Best NON iPod MP3

[MKCP5]

HI There
I am buying MP3 players for both of my kids for Christmas this year. Neither of them could care less if it is an "iPod" What does everyone else have out there that is very user friendly and holds quite a bit of music? Thanks in Advance

 

[LilMamiBella]

I have an ipod that I love!! But anyway, I think I might buy the mickey mp3 player sold at Target for my 6 year old.

 

[jeancbpugh]

HI There
I am buying MP3 players for both of my kids for Christmas this year. Neither of them could care less if it is an "iPod" What does everyone else have out there that is very user friendly and holds quite a bit of music? Thanks in Advance

I have a three year old iRiver MP3 player (model iFP180T)...it's an antique now ...never had any problems with it and has great sound quality. It only holds 3-4 CDs worth of music on it though.

 

[OKW Lover]

HI There
I am buying MP3 players for both of my kids for Christmas this year. Neither of them could care less if it is an "iPod" What does everyone else have out there that is very user friendly and holds quite a bit of music? Thanks in Advance

To borrow a line from Porsche adds of old:

"iPod - there is no substitute"

Seriously, don't bother with the others. Nothing beats an iPod for ease of use and reliability.

 

[wenbel]

We have three creative muvo n200 and mine went thru the wash and my nephew's spent the night outside in a down pour (he lost it and it was later returned) They work great still. I could not believe it when it came out of the washer and still worked

 

[ohiominnie]

dh has had one of everything....i recognize what other's have said "iRiver" and "creative muvo" ....I know there were others...perhaps an "otis" or something like that.

none of them did exactly what he wanted them to do....hold LOTS of songs (he never knew what he'd be in the mood for,) hold audiobooks, and transfer music and audiobooks easily and seamlessly from computer to portable.

then a friend showed him an iPod and he's since switched over. Now dd also has one, and I have one too!

The old adage...you get what you pay for...course, you didn't mention your kids' ages. I assume if they are old enough to want/need something like that, they are old enough to take care of an iPod. My dd got hers when she was 10.

HTH

 

[tinan]

My husband loves his Creative Zen Touch. He opted to go with this because he didn't like the feel of the Ipods and he wanted to double it as an external hard drive and it has a 24 hour battery life. He also felt that with Creative being in the sound business that it would have a better sound to it. His MP3 player is a 40 gig which we bought for $300 + we got a free $50 gift card from Best Buy.

Personally, I like the Ipods for the quality of sound and ease of use. My oldest daughter has the 20 gig Ipod and my youngest daughter got the 6 gig Ipod mini.

 

[HayGan]

DH and I both have Rio MP3 players and are happy with them!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I have an old Creative Nomad IIc that is still going strong. If it were not for the limited storage capacity, I would not have given it up for an iPod. DS had lost the battery cover to it and when I called Creative to find out out to order a new one, they sent me two for free! I have to admit that that little courtesy sold me on their customer service.

 

[DonaldDucky]

Here is an awesome deal for a rio Nitro 1.5gb MP3 player. It's just $69 Shipped. This is a great price for a player that can store 1.5gb. My DS has one and he loves it. He programs it by himself (but then again, he is much better at the computer than I am )

LINK - LINK TO RIO NITRO FOR $69 SHIPPED

Features:

- 1.5 GB HDD plays back over 50 hours of WMA or 25 hours of MP3 music files (over 750 WMA or 375 MP3 songs)

- Transfer content between multiple PCs

- 16-hour continuous playback with the rechargeable lithium-ion battery

- USB 2.0 for fast transfers

- 5-band adjustable equalizer with presets

- High-performance earbuds

- 5-band parametric equalizer with presets

- Auto-DJ intelligently finds, mixes, and creates playlists from tracks on command


hth

 

[MKCP5]

I appreciate what you are saying about buy the best, but I'm not sure I want to invest $400. or $450. (2x $200.00) for a 9 yo and an 11 yo They are both great, responsible, we don't have issues with them losing things, but still..get real. I would get the shuffle ($120.) but I would think that you would get sick of having no control over what you listen to. I have also heard that they are tough to download to and you spend alot on the downloads.....Come on guys. Give me a break. This IS the BUDGET board! Help me out!

