More questions - mp3 players this time

[Ed62]

OK, I'm living living in a long lost age, but I don't know much at all about mp3 players, except I'd kind of like to have one for my car. This is about all I know about them:
2GB memory will play about 32 hrs. of mp3s.
I understand the difference between flash drives and hard drives.
Some players have capabilities that I will never use.
Some are billed as "play4sure".
You can add memory to some units with miniSD cards.

So I have questions, and these are my needs:
Only interested in playing music, not videos, photos, etc.
I need something I can plug into my radio, as an accessory. (see pic)

My questions:
1. I've seen where some websites have "play4sure" downloads. Does this
mean that if I've converted my CDs to mp3s, they might not play?

2. Since my wife does not necessarily like all the music I like, would I be
better off putting her/our music on one card (I like it all), and mine on
another, or are the menus very easily navigated?

3. Will all mp3 players accept the cable I need to hook up to my car radio?

4. The pic shows the input jack for my car radio. Is the needed cable a
standard item, or is it a special order?

5. Are typical LCDs large enough to read easily through aging eyes?

6. Do all players support playlists?

7. Is there anything else I should take into consideration?

8. Recommended players?


Ed

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Hooking any MP3 to your car radio will be no problem. 1/8" male to 1/8" male headphone jack cord is all you need. < $5 at Radio Shack. Probably $1 at Walmart if you are so inclined.

Typical LCDs are easy to very easy to navigate. I have a cheap Sansa 2GB that has microSD card for up to 2 more GB of storage.

Quite frankly I would buy a recon Apple directly from the Apple Store. Refurb 4gb Ipod Nano = $99.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...2-1&esvid=1839

[Ed62]

How do you like your Sansa? I've been looking at that one. Why would you buy an Ipod? I need to keep it simple.

Ed

[Jeffrey Schronce]

How do you like your Sansa? I've been looking at that one. Why would you buy an Ipod? I need to keep it simple.

Ed

The Sansa is just fine. I don't use it a lot due to Sirius in car, home and shop.

You want to keep it simple? Ipod. Folks will find something wrong with the Ipod, but honestly it is a very simple software interface (though you dont have to use their software interface) and the hardware is very simple to use. There is a huge range of options, add ons, etc if you should ever want them.

The Sansa works fine. I have no idea how much it is. I would guess around $75 given the current market.

[Ed62]

OK, thanks for the help.

Ed

[Cheeky]

Ed,

Pretty sure you can build more than one library on music players, so the wife could have her own.

the headphone jack may actually come with the player, so whatever you decide on, wait until you check the contents of the box.

There's a good deal (posted it in bargain alerts a week or so ago) on a 30gb Microsoft Zune on buy.com: $89 after google checkout.

[andrew.r.w]

I have an iRiver 256M player. It holds 4 or 5 albums worth of music. It's simple enough to navigate, and came with everything you'd need to jack into your car stereo. The 1G Sansa is nearly the same thing (I bought one for my son) and can be found for well under $100.

Plays4Sure means it'll play all the popular formats. Some players do not play all the formats (WMA, MP3, etc.) One of the reasons not to buy iPod would include some playability issues with music not downloaded from iTunes. I'm not sure about ripped music - I got this from Consumer Reports, not from experience. iPods are just too expensive for my taste, and only the really good ones come with decent headphones.

My two bits' worth - go to Costco and get a Sansa player. All of the music you rip from your CDs will play just fine. Having a large (4GB) player is good and bad. With mine I'm adding and removing music a lot which is a nuisance, but the large players (like my phone) get kinda cluttered up. You lose things on there if you're not organized. It's quick and easy to manipulate the contents anyway. I'm betting 1GB would do most people. I saw a 1GB Sansa player in a grocery store today for $65 CDN.

[Ed62]

Thanks for the replies again. By the time this thread is toast, I'll be the mp3 player expert.

Ed

[gsmittle]

iPod, iPod, iPod, aaaaaaaaand ...iPod.

Yes, I'm a professed Mac/Apple/Ipod guy.

