Posted: 12/9/2002 8:33:25 AM EDT
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Christmas gift for a favorite nephew. I am totally in the dark about these little gizmos. A visit to bestbuy was pretty confusing. These things range in price from around 60 bucks to 300+!!!! A gazillion brands, all with USB connections but some uses memory type cards, others uses tiny micro?-disks. I just want to spend around 100 bucks and pick what's proven. Personally, i don't think i can see myself using one, but then again that's what my dad said about some of the things i wanted in my teens. Thanks a lot for your help, DD |
| Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. |
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Quoted: Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. We used minidisks in the planetarium I worked at. The only problem w/ minidisks is their price. They are VERY expensive compared to CD-Rs. That's why I advocate the CD-based system. |
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Thanks for the input, BE and DD. My nephew is sophomore in HS - and a couple of us are gonna pool the funds actually as a reward for a great season in football and good grades. Since he is a jock (15 yrs old, 6'2" 275lbs and still growing)he prolly will use this when the team is travelling, or when he is working out in the gym etc. Ofcourse having a cool gadget will help his image as well with the fairer sex. I heard from a guy in the store to avoid the discs because they skip if you jog/run around, FWIW. DD |
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Heard an ad on the radio this morning for this thing: [url]http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=me9Ld-cpuWFLN9rdQapBfKg4B0onwlSzAos=?CatalogCategoryID=&ProductID=6_YKC0%2eNYPwAAADx5liG5PNs&Dept=pa[/url] And was going to ask about it on here today too. I think it lookds pretty good, especially the 5 hours of music and 56 hours of run time on one AA. As far as the media being expnsive: [url]http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=me9Ld-cpuWFLN9rdQapBfKg4B0onwlSzAos=?ProductID=JeYKC0%2eNEDEAAADxTX2G5PNr[/url] $2/disk ain't cheap, but figure in that package for $10 you've got yourself 25 hours of potential music. This is also the price from sony's own website, and I'll bet you could do way better if you shop around on the internet. I believe they are also re-writable, so you can keep using them over and over. This system is also supposed to be much more shock proof than any CD format player. I'm just wondering if these things have stuff like random, skip, etc. I don't want to have to listen to 5 hours of music in the exact same order every single time. |
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Also, go here: [url]http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342419-1304-9743110.html?tag=pdtl-list[/url] for info. In fact, if you ever want to know anything about any electronics or computers, go to www.cnet.com Another good source of info is www.epinions.com [url]http://www.epinions.com/Sony_MZ_N505_MiniDisc_Recorder__finish_Silver___Portable_MiniDisc_Player_MZN505_S/display_~reviews[/url] |
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Quoted: Thanks for the input, BE and DD. My nephew is sophomore in HS - and a couple of us are gonna pool the funds actually as a reward for a great season in football and good grades. Since he is a jock (15 yrs old, 6'2" 275lbs and still growing)he prolly will use this when the team is travelling, or when he is working out in the gym etc. Ofcourse having a cool gadget will help his image as well with the fairer sex. I heard from a guy in the store to avoid the discs because they skip if you jog/run around, FWIW. DD Negative on the skipping part. Most modern CD players have very good anti-skip protection. Most just load the song into the very expansive on-board RAM. I have a first gen CD player, if I try to walk with it, it skipps. As far as media goes, for 10 bucks, I can get 500 CDs or 18000 hours of music (using WMA @ 36 hrs per disk). I will give minidisks this, they are very compact and much harder to destroy. And if this "kid" is gonna be using it at the gym, that greater durability is a consideration. What ever you do, make sure it the one you get uses removable media. It just offers MUCH more flexibility. Just as a small snipe at the jock thing [;D] reward him for grades FIRST, then football. I will go back to being an engineer now. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. We used minidisks in the planetarium I worked at. The only problem w/ minidisks is their price. They are VERY expensive compared to CD-Rs. That's why I advocate the CD-based system. You can buy minidiscs for only a few dollars per disk. Compared to CD-Rs, it probably is over 1000% more expensive. But when you compare a 750MB minidisc to a 64MB MP3 card it is a much bigger difference. |
