mp3 players....

[Hamer Bass Head]

my philips gogear 6330 has finally given up the ghost, and I am looking for a new, high capacity player. I'm looking at the ipod classic which holds probably 3x my current catalog; but it won't play wma files. Ithink I have a converter to change over the format of my songs, but is there anything else I need to take into account? What about apple alternatives?

[Feynman]

The Zune 120 is right up your alley unless you don't care for Microsoft - native WMA support among others.

The original Zunes were not altogether glowingly praised (I liked them though), but the second generation is some very slick hardware. CNET has an annual battle between the iPod Classic and the big Zune, and this year the Zune was declared the winner (pretty big stuff - a first). CNET aside, in my opinion the new Zune is a winner too.

MS may not be great at innovation, but they certainly iterate well.

Walmart has a bundle online at the moment which is the best deal going that I can find:

120GB Zune

Home AV Dock w/ remote

Car Charger/FM Transmitter

$215 ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Zune-120GB-MP3-Player/11064177 )

The Zune is as locked down as any Apple, so you won't have the openness of other brands, but the PC software is decent enough (no Mac client yet if that is an issue). The hardware is really good though: FM Radio, wireless syncing, nice touchpad, big beautiful screen, Hi quality video output, etc...

Most brands seem to be abandoning high capacity these days. Once static RAM sizes go up I'm sure we'll see it come back, but right now many of my favored esoteric mp3 player brands have dropped hard disk based players.

EDIT: I just heard about this walmart deal the day before yesterday, but I see they are showing out of stock at the moment. I guess a lot of people jumped on it.

---

Of course, if you prefer the iPod or something else, there are many media managers that will mass convert your WMA files to other formats (I like Media Monkey).

[gorch]

Currently, I am using the Nokia XpressMusic as a combined solution phone and player.

Forget about format conversion. You'll loose quality. Why not remaining a Phillips user? They provide good quality.

[mathman]

Currently, I am using the Nokia XpressMusic as a combined solution phone and player.

Forget about format conversion. You'll loose quality. Why not remaining a Phillips user? They provide good quality.

I prefer iPods but the many of the other players work very well. Gorch is right, conversion is not the best idea. Since you would be going from a compressed format to another format. If you do go with apple consider using AAC or applelossless format rather than mp3 to prevent further compressing of the compressed wma file.

If there is an apple store near you you can try out an iPod and see how you like it. If you ripped the wma from cds you could re rip them into an apple format over time.

[gorch]

Apple format basically is mp4 which is an extension to mp3.

As far as I know, you've got to upload your stuff to itunes first before synching it to the pod. itunes on windows accepts wma concerning comments I found in a mac user forum. Just drag&drop the files onto itunes.

Btw. I paid half the price for the Nokia I had to pay for an iPhone.

[zenmindbeginner]

iTunes will automatically convert your wma's to mp3. iTunes will also transfer all of your existing tags too so you will retain the artist, title, album, songwriter, album cover art, lyrics etc.

I dj with 2 iPod classic and they are phenomenal. Of course, I have over 12,000 songs in my iTunes library, so there are some slight issues with syncing from time to time, but nothing that wouldn't let me recommend the iPod Classic, it's storage is unparalleled. Plus, movies are AWESOME on it, since it has such a high capacity drive, you can watch high resolution mp4 files that look fantastic when the iPod is connected to a dock that connects to your computer. Yes, that's right, there is no way to watch videos on anything but the iPod when taken straight out of the box... you'll have to get a dock with a video output. That's how I listen to it on my stereo, with a little radio shack dock that comes with a remote and has an S-video jack to watch the videos on a TV.

[gorch]

iTunes will automatically convert your wma's to mp3. iTunes will also transfer all of your existing tags too so you will retain the artist, title, album, songwriter, album cover art, lyrics etc.

I dj with 2 iPod classic and they are phenomenal. Of course, I have over 12,000 songs in my iTunes library, so there are some slight issues with syncing from time to time, but nothing that wouldn't let me recommend the iPod Classic, it's storage is unparalleled. Plus, movies are AWESOME on it, since it has such a high capacity drive, you can watch high resolution mp4 files that look fantastic when the iPod is connected to a dock that connects to your computer. Yes, that's right, there is no way to watch videos on anything but the iPod when taken straight out of the box... you'll have to get a dock with a video output. That's how I listen to it on my stereo, with a little radio shack dock that comes with a remote and has an S-video jack to watch the videos on a TV.

Where is the world going? I remember the time of extensive music racks. There was something to look at. One did know where the sound came from. Now the music comes from a flat item that anybody has in his pants back pocket and fart on it.

[zenmindbeginner]

Now the music comes from a flat item that anybody has in his pants back pocket and fart on it.

Ahhh, the sweet and dulcet sounds of musik on music! lol!

I now have the strange urge to give my iPod a sniff...

[gorch]

Wow, what a renewable energy source!

[Hamer Bass Head]

thanks to all for the input, I've decided the model I have is cool enough and it has unique features (built in condenser mic and the ability to record stereo live via the dock) that I've found a working complete unit and a spare on the 'bay reasonably priced, I have also dissected mine, and now upon reassembly everything works but the battery doesn't hold a charge. SO I will have at least a functioning unit and 1 spare...maybe 2 if I can also locate the battery somehow....philips doesn't have any but I may luck out at best buy or something....

[HAMERMAN]

Currently, I am using the Nokia XpressMusic as a combined solution phone and player.

I have one of these (Nokia 5310) and love it. It could never replace my ipod classic but it's perfect for any time I want tunes in a place that I wouldn't want my ipod such as mowing the lawn, going to the beach or camping.

[JGale]

Now the music comes from a flat item that anybody has in his pants back pocket and fart on it.

...and the music has eveloved so as to deserve that fate.