I think "Plays4Sure" is an MS marketing tool, like "Plug and Play," the idea being that the tunes will play on your player, whatever the source. I really don't know that much about it since, well, my iPods (five between the four of us) play whatever I throw at it.

You can create separate playlists for the two of you in iTunes, and they will export to the iPod. You can also use the "On the Go" feature to create a custom playlist on the fly. Select the artist, album, or tune you want to add to On the Go and hold down the center button until the selection flashes three times. Do this until you have all the music you want in the list. Do this before you hit the road, though.

g.

[leehljp]

Andrew: One of the reasons not to buy iPod would include some playability issues with music not downloaded from iTunes.

He is right to an extent and even that can be misleading to the uninformed. The iPod will play any DRM free mp3 music downloads and that includes Amazon's new DRM free music. The reason it (iPod) does not play some music are the convoluted protection (DRM) schemes that are there from other companies.

The different DRM schemes are something that Apple has wanted to do away with from the beginning. It is the overall music industry that has DEMANDED protection schemes (DRM) that have become proprietary with different computer and download companies. Not Apple and Not MS.

The iPod will play non DRM mp3s (regular mp3s) just fine and is the only player and system that will play easily by hooking up to Windows or Mac. This makes it have a much wider audience. The "Windows only" schemes work either great, or pure he**. The ease and success cross-platform is higher with the iPod set up.


ANOTHER SUBJECT but background to the above:
While most people view Apple as the bad guy, it is Apple who is fighting for the DRM free schemes against most music companies (especially Universal's) wishes. EMI is offering DRM free and seems to be headed in this "open" direction. Because of this, Amazon now offers DRM free mp3s that will work on most any music player and computer regardless of Windows or Mac.

Protection schemes (DRM) are there - not because of Apple or Microsoft or other, - but because of the music industry's drive to control the music and artist. Some people try to paint MS or Apple as the bad guys and label both protection schemes as "proprietary," "controlling," etc, but the root culprit is the music industries control of the artist and music as a combo. Apple is fighting this with the idea that the artist should get the higher percentage of the royalties, not the distributor; MS is quietly joining the ranks but not being vocal about it.

[Ed62]

I'm glad I started this thread. It's a fine education!! Thanks very much.

Ed

[LinuxRandal]

Plays for sure will not play some of Microsofts new DRM encoding (there was a write up on slashdot about that a few months back). The IRiver series is one of the few that will play oggs (free mp3 equivalent), though their new ones are also targeting the video crowd (like the new full Ipods). You can with a big enough unit/memory stick, set two playlists (yours, Hers), you could also see if your car will play MP3 encoded cd's (average is around 10 hours per cd, but not as good at menu's, more for random play). Another issue with using one in a vehicle, mine will run out of battery power, before it will run out of songs.


As fpr EMI, they are receiving flack for doing what the RIAA is po'd at society for. Illegal file sharing. They are receiving quite a bit of attention, for selling digital music, which the band says was excluded, then continuing, after all contract ties had expired.

[docrowan]

I recently found something at Wal-Mart that may appeal to the really cheap guys out there (like me).

My 99 Grand Prix has a nice factory stereo system with a cassette player, but no CD player. It's a bit of an odd size and matches my car interior. I like having the cassette player, but wanted to be able to play my fairly large CD collection without having to dub to tape. But, I'm on a tight budget and I didn't like the look of either adding a player underneath or replacing the factory receiver.

I found a device at Wal-Mart for 30 dollars that plugs into your cigarette lighter, it transmits an FM signal and plays right through your car stereo that you have tuned to the same FM frequency. What's cool about it is it plays directly off a USB flash drive. So instead of fumbling around with changing CD's around, I just rip them onto my computer and copy them to a flash drive. I had to buy a personal flash drive since the only one I had belonged to the company, but for a total of 50 bucks I'm in good shape, with the advantage I can plug it into any vehicle I drive. It all fits in the palm of my hand. It also has a standard jack so you can plug in any accessory device you want, such as an iPod, CD player, etc.