ipod or zen or something else?

[RF Scott]

I love my iPod. They're better than a lot of things

[Neil]

if all your music is in wma format don't go for the ipod as you'll have to convert them all into mp3 or aac format. From what i understand you also have to convert the files for the sony as well into atrac but not 100% sue on that one.

That was true but the HD3 is Sony's first hard disc based MP3 player to natively support MP3 (and WMA I think) as well as their ATRAC file format. So you no longer have to first convert your MP3 files into ATRAC before copying them over to the player first. I think they are also going to offer an upgrade to users of their older models such as the HD1 and HD2 so they can also support MP3 in the same way.

[Lucy Loo]

i've been thinkin about buying a creative zen rather than an iPod. you can get them from dixons and the 5Gb zen micro is the same price as the 20Gb zen touch if you order it online so i'm going for the 20Gb one me thinks

it does say however that it doesn't come with a software CD is that likely to be a problem? i have windows media player so i could use that to copy music from a cd to my computer but then would it be easy enough to transfer it to the mp3 player?

[N.M]

it does say however that it doesn't come with a software CD is that likely to be a problem? i have windows media player so i could use that to copy music from a cd to my computer but then would it be easy enough to transfer it to the mp3 player?

If my memory serves me correct, it appears as a removable drive. This means that uploading music is as simple as dragging and dropping files.

Then again, I may be thinking of a totally different mp3 player.

[vapid]

iRivers are cheaper than iPods and considerably less stupid. You don't have to spend hours ripping wmas to mp3s if you don't want to pay 99p a tune- and they can handle ogg vorbis files, as well as coming with a radio.

Also they don't have all those built in intellectual property rubbish restrictions.

They got the best ranking in the Slashdot review (sometime last year), plus they're shiny and black.

[Camie]

so which site offers the best prices. Im guessing amazon but know there is probably a cheaper site par ebay.

[David]

get the new Sony NW-HD3. thats what i got for me crimbo and its the shit. im in *love* 249 for 20gb machine. its niccccccccccccce

i got the NW HD1 a couple of months ago and i absolutely love it, the only problem for some people would be the lack of mp3 support, which has been fixed for the NW HD3 (ie the newer version of it)

i am actually quite surprised that sony have a new version out so quickly, i bought mine in november, and it was pretty new then, and they already have the next version out already

and a big plus for it is the battery life, the battery will last about 30 hours, compared to an ipods 12...

David

[David]

That was true but the HD3 is Sony's first hard disc based MP3 player to natively support MP3 (and WMA I think) as well as their ATRAC file format. So you no longer have to first convert your MP3 files into ATRAC before copying them over to the player first. I think they are also going to offer an upgrade to users of their older models such as the HD1 and HD2 so they can also support MP3 in the same way.

this sounds like a very cool idea for anyone who has the NW HD1 and wants mp3' date=' from the sony site it says you have to send it off to sonys service center for upgrading, and it costs 15 which dosent sound too bad

personally it makes no difference to me, all my music i am taking from cds i already own, so it makes no different whether i rip to mp3 or atrac3+

[url']http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/Hotnews/NWHD1_Upgrd.asp?l=en is the link to the info from the sony site

the NW HD2 seems rather odd, its technically exactly the same as the NW HD1, but with a blue blacklight and it comes in a few colours... it does explain why i hadnt heard of it though

David

[nullmouse]

so which site offers the best prices. Im guessing amazon but know there is probably a cheaper site par ebay.

www.scan.co.uk is a good site to check for prices.

[Foreskin Ninja]

iRivers are cheaper than iPods and considerably less stupid. You don't have to spend hours ripping wmas to mp3s if you don't want to pay 99p a tune

You wouldn't have to do that if you hadn't ripped the files to a homoerotic format in the first place.

[Snowball]

eBuyer.co.uk and advancedmp3s.com seemed to be the most reliable and had the lowest prices when I was looking.

[Guest gilly]

this sounds like a very cool idea for anyone who has the NW HD1 and wants mp3' date=' from the sony site it says you have to send it off to sonys service center for upgrading, and it costs 15 which dosent sound too bad

personally it makes no difference to me, all my music i am taking from cds i already own, so it makes no different whether i rip to mp3 or atrac3+

[url']http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/Hotnews/NWHD1_Upgrd.asp?l=en is the link to the info from the sony site

the NW HD2 seems rather odd, its technically exactly the same as the NW HD1, but with a blue blacklight and it comes in a few colours... it does explain why i hadnt heard of it though

David

I have the NW HD1.. i have no problem putting mp3s on to it.. but cds i saved to media player as wma files seem to be where i'm having dificulties.

i was given 2 links by my friend a while ago for sony software.. i haven't actually had a look yet, think i'll do it now

http://www.connect.com/download_mp3Conv.html

http://www.vaio.net/sonyvaio574.html

[Guest HARRY]

If my memory serves me correct' date=' it appears as a removable drive. This means that uploading music is as simple as dragging and dropping files.

