a good MP3 player with new features

[cbbutler2]

for a 11 year old. What exactly is the Ipod shuffle? He wants all new features but I do not want to pay alot.

[nikkilugi]

the shuffle doesn't have a screen and doesn't show pictures or video's. In fact the shuffle doesn't even have a screen to tell you what song is playing. If that doesn't matter then the new shuffles are really cute and little. They can clip pretty much anywhere.

 

What features is your 11 yo looking for?

[pastasalad]

I just bought my dd(13) the creative zen M 30gb mp3 player. The thing is loaded, however it was reg $250 but I paid $199 @ amazon so not exactly cheap. I did a ton of research on amazon reading others reviews of different mp3's

 

you might check into the creative zen V 4gb is around $130 and 2gb around $120 & 1gb around $90

 

We only have expierence with creative zen products so thats all I can comment on.

[cbbutler2]

He wants videos and pics to store on it. I looked at the zune. I want that one for myself. I do not want to pay alot for one. He may still just get a MP3 that has no screen. I think a $$ would be great for Christmas. I am already getting him a stereo for his room and some clothes from Abercrombie (marked down).

[ejpoeta]

if you don't need a screen, there are several other options. there are flash drive mp3 players that allow you to expand memory by buying SD card. my hubby has one, and we bought my daughter one at kmart for $30. there are varying degrees of these at varying prices. you can go to amazon.com and search for mp3 players to get a good idea of the different kinds you can get. i personally think that kids don't need something too pricey. i guess it depends. my daughter loses things. i would be so mad if i spent $100 on something and she lost it.

[michphilly]

for a 11 year old. What exactly is the Ipod shuffle? He wants all new features but I do not want to pay alot.

I got my boys the

SanDisk Sansa M240 1GB Digital Audio Player (SDMX31024A18

 

they love it. I got it on sale at circut City. It was on sale in November. It has something called flash memory. My brother told me it was better the boys because they would have a problem. Good Luck:2wiggle:

[Marcster]

For Christmas, I got the second-generation iPod Shuffle like nikkilugi describes. It doesn't have any features other than play, pause, ffwd, rwd, skip, replay, on and off.

 

The clip is very cool, I expect the whole next generation of MP3 players to have them.

 

It's very basic, but I like my little Shuffle... http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/Marcster2005/Smileypad/Music/music.gif

Reviews:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/shuffle.ars

http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_iPod_Shuffle_second_generation/4505-6490_7-32069562.html (with 45-second video review)

[kmcnabb108]

Try Geeks.com

They have different ones, some with screens.

[fulfam]

I would second checking geeks.com I bought my 7 yr old a generic mp3 player from there for his birthday in May and it's still working just fine, we've had no problems with it at all. I think I paid 20 bucks or less for it and it's a 512mb capacity.

[Linbil5987]

I bought my 9yo the Disney Mix Max.

 

MP3 and plays video.

 

Great reviews and you can get them for under $100.

[even cheaper on ebay]

[roxybabe962]

for christmas last year my dad bought me a mp3 player from Sam's Club. Its called a Phillips and was $199. Its 6gb and you can put pictures on it, record off the radio, and when you add cds it shows a picture of the front cover of the cd. Its just as good as any of those Ipods but it holds more songs for the price you pay.

[tokanm]

I bought my DS19 a SanDisk Sansa it is awesome, pictures, fm tuner, audio recorder

and of course 1,000 music downloads. I got it from Staples when it was on sale at CC

and I did the PM 110% thing...great deal I think it was around $55 total. He is so

glad that I did not get him an Ipod as this does so much more.

[disneynutangie]

My opinion is go with the sansa mp3 player. You can sign up for a free trial at Best Buy Music store and download unlimited songs to your mp3 player. I know for a fact they are compatible with Sansa. In a matter of an hour maybe we downloaded around 200 songs for my best friends Sansa. It may be a little more expensive but you save lots on the free music downloads. They are not compatible with the ipods but I have recently found a way to copy my music to it manual. The only thing is its a pain in th rear.

[kren]

OK, Gen X talking here -- I'm pretty geeky but have resisted moving from CDs to MP3/iPOD/whatever players because I resent the HECK out of not actually having complete control over my songs. From my research (while buying 13YO stepdaughter Creative Zen MicroPhoto 8G player for Xmas - $99 AR - not bad) I discovered that almost none of the music services really *give* you your songs, even though you pay for it. They have copy protections that range from limiting how many times you can copy the song you (legally) bought to actually making your music disappear if you, f'rinstance, cancel a monthly subscription. How crappy is that? No thank you! And I don't wanna go the P2P route; the record companies are getting pretty nasty and I don't want any more virus risks than I already face. Soooo, until these dratted copy protections disappear, I will stick with music I really, truly own.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Marcster]

OK, Gen X talking here -- I'm pretty geeky but have resisted moving from CDs to MP3/iPOD/whatever players because I resent the HECK out of not actually having complete control over my songs. From my research (while buying 13YO stepdaughter Creative Zen MicroPhoto 8G player for Xmas - $99 AR - not bad) I discovered that almost none of the music services really *give* you your songs, even though you pay for it. They have copy protections that range from limiting how many times you can copy the song you (legally) bought to actually making your music disappear if you, f'rinstance, cancel a monthly subscription. How crappy is that? No thank you! And I don't wanna go the P2P route; the record companies are getting pretty nasty and I don't want any more virus risks than I already face. Soooo, until these dratted copy protections disappear, I will stick with music I really, truly own.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Kren -- the subscription services that you mention for the Creative Zen are more like cable TV then actually owning the music. Napster and the other subscription services out there give you unlimited downloads that you can listen to as often as you want for as long as you continue the service. Very similar to cable TV giving you lots of channels and you can watch them all day, but if you cancel your cable subscription, the channels go away.

 

If you want to own your music, you can buy it from iTunes.com or you can rip from CDs you already own.