help me find an mp3 player!

[habib89]

so i want to get an mp3 player for my wife. she had the sansa e260 or e280 (i forget which), which she loved but it broke. the port where it connects had some bent wires and some broken ones.

anyway, so i want to get a new one to replace it, and i'm here to see what's best. she probably doesn't need video as she listens to it mostly in the car. she also doesn't need more than say.. 15 gigs.. probably 10 gigs would be enough i think.. i'd also like it to be about.. $150 or so.. preferably less.. and i have to buy it at a B&M cause her birthday is tomorrow..

oh, also with ipods, do you have to use itunes with it? can i just drag and drop my songs from my computer onto the ipod? do i have to buy music through itunes to make it work with the ipod? seems like the answer to that last one would be no, but i just want to make sure.

anyway, so if you could please post which mp3 player to get, and why, it'd be greatly appreciated!

and i know that there's a consumer electronics section, but ATOT is much more populated, and i need an answer within the next couple hours. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[herm0016]

yes, you must use i-tunes w/ ipod. i would look at the sandisk players again, seems like they just came out with another new one not long ago. you can put mini sd cards in most of them too for more storage.

like this:
http://www.buy.com/prod/sandis...loc/111/203092435.html

 

[ravana]

There are plugins for winamp that let you transfer your music to the ipod without itunes.

There might be other apps, check lifehacker for starters about gettin some info about drag and drop directly from my computer.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> she had the sansa e260 or e280 (i forget which), which she loved but it broke.

The Sansa 8 GB is $130 now at Amazon, order it overnight and print the order form for an empty box if it doesn't arrive in time.

Replacing one she likes and already knows how to use might be a better gift than making her learn to use an iPod.

You could also spring for the $15/month version of Napster that lets her download unlimited songs to the sandisk (as a rental).

 

[habib89]

well that's probably the least of my issues. itunes is free right? basically i want to transfer my mp3's on my computer now to an ipod (if that's what i decide to get) without any hassle.. don't ipods have some sorta protection to stop certain mp3's?

oh, and thanks for your help herm0016 and ravana! (edit) and DaveSimmons!

 

[zoiks]

Get an ipod. Women love those.

 

[habib89]

the new ipod nano's look cool and are in the right price range, how are those?

also, can i put the mp3's i currently have on my computer onto an ipod???

edit: also, how are the MS zunes?

 

[DaveSimmons]

iPod:
MP3s are really easy to add to iTunes, "import folder" and you're done. No need to do any kind of conversion.

I'm happy with my iPod Video 30 GB, but I'll probably be getting a sandisk myself as a backup and to use with Napster (my brother has one and really likes it).

Zune:
Also plays MP3. Buy.com was selling a brown 30GB one for $100 yesterday but shipment from them can be really slow sometimes. iPods are nicer but that's a great price.

 

[Anubis]

get her a new Sansa
http://www.fudzilla.com/index....=view&id=2955&Itemid=1

amazon says they should be shipping at the end of the month

tho doesnt help you with the tomorow being her b day

the iAudio 7 comes in 8 and 16GB modles and it is also a great player, you woul have to order it online tho
http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/7/

 

[habib89]

hey thank you everyone who offered some help, i really appreciate it! i'm gonna go to best buy to get her present. i want to play around with them and see which i like best (cause of course what i like best is the best =)) so, yeah, thanks for all the advice! just to let you all know, i'm probably gonna go with the 4gb nano, just cause it's cute and ipod-y... and if she doesnt' like it, we'll just return it.. anyhow, thanks again!