Then again, I may be thinking of a totally different mp3 player.[/quote']

No, it's true for most newish mp3 players. The drivers are automatically installed on detection from usb, and the player is regarded as your average, solid state storage, removable device. Like you said, uploading music is as simple as dragging and dropping files.

Of course, this is from putting stuff onto my friends mp3 player using my pc. I'm not one to care for dragging your massive 1337 music collection around with you

[MattJimF]

iTunes does that for you andwhilst it may not break any speed records in doing soit does do very simply' date=' and with a minimum of user intereference; it's very much the definition of a "drag-and-drop" process.

[/quote']

I know itunes does it for you, but if you have all your music, which i'm going to assume to be over at least 5GB worth of data, letting itunes convert it is going to take a good few hours (at least a day or two if over 10 gig). Trust me on this i thought about converting about 18GB worth of music but it was going to take far too long.

[David]

I have the NW HD1.. i have no problem putting mp3s on to it.. but cds i saved to media player as wma files seem to be where i'm having dificulties.

i was given 2 links by my friend a while ago for sony software.. i haven't actually had a look yet' date=' think i'll do it now

[url']http://www.connect.com/download_mp3Conv.html

http://www.vaio.net/sonyvaio574.html

how are you doing that? is that importing mp3 files into sonicstage to load onto the player, or using something like the programme inteh first link you posted? i think those ways would be converting the mp3 to atrac before putting it on the player

but i am pretty sure that you cant use mp3 on a NW HD1 straight from the box, otherwise sony wouldnt now be offering an upgrade to add mp3 playback to them (unless they have started shipping new ones like this

either way i am happy sticking to atrac, i cant hear a noticable difference between it and mp3, and it takes up half the space, which is always nice (but dosent make a difference, i have all the music i need loaded on my player and have used 1.7 gig... thats 75ish albums)

David

[Mr.Tim]

i was wanting to buy an ipod but i think i may just change go for the zen now.

[Guest gilly]

how are you doing that? is that importing mp3 files into sonicstage to load onto the player' date=' or using something like the programme inteh first link you posted? i think those ways would be converting the mp3 to atrac before putting it on the player

but i am pretty sure that you cant use mp3 on a NW HD1 straight from the box, otherwise sony wouldnt now be offering an upgrade to add mp3 playback to them (unless they have started shipping new ones like this

either way i am happy sticking to atrac, i cant hear a noticable difference between it and mp3, and it takes up half the space, which is always nice (but dosent make a difference, i have all the music i need loaded on my player and have used 1.7 gig... thats 75ish albums)

David[/quote']

I have downloaded mp3s.. and put them on. I just put them into the media library, like you do with cds etc, then when you transfer it on to the player.. it takes a little while to convert and then it just goes on.. i think mine must have been updated before i got it sent. i havent downloaded anything from the links i posted.

i take it it's not possible to put the files i have from cd, to media player on then?

[Mr.Tim]

i think im going to get a creative zen micro. not only are they sexier than ipods but they are more realiable, cheaper and have a radio. LOVELY STUFF !

[Guest gilly]

What does the zen micro look like? Do you have a photo please?

[Alan Cynic]

Is there an mP3 player type thingy that you can use WITHOUT using a computer...i.e. directly from a CD player?

[Guest gilly]

Is there an mP3 player type thingy that you can use WITHOUT using a computer...i.e. directly from a CD player?

I wouldn't have thought so.. because the cd player would have to be able to decode the information and covert it first I think.

[Alan Cynic]

Fair enough. It's just that my old PC struggles with a lot of software. I recently got a CD recorder that plays MP3s, as long as they're saved on a CD. I can't see me using that function much though.

[Mr.Tim]

Is there an mP3 player type thingy that you can use WITHOUT using a computer...i.e. directly from a CD player?

yes, im not sure what it is called but there definitely is.

[Guest HARRY]

Fair enough. It's just that my old PC struggles with a lot of software. I recently got a CD recorder that plays MP3s' date=' as long as they're saved on a CD. I can't see me using that function much though.[/quote']

MP3 format cds are certainly the way to go. why stay with an 80-minute audio cd when you can have 300+ mp3s on there instead? And it shouldnt really matter much if your home cd player doesnt support it or not, depending on if you use your computer to listen to music the majority of the time

[Alan Cynic]

I can see the sense in that Harry. My Pc's stuck up in a cold loft though, where I tend to play vinyl on an old record deck. The CD player's in the cosier living room.