 

[Cindy B]

You can get deals on shuffles. Try a coupon code, Black Friday sale, or heck, even Aldis had them on sale for $59 a while back. If you even get out to an Apple store you will find great deals on refurb items. You are also eligible for a student discount at the Apple store if the student purchases the items.

As for songs, they don't have to cost a fortune either. I use www.allofmp3.com and thier songs are less than 10 cents a song. Its a wonderful site, and we have had no problems ever.

If you public library has Itunes set up on the PC's, you can burn the Itunes library to your ipod. I have seen many students do that at our library. (I've even done that myself!)

You do have control over the songs in the shuffle to some extent. You would put the songs in a playlist and then play the playlist. It wouldn't have to be on random all the time.

 

[Melissa M]

I have a Creative MuVo Micro. I got it from Amazon for around $70 with shipping. It's smaller than my cellphone, has a LCD screen, an FM radio, and a voice recorder. It runs on a AAA battery. It doesn't have a ton of space, but it's enough for me. It's perfect for the gym. And get this DISers....it's LIME GREEN!!

 

[SueM in MN]

I have also heard that they are tough to download to and you spend alot on the downloads.....Come on guys. Give me a break. This IS the BUDGET board! Help me out!

We have 4ipods in our house and like them very much.
The software that comes with the ipods is very easy to download to. And, you don't have to spend anything to download music to it if you already have CDs of the music you want on the ipod. You just put the CDs into the CD ROM and the itunes software downloads the songs (with the titles, etc) into your itunes library. Very easy.

But, I hear what you are saying for a 9 yr old and an 11 yr old. I'd probably just go with an ipod shuffle or one of the Disney MP3 players (but those don't have a screen).
Most of the ones with screens that people have mentioned are expensive - the
bigger iriver is $269. The littler ones are less, but can hold less.
The smallest Creative Zen Touch that I found was $205.
i don't know how easy they are to use or how well they work, but there are some smaller Rio MP3 players that have screens.
Good luck in your search.

 

[Karel]

I appreciate what you are saying about buy the best, but I'm not sure I want to invest $400. or $450. (2x $200.00) for a 9 yo and an 11 yo They are both great, responsible, we don't have issues with them losing things, but still..get real. I would get the shuffle ($120.) but I would think that you would get sick of having no control over what you listen to. I have also heard that they are tough to download to and you spend alot on the downloads.....Come on guys. Give me a break. This IS the BUDGET board! Help me out!

Both my teens have shuffles and they seem to enjoy them. They have had no problem downloading music. As far as no control over what you listen to, it would be like listening to your favorite radio with no commercials. You pick all the songs that you want to listen too.

My 11 yo likes her Play it now but it only holds 3o minutes of music and you can't pick which song you listen to. On the upside, she can download right from her cd player.

I don't think you will find what you're looking for at an inexpensive price range.

 

[pooh2001]

Zen Nano PLus - $139 from www.walmart.com
holds 18 hours of music - you can down load from your thinkpad or CD player.

 

[Minnie]

I have a Rio MP3 player and it works just fine. It came from Best Buy and it was reasonably priced. Look for ones that have the ability to hold a digital camera card (mine is secure digital). You can buy a larger card (watch for xmas sales) and then download the music to the computer then onto the card. It works just great and it tons cheaper than the IPod.

For your kids age range I would go with something like I mentioned and then upgrade to an IPod or more expensive player when they are older.

Also watch the Black Friday sales for discounts.

 

[Kramer]

To borrow a line from Porsche adds of old:

"iPod - there is no substitute"

Seriously, don't bother with the others. Nothing beats an iPod for ease of use and reliability.

Not really true... there are several brands that are just as easy to use and just as reliable as an IPOD... and more importantly - CHEAPER!

 

[MKCP5]

I will definately be watching the black friday sales and this will be my biggest priority. I may do an iPod shuffle if I can get a good deal. Thanks for all your thoughts. ANd if anyone else has an opinion--keep them coming!

 

[decaff38]

check out gottadeal.com for great deals and early BF flyers to look at.
Good luck , I also have to buy two.