MP3 players

[pagey3]

Ok -this is a bit of a dumb question, but how good are mp3 players - are they worth getting or are they going to be outdated pretty soon?  Where do you get the mp3s from, how do the players connect to your computer - is it via USB?  Can you put illegally downloaded music on them or does it have to be from legal download sites (what are some legal download sites by the way?!)?  can you put music from CDs you already have onto them?cheers!

[pagey3]

sorry - wrong category

[nicola_red]

Well, I love my ipod, but different people are loyal to different brands.  I dunno how fast technology is moving so I'm not sure whether something else will come along and make them out of date - for now, they are definitely the easiest way to carry a lot of music around with you without the hassle of tapes/cds etc.  I have a mini ipod which holds 1000 tracks and full size ipods hold up to 10,000 - imagine carrying that much music on cd!  They connect to your computer via either USB or firewire cable.  You can upload your own cds onto your computer and then download them onto the mp3 player, and also download music from the net - I don't think it matters whether the files are legal or not.  I don't actually use it that way though, so I don't know the names of any sites.

[Step666]

Try somewhere like www.advancedmp3players.co.uk - they've got a forum you can post on for help and advice.

However, the general consensus appears to be that iPods aren't that great - I'm not trying to insult anyone here, that's just what I found when I went there as I'd been thinking of getting one myself. They are the nicest looking mp3 playr around, with the Sony NW-HD1 coming closest but they don't have the same features as a lot of other ones available.

 

Anyway, go have a look for yourself and ask questions - it's the easiest way to learn.

[Philtaz]

I'm not a great fan of iPod's, there's just something that puts me off them i.e the stories about bad batteries, the player freezing up and I think I'm right in saying they don't support WMA format.

As for the other questions I think they are great(I have a Ministry Of Sound jukebox).  The sound quality is same as CD and it's fairly simple to use.  The conversion software(for turning tracks/CD's into mp3) comes with the player and is fairly straightforward.  You can put any music on(illegal or otherwise!) provided it is in mp3 format.

It's just nice to know you've got your entire music collection(mine is 20Gb, approx 5,000 tracks) in your hand on a player not much bigger than a cigarette packet.(not that I smoke anyway!)

Hope this helps pagey3.

[Jules001]

we bought one for my son for xmas last year, it was his choice he wanted a Creative Muvo 128mb , he uses it every day on the bus to college and it can also hold data for his coursework, so he loves it, however it recently developed a fault and kept losing all the files and had to keep being reformatted. I found the receipt and unusually ithe guarantee HADN'T just run out so took it back and got it exchanged for a newer model (they don''t sell his one anymore) , this one seems much faster in transferring the files and has more mb. To sum up I think they are worth getting, but technology is moving all the time so a bit like pc's if you decide to go for it get the best you can at the time. We are also planning to buy our daughter one for xmas this year.