(NA) need new portable media player

TMetzinger

TMetzinger

Final Approach
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Tim
Almost to the day when the warranty expired, my Zune 80 Battery has given up the ghost. The player thinks it's charging while plugged in, then as soon as it's unplugged, it thinks it's empty.

So I called Microsoft and since my device is out of warranty for ten whole days, I can pay $130.00 for a repair. I told them "hell no" and went looking to see if I could replace the battery myself. Unfortunately nobody has kits for the 80 GB model, and the battery is apparently soldered in. The player will probably still be ok plugged into external power for road trips.

So... I'm in the market for a new player. I really don't want to have to convert all my thousands of WMA files to AAC and be tied to iTunes, so an iPod is low on my list. I've looked at the Zen X-fi models, but while they have SD card support they've apparently intentionally crippled it so that you can't use any of the "good" features with media stored on SD.

Any other options out there? I really need something that has 60-80 GB of storage, either internal or through the use of flash cards, and it should be able to play/pause media on the external cards.
 
TMetzinger said:
So... I'm in the market for a new player. I really don't want to have to convert all my thousands of WMA files to AAC and be tied to iTunes, so an iPod is low on my list.
Click to expand...

WMA? Blech. AAC? Meh. Were I you, I'd take this opportunity to convert 'em all to MP3 so I could buy whatever player I wanted without caring what formats were supported. Anything will play MP3.

Of course, then I'd get an iPod. :rofl:
 
Tim, I have a Zune I bought a year ago and which has never been out of the box. Is it a problem if it's pink?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
WMA? Blech. AAC? Meh. Were I you, I'd take this opportunity to convert 'em all to MP3 so I could buy whatever player I wanted without caring what formats were supported. Anything will play MP3.

Of course, then I'd get an iPod. :rofl:
Click to expand...

Anything current can play AAC and the quality is better. They just can't play DRM'd AAC from the iTunes Music Store.
 
SCCutler said:
Tim, I have a Zune I bought a year ago and which has never been out of the box. Is it a problem if it's pink?
Click to expand...

Spike, Why would you want to rid yourself of a pink Zune? It would match your camera so well :D

BTW did any of the Marfa pics turn out???
 
mikea said:
Anything current can play AAC and the quality is better. They just can't play DRM'd AAC from the iTunes Music Store.
Click to expand...

True, true... But even older stuff can play MP3's.

If anything current can play AAC, why is the Pilotcast still MP3? ;) I was thinking about that yesterday, how it'd be cool to add a slideshow to the west coast trip episodes...
 
Well, after learning that the $130 repair was only guaranteed for 90 days, and that none of the phones I could get from Verizon would do the job (and have to be managed by verizon software), and that an iPhone with only 16GB would cost too much money and the plan is $60 per month (which I wouldn't mind if I could tether the iPhone legally and use it as a broadband connection for my laptop for no more then an extra $20 a month)...

I'm gonna go drink the Kool-Aid and buy an iPod classic. I've got switch running converting my 5000 WMA files to mp3 now (so that I can switch back to something else in the future when the iPod dies). At least with the iPod you can buy replacement batteries.

For you iGuys - can I install ITunes on both my desktop and my laptop and manage the iPod from both? Ideally I'd like to be able to download all the stuff from my desktop and yet still get my podcasts using my laptop when I'm travelling.
 
TMetzinger said:
I'm gonna go drink the Kool-Aid and buy an iPod classic.
Click to expand...

Being an "iGuy" I was thinking when you first asked that the iPod Classic would be the one you'd want. Lots of storage.

For you iGuys - can I install ITunes on both my desktop and my laptop and manage the iPod from both? Ideally I'd like to be able to download all the stuff from my desktop and yet still get my podcasts using my laptop when I'm travelling.
Click to expand...

Having never tried this, I can't say with certainty, but I think the answer is "no" unless you have all the music on both machines and in that case, it's easiest to just go with the laptop all the time. I'm sure if you go to support.apple.com you can do a search and find a definitive answer.
 
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For you iGuys - can I install ITunes on both my desktop and my laptop and manage the iPod from both?
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I don't bother with itunes, I have all my audio files in MP3 format and I use this:
http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/
... to mount the ipod like a fileshare onto a Windows machine, and just copy over, via regular old drag 'n' drop, any files I want to put there.
-harry
 
flyingcheesehead said:
True, true... But even older stuff can play MP3's.

If anything current can play AAC, why is the Pilotcast still MP3? ;) I was thinking about that yesterday, how it'd be cool to add a slideshow to the west coast trip episodes...
Click to expand...
MP3s are still more universal. A 10 year old player can grok it, also the live play tools. Playing a ACC on a computer means the media player has to grok it, think about Windows 95 or such.
 
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TMetzinger said:
...Yor you iGuys - can I install ITunes on both my desktop and my laptop and manage the iPod from both? Ideally I'd like to be able to download all the stuff from my desktop and yet still get my podcasts using my laptop when I'm travelling.
Click to expand...

Yeah. You can make it work, especially with smart playlists. Remember you can't transfer FROM the player to the desktop without third party software.

The only issue is there's no real way to sync libraries between computers, unless you put the library on a fiel share, which is tricky - and your laptop will vamp, but still work, whenl disconnected.

The new iPhone (Touch?) software lets you download podcasts directly.
 
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