MP3 Player - probably basic questions!

samf1971

I'm slowly dragging myself into the modern age & have just bought an MP3 player (nothing flash like an ipod etc, just a fairly basic model to get started an Aigo UM A208, 512mb)

It supports pay per track but not pay per month, which I think is pretty explanitory so I presume I'm ok with sites like HMV Tesco etc etc but not if I pay a subscription service. I presume a pay per album is ok too - is this classed as a "pay per track"

Is itunes just for ipods or can anyone use it? as I've heard about this site and I've seen the giftcard thingys in shops

Any other basic advice would be greatfully received.

Omertron

I'm pretty sure only iPods will work with iTunes for paid for tracks.

You're probably better off just buying CDs and using Windows Media Player to rip the CDs onto your MP3 Player

MercilessKiller

Indeed itunes pay tracks only work on ipods due to the unique format the songs come in (not .mp3 afaik!)

Buy an ipod

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

You can't use ITunes as your little player won't support the track format.

Sites like HMV, Tesco and MSN Music use DRM protected WMA, so you need to make sure your player supports this.

Buying the odd single is OK, but don't buy albums.
Why pay HMV £8.49 for a protected album when you can buy the CD from sites like CDWow for £7.99. Once you have the CD you can play it where and how you want. You can also rip it to your MP3 player at at higher quality than what you'd buy as a download.

samf1971

Thanks for the info, I thought the same about the albums when I was looking - Tesco was doing albums at £7.99 though I thought the individual ones were ok at 79p

I had an idea that itunes would only download to an ipod but as they're expensive I'll give that a miss.

Is there really anything to choose between the individual tracks - Tesco, HMV, Napster, they all look just the same

MercilessKiller

With the napster pay montly system its really easy and cheap if you're going to use it constantly! Its seriously fantastic and really good download speeds. You pay a set price a month and download whatever you want!!! ALL LEGAL!

Tis good

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

samf1971 wrote: »

Is there really anything to choose between the individual tracks - Tesco, HMV, Napster, they all look just the same

They're pretty much all the same.

I'm not sure if this is still current, but when you cancelled a Napster subscription, they cancelled the license on your songs so you could no longer play them. This may have changed now though, so don't quote me on it.

If you get a song from MSN, you keep it for good. I think HMV and Tescos are the same, but I've never bought from them so can't be 100% sure.