Which MP3 player to buy. - DPChallenge Forums

06/20/2007 12:12:10 AM · #1

I am in the market for an MP3 player. Anyone have any suggestions? I was interested in the SanDisk Sansa e280.

Do all of the new players have the DMA licensing software built in? I read that some older cd's that are ripped will not work on the new MP3 players.

Anyone have any experience with the subscription deals? Are they worth it? Which ones are the cheapest and easiest to use? I see that yahoo now has one and it is 14.99 a month.

06/20/2007 02:30:44 PM · #2

Bump

06/20/2007 02:44:15 PM · #3

I don't know what DMA is. Did you mean DRM (Digital Rights Management)? If so, that's not built into any player, it's part of the tracks you buy from certain places (iTunes on its original store, Rhapsody files, etc.). It prevents illegal sharing of purchased music. The trend in the industry now is to distribute unprotected tracks (dumping DRM).

I don't have any experience with the subscription services because it just doesn't make sense to me to pay rental for music, though many industry watchers say that's the wave of the future. I just don't see it. I'm old school - I like to own my music.

I use iPods exclusively. I've never even held another MP3 player, much less paid money for one.

06/20/2007 03:15:21 PM · #4

LOL sorry...I did mean DRM. I noticed that most new MP3 players are windows based. I thought that the player itself had some type of software installed that would not allow you to play shared music.

I am at an impasse. I have hundreds of older MP3's on my computer right now...I'm sure a lot of them do not have the license attached. I do not feel like paying .99 a song for all of the newer music. Yahoo is running a special...2 years of unlimited subscription service for the price of 1 @ 150.00. That is only if you purchase using a mastercard. So that kind of sounds okay as far as price goes. With the subscription service...you can use it on ANY computer...not just the one you signed up with. It also says that you can share music with friends that have a membership. Not sure of the benefit of that considering you have an unlimited amount of music you can save to your computer or player.

As far as the iPod goes...I read that a lot of people are tired of dealing with iTunes. I was also thinking about maybe picking up the 8gb Nano.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

06/20/2007 03:22:38 PM · #5

iPods can be used on programs other than itunes (which sucks). I have the nano and use winamp to interface with it. You don't have to deal with any of the sync garbage with winamp either. It can also pull songs off of the ipod and doesn't alter the contents of the ipod when you connect it (unless you tell it to).

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

06/20/2007 03:23:54 PM · #6

Like I said, I can't help at all with the subscription decision. I hope some other DPCers chime in here with their experiences in that regard. I'd be interested in hearing it too. As far as iTunes goes, I could not be more satisfied - either with the software or the online store. It has been the most seamless, easiest, and most satisfying experience I've ever had buying online. The quality of the music is excellent. The only thing I miss is having the physical CD case with booklet to read through while I'm listening to a new album, but I've never felt the same about that since the death of the LP.

I especially like iTunes because I listen to lots of podcasts and they're completely integrated into the store making management a breeze.

I have also purchased some tracks from eMusic.com. They're a hybrid subscription/purchase service. You pay a monthly fee and then can download X number of tracks per month (prices as low as .33 per track). Once you stop your subscription, you own whatever tracks you've purchased with them. They're mostly indy labels but they're growing fast. Amazon.com is supposed to be opening their online purchase/download store soon too, which will be DRM free.

Elvis_L

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/20/2007 03:28:05 PM · #7

I have a zune and really like it. I have the subscription service which is $15 a month and can down;oad all i want. I also can put any of my old mp3s on it as well. I like the sub service becasue it is a little more than a cd per month in cost but i can listen to every album (pretty much) that comes out that month. I own thousands of cds and just got tired of buying cds that i didn't listen to that much.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

06/20/2007 03:29:58 PM · #8

Originally posted by strangeghost:

As far as iTunes goes, I could not be more satisfied - either with the software or the online store. It has been the most seamless, easiest, and most satisfying experience I've ever had buying online. The quality of the music is excellent.

You should give winamp a try. I'm pretty sure that it's podcast compatible and isn't as memory bloated as itunes is. There is no download store or anything like that, but if you get your music elsewhere it's not a big deal.

06/20/2007 03:39:48 PM · #9

Originally posted by SamDoe1:

With a name like "Win"amp, I'm guessing it won't run on my Mac. Honestly, I can't imagine ever wanting to run anything with "win" in the name anyway. I'm guessing my feeling about Windows software (in general) is pretty close to your feeling about iTunes.

As far as memory bloat goes, I've never seen iTunes running on a Windows machine, but on the Mac, it's not any kind of a resource hog at all. It works and plays well with everything.

bod

06/20/2007 03:44:06 PM · #10

I picked up a Trekstor Vibez recently - beautiful little player with plenty of space, smart playlists built into the player itself and most importantly, 100% Linux (and therefore everything) friendly.

It does have *spit* DRM *spit* *wretch* support built in too.

ETA: More here.

Message edited by author 2007-06-20 15:45:16.

06/20/2007 03:46:21 PM · #11

Does any new player not have the DRM built in? I mean if we are going back to DRM free music soon...what happens when you try to play it on your player that has DRM?

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

06/20/2007 03:48:52 PM · #12

Originally posted by SamDoe1:

I gave winamp a try when I wasn't feeling very satisfied with iTunes and it completely hosed up everything to the point that I had to reformat and reload everything onto the player. I like winamp in general but as an mp3 player management system, it blew.

Elvis_L

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/20/2007 03:49:58 PM · #13

Originally posted by BADDBOYY21:

Does any new player not have the DRM built in? I mean if we are going back to DRM free music soon...what happens when you try to play it on your player that has DRM?

at least with my ipod and my zune you can play either DRm or non DRM

06/20/2007 03:50:32 PM · #14

Originally posted by BADDBOYY21:

Does any new player not have the DRM built in? I mean if we are going back to DRM free music soon...what happens when you try to play it on your player that has DRM?

Again, DRM is a software protection scheme. DRM is software protection for music tracks. It is not a hardware feature of any player that I know of.

bod

06/20/2007 03:53:12 PM · #15

Originally posted by strangeghost:

Again, DRM is a software protection scheme. DRM is software protection for music tracks. It is not a hardware feature of any player that I know of.

Exactly, it's a software (or firmware if you're gonna be really picky) feature of the player.

Originally posted by BADDBOYY21:

Does any new player not have the DRM built in? I mean if we are going back to DRM free music soon...what happens when you try to play it on your player that has DRM?

ANY player, DRM polluted or not can play non-DRM infected tracks.

khdoss

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

06/20/2007 03:58:56 PM · #16

I have a Dell Jukebox 30g and IPOD 40g with Video. I love music..

I subscribe to Napster for 14.95 a month and I love it. I can sync with my Dell and play all the songs on my player and on my computers. Bad side is when I tire of paying 15.00 a month I will lose all my songs. The good is I can download all the music I want.

I love the IPOD too I have all my cds there and I can keep the subscription stuff and my owned music separated.

I have heard good things about the Rio as well.

tate

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

06/20/2007 04:04:58 PM · #17

My set-up: 15GB ipod in my car permently (on trickle-charge hooked up to alpine stereo) and a shuffle for working out.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT