Technology help- IPOD vs MP3,etc

[Howard]

wife wants an IPOD...Never messed with one and have no idea about them. Someone else told me to get her an MP3 player- cheaper and same thing...I am clueless.

She will use it with ear phones and I would like to eventually get FM modulator for veh.

Any input appreciated.

[wes122984]

not the same thing- go with the ipod

[Double L]

I am clueless too JT. I had a friend tell me the same thing......don't buy IPOD get an MP3 player. He suggested a brand like Sandisk....then the price goes up with the size (storage) capacity.... 1Gig, 2Gig etc.

Not to hi-jack your thread....but what else is needed to broadcast music from an MP3 to your truck's stereo. I have a a jack for it but can it be done wireless????

Inquiring minds like JT's and mine want to know.

[hunter91]

As far as I can tell tehy are the same. Have family that have iPods and we have always had MP3's. Personally we have had less issues and the same functionality as them. I would go with the MP3 and save some money. Some of the MP3's have changeable batteries other are like the iPods and have to be charged. Also some of the MP3 players can use SD and other memory cards giving you basically an endless amount of space.

[garza]

i agree with wes. not the same thing, get an ipod. a mp3 player is just that, a mp3 player. ipod handles music, video, podcasts, plus all the accessories that they make for the ipod. my 2 cents.

g

[Bill's Unlimited]

Capacity equates to number of songs you can store, the more the marrier.

For the past few years my daughter has had a Zen, but it finally bit the dust (won't hold a charge anymore) so she is getting a new one for xmas, she wanted an Ipod we got her the Ipod Classic 160G (whatever the largest one is). In the meantime she is using the Microsoft Zune (30G) my wife and I purchased on woot.com a few months ago for $79.99. The Zune and the newer IPods also have video capabilities, she is yet to load any video on it.

When you get into the larger capacity players there is a change in technology. The small ones use memory similar to a USB memory stick, while the larger capacity have spinning hard drives like in your PC. Obivously, the hard drive is more suspectable to heavy vibration and potential failure (moving parts or no moving parts).

Each manufacturer has their own interface to manage your songs. The nice thing with the Ipod is obviously I-Tunes manages it which is also what my daughter uses to download songs.

The Ipod also plays MP4 format which is a lot of the new stuff my daughter had downloaded from I-tunes. The Zune (and the Zen she had) we have doesn't have this capability. I'm sure there is software to convert the files, but we have just burnt CD's and reloaded in as MP3's.

For me the Zune or other MP3 players is fine, but others will have other input. This can become similar to the broadhead thread!

[Bill's Unlimited]

Oh yea, the Zune also has a FM tuner in it and podcasts.

[Bill's Unlimited]

Double L - If you have the input jack, just buy the $3 wire to plug it in directly. The other option is a FM transiever. I was recently talking to a couple of guys about them. In the Houston area anyway, they say they always have to change the frequencies because of so many radio stations bleeding over. However, they also talked about a module from Surius that goes in line with your radio antenna that blocks the external antenna signal, about a $30 piece. I think this is the way I will end up going. Both of the FM solutions plug into your headphone jack on the MP3 player. The obvious pitfall is battery life, so if you are using it on long trips you may want to invest in a power charger for the player too.

[hunter91]

Bill you are right the newer ones also do video, pics etc. I bought my daughter a new MP3 for her birthday and she says it is no different that the ipods anyone else has she stores Pics, video and music on it, with nice playback. It is the RCA Opal and you can get it in up to 8GB. It is small and slim. I would say less than a 1/4 in thick and small.

[jbamburg]

I have the Sandisk Sansa e260 and I like it. The IPOD and MP3 players are virtually the same thing with the main differences being file format and the fact that the IPOD requires you to use I-tunes.
The main advantage of the IPOD as I see it is the availability of accessories for them. I just wanted a portable music player and I use Windows Media Player so I went for the Sandisk.

If the vehicle's radio has the auxiliary jack you just need a 1/4" to 1/4" speaker cable that you can get cheap at Best Buy and the like.

[Howard]

I probably own 20 cds and maybe the same for her. I/She aint going to be using it to download a million songs. Maybe have a few pics of kids on it if that is an option and that is about it. I need something that fits in the KISS method and not all the bells and whistles. Does that narrow it down any?

[Bill's Unlimited]

I don't know about the other brands, but the Zune does what you are looking for. Do a search...

[Howard]

another question.

To get these CD songs on there do I just use computer program to do it,etc... If I can figure out videos on here I am sure I can figure it out. Do you have to do it one song at a time and name each song,etc...or does it do it automatically.

Like I have a Blake Shelton CD- Do i just copy the CD and all the songs to the Ipod/MP3 with a click of a button or do I have to name the CD Blake Shelton under sub heading Country and then name each song....etc..

[Tommyh]

If you arent getting video options, stick with the nanos in the 4 or 8 gb range. I have a 3gb and i have way more music than it will hold. I'd stay away from the other stuff and stick with apple, personally. at least you can look at pictures on your nano and you can't on an mp3 player. iPods play most music formats anyway, and you can change options inside of iTunes to different download formats, like mp3 (for CD burning for your car later on if you wish) or ma4 (which is apple's std format). There is a reason everyone tries to copy the apple hardware .

[hunter91]

With the MP3's you can either use the program they come with or use windows media player. I prefer windows media player, I know RCA reccomends that as well. One big reason is if you have an internet connection, when you copy the music to your computer it will gather the cover art, title and songs of the album for you. If you don't it is not an issue you will just need to name them.