Don't laugh please

[SouthernN'Proud]

The resident Luddite needs a little help with sumthin.

Standard disclaimer: I know more about Portugese architecture than I do about gadgets/gizmos. Keep it simple please.



We're considering getting the 12.71 year old an MP3 player for Christmas. I know the following about this thingamabob. It's portable, you download your songs online for so much per song.

That's it.

1. Are all players compatible with downloads from any site?

2. Are there any download sites that would offer like a gift certificate good for X number of songs?

3. We won't be doing napster or any other "file sharing" site. The downloads she gets, she'll pay for per song. Her tastes are too fickle for any subscription service.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Gonz]

Napster is now a pay service & quite a good one. Many players are proprietary so watch out.

How Stuff Works

2. What do I get with my Napster To Go Membership?
With Napster To Go, you can enjoy everything you get with a Napster Membership plus, you can transfer an unlimited amount of music to your compatible MP3 player for only $14.95 a month.

3. What is Napster Light?
Napster Light is a 99¢ music store with no monthly membership fee. Search and browse 30-second music clips and buy your favorite music to burn to CD or transfer to a compatible MP3 player.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

also she can put her own cd's on the mp3 player. most of the music on my ipod mini is stuff i have on cd that i transferred onto my ipod. (which is 4 gigabytes and perfect for me, because i can store what i'm more actively listening to on it, and switch out stuff i'm tired of in favor of new stuff... i dont need to carry Every CD I've Ever Owned and then some around with me on it)
ive never used pay-napster, but i've heard good things. i've heard it's better than itunes. and that's easily believable, because itunes is expensive and doesn't have a very large selection. i've looked for bands, even popular bands like Evanescence, and had a shocking ammount of trouble finding things. but i dont really ever get songs off of itunes... i only ever use itunes to get the songs from my computer to my ipod.

 

[Winky]

Ha Ha HA HAH !!! Hic

 

[Nixy]

I wouldn't recommend an Ipod...I have never had one but I know the batteries are internal and last approximately one year give or take depending on how often you use it and charge it and when you need it changed you must send it to Apple's repair centre (one location somewhere in the US) and it costs over $100 CDN to get the battery changed...personally I am looking at Sony's (they have external batteries) as I am thinking of probably getting one for Christmas with money my grandmothers and others will prolly give me.

I know you were asking about music sites but I know nothing about those and figured I'd just letcha know about what I've heard about ipods...

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

also she can put her own cd's on the mp3 player. most of the music on my ipod mini is stuff i have on cd that i transferred onto my ipod. (which is 4 gigabytes and perfect for me, because i can store what i'm more actively listening to on it, and switch out stuff i'm tired of in favor of new stuff... i dont need to carry Every CD I've Ever Owned and then some around with me on it).

Now see, that would be perfect for me. I've got 600+ CDs. I find something I like, I buy the CD.

For her...she has about 20. She listens to each MAYBE once a year. She's the typical preteen girl...she likes what's on the charts for about as long as it stays in the top 10. Buying CD for her is pointless. Now, she does like a little of everything, even some of my skull pounding stuff, and she does love bluegrass too. But we're gonna be better off just downloading whatever MTV is hot on and not plunking out $18 for something she'll be tired of in a month.

ive never used pay-napster, but i've heard good things. i've heard it's better than itunes. and that's easily believable, because itunes is expensive and doesn't have a very large selection. i've looked for bands, even popular bands like Evanescence, and had a shocking ammount of trouble finding things. but i dont really ever get songs off of itunes... i only ever use itunes to get the songs from my computer to my ipod

Has napster become any safer? I used to have a napster, and the puter got overrun with viruses. To the point of having to wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. It still ain't quite right.

 

[greenfreak]

I've heard nasty stuff about iPod batteries too but much of it is exaggerated because people are looking for a reason to bash Apple. As far as I'm concerned, after doing my research on what's out there, there is no other superior product. I looked into the battery issue and got the facts instead of depending on hearsay.

I've had my iPod 20gb for 16 months and have no problem with the battery. My friend has had hers for over 2 years and it's still going strong. I use my iPod three times a week for at least two hours at a clip, when I go for walks during my lunch hour and at night, and I plug it into my car's stereo on weekend trips to my family's house (about an hour each way). I only need to charge my iPod once a week.

Just like any other cellphone or laptop battery, if you're smart about how you treat it, you'll prolong it's life.

