IPods or something else?

[Zobaczcie suki]

My son (will be 12) wants an IPOD for his birthday. Is the best choice or is there something else we should be looking at. We really haven't downloaded music before (he has a lot of CD's) but he's real interested in this.

 

[CardFan67]

can't stand the itunes, I really like the Creative line of MP3 players.... and the programs that come with it are nice, eventhough you can't really do everything very well through Media Player 10...

The least intrusive option I have seen...

 

[nathan]

I have a Creative Zen Touch and an Ipod Nano. I don't really use the Creative player because it's bulky. I also prefer the organization on the nano. Creative's media organizer is okay but I prefer itunes.

Exactly what does your son want? Does he want to be able to play videos? How many songs would he want to store?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I think you should start him off with the shuffle. It doesn't have the display screen, but then again, he is only 12. I bought my wife a Nano and I have a Video. You don't want to spoil him too early, do you?

 

[jenna2891]

this is what i have and it rocks:

You must be registered for see images attach

it's about the size of a tic tac box. it's also really easy to manage. you plug it into your computer and then make folders and add files like you would for anything else on your computer. very easy, very awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BL5YPY/sr=1-2/qid=1147298038/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-5746762-3022464?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=electronics

 

[abomb]

Better get him an iPod. As a status symbol, anything other than an iPod might make him an outcast.

A-Bomb

 

[jenna2891]

Better get him an iPod. As a status symbol, anything other than an iPod might make him an outcast.

A-Bomb

also, tell him to sign his name after everything he writes. kids think that's cool.


a-bomb

 

[CardFan67]

I prefer itunes.

I have never hear someone say that before... with my zen I use Windows media player 10 for the Organization... no problems, and pretty much what I was using for on computer music organization anywho..

 

[thirty-two]

If you do get him an ipod - make sure you buy him a case to go with it. The screen (particularly with the ipod video and nano) is easily scratched. I would recommend the hard case that I have. I've dropped it plenty of times, and it definitely absorbs some of the impact. It protects the screen too. I got it online at agent18.com.

Definitely dont get him a video - it's nice to have but not for a 12 year old, imo.

Also, I dont know if this would apply to you but make sure all your computers have (i think) Windows 2000 or higher, as itunes cannot be downloaded on Win 98. It sucks cuz I still have win 98 on this comp and I can only upload new songs on my mom's computer in AZ. Just a friendly reminder....

 

[nathan]

I have never hear someone say that before... with my zen I use Windows media player 10 for the Organization... no problems, and pretty much what I was using for on computer music organization anywho..

I just looked at WMP 10 and wasn't that impressed. I like itunes because of the smart playlists, play counts, and album art being displayed in the LLH corner. Also I have about 25,000 MP3 which I suspect might cause WMP to crash.

I do have some issues with itunes (especially navigation) but I like it a lot more than WMP.

 

[nathan]

Also, I dont know if this would apply to you but make sure all your computers have (i think) Windows 2000 or higher, as itunes cannot be downloaded on Win 98. It sucks cuz I still have win 98 on this comp and I can only upload new songs on my mom's computer in AZ. Just a friendly reminder....

Don't you have any friends with Windows XP and itunes installed that would let you borrow their computers for a few minutes? Or do they use Windows 98 too?

 

[thirty-two]

Don't you have any friends with Windows XP and itunes installed that would let you borrow their computers for a few minutes? Or do they use Windows 98 too?

If I plugged my ipod into their computers, I would lose all the music I've already put onto my ipod.

The ipod only loads the songs that are in that computer's itunes (at least that is my understanding of it). If the song you previously uploaded is not in itunes, and then you plug in your ipod to upload new songs, that song will no longer be there.

 

[CardFan67]

smart playlists,
play counts, and
album art being displayed


MP3 which I suspect might cause WMP to crash.

my WMP 10 has all 3 of those features...

I have 40 Gigs of MP3's and have yet to have it crash...

 

[nathan]

The ipod only loads the songs that are in that computer's itunes (at least that is my understanding of it). If the song you previously uploaded is not in itunes, and then you plug in your ipod to upload new songs, that song will no longer be there.

Only if you have the sync option turned on.

 

[thirty-two]

Only if you have the sync option turned on.

