The Truth About Apple Ipod from a nonfanatic 50

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the insight on these players. From what I can see, and what I read, the DELL seems to be a very good choice. As for the size of its capacity, I would go for the one with the most capacity. The greater, the better.

You mentioned that if it is left connected to the computer, and you delete any music on the HD that is also in the DELL unit, the ones in the DELL unit will also be deleted. There is an advantage with this, if you want to synchronously manage the unit to the computer. I can see this being a plus for me, when doing a cleanup. For storing music, I can use a mbutt media storage drive.

As for headphones, I have a number of different pairs. Finding a good set is difficult unless you go for something a bit expensive. I usually will go to a high end HiFi type shop, and listen to them to choose what I want. I realize a good set of earphones can be rather expensive, but they will last a long time, as long as I don't treat them roughly, and don't loose them. I have lost very good earphones in the past, so I know it will happen again. Also, considering that these earphones will be wrapped up and taken out very often, and used under various conditions, I have to expect any pair of earphones to not last forever.

Anyways, you gave me some advise to seriously consider.

--

Jerry G. ======

the I

Then you definetly want to look at a Dell Digital Jukebox. dhs&~ck=mn

not

My nephew bought an iPod...I wasn't impressed.

The DDJ can be had for as little as $149 for the 5GB model and $199 for the 20 GB model. Although they are listed at regular price right now,keep an eye on Dell.com,they will go on sale again. I bought my 20GB model back in August for $199. It's about the size of a deck of cards,has a brightly lit LCD display and it's very user friendly.

and

Not with DDJ,although YMMV. I had mine fully operational within 10 minutes of connecting it to my 'puter. To date I have 2200 songs on the HD (about half capacity) and have yet to encounter any problems as far as s-w,file transfer or functionality are concerned.

be

I think the DRMA prohibits the user to sync a cd directly to an mp3 player. With the DDJ you have to first record a cd to your computer HD & then transfer the file to the DDJ HD via USB cable. Once you have transfered the files to your player just delete them from you HD if you wish. I found out they hard way that if you delete songs from your computer HD while the mp3 player is connected to your computer the songs will be deleted from your mp3 player too.

One other thing...if and when you do decide to purchase an mp3 player do yourself a favor and invest in a good set of headphones.The ear buds that are included with most mp3 players are crap at best.The same goes for the open-air headphones that come with most "walkman" type players. I would recommend these headphones: Don't buy them from Sennheiser.com though. Do a Google search and I gaurentee you that you will find this same model much cheaper somewhere else. I paid $39.00 for mine.

Whatever mp3 player you choose,enjoy it.

HTH -Dan