Apple's tips on prolonging battery life

Facts on battery replacement straight from Apple

I don't really use the iTunes music store, instead I extracted all the music from my CD collection ("ripped" the CD's). Although I have 611 songs on my iPod, I'm not even using 1/4 of the space on the 20gb drive. A 12 year old doesn't need that much space, obviously. My 12 year old nephew has the iPod Shuffle and he loves it. His problem was that it's so small, he forgot it in his pants pocket and washed it in the laundry. But at $100. cost, his parents weren't as upset. Turns out, he let it dry out and it was good as new. And clean.

Rusty heard that they are doing away with the Shuffle since they introduced the Nano but here is the information on the models and price. I bought my nephew an external speaker for his Shuffle and some different colored covers for his birthday. He can listen to his music without using the earphones and it looks cooler with the different colors.

Here is the information on the Nano which is more expensive but still might be a good one for her.

As far as buying music goes, you can setup an account with iTunes with a limited amount of money so she can't go over. And yes, you can purchase a gift certificate. It's 99 cents per song, last I heard. And they do have limited promotional free downloads too.

And iPods are the "in" thing anyway, at least in my neck of the woods. She's not going to want a knockoff.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

Ipod...batteries are internal and last approximately one year give or take depending on how often you use it and charge it and when you need it changed you must send it to Apple's repair centre (one location somewhere in the US) and it costs over $100 CDN to get the battery changed...

yeah, they last about 400 charges. when me and my fiance got ours, the salespeople were like, "are you surrrre?", and in retrospect maybe i would have done it differently. it feels like every time i look at the thing the battery is dead.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

GF...the one thing we have going for us with this kid is, she isn't "brand conscious". We had her a simple CD walkman, and she was thrilled. It got stolen at school, and we're thinking of doing the MP3 player as both a replacement and upgrade, which was eventual anyway. As long as it plays Snoop Thuggy Thug or whoever, she's tickled.

 

[Luis G]

buy her an el cheapo CD mp3 player. She has her songs, she burns them to CD, plays them wherever.

A harddisk or flash based player will be much more expensive and she might lose it anyway.

 

[Gonz]

...she isn't "brand conscious"...

Yet.

 

[BeardofPants]

Chalk me up as 'nother person who hasn't had any issues with short-lived battery life on the ipod.

 

[Starya]

So, them shuffle-thingies.. Are they the ones that don't let ya decide the order of the songs? Or have I been misinformed?

 

[Nixy]

And iPods are the "in" thing anyway, at least in my neck of the woods. She's not going to want a knockoff.

Oh, I would never buy another mp3 player that is shaped like or remotely looks like an Ipod cause then it would be viewed simply as a knock off. The one I'm looking at getting is about $180CDN for 1gb, it's Sony and it's round. 5cm diamater 1.9cm thick...

Starya: Shuffles have the option to play straight through so you can scan and pick songs or you can turn on the shuffle option and it'll just play random ones.

 

[Inkara1]

The first-generation iPods (the ones that came out in 2001 or so) had battery problems. The problem was fixed but the reputation stuck around. The main problem was that they were only lasting a year or so and were not user-replaceable.

I don't like Apple's battery-replacement program. It costs $65 and your iPod will be wiped clean. I don't see why replacing a battery would require wiping a hard drive clean, since I can take a regular hard drive out of a computer, store it for a few years and then access everything on it again.

 

[Gonz]

Oh, by the by SnP, why would we laugh at you for this when there are so many other great & wonderful reasons to laugh at you

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

It costs $65 and your iPod will be wiped clean. I don't see why replacing a battery would require wiping a hard drive clean, since I can take a regular hard drive out of a computer, store it for a few years and then access everything on it again.

i think justin was saying that the only parts that get reused are the outside and the screen, maybe they see using the same hard drive as reusing it. i'm under the impression that when you do the battery replacement thing, they pretty much give you a refurbed ipod. so they wouldnt be putting a new hard drive in it. they dont wipe it, they give you a new one. at least, from what i can tell.

 

[Inkara1]

Why not just come out and say that then? They afraid people might notice that Apple is putting out a product with a limited life and making a killing on it?

As an aside, stores lose money on most iPods they sell. On the models they don't lose money on, the store makes maybe $6... on a $300 product. The only one making any money on the iPod is Apple.

 

[Nixy]

I don't even want an IPod anymore...my brother bought one last spring and he had it for like 2 weeks and was NOT impressed. Luckily he bought it at Zellers so he just brought it back.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Oh, by the by SnP, why would we laugh at you for this when there are so many other great & wonderful reasons to laugh at you

Lick me.