So I could plug in my ipod into my friend's itunes and I would get all of her songs, and keep the songs already on my ipod, as long as the sync option is turned off?

Where does one find the sync option.. is it on itunes or the ipod?

 

[thirty-two]

Nevermind. I found some helpful iTunes boards and a lot of my questions have been answered. This is awesome.

 

[nathan]

There is also a way to convert the files you get when you buy something on itunes to .mp3 which is more easily backed up (or shared).

 

[Linderbee]

FWIW, I got an iRiver from Woot and I absolutely love it. I love the screen, fm radio, voice recorder, I can load text documents onto it, photos...it's so cool. No problems with it at all.

I hate itunes. BLEH. My daughter has a shuffle, and she can't wait to upgrade.

My other daughter wants an mp3 player for her birthday, so I stuck with iRiver, and found this one on Overstock.... http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PROFRAME&PROD_ID=1802438

I will admit I don't know a whole lot about mp3 players, but I think you can't beat this for $50.00

And regarding "cool factor" my daughter with the shuffle is 16, and she wants the iRiver--not worried about it not being "cool"--a lot of her friends have all sorts of different brands, and my 13 year old is excited about the iRiver, too. I don't think brand matters too terribly much right now. Could be different in your kid's school, though. Kids are weird.

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

I have a Creative Zen Touch and an Ipod Nano. I don't really use the Creative player because it's bulky. I also prefer the organization on the nano. Creative's media organizer is okay but I prefer itunes.

Exactly what does your son want? Does he want to be able to play videos? How many songs would he want to store?

I think he just wants something portable to listen to music on. He's really not sophisticated music wise. Don't think he needs the videos.

What's the "shuffle" that someone posted about?

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Another stupid question by the ignorant parent I am: Are there any costs for uploading the music on these things? Subsciption costs or is it just a one time payment when you purchase it? What if you want to listen to music that isn't available to upload from them?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

can't stand the itunes, I really like the Creative line of MP3 players.... and the programs that come with it are nice, eventhough you can't really do everything very well through Media Player 10...

The least intrusive option I have seen...

I have the Creative Zen Vision M.

It's fantastic for video if that is anything to consider.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I think he just wants something portable to listen to music on. He's really not sophisticated music wise. Don't think he needs the videos.

What's the "shuffle" that someone posted about?

Oops. Missed this post. I'm sure he'd only be watching educational videos.

 

[nathan]

I think he just wants something portable to listen to music on. He's really not sophisticated music wise. Don't think he needs the videos.

What's the "shuffle" that someone posted about?

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The Shuffle is ipod'd flash player. It's fairly cheap but only has 512 MB or 1 GB.

Another stupid question by the ignorant parent I am: Are there any costs for uploading the music on these things? Subsciption costs or is it just a one time payment when you purchase it? What if you want to listen to music that isn't available to upload from them?

There are a few file formats to be aware of. You may know that .mp3 is the most common and it is not protected. A better quality format than that is .m4a which is what the itunes store uses except their files are protected (and appear as .m4p). A third format is .wma which has the same extension for both protected and unprotected files. This is the Microsoft music protection scheme and is used by a lot of places including Napster. There is no such thing as a subscription plan from itunes (you pay per song you download). The basic Napster allows you to download everything you want to your hard drive but at that point those files can only be played on the computer. They have the option of paying extra for "Napster on the Go" which allows you to put those files on a compatible player. If you want to listen to music that isn't available from Napster or itunes you can either buy the CD or download it illegally. So to summarize:
1) Illegally downloaded files can by played on any mp3 player
2) Music from CDs you own can be copied to any mp3 player
3) Music bought from itunes can only be played on apple player
4) Napster requires compatible player

 

[ChemTheThriller]

I have never hear someone say that before... with my zen I use Windows media player 10 for the Organization... no problems, and pretty much what I was using for on computer music organization anywho..

I too perfer iTunes, I like it more then WMP10 I don't have a exact reason I just use it more, and like it more...

 

[Zobaczcie suki]

Thanks for all the info guys. Frankly, this seems so complicated that I'm inclined just to get a portable CD player! They were still using 8 tracks when I was a teenager so this is all a bit over my head.