Okay, I hope someone can help me out with this. I'm shopping early for my birthday present this year and I'm really wanting a mp3 player to take with me when I go out to excersise.
I know absolutely nothing about the portable players tho. So here are my questions and I hope that someone can answer some of my questions

1. I hear "ipod" all over the place for mp3 players, but does an ipod require having an apple computer to get music for?
2. If I don't have a usb outlet in my home computer (yea it's old) do I have other options to download music into an mp3 player? or is there some way to install a usb outlet into a computer, like a board or something you can pop in?
3. What are some good brands for mp3 players? Ipod's are expensive in general compared to some of the other players, so I was wondering if anyone here had found another brand that they loved.

In general I'm looking for something light weight that I can listen to my tunes on when I go walking/running.

Thanks for any responses!

Hey, Peachgirl -

What price range are you looking at in total? Adding a USB card to your computer might be an option for you if you're at least running Windows 98; you'll have a lot more flexibility that way.

Kimberley

I'm trying to stay under $150.00. I'd like to get a decent one that won't break on me or eat thru batteries like crazy. I really don't need anything too fancy either, when I was shopping I saw some with voice recording, jump drives, etc...I just want to listen to more than the bugs chirping while I walk.

My current O/S is Windows 2000 on my home computer, so I should be okay with that. (hopefully)

you don't need and apple for an ipod you can run itunes on windows as i do you can get usb adapters

I have an ipod and LOVE it, however if I were to buy one for exercise I wouldn't get the ipod. I'd get a mac shuffle, because it can go around your neck. I believe it's around 99 dollars as well...

-Aimee

I use a Creative Zen Micro and LOVE it. I believe it was $250 and it holds about 250 CD's worth of music.

I chose this one over an ipod for a few reasons. First, in all of the reviews I found Creative was always rated as having a higher sound quality. Also, (and this may have changed since I bought mine) the ipod battery isn't replaceable. Instead, it has to be sent back to Apple for a new one and can run as much as $100 - I didn't want that expense every year or so. Finally, this one is the perfect size for me. It is bigger than an ipod which I like. It is still very small and perfect for when I exercise but it is big enough to be easily kept up with - and it can take some pretty hard knocks.

The most important thing to think about is exactly how you intend to use your player. If it is for nothing but when you exercise go with as few features as you need and a size that is easy to carry. If you expect to use it as the main source of you music in general you'll probably want to spend a little extra money for something with a lot of space and that is very durable. Also, as I was trying to decide what I wanted I found reading other people's reviews very helpful. Many mentioned things that I hadn't even thought of and gave me several things that I needed to consider.

I will say that this is probably the best investment I've made in a long while. It has made working out SOOOOO much more enjoyable! Plus, it is quite a bit more convenient than lugging around every CD I own. LOL.

I didn't know that about iPod batteries -- there's no way I'd get a unit that didn't run on commonly-available rechargeable batteries!

That Creative Zen Micro did get good reviews, I remember that. It sure looks slick, and has a nice display on it (the iPod's display and navigation are a little funky). Here's a Micro on eBay.

I bought a Creative Zen Micro today!!! It's so much fun to work, work, work, work for something for months and then finally get it!

I'm importing all of my CDs to it right now.

So far; so good.

Thanks for the responses

The company I work for is actually a Creative Dealer (at least that's what the IT guy said this morning) So I'm gonna check into it, and see if I can get something for under $200 thru them.

I was anti-ipod/mac for awhile, though now I don't know what I'd choose. That creative zen thing looks really cool. I have a dell DJ, which is great when it works, but a piece of crap otherwise. I've had to have two replacements sent in 6 months. But so far so good for this one.. Also keep in mind exactly how much music you want to store on it- it's not worth getting a 20 gig or anything like that if you're jsut going to use it for the gym, etc.

Apryl, you are going to love your Creative Zen Micro. I think it is super easy to use - I love the media player software as they kept it simple for idiots like me (luckily I'm married to a computer guru so I manage to get by LOL). Once I got all of my CDs downloaded and downloaded some stuff from the internet I spent HOURS horsing around making playlists - so much better than the mixed tapes we used to make back in high school/college. I'm not the gadget type but I've had big fun with this one!