mp3 Player Help.
 

Well I'm thinking of investing in an mp3 player. I have a very small and cheap one - and I've been happy with it - but it's only 512mb and I want BIGGER!

I don't want an iPod because I don't like them....:o

So anyone else know anything about other brands?

I'm leaning toward a Creative Zen Microphoto - it's 8GB (really all I need) and the reviews seen good - it's the same brand of my little players....anyone heard of these?

Any input would be helpful...thanks in advance!!!

i've heard great things about those creative zen players, and while i love the apple brand, i'm hesitant to buy another ipod. unfortunately, the creative players don't support the itunes format. if they did, i can tell you i'd buy one in a second, though.

Why don't you like the Ipod? Its incredible.

the reason i'm hesitant to get another one is mine has crashed a couple times and i had to get it replaced twice, and all that happened within 7 or 8 months of ownership. and i don't know anyone who has an ipod who hasn't had major issues with it within 2 years. :shrug:

do not under any circumstance buy a Rio. ever.

i hate itunes - I HATE ITUNES - but my nano is so cute and fabulous. uploading all of my files is such a phenomenal waste of time and i will never not bitch about it, but ipods really are the best thing out there.

I've got all my music in iTunes and am able to pull music fine onto my creative nano :shrug:

I'm not too saavy though - so what do you mean they don't support the iTunes format?

Yeah - when iPods are gone - they're gone. They're also way expensive - so I could get ample storage with another brand..I HATE the iPod earbuds :laugh: and all of my friends who have iPods - I've played around with them and I just don't find them fun or user friendly....so I'm exploring other options....now I may find that iPod is truly the best - right now I'm in research mode :p

how come you hate itunes?

by itunes format i mean the new format apple came out with a couple years ago, m4a and m4p. m4a's are supposed to have better sound quality than mp3's and still be a smaller file size. if your files work with your mp3 player, they're probably all mp3's, right?

i hate the earbuds, too ... i bought a different kind of earphones for mine because those stupid things don't stay in my ears. i do find ipods user friendly, though, so i disagree there. i think the scroll wheel & menus are great.

Yeah all my files are mp3s ...but after reading your comment I did some searching and it as happens - it looks like I can only pull out music I've downloaded (that's in files other than iTunes as well as in iTunes). So all the cds I ripped....I can't seem to access them....is that what you're talking about?

Eh - I honestly don't get all the hype over the iPod - I've played with several - from Nano to video and I've not been at all impressed - that an I don't want to be a sheep - everyone and their grandma has one...I guess I sort of want something different - but not if I can't get half of my music onto it...I spent hours ripping cds into iTunes- I don't want to spend MORE hours dumping them into an mp3 player. Grrrrr.....

yeah. if it's not mp3, wma, or one or two other formats, you can't listen to it on those players. you can change your itunes preferences to allow you to rip cd's in mp3 format, though. you can also convert your existing files to mp3. it takes a while if you have a lot to convert (a long time ago, i converted my entire library - several gigs - to m4a and it took about 12 hours.), but you can start it before you go into work or whatever and by the time you get home, it should be done. you don't have to sit there and watch it.

i can appreciate the hype ... i mean, they were the first of their kind - high capacity, snazzy package, etc. i'm not impressed by the video feature, though, and i think there's some good competition out there.

Great....that's what I need to do - I'm now looking at how to do it though and I'm not finding out...wanna explain? Hope I'm not taxing you too much - I'll send you my address for the bill ;)

Serioulsy though - there is a way to convert m4a to mp3?? That would ROCK.



Well yes, that I appreciate - that they're the first of their kind - and it was most definitely a ground-breaking product that has pretty much completely changed the way people listen to music and such. I just don't care much or the product (or the price) :laugh:

But again, I may change my mind in the course of the reviews and research I'm reading on several products...it's exhausting - but if I can get a great product and save some money in the process that makes me do this: :D

yeah, you can convert m4a to mp3. keep in mind you can't convert m4p to mp3, so any music you download from the itunes music store can't be converted. you can get around that, though, by burning it as a music disc and then ripping the files as mp3's.

ok, thanks to goldustsongbird for telling me the menu commands for windows:

it's edit --> options --> advanced, and then choose the "importing" tab. there should be an option there about the format you use to import music. you should have options like wav, mp3, m4a. pick mp3, and every cd you rip from then on will be in mp3. then go into your library, select whatever you need to convert, right click, and choose "convert selection to mp3." voila!

This is the official Carrie is my f**king saviour thread :laugh:

Thanks to you and apparently goldustsongbird - I can now access all of my music....and am beyond excited....

So right now I'm leaning toward getting a Creative :o

w00t! awesome. if you do get a creative, i really want to know what you think. i really need a larger mp3 player - my ipod mini only holds 4 gigs, which is not nearly big enough for me ... i've got 15 gigs of music on my computer, and that doesn't count the 100+ cd's i own, soooo ... yeah. definitely in the market.

Well, I was finally going to take the plunge & get one, perhaps for Christmas. But now I'm scared. So forget it. :p I don't think I have the time & energy to do all this.

I've got a Creative Zen Micro 5G player, and I love it. The touchpad took awhile to get used to, but now I have no problems with it. I like that it has a tuner, although I don't use it much at the moment.

Anyhoot, I really recommend a Creative player.