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Quoted: Just as a small snipe at the jock thing [;D] reward him for grades FIRST, then football. I will go back to being an engineer now. Roger that, B.E.!![:)] Actually his grades are very good. Norman74 - thanks for the input on ths sony's. Will check them out at circuit city later. Thanks again for all your input.DD |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. We used minidisks in the planetarium I worked at. The only problem w/ minidisks is their price. They are VERY expensive compared to CD-Rs. That's why I advocate the CD-based system. You can buy minidiscs for only a few dollars per disk. Compared to CD-Rs, it probably is over 1000% more expensive. Um no. Not to get into a pissing contest but NO! Recordable CDs can be had for $.02 each you just have to know where to look. Hell, sometimes you can get them free instantly or with a mail-in. They are so cheap, you don't have to worry with buying re-writeables....Just burn a new CD. Plus CDs are more prolific and can be had anywhere. Minidisks are a bit more difficult to find. Edited to add: Rememebr this, he is a highschool student = very little pocket money (at least when I was in HS). Cheap media = big plus |
| I've been looking at MP3 players for myself. Go look at Circuit City. They had an RCA MP3 player there. Make sure to get one with more than 64 Mb. 128 minimum. USB is nice, but the advantage with memory cards is he can get anpother memory card and in effect have double the music. 128 Mb is approximately 2 hours of music. Keep in mind that a good way to keep the songs organized is good as well. the best on the market is the Apple one. Its expensive as hell. Don't go to Minidisc as its been passed over by MP3 technology. I have one, its realtively useless now. This was he can transfer music directly from his computer to the MP# player. get the newest ost advanced one you can afford otherwise it will be obsolete tomorrow. Hope that helps. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. We used minidisks in the planetarium I worked at. The only problem w/ minidisks is their price. They are VERY expensive compared to CD-Rs. That's why I advocate the CD-based system. You can buy minidiscs for only a few dollars per disk. Compared to CD-Rs, it probably is over 1000% more expensive. Um no. Not to get into a pissing contest but NO! Recordable CDs can be had for $.02 each you just have to know where to look. Hell, sometimes you can get them free instantly or with a mail-in. They are so cheap, you don't have to worry with buying re-writeables....Just burn a new CD. Plus CDs are more prolific and can be had anywhere. Minidisks are a bit more difficult to find. Edited to add: Rememebr this, he is a highschool student = very little pocket money (at least when I was in HS). Cheap media = big plus If you re-read his post, he's agreeing with you. He is saying that mini-disks are 1000% more expensive than CD-R. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Not knowing what your nephew wants to use it for (other than listening to music, duh), this might not be an option - BUT, if I were going to buy something like this for myself, I would go with one of the Sony Minidisc players that has Net MD and a USB connector. You can hold much more on a disc (for cheap) than on most MP3 players and can store data as well as songs. Though these haven't really caught on, I think they are much better. You can also hook a microphone up to them and record concerts or anything like that. This is just my $0.02 on the MP3 craze. We used minidisks in the planetarium I worked at. The only problem w/ minidisks is their price. They are VERY expensive compared to CD-Rs. That's why I advocate the CD-based system. You can buy minidiscs for only a few dollars per disk. Compared to CD-Rs, it probably is over 1000% more expensive. Um no. Not to get into a pissing contest but NO! Recordable CDs can be had for $.02 each you just have to know where to look. Hell, sometimes you can get them free instantly or with a mail-in. They are so cheap, you don't have to worry with buying re-writeables....Just burn a new CD. Plus CDs are more prolific and can be had anywhere. Minidisks are a bit more difficult to find. Edited to add: Rememebr this, he is a highschool student = very little pocket money (at least when I was in HS). Cheap media = big plus I will try to avoid any more of a pissing contest, as well, but as my previous post stated, minidiscs are a huge mark up from CD-Rs, but compared to MP3 cards it is cheap. At BestBuy.com (I hate that store) you can buy a 5-pack of minidiscs for $7.99. Not too bad. Now I compared this to a MP3 memory card, which at the same store costs $89.99 for 128MB. Go minidisc over the MP3. Now for that $7.99, you can probably get 100 CD-Rs that have the same capacity as the minidisc, but here is what you lose - the ability to record music onto a disc from the portable device and the ability to hook a mic up to the player. Recent minidisc players have the ability to store MP3 and data. A better deal in my mind, because you only have to have one piece of equipment (aside from the PC itself). For CD-Rs, you need a CD writer in your PC and a player for those CDs. |
