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Non iPod Mp3 Player
DoopHQ
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So here's a really dumb question. I want to try to buy a new mp3 that is not from Apple. What I'm really looking for in a Mp3 player is the ability to play podcast and audiobooks. I would really like this mp3 player to work with iTunes. Now can any Mp3 besides an iPod work with iTunes and will it be able to sync my music and MORE IMPORTANTLY sync my podcasts. I'm leaning towards the Creative Zen 2.5". I would also like to here what other people think about this product or another MP3 player you would recommend.
Thanks
Thanks
DoopHQ on
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I'm still considering an iPod. I was thinking something different (an a bit less expensive). But as the previous posters mentioned, the iPod seems like a perfect fit for me. I'm trying to get a gauge as to which mp3 fits my needs.
It also rocks pretty hard.
Unfortunately, it requires (much like an iPod) that you use their software to move music around. And just like with iTunes, unless you have been using it to organize your library from the very start, the software sucks dicks. Whole bags of dicks. Name mangling, moving files from your organized directories to "unknown artist," etc.
The good part about both of them is their quality hardware. I like the older iPods better because you can replace the firmware with rockbox and get more functionality out of it. That is, you can just drag your music directory onto it in either windows or OSX as if it's a portable hard drive.
I was in a similar boat after my 4th gen iPod's battery died. I ended up buying a replacement for $12 and installing rockbox. I've not looked back.
Do you have music from the iTunes store that you want to play on your portable player? That's not going to play on anything but an iPod (unfortunately), unless it happens to be the small amount of iTunes music that you can get without DRM.
With the podcasts, check to make sure that they're actually MP3s, or that they have MP3 versions available. You can do this by looking in your podcast folder, or if you can't tell, by visiting their websites and looking at their RSS/XML podcast feeds.
As other people have said, iTunes won't sync with anything but an iPod, but many non-iPod MP3 players can be used by just dragging-and-dropping files onto them. They can also generally be synced by nearly any media player aside from iTunes, if you'd like something slightly more automated.
My husband has an old Creative jukebox that he likes quite a bit. I have an Insignia which is surprisingly decent despite being a fucking Best Buy brand (it plays oggs, even, which is important for me because I'm a Linux nerd).
It's also worth noting that there are a LOT of pieces of software out there that will allow you to put music on your iPod that aren't iTunes, but really, iTunes is just perfect. It keeps the file system tidy, it maintains the ID3 tags correctly, and it has powerful searching and playlist creation tools. It makes me happy. I'd rather not fuck about with naming files by hand, thanks.
I've got a 5.5G iPod Video, 80 GB model and I'm happy with it. If you want something of that size, you may as well go iPod.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH