New MP3 player, do I need to stick to iPod?
New MP3 player, do I need to stick to iPod?
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R1 GTR

Original Poster:

2,152 posts

244 months

Saturday 21st April 2007
quotequote all
The battery in my 1st gen iPod mini is starting to pack in so im on the lookout for a 4-8gb mp3 player. But because i have bought some of my music from iTunes, would it be more simple to just get a nano or can i still listen to the copy protected music (without any software or burning and re-ripping) on any mp3 player? If so what would poeple recommend around the 4-8gb mark?

PJ S

10,842 posts

258 months

Saturday 21st April 2007
quotequote all
The iPod is working fine, you can just buy a replacement battery and self fit.
It's relatively straight forward to do.

[k]arl

963 posts

277 months

Saturday 21st April 2007
quotequote all
Agreed - have a look in Maplin. They have a range of replacement iPod batteries for sale that you can fit yourself. They even come with a special tool to open the iPod's casing (although your warranty will be voided if it's not already expired.

Could save you some £££ thumbup

[k]

PJ S

10,842 posts

258 months

Sunday 22nd April 2007
quotequote all
1st Gen iPod - warranty expired about 4-5 years ago!

sadako

7,080 posts

269 months

Monday 23rd April 2007
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Yep just buy a new battery from Maplin, costs about 6 quid. Dont bother using the tools that come with it. Go to a music shop and get a couple of guitar picks they work better.

Failing that if you want to use this as an excuse for a new player, The creative labs ones are reportedly very good and well worth checking out before you make your decision.

R1 GTR

Original Poster:

2,152 posts

244 months

Monday 23rd April 2007
quotequote all
sadako said:
Failing that if you want to use this as an excuse for a new player, The creative labs ones are reportedly very good and well worth checking out before you make your decision.


tbh it was my excuse form the start

sadako

7,080 posts

269 months

Monday 23rd April 2007
quotequote all
R1 GTR said:
sadako said:
Failing that if you want to use this as an excuse for a new player, The creative labs ones are reportedly very good and well worth checking out before you make your decision.


tbh it was my excuse form the start


Can I have microdrive out of your ipod mini for my HP360LX then?

Have a look at the Creative Zen V Plus



Goes up to 8 gig and is flash based, scratch resistant and actually has an EQ you can set yourself


Edited by sadako on Monday 23 April 21:21

SlidingSideways

1,345 posts

263 months

Tuesday 24th April 2007
quotequote all
R1 GTR said:

tbh it was my excuse form the start


In that case, you'll need to stick with an iPod of some description to listen to your itunes music without doing anything.
If you don't mind doing a bit of work, Google for JHymn. That should convert your iTunes music to non-DRM MP3s.

Raify

6,556 posts

279 months

Tuesday 24th April 2007
quotequote all
SlidingSideways said:
R1 GTR said:

tbh it was my excuse form the start


In that case, you'll need to stick with an iPod of some description to listen to your itunes music without doing anything.
If you don't mind doing a bit of work, Google for JHymn. That should convert your iTunes music to non-DRM MP3s.

Or just burn your iTunes DRM'd songs as an audio cd, and re-import them into iTunes. This will remove the DRM and enable them on any player

sadako

7,080 posts

269 months

Tuesday 24th April 2007
quotequote all
It is worth doing this anyway even if you do get another Ipod as i've heard lots of people complaining of something going wrong with their computer and all their DRM enabled music stopping working. It turned out nobody could do anything and they had to re-buy all their music. Defective by design. The MP3s work fine with everything.

The creative ones and quite a few of their competitors do not require any software to copy the music over so no need for anything like Itunes on your PC.

ThePassenger

6,962 posts

266 months

Tuesday 24th April 2007
quotequote all
sadako said:
It is worth doing this anyway even if you do get another Ipod as i've heard lots of people complaining of something going wrong with their computer and all their DRM enabled music stopping working. It turned out nobody could do anything and they had to re-buy all their music. Defective by design. The MP3s work fine with everything.

The creative ones and quite a few of their competitors do not require any software to copy the music over so no need for anything like Itunes on your PC.


Not the ipods fault though in this case. It's an issue with DRM systems in general; they aren't overly fault tolerant.

Having said that.... I don't have a problem with iTunes on either my PC or mac. And lots of the Linux variations work quite well (if a bit oddly) with some limitations (300MB limit on MP3 size).