MP3 players....

[Cincy'sMom]

I bought Ralph an Insigna MP3 Player for Christmas. I believe that is the Best Buy brand. They were a little chepaer then the IPOD (only $100), it is compatable wth more forms of Windows (many require XP) and had a memory card slot for additional storage. He really likes his and uses it for both music and movies. I also gto him a FM transmitter, since the van has only a cassette player and no MP3 jack.

[shais_mom]

Hi sweets!
I started out with the second generation shuffle. It was the size of a cig lighter. It was the one that had the lanyard to wear around your neck. I loved it - it could fit in the strap of my bra with no problem!
I wanted to play it in my car and it wouldn't work with the cable I bought http://www.shopallmonster.com/mp3/
So I sold it to a coworker - (it help 120 songs) and upgraded to the 4 gig silver IPOD NANO. I LOVE IT!!! It plays in my car I use it more in the car than with the earphones. It holds I think 1000 songs. I paid $200 for it plus the extra warranty. I got mine at best buy. I found ipod skins on ebay got 3 for $10 to give it a more personalized look. I bought the JVC earbuds - they were like $20 - and they are very tinny. I plugged in the ipod ones and didn't change the volume and hit play and seriously the sound difference knocked me into the wall!!! I jumped back! I couldn't believe it! But I've heard that sony ones are really good tho.

The nano is easy to use once you get passed the initial startup. If you want a simple one - I'd go for the ipod shuffle 2nd generation - the one that clips - I think that is the coolest feature! I wish this one did that! But you can get a 'bigger and better' one for just a bit more money. My brother in law has a Zen I think and loves it. I bought my 10 year old nephew a cheap RCA model at Walmart for $35 for Christmas. It runs on AA batteries instead of recharging off the computer like the ipods. It held like 150 songs but the memory card someone bought my sister for her camera fit in it and so it held ???????? songs... he LOVES it. My sister got him an ipal to plug in and play off it.
My nano was acting weird the other nite so I got online and looked up the instructions and it said to reboot it so I followed the instructions and it's been acting fine.
The only thing that I struggled with - and still am - is downloading songs from other sites other than ITUNES. I am just not computer literate enough to figger it out. I have uploaded all the songs that I wanted from every CD I own to it plus several ITUNES songs and have less than 400 songs on it. Uploading CD's to it was really easy I thought. You just have to make sure you sync it and transfer the songs to your playlist. After I bought the shuffle I was like "I'll never buy a CD again unless I want the whole thing- most of my cd's are for one song - for .99 I can buy it off itunes - upload it to the ipod and still play it in my car." If I could figger out who to do it from the 'free sites' I'd be even better! lol
good luck and let us know what you find!

[wolf_Q]

I have an iPod, I was suckered into buying it because it was the U2 special edition one. This was before the video ones came out, its just a normal music one...20 gig I think. I love it, I take it with me walking all the time. I have 1246 songs and that's only taking up 4.86 gigs. I personally would just get the regular iPod as (don't quote me on this, I may be wrong) the nano/shuffle/mini ones generally cost as much but with less space for songs. I'd rather have lots of songs on mine, then have it be smaller...mine, in a case, fits in my pocket just fine...but that is my preference, you may want the smaller size. *edit~See here http://www.ipods.net/ipod.php The 15 gig and the 4 gig mini are the same price, so I guess it depends whether you value looks or amount of songs*

I have never had any problems with mine. This is the only MP3 player I have had so I can't compare, but its user friendly and mine has worked well. The only problem I have is the iTrip to play it in the car is pathetic, the only time I've been able to find a station quiet enough to play it well is when I'm in the middle of nowhere. There's probably something better available now to play it in a car, right?

[Karen]

I have an iPod and love it. I never thought I wanted one, but got it for a gift, and I just love it! The earbuds are annoying for me, because I only need one, and the other ends up getting tangled around things, so I bought a cheapo set and chopped one off.

[shais_mom]

only problem I have is the iTrip to play it in the car is pathetic, the only time I've been able to find a station quiet enough to play it well is when I'm in the middle of nowhere. There's probably something better available now to play it in a car, right?

ohhhh yea Amy -
there are other ways to play the ipod now other than the FM tuner types (I have one too) it just depends on how much you want to spend.....

[king2005]

I have the Samsung K5 (4G). I got it for xmas from work (I work for Samsung lol)... It has an FM tuner, Alarm clock, Photo Viewer, MP3 Player, & 2 speakers!! Its about the size of a cell phone (not those super thin ones, as the speakers aren't that tiny lol)... The earphones are awesome!!! SO clear, LOUD, man is this player ever loud! Super easy to use & stylish...

However its not cheap as its top quality. Retail is about 300.00


Wanna know something funny, many of the Ipod parts are Samsung parts lol SO Ipods are good quality aswell lol

[BitsyNaceyDog]

The only problem I have is the iTrip to play it in the car is pathetic, the only time I've been able to find a station quiet enough to play it well is when I'm in the middle of nowhere. There's probably something better available now to play it in a car, right?

I think it depends on your car too. My iTrip worked great in my old car, but it never worked well in my husband's truck, it also doesn't work well in my new van. My van has both a CD player and a tape player so we got a tape player adapter use that with the iPod.

I too have only had an iPod so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I will say that I do love my iPod. Both my husband and I have had our iPods for 3 years and we use them regularly- they still work great!

[critter crazy]

Call me silly, but what do you do with an MP3 player?? How do you add music, and do you have to pay for the songs? I have never had one obviously, and dont even know anyone who does.

[shais_mom]

Call me silly, but what do you do with an MP3 player?? How do you add music, and do you have to pay for the songs? I have never had one obviously, and dont even know anyone who does.

I can only answer for myself - as I use itunes or my own cd's. You can join itunes - put your cd in the cd drive on your computer - it opens the cd with a list of songs. Import the ones you want and add them to the playlist. Itunes- find the song you want - listen to it to make certain it is the one you want and you can purchase it via paypal OR you can get an itunes giftcard at just about any store now and enter that number to it and it then you have that amount in songs. I did that and think I will keep doing that rather than paypal b/c I took my cc off paypal... Songs are .99 and videos are 1.99. I tried using limewire but couldn't get the song to sync on my ipod and it gave me such a headache I said 'Forget it' and just use itunes now.

[critter crazy]

I can only answer for myself - as I use itunes or my own cd's. You can join itunes - put your cd in the cd drive on your computer - it opens the cd with a list of songs. Import the ones you want and add them to the playlist. Itunes- find the song you want - listen to it to make certain it is the one you want and you can purchase it via paypal OR you can get an itunes giftcard at just about any store now and enter that number to it and it then you have that amount in songs. I did that and think I will keep doing that rather than paypal b/c I took my cc off paypal... Songs are .99 and videos are 1.99. I tried using limewire but couldn't get the song to sync on my ipod and it gave me such a headache I said 'Forget it' and just use itunes now.

Ok I just dont get why you would spend hundreds of dollars on something, just to continiue to pay for every song you listen to??? seems to not make any sense at all! I must be old fashioned, or just plain stingy with my money!