ipod/mp3/whatever-canyahelpabrother?

[davkatreb]

Looking to get one of the above. No, not for the bike, but to kill boredom during the two hours a day I spend riding in the crew van.

My precious daughter, Rotten Rebeccah has (I think) an ipod. It was right spendy if I recall (she used her own money) and it uses a rechargeable power source. It also holds an incredible amount of data.

Well, curmudgeonly Luddite that I am, I neither need nor want all of that. Just something that I can download (is that the right word?) a couple hours of program to. And I'd really rather not spend alot of money if I can get by just as well for less.

[2dumb4gears]

A little "out of the box thinking"--if you don't want the hassle of uploading music/programs to it, etc., why not a satellite radio for the car? I just did this for a 4000 mile trip this past year, and I don't miss my ipod in the car a bit. Both Sirius (my preference) and XM have deals which make the receiver basically free, and the service is about 12 bucks a month. Any kind of music (and sub-genre) you can imagine without commercials, and lots of talk radio and sports options.

[davkatreb]

Fine idea, but it's not FOR the car. It's for the daily ride in the passenger van with the rest of the crew. Hmm, twelve smackers, you say? Wonder if they make a portable receiver-a "Walke/mans" sort of thing?

[K-Man]

Dav, I'm quite happy with my iPod. They come in several levels of complexity and price range. You can get the iPod shuffle (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/) for about $79 which holds about 240 songs. If daughter has an iPod, she can hook you up with quick lesson on loading songs.

[davkatreb]

Okay, thanks. I'll swing by "Tar-Jay" and see what they have.

[jerman]

Davka, I think K-man is on the money suggesting the iPod shuffle. It is easy to use and has a built in clip. If you want the ability to watch video then the next step up is the iPod Nano and you can get one of those for about $150. I think I listen to more podcasts on my iPods more than I actually listen to music. You might like the variety of podcasts you can get thru iTunes and the best part is they are free.

[Hand/of/Midas]

im rocking a a 2G Creative Zen. bout the same price as a shuffle, but i can select what i want to play,and got a small video capable screen.

[Zinger]

Davka, I think K-man is on the money suggesting the iPod shuffle. It is easy to use and has a built in clip. If you want the ability to watch video then the next step up is the iPod Nano and you can get one of those for about $150.

What they said. My son's cast-off shuffle has revolutionized housework and running for me. The Nanos are also nice too, just to have some display to surf around on, instead of "play in sequence, or play randomly" on the Shuffle.

Once you get it, there's tons of free content at http://www.archive.org/details/audio This past week, I finally finished listening to 4 years' worth of sci-fi radio shows from http://www.archive.org/details/XMinus1_A Ah, the joy.

[tryandgetme]

hey dav,

I'm a fan of the Creative Muvo. 1GB for like $35, uses a single AAA battery. I prefer that over the built in li-ions because you can buy your own rechargables for far less than the cost to have an ipod's battery changed after it quits holding a charge, and if you're oot and aboot when you run out of juice, you can use a battery out of your buddy's laser level or something. Loading it with crap from your computer is stupid simple, you don't even need a cable, the battery segment un-segments and it becomes a usb thumb drive. 18+ hours on a single AAA, and buy rechargables and you get 36000 hours on a pack before they don't hold a good charge anymore.

[rockhound]

I just got a Sansa e260 4GB and I like it.

The problem with iPods, as I understand it, is that if you have more than one in a household and will be sharing one computer, you have to share all of your songs using that single iTunes account.

Correct me if I am wrong anyone...

[Hand/of/Midas]

I just got a Sansa e260 4GB and I like it.

The problem with iPods, as I understand it, is that if you have more than one in a household and will be sharing one computer, you have to share all of your songs using that single iTunes account.

Correct me if I am wrong anyone...

in that situation, there is one big "library", and everyone makes their own "playlists" from whatever songs they choose. so kinda yes but not really.

