Mp3 Player Suggestions?

[MLimpert]

I am thinking about getting an Mp3 player as a Christmas gift for my folks. Does anyone have one that they recommend? I have heard both good and bad about ipods, and the new Microsoft Zune looks pretty cool as well.



I am mainly looking for a player that is $200 or less, reasonably small, and pretty easy to load music on and use.



Also, someone told me you can't load your existing Mp3s directly from a pc to an Ipod - you have to use Itunes somehow in the process. Can someone confirm or deny that for me?

 

[TowPro]

I went to circuit city to buy an Ipod. I had to go to the back counter where they kept them (to keep people from stealing them). After asking a couple questions the girl informed me "anytime someone returns one, we sell it for 1/2 price, they are brand new, some might have a scratch on them". I bought a Gen five 30 gig for $150. 00. Looked brandnew to me.

 

[AMink]

I have a Creative Zen Sleek that has 20gigs. I like it a lot. You don't need iTunes to load it; Windows Media works just fine. I have some iTune songs that I purchased from iTunes and I can't load them, though. Kinda ticks me off! They make a video Zen Sleek too, and it isn't much more than the regular one.

 

[TowPro]

I have a Creative Zen Sleek that has 20gigs. I like it a lot. You don't need iTunes to load it; Windows Media works just fine. I have some iTune songs that I purchased from iTunes and I can't load them, though. Kinda ticks me off! They make a video Zen Sleek too, and it isn't much more than the regular one.

the itunes format is not MP-3. Look on the internet for software that will convert Itunes to MP-3 and you will be able to use the files on your ZEN.



As for Itunes, I don't use it. I have Anapod explorer. It lets you copy files to and from the Ipod using Explorer just like moving files from one directory to another!

 

[IC Smoke]

Ive got a Ipod NANO, I like it alot since its small and durable, quick song uploads, pics, etc...



the new microsoft zoom does look to be quite the competitor to apple!!!



Ian

 

[MLimpert]

I guess I have a little time before Christmas to shop around and find something nice. Thanks for your suggestions!