Need advice on buying MP3 for DD14 B'day

[frannn]

DD turns 14 this month. She wants an MP3 player, but did not give me any ideas on the functions, etc that she would like. I saw a couple of refurbs I was considering, and wanted opinions. Originally, I was thinking of getting a small capacity player with a slot for an additional memory card, that would have the ability to use a regular battery instead of charging off the computer (she doesn't have her own computer). Then I saw a few refurbs for under 100.- both are made by Creative Labs, are 20 gb, are hard drive players, and charge from the computer. One is the Sleek, which also displays photos. The other, which would be about 10 less, is the Touch, which does not display photos, but has a touch screen. The rep at Creative also gave me a third possibility- the Zen V, which is about half the price, displays photos, but only holds 1 GB & has no FM tuner. It is a flash player, which he said would hold up better to a teenager who might drop it a few times (DD isn't always careful with her things) . Which would be best to go with? I'm leaning towards the Sleek, because she loves sharing photos.
Thanks for your opinions!

 

[Bev J]

I don't have one of the ones you mentioned. My DS, DD and myself all have IPODs. Yes you can get reconditioned ones off Ebay, look for a Ebay store that has very high feedback ratings. We all love our Ipods. I never thought I would use it much but I do. It is easy to load the music onto it and you can easily get a plug in charger, again I got mine from Ebay for about $5.

We had gotten our son a mp3 player for christmas, but he was disapointed with it because all his friends had IPods. He used his christmas $$ and saved for a while so he could buy one at Sams Club, he has a Nano and so do I. DD has the video one but then that's more $$. Try to check out what her friends have, she will probably want the same kind.

Bev

 

[Alesia]

I bought this one for dh for his birthday. It's been great.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000B5...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=279581301&pf_rd_i=507846

 

[goofyforlife]

My dd turns 14 next week too...

She only wants an IPOD.....(Has no interest in my older MP3)

She currently has 1st gen shuffle with lower memory.

I just bought myself a 2nd gen 1gb shuffle for $49 through the apple site. (mommy's day gift to me)

It's so cute and little and i love that it has a built in clip.

Mine is silver (cause that's all they offered two weeks ago) but now i hear they have been offering the ones in the other colors too. (lime,orange, pink, and blue i think.)

DD asked me recently if i could get her one like mine because she likes the size of mine better and likes the clippy part too.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

You may as well just bite the bullet and get an IPod.

DD has a few of different brands and even DW has a Zune,I use my PSP and cellphone for mine.

But nothing really worked as easy and has as many acesssories as the Ipod and that very important as you can get some of the stuff by another maker cheaper that works just as well.

I have even been putting full movies on DD now and I even watch them when we are out sometimes.(if I don't have my PSP because they are on that as well).

Good luck I know it's hard with all the options out there.

We have and carry adapters for charging all of ours as we turn off our computers at night and that seem to be when we are doing the charging. They are very cheap $10 for house and car adapter.

 

[TAEMom]

We bought DD 11 a Creative Labs Zen nano for her 10th bday and she felt let down b/c all of her friends were getting "real" IPods. For her 11th bday, she saved all of her money and bought herself a refurbed IPod nano from the Apple store instead. I am now the owner of the Zen and I have to admit, the IPod is easier to use than the Zen is. DS 11 also just bought himself a refurbed IPod and loves it. I think that at 14, the IPod might be the better way to go.

 

[vassello]

We all have Creative Zen Micros. I LOVE mine, my DD12 likes hers but keeps asking when she can get an Ipod. This weekend (after EOGs) I'm giving my DS10 a refurbished 1st generation shuffle I got off of the Apple site for $29. He is excited as all get out. My DD12's Zen is like 5 times the size of this refurbished Ipod but she is drooling over it....so sad, but it seems like all the kids just want the Ipods. I think they are sleeker and have many more options available - much more mainstream. So, if I had to do it again, I think I would go with the Ipod instead.

 

[flying_babyb]

Advice from a music loving preschool teaching college student:
I have a ilo flash mp3 player. I paid around 30 buck for it NEW at walmart. It holds 118 (or so) songs. I added a cheap 1 gig memory card (20 at walmart) and have 24 songs on that (it holds 600). so for 50 bucks total I get 718 songs. Duribalty wise, Ive droped it and its lived. I left it in my backpack(on the floor) front at work (think lots of kids) and it got kicked, hit, steped on. It works now just as well as day one. Buttons are easy to use and volume is BEYOND great (mines louder than my sisters 300 dollar one). Plugs in the UBS port of the computer to download songs. Also if its connected to a computer it runs off of the computer, not its battery. Its got great battery life too. Also has the nice screen so you can see what song its playing.

 

[Lisa_M]

I have an 8gb Sandisk Sansa mp3 player. I really like it alot. It's very user friendly, stylish and can hold music, video, has an fm tuner, and I think it can hold pictures too (but I haven't tried this yet). I got mine for $114 for a really great deal. I saw a deal on a 2gb one earlier for $40 from Dell, but they have since increased the price. Check Amazon out. The Sansa is made in various capacities and still has a Micro SD card slot for expandable memory.

 

[ranthony]

I'd say get the off brand. But for a teen, go for the Ipod. She'll probably like it more even if it has less memory than something else. Believe me, I'm a teacher and am surrounded by teens all day long. Is unfortunate but the name brand really matters to them.

 

[momof5boys]

I agree with other posters. Go with the ipod. I got my DS12 a creative MP3 player it's ok but a pain to load. I have the new ipod shuffle also got the silver one before all the color ones came out! Seriously thinking of giving that one to DS so I can get a cute pink one!

 

[briarberry]

I agree - go with an Ipod. My DD11 and I both own Nanos. We had other brands before but the Nanos are easy to use and like the other posters say, the kids like the brand names. We use Limewire to download but DD sometimes uses Itunes because she got some gift cards so she can download. Good luck!

 

[Minnie's Pal]

Last week, I would have said IPod but now I'm not so sure...

My friend, who has one of the smaller IPods--maybe the ?nano, had to call and get help with her's Mon. She told me the prices after it's out of warranty... The battery for it (if it dies) costs as much as the IPod itself. Plus, it was like $29 or something just to call them. So she paid a fee and had her warranty extended. So my advice is, if you buy any type IPod, look into the warranty and fees, etc.

And you have several other options of good quality MP3 players from what the previous posts have mentioned. It's just a matter of what you want...

 

[djm99]

I have the Zen Vision M. It is absolutely wonderful. It is comparable and in some circles BETTER than the Ipod. I paid only $129 for it on Ebay from a company called returndealz or something like that. It was a sent to me in the original box with ALL on its contents. It looks and works as a NEW unit. It's much easier to 'work it' vs. the Ipod and you can download music from SEVERAL sources cheaper than iTunes. This is normally a $250+ unit, but can be found in many places (Ebay) much cheaper. It has video capabilities and a FM radio tuner. Your teen will love this.

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Zen-...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1180013143&sr=1-1