MP3 Player - opinions/advice please

Nikiya

I checked the Apple link Firedog kindly provided.... there is no info about which discounts they make for students, so I phone the Nº provided. The thing is... the cheapest one they do discounts on is the nano 2 MB, and they only discount around £10 (from 138 to 128). Also, just in case someone is interested, the shuffle is cheaper at Amazon, at £66.46, instead of the £69 it costs at the Apple site.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/electronics/B0007A5I2I/customer-reviews/202-6803842-9151819

firedog_2

ceciliag wrote:

I am not really into tech stuff and had no idea about the shuffle... what is the difference with the Ipod, other than it has a smaller capacity? And what with the hard disk someone mentioned???
.

Technically there isn't a huge difference between many music players. They all play MP3 files (there is a slight difference in the other audio formats they support, but I don't think that for a teenager that's going to be a significant factor). The Shuffle doesn't have a screen. Apple claims this is a selling point, rather than a drawback. Not sure I agree with that!

The advantage of the iPod is in the way it's designed (simple to use, particularly on the bigger models) and the way it links with the excellent software bundled with it (iTunes). No other player (this is an opinion, not a fact) - makes it as easy to organise and listen to your music collection.

Apple has also managed to bag most of the world's supply of Flash memory, making it difficult for others to compete on price.

firedog_2

ceciliag wrote:

I checked the Apple link Firedog kindly provided.... there is no info about which discounts they make for students, so I phone the Nº provided. The thing is... the cheapest one they do discounts on is the nano 2 MB, and they only discount around £10 (from 138 to 128).

Sorry didn't check whether the Education discounts applied to the Shuffles. For reference, the Education store can be found
here Click the standard Education link (if your son is in higher education, higher discounts are possible, but I think you have to connect from a Uni address).

I agree Amazon is cheaper, but Apple Store delivery may be faster. They seem to be overnighting everything at the moment.

Nikiya

You are right, delivery is faster. As for the education link: It only allows you to see what's in store once you have registered as qualified for discount (name of school). It does not specify how much the discount is... maybe as you say, Uni discounts are better.
I find it very difficult to assess cost effectiveness.... £128 is £50 more than the Creative Zen. Agree, it is only 1GB but I wonder... aren't 500 songs enough???
At the beginning of this thread they were talking about an MP3 for £50... I do not think I am ready to choose. Might have to give him a voucher for Xmas and take my time to do more research!!

firedog_2

ceciliag wrote:

I find it very difficult to assess cost effectiveness.... £128 is £50 more than the Creative Zen. Agree, it is only 1GB but I wonder... aren't 500 songs enough???

500 songs is probably enough for most people (although I'd only expect to get 240 songs on a 1Gb device), but the inevitability is that you end up shoving far more on an iPod than you'd expect, such as audiobooks, podcasts (basically radio programmes you can subscribe to through software such as iTunes). The Nano also synchronises with your Outlook contacts and Calendar (it does the same with iCal and Address Book on Mac OS X). The biggest disk eater, of course, is the ability to carry your photo library around with you on the Nano. Either gimmicky or amazing depending on your view (the iPod synchronises with Photoshop Elements or iPhoto, but doesn't download the full-sized image, so doesn't take as much space as you'd expect).

iPods can also be used as external data drives, so you can carry files on it too. Handy, but again, it uses disk space!

But if your budget is limited, best to stick to it. Voucher may be the best idea!

firedog_2

ceciliag wrote:

As for the education link: It only allows you to see what's in store once you have registered as qualified for discount (name of school). It does not specify how much the discount is... maybe as you say, Uni discounts are better.

If you're just browsing, type in anything in this field. There are no checks performed.

wolfman

ceciliag wrote:

I find it very difficult to assess cost effectiveness.... £128 is £50 more than the Creative Zen. Agree, it is only 1GB but I wonder... aren't 500 songs enough???

It depends how you store your music. Some people like to carry everything around with them which is why the iPod is so successful.

I personally prefer a smaller device, with just the tunes I want to listen to at the time (I keep my collection on my computer).

The Shuffle is very good. It does lack a screen, but I've got used to not having one. It also makes it more robust. The unit is ergonomic and easy to use, you could do so with your eyes closed. It also makes a great usb key. I take all my work on it. I've even got a tiny app stored on it to update any music I've added (so I don't have to use iTunes!).

For me it's basically a light, small, robust usb key that can play music. I can just pick it up and go.