Question about MP3 player

['97ventureowner]

First off, I'm not as tech savvy as I probably should be. So with that in mind, I have a question about an MP3 player I am interested in purchasing. I have not kept up to date on these items because in the past, I knew I could never have one due to my dial up internet service, ( which averages between 28,800 and 31,200 bps,) which would prohibit me from downloading music from the internet.I was paging through a sales flyer for a local store and came across an MP3 player that sounded like something I could use. The description said it played MP3/WMA files, so I'm thinking, based on what I've learned over the past few years of owning a computer, I could copy music from the hundreds of CD's I own and transfer the songs to this player. Am I correct in thinking this? I have been told that when you copy music from a CD, the computer turns it into a WMV file. Thr description also states the player also includes a USB cable 2.0, and has 512MB of memory, and 8 hrs of music. It also includes earbuds. an FM tuner, and presets.
I primarily want this MP3 player for when I mow my lawn, which takes me a little over 3 hrs to do. I currently use a cd player/FM tuner which in many cases doesn't do the trick. The radio fades out sometimes, and there is a dominant radio station that seems to cover the entire radio dial, (and doesn't play the music I like.) The CD player can also be a pain in the ass to use and skips when I hit rough terrain. I'm hoping an MP3 player will be a better choice. Here is a link to the exact model I found on the web when I did a little research into it. The sales flyer I have has the price at $79.97 with a $20 rebate making the final price of $59.97 cheaper than what I found on the web. Will this work for me? http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p33989954?sourceid=3

[Oz]

MP3 and WMV are both types of compressed audio. WMV is the format that Windows Media Player rips to by default (I don't really like it that much) and MP3 is pretty much the standard across the board.

The first step you will need to do is to "rip" your music CDs to MP3, I suggest a utility called FreeRIP MP3 (freeware).

When they told you 8 hours of music, that is a bit inaccurate, as the amount of music you can store will be affected by how compressed it is (size VS quality). I rip all of my music to 256 kbps and I think that is a good trade off between size and quality. You may find that 128kbps provides adequate quality, particularly if you're mainly going to be using headphones.

Once you have your music stored on your hard drive in WMV or MP3 format, you just plug the MP3 player in and it will show up as another drive on your computer. It's as simple as copying your files over, unplugging, firing up your player and happy listening!!

I think you can do better than that price if you shop around, but if you're happy to pay it it's not a bad deal.

[eversio11]

Getting music from a CD into the computer is a non issue, it's incredibly easy. I can guarantee no matter which MP3 player you purchase, you can get your music from your CDs onto it without a problem.

Now that that's cleared up, let's talk about the MP3 player. Alienware is a pretty respectable computer company, but I'm not really sure how well one of their MP3 players is. If anything, it's probably overpriced.

Also, keep in mind that 512mb of storage space is pretty small compared to the more popular iPods, iRivers, and Creative Zen MP3 players out there which have anywhere from 20-60gb of storage space, or 40x-120x the amount of room as the one you're looking at. Maybe you'd be interested in putting your hundreds of CDs all into one little package? My iPod has 6200 songs, 710 albums, and 18.3 days of music on it, with plenty of room left for more. The one you're looking at can't hold much more than a dozen or two albums. You should ask yourself, is it worth the extra $100-$200 for a bigger capacity MP3 player in which you can put your entire CD collection on, or would you rather be swapping out albums all the time when you want to listen to something new?

When you come back with an answer, I can help you out a lot better in picking an MP3 player that is a bargain and works for you.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by eversio11

Getting music from a CD into the computer is a non issue, it's incredibly easy. I can guarantee no matter which MP3 player you purchase, you can get your music from your CDs onto it without a problem.

Now that that's cleared up, let's talk about the MP3 player. Alienware is a pretty respectable computer company, but I'm not really sure how well one of their MP3 players is. If anything, it's probably overpriced.