[rfritz]

21230

Old School....

[davkatreb]

21230

Old School....
Been there. Done that.

[cMc]

I have had the shuffle for years. It's bulletproof. That said, Sirius has little receivers that are ipod sized. That would be awesome but I'm not sure if reception would be good inside a van.

[rockhound]

in that situation, there is one big "library", and everyone makes their own "playlists" from whatever songs they choose. so kinda yes but not really.

That's how Windows Media Player works as well.

Sounds like I got some bad information from SEVERAL people who should know better.

[hairygrump]

The iTunes stuff you guys are talking about is only true on a single-user machine. If you have multiple logins with their own libraries, that stuff isn't that difficult to manage between a couple of devices.

iPods and stuff are attached to an Apple ID, not a machine or a library. It's just that those things are usually coextensive.... It's a pain in the ass.

If I was going to pony up a couple bucks to buy something to put noise in my head, I'd follow Keith's advice. Satellite radio is the shiz, and carrying it around is awesome. I'd have one in my office right now if I didn't work underground.

[RepublicanSS]

the thing that sucks about the ipod is that you can only use the songs on up to five machines. i just sent my songs to my new macbook and now i'm down to only three? i don't get it, i paid for the songs i downloaded. doesn't that mean i now own those songs?

[jerman]

the thing that sucks about the ipod is that you can only use the songs on up to five machines. i just sent my songs to my new macbook and now i'm down to only three? i don't get it, i paid for the songs i downloaded. doesn't that mean i now own those songs?

You do own the songs. Apple had to do that for the record companies. It's called DRM(digital rights management). The majority of record companies dont want the individual buyer to be able to give out the music to anyone they please. Apple now has iTunes plus and that is music that the artists and companies allow to be DRM free and you can put it on what ever machine or device you want as many times as you want.

As far as only having up to five authorized computers, you can deauthorize a computer you no longer use, so it isn't a problem for most people.

[tryandgetme]

isn't a problem for most people.
alot of people don't buy music from itunes. no problem there.

I just buy the cd, then rip to mp3, then enjoy it everywhere...

plus the hard copy looks good on my shelf (usually)

[jerman]

alot of people don't buy music from itunes. no problem there.

I just buy the cd, then rip to mp3, then enjoy it everywhere...

plus the hard copy looks good on my shelf (usually)

CD's are soooooo 20th century dude!:D

[Ripp]

I love my Ipod. I've had a rental car with XM before and it was cool far a day or two, then I noticed that the stations whose programing I liked were just as repetitive as commercial FM:(. No good for me, thanks.
I now have about 1200 songs on my pod and it is always (almost anyway) on shuffle, it's like my own personal radio station.

I really suggest a ear bud/headphone upgrade, the ones that come it the box kinda suck. I recently got the Bose in ear headphones (ear phones?) and they are excellent, but the Phillips (25$) I had prior were a big improvement in sound quality over the stock ones, just not quite up to the sonic quality or comfort (or price of course!) of the Bose.

[Johnny]

If you use iTunes and share a computer with a few other people, just set your iPod up to "manually manage music and video" from the main screen that pops up when you plug it in to your computer. Then you can decide which playlists or songs you'd like to put on your iPod, without automatically syncing the whole library...

[jerman]

Davka,

Did you end up getting a MP3 player? If so, what did you end up with? Just curious....and bored....and procrastinating again.:D

[davkatreb]

Right now I'm just carrying a CD player. And I've a Walkman that I keep in my pocket when I work. AM reception is pretty sketchy, but I can get CSPAN and National Pinko Radio.

Now get back to work.

[jerman]

Just and update for Davka, the iPod shuffle price has just been lowered to $49.

[PutAwayWet]

Shuffle's great if you don't care what you're listening to. If you want to pick and choose songs off your device, you need to go up to at least a nano. For long drives and stuff downloading podcasts from the net is great!