Christy Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Mods - sorry if this is in the wrong forum; couldnt decide if it is Music Discussion or General. Woteva.OK I have a friend who is doing me a favour. In return, I have offered to help her out by finding her a good, cheap iPod equivalent and a site that easily enables her to purchase downloads and pop them onto the MP3 player.I am the first to admit that I am a technotard, so I dont know if iTunes is usable without an iPod (ie. can you download music from iTunes and sync them to a different brand of MP3 player?). Let's say a 60 budget for the player - 8gig minimum. I have used this one and it impressed me:So I am happy enough to recommend the MP3 player (although better suggestions are welcomed) but have no idea about a user-friendly, legal download site (isohunt etc is NOT an option for her).Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOX Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Amazon's your best bet for legal downloads, I'd say.iTunes will not sync to a non-iPod, either - try Windows Media Player or, at a push, Spotify (not sure about that one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Amazon have a mp3 store, I've no idea if it's any good because I've never used it. That is probably not much help.Is there a reason she doesn't want an iPod? If it's just because she hates using iTunes there is a program called Sharepod that will allow her to organise her music without the use of iTunes.EDIT= I'm unsure if Sharepod would sync to a non-Apple device, but worth checking because it is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Not wanting an iPod because it is poor VFM...quality aint great and it is hoorin pricey. I mean, she might be persuaded to change her stance but for the purpose of keeping this on-topic, let's rule out iPods and anything iTunes-related. Looking for alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 for a non-ipod I'd suggest looking at a Creative Zen. I think you can get the 8GB ones for under 50 and 16GB for 70ish. I haven't used any of the newest ones but have had previous iterations and they've always been good for sounds and easy to load songs onto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Aint Zens notorious for going broke after a year or two max? And for scamming on accessories, so that if you buy Zen speakers then upgrade your MP3 player to a different Zen model it no longer works with the speakers? Or am I just listening to gossip too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOX Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Aint Zens notorious for going broke after a year or two max? And for scamming on accessories, so that if you buy Zen speakers then upgrade your MP3 player to a different Zen model it no longer works with the speakers? Or am I just listening to gossip too much?Sounds like what an iPod does. (heh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 I recommend Sony MP3 players. My one holds around 300 albums, has about 40 hours of battery life and is still going strong after nearly three years. To put music on it it pretty much works like a USB stick. Just plug it in and drag over the track/album/file you want to put on it. No programmes to install or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 How about legal dwownloads - any sites you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 TY TY everyone. And feel free to keep on with the recommendations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHand Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Think you can download from play.com. Think winamp is a reasonable alternative to iTunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Thanks RA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Zens are very sturdy pieces of kit. My old 20gb Zen lasted 4 years, and I only replaced it because I lost the charger and they didn't make that particular model anymore. I would go out on a limb and say they are by far the best sounding MP3 player out there, since Creative actually specialise in audio gear, where as Apple just make shiny white gadgets for idiots. I am one of those idiots, purely because no other company seems to make high capacity mp3 players anymore. Sounds gash in comparison though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeno Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Zens are very sturdy pieces of kit. My old 20gb Zen lasted 4 years, and I only replaced it because I lost the charger and they didn't make that particular model anymore. I would go out on a limb and say they are by far the best sounding MP3 player out there, since Creative actually specialise in audio gear, where as Apple just make shiny white gadgets for idiots. I am one of those idiots, purely because no other company seems to make high capacity mp3 players anymore. Sounds gash in comparison though.Same here. The ONLY reason I bought an Ipod is because you simply can't seem to buy anything larger than 32GB these days. I have 97GB of music on my ipod! I suspect you could make them sound better if they let you customise the EQ settings, but all the pre loaded ones are shit. Before the ipod I used to listen to music on my PSP (of all things!) and it sounded a LOT better. My gf's Sony MP3 player also shits all over the ipodCowon undeniably make the best sounding MP3 players, but they are priced to compete with Ipods. I think it's about 200 for a 32GB one? I bought my mum a Sansa Fuse and that wasn't too bad and they're quite cheap. Has a memory card slot too to expand memory. Only bad point is they generate the music library for internal memory and the SD card in separate lists (they may have updated this in subsequent firmwares though, it'll be on reviews of them if so). See if you can get any Sony MP3 players on sale though. The combination of sound quality and insane battery life makes them the best mid price mp3 player. My gf has one of these which we got on sale for 50. Worth every pennyAmazon and play.com are similarly priced for MP3 downloads and Amazon is easy to use. Downloading form the artists bandcamp is by far the best non cd alternative if they have one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 TY lots guys, some great advices here. I will report back to my friend and link her to this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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