Also, keep in mind that 512mb of storage space is pretty small compared to the more popular iPods, iRivers, and Creative Zen MP3 players out there which have anywhere from 20-60gb of storage space, or 40x-120x the amount of room as the one you're looking at. Maybe you'd be interested in putting your hundreds of CDs all into one little package? My iPod has 6200 songs, 710 albums, and 18.3 days of music on it, with plenty of room left for more. The one you're looking at can't hold much more than a dozen or two albums. You should ask yourself, is it worth the extra $100-$200 for a bigger capacity MP3 player in which you can put your entire CD collection on, or would you rather be swapping out albums all the time when you want to listen to something new?

When you come back with an answer, I can help you out a lot better in picking an MP3 player that is a bargain and works for you.

Well, I really don't want to spend too much money on one because I really only plan to use it a few hours a week(3-5 hrs.) while mowing my lawn and other yard work. The $59.97 final price for the MP3 player I was looking at is in the "ideal" price range. I plan to rip songs from my cd's rather than copy a whole album. Can you replace songs on one of these players by deleting and replacing it with a new one? If so, I don't mind doing that if I have to settle for a smaller storage space to meet my price range. I actually wasn't in the market for one until I saw the ad,( which I rarely look at this particular store's ad anyways.) I just happened to notice it and saw it was capable of using the WMV files and thought that would solve my problem of not being able to download music because of my slow internet connection speed, which prevented me from buying one in the past. Plus I like the smaller size of the unit. Currently, my personal cd player is too big to carry around while riding on the garden tractor, and I'm constantly fumbling with the controls because the radio station is constantly shifting when I am mowing at a fast rate or over rough terrain. It's too big to fit in my shirt pocket, whereas, the MP3 player looks like a perfect fit. Do you have any reccomendations for something similar in my price range (under $70 if possible.)?

[eversio11]

Well if that's all you're looking for, that MP3 player or just about any other one in that price range will work. SanDisk makes some really nice ones that you may want to keep an eye out for. You can certainly copy single songs if you want, and if you need help getting these songs onto your computer and MP3 player, don't hesitate to PM me and I'll be happy to walk you through the process.

[Mr Wiggl3s]

WMV and MP3 are audio file types, when you listen to a CD from a store, it has a different quality (always better than MP3)
Just look for a 512 MB lame MP3, its not like you need it to show off to anyone
4 hours of mowing the lawn is like 1GIG of music
Now when looking for this, you can use this as reference: ~200 songs is 1 gig, there are 1000MB for 1GB. Ripping hundreds of CD's to something that small, prolly wont happen unless the songs are all like 1min long
I couldn't suggest any player to you, but i would suggest one that doesnt require iTunes
There are plenty on www.ebay.com that you can look for, just link me to it, and ill tell you whats what if you want

[Damien]

^psht on ebay. woot.com! that's wher ei sent him and thats where got want he wanted! but im looking for a decent priced media player with at least 30gb and if anyone says an ipod...i iwll hunt you down and leave a hateful note on your door.

hail w00t!

[highteknology]

creative labs also makes some nice LITTLE players that may work out for you. the go up to a gig, plus they have an FM tuner if you like that.

as for damien's request on a 30gig player other than an ipod. i used to have a Creative Nomad Zen NX or something like that. i loved that thing, until my dog got a hold of it. i know that Phillips also makes a 30 gig player that you could check out.

[sameintheend01]

my old iriver was 256 mb and had an Fm tuner. I think i bought it for either $149 or $179 something like 3 years ago. I'm sure you can get a better deal on what you want on ebay (maybe for someone that upgraded to a newer mp3 player and wants to get rid of their old one).

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by sameintheend01

my old iriver was 256 mb and had an Fm tuner. I think i bought it for either $149 or $179 something like 3 years ago. I'm sure you can get a better deal on what you want on ebay (maybe for someone that upgraded to a newer mp3 player and wants to get rid of their old one).

I bought the one on Woot.com that Damien told me about. It's got 512MB and it too is an iRiver T10. The price was $49.95 w/ $5.00 shipping, and a $10 rebate bringing the final price to $39.95 plus shipping. It's amazing how in just a few short years technology improves products and you can purchase something that has more features/options than the old model for less than the old product cost years ago. I'm now in the process of ripping some songs from my cd's to my computer, and then will download them to the MP3 player tomorrow.