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Great discussion on the pros/cons. Now i need to find out if this kid can burn cd's in the puter and even if he can, is he just interested in pulling music files into his device directly. More homework for me. Dang, i thought this is one of my simpler purchases(knowing what he wants vs not even knowing what to buy). Thanks guys, DD |
| I've had MP3 players for about a year now. I've settled onto the players that use Compact Flash or Smart Media cards because they're small and have no moving parts - good on batteries. I use a Card Reader in the USB port of my computer to drag and drop the files onto the card (your computer sees it as a peripheral drive)- much easier than managing the player itself with software. I have two 128 meg cards, and change the music I listen to frequently. Manage the music files with MusicMatch Jukebox [url]http://www.musicmatch.com[/url] to get files off CDs, and you can use Grokster [url]http://www.grokster.com[/url] to download files. Good Luck, but I wouldn't spend more than $100 on a player. |
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Quoted: Heard an ad on the radio this morning for this thing: [url]http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=me9Ld-cpuWFLN9rdQapBfKg4B0onwlSzAos=?CatalogCategoryID=&ProductID=6_YKC0%2eNYPwAAADx5liG5PNs&Dept=pa[/url] And was going to ask about it on here today too. I think it lookds pretty good, especially the 5 hours of music and 56 hours of run time on one AA. As far as the media being expnsive: [url]http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=me9Ld-cpuWFLN9rdQapBfKg4B0onwlSzAos=?ProductID=JeYKC0%2eNEDEAAADxTX2G5PNr[/url] $2/disk ain't cheap, but figure in that package for $10 you've got yourself 25 hours of potential music. This is also the price from sony's own website, and I'll bet you could do way better if you shop around on the internet. I believe they are also re-writable, so you can keep using them over and over. This system is also supposed to be much more shock proof than any CD format player. I'm just wondering if these things have stuff like random, skip, etc. I don't want to have to listen to 5 hours of music in the exact same order every single time. Thats a killer deal! I love sony products. The minidisc's ARE cheap compared to a memory card. |
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Just my 2 cent's worth, but I am somewhat mystified why MP3 players (or even MP3's) are very popular. They're LOW FIDELITY formats, unless they're recorded at high bit rates where they lose their compactness...and you might as well stick with a CD when you do that. Admittedly, I'm opinionated as hell, and I'm also an audiophile (spell that "anal retentive about sound quality" ) but I just can't see wanting to get into a format that is decidedly LOW-fi in its most common application. Sacrificing sound quality for convenience just isn't a tradeoff that I am willing to make. So what is it about the popularity of MP3's, anyway? Is it just that the usual headphones used with them SUCK, (There are no listenable headphones under a hundred dollars with the notable exception of Sennheiser's better 'ear bud' style headphones, IMO) and hence you can't tell the difference between good and bad sound, or is it because some people just don't care about the (lack of) sound quality? CJ |
| CMJohnson: I like MP3's because as college student, my life basically revolves around this stupid thing we call a computer. I wake up in the morning, turn it on and jump in the shower. Then I check my email to see if any classes are cancelled (with crossed fingers). Since I entered college I have begun to put all my music into this box. I now have over 2000 songs on here and its pretty much all I listen to. MP3 players are great because you can go directly from the computer. They're tiny so I can wear them without distraction when I'm mountain biing, skiing, snowboarding, or rockclimbing. The amount of cargo space CD's take up while traveling is huge. I got a MiniDisc player about 3 years ago. I went from a fullsize backpack to just using my Camelbak HAWG when traveling, with MP3 its just that much less. |