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Best MP3 Player for Music and Books

Hi all!

I have been doing some research on which mp3 player to buy (Thank you to all you wonderful B&Bers) I have decided I also would like the ability to put Audiobooks on the MP3 player as well. I have found an Apple iPod 160GB at Best Buy for around $200 new, or a refurbished iPod 160GB (7th Generation) or iPod 120GB (6th Generation) from Gamestop.com

I do not know whether buying refurbished is the way to go or not from gamestop or anyone. What do you all think?

Secondly, I was talking to a good friend who works at Best Buy and he reads a lot and he suggested Sansa by Scandisk. I went on their website and they carry an 8GB and a 16GB, but I"m not sure if it takes expandable memory or not (SD Card) and have read on the box that the Sansa takes more files types than iPod.

What I want the MP3 player for is, to be able to put my music CDs on it AND audiobooks as well from the library too. I do not know anything about audible.com or any of the online book services. Could someone explain it?

Or do I need to buy a Kindle to download books from the library or can I use my iphone AND buy a seperate music player?

I apologize for all the questions!

Best,
Jerry
 
For MP3s and audio books, Apple has the corner and most of the street on the digital audio market. I recommend checking the Apple store and purchasing a refurbished model directly from Apple. The Apple refurb will carry the same 1 year warranty as a new model for much less cost. Check here on Tuesday mornings for the latest offerings.

For reading books, my SWMBO adores her Kindle. Amazon makes it super easy to order and download books (a little too easy, looking at my credit card bill. LOL). Some library books can be downloaded to a Kindle for free.

Just to really muck up your decision, my daughter, a college student, uses her iPad for audio and her college textbooks. Much easier to carry an iPad full of college texts than 20 pounds of paper.

If you have an iPhone, why not use it as your MP3 source?
 
P

pdillon

Jerry, I posted in your other thread. I want to echo what I said there; you already own the best device for your needs: a smartphone.

Your iPhone can play audiobooks, and (in my opinion) will do it better than the devices you are talking about.

If you have your iPhone on you, you can (probably) download an audiobook to it right now.

Open the iTunes app and then search for the name of the audiobook you want. You can purchase it and download it right there on your phone. (You may need to be connected to a wifi network if the file size is too large, but I'm not sure. I don't have an iPhone. Try it and find out.)

Audible.com is a subscription service. You pay a monthly fee and it allows you to download a certain amount of books (it has a credit system). If you want to do this, from your phone go to the app store, search for "audible", download the app (it's free). The app will then appear on your phone. You can then use the app to make an account and start downloading books directly on your phone. With an iPhone, you will need to be connected to a wifi network to download books. The good thing about this is you don't have to use a computer to download the books and transfer them to a device, like with a Sansa.

To get your music onto your phone, first you're going to need to put it on your computer. Then connect your phone to your computer and transfer it.

For library books, you can get read them on your phone (and computer and kindle) right now for free. Go to the app store and download the "Kindle" app. You will need an amazon.com account. Then, go to your library website and click on wherever it says "Download E-Books" or something like that, Find a book you want and check it out (sometimes you will have to wait until it is returned). Once you check it out, you will select Amazon.com and it will take you to an amazon.com page for that book. You will complete checkout there with your amazon.com account. Then once you open the app on your phone you can download the book right there.
 
@pdillon,

Oh! That makes waaaay more sense and saves money! What happens to the e-books once I finish reading them? The library site: http://www.countylibrary.org/ebooks.htm

Apparently all I have to do is down load an app called "Overdrive" that lets you download the books, audiobooks etc. or answering my questions sometimes I'm a little slow!

Jerry
 
@BigWill

My 16GB iPhone has about 12.6GB left on it. I can get more once I remove my photos on there I took. How many songs does a 16GB iPhone hold? And which Kindle do you recommend I look into? I tried the B&N Nook, but did not like it. I was thinking of the $79.00 Kindle. Does that Kindle for $79.00 have expandable memory? Or is there a Kindle that is a model newer better?

Jerry
 
Overdrive is a software system that lets you 'borrow' library books electronically. Once the due-date arrives, the files lock up and can't be accessed anymore.
 
P

pdillon

Yeah, Overdrive is not an app you download. It's really a website, where you browse the e-books offered by your library. On the link you posted above click "Overdrive Digital Media" and it will take you to the selection of ebooks. The link is here: http://hadc.lib.overdrive.com

Then you can browse their books. The books that say "Add to Cart" you can check out immediately, other ones you will have to place a hold and wait until they are "returned."

