I found out about the Samsung P3. It’s there I found out about my TV, my BluRay. 2 hours there can really stretch the results of your dollars.
I do a lot of research on CNET myself—it’s a great resource. Before I bought an HDTV, I read extensively there and elsewhere and looked at models in the store to see which brands’ pictures I liked; figured out what size and features I wanted, what brands I would accept, and how much I was willing to pay; and waited. It meant I didn’t get an HDTV until 3 years ago, but I got what I wanted at my price.
As for music players, I’m a longtime Mac user, and I was given my first iPod as a gift. So it’s easy for me to stay with that solution. I’m happy to let iTunes manage my music files—it uses as logical a file structure as I would—and I do make extensive use of playlists. So yeah, depends on what you want.
I’d like to express my gratitude to all you Freepers who took the time to provide suggestions and advice.
I have already followed a number of your suggestions, and have decided to research more info. before deciding on a mp3 player. I’ve added devices to the short list thanks to your input.
Best Regards,
TJI
I’ve had a second generation 1 GB iPod Shuffle for several years, and it still works great. I want to say it was $50 brand new...
I also have a Slick branded 2 GB player with video functions that’s a year or two newer; I got it as a Christmas gift. Also works pretty well, a little easier to get music loaded but the battery life is considerably shorter. Still, the sound is decent and for a player I know ran about $30, the battery life isn’t shameful.
Oh, incidentally, there are plenty of third party solutions for iPods. You’re only locked into using iTunes with its restrictions if you decide playing by asinine rules is more important than flexibility.
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