You might want to try a few books that say "Add to Cart" just to get the hang of it, even if you don't want to read them now.
 
@BigWill

My 16GB iPhone has about 12.6GB left on it. I can get more once I remove my photos on there I took. How many songs does a 16GB iPhone hold? And which Kindle do you recommend I look into? I tried the B&N Nook, but did not like it. I was thinking of the $79.00 Kindle. Does that Kindle for $79.00 have expandable memory? Or is there a Kindle that is a model newer better?

Jerry

I have 381 songs on my iPhone, which occupies 3.4 GB of memory on my 16GB phone. Feel free to use that as a guide.

My recommendation is the $149 Kindle Touch with 3G. Free 3G if there isn't a WiFi connection to use, in the event you're someplace without an internet connection. No ads also.

But pdillion is correct, with an iPhone you can connect to your computer and download the Kindle app (free) and experiment with the app before you purchase another device.
 
@BigWill

My 16GB iPhone has about 12.6GB left on it. I can get more once I remove my photos on there I took. How many songs does a 16GB iPhone hold? And which Kindle do you recommend I look into? I tried the B&N Nook, but did not like it. I was thinking of the $79.00 Kindle. Does that Kindle for $79.00 have expandable memory? Or is there a Kindle that is a model newer better?

Jerry
I believe folks were recommending that you could put a kindle app on your phone (free and easy on Android), not that you had to buy a kindle. I actually have both. The $79.00 Kindle does not have expandable memory and it will not give you audiobooks. That said if you are interested in reading books it is the best (IMHO) device for doing so (I do not like touchscreens for reading). The 3G and Wi Fi are only used for downloading purchases, so personally 3G is a real waste of money, I just download where Wi Fi is available. The memory of the unit will will really never become an issue, if you buy books from amazon, you load them on your kindle (or phone), and you can delete them from the device when you are done reading them. This frees up memory on our kindle (or phone), and the books are stored in Amazons memory. You can re download them to your device('s) at any time in the future for free if you like. There is also free independent software available: http://calibre-ebook.com/. You can store all of your books on your home computer, it even has some nice features of automatic news source downloads, and file conversions if you like. Converting files is great if you've bout a book for a kindle, but for some reason want to transfer it to a Nook or something. Also quite useful if you download books from a file sharing site and they are not formatted for kindle.
All this applies to actual e-books, not audio books. I don't do audio books due to a hearing impairment. PM me if I can help further with this. I use my Kindle abut two hours everyday.
 
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I use my phone for reading books, watching movies, and listening to music.

Is "The Haberdashery" the right forum for this thread?
 
your iPhone will play mp3s just like a iPod will and the amount of songs depends on the quality of the mp3s you put on it a perfect cd quality mp3 can be 22mb in size were as a one bought from apple will be about 6mb.

Al
 
www.audible.com is website that is either subscription based or you can buy ala carte audio books and podcasts (most of the podcasts are free). Just like Amazon when you buy a song or in your case, an audio book you just download their software to your computer, you just follow the directions and when it intalls it downloads the file to your computer. It also syncs it with Itunes (like amazon as well) so it just transfers the file over to your apple device when you sync it. They also have an app in the Itunes store just like Amazon does.

I bought a refurbished 32gb Gen 5 Ipod touch from Apple about a year ago and half ago and it works just fine. When Apple recieves a used device they check it out to make sure it works Ok and in most case they also replace the chrome backplate, so it looks brand new. Plus like others have said it come with a warranty just like the new ones.

BTW the Sandisk Sansa is a fantastic audio player and has great sound for the price. I had the original 8gb model and it was really nice. The newer models do have a micro SD slot for adding memory as well plus an FM radio, a adjustable equalizer and little clip you can attach to your coat or jacket. The headphones aren't that great but those are easily replaceable.
 
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***August 15,2012 Update***

I was helping my dad put away my moms suitcase today and guess what! I found my 30GB iPod I thought I had lost. I was in my suitcase in the master bedroom for two years! And it still works! It's currently charging.
My iPod is registered on my PC upstairs. How can I start anew and use my iPod on the new (used) laptop? Do I have to delete all my music?


What I want to do is use my iPod with my laptop and completely start new. What do I need to do?
Can I put iTunes on a backup hard drive or should I put it on the laptop?

How do I backup everything on my laptop? What do I need to buy?

I apologize for all the confusion!

Jerry
 
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