What is the most simple 'idiot-proof' dap around for someone's FIRST player?

[stevenjchang]

honestly, i think most mp3 players have near the same about of difficulty, the exception is when they are more complicated.

looks and size are important, im sure, even for a guy, but its true for both genders. it would be nice if she got something she's proud to show of. whatever you can afford that you think she would enjoy.

as for sound quality, i think, anything that is avg sound quality would be more than enough. unless she has high bit mp3s and good buds...even audiophiles cant tell. just dont buy anything with bad sound. ipod doesnt have bad sound, its normal i think. bad sound would be like zen v plus or the older sansa's.

i wouldnt worry about the software so much, you'd probably have to be the one to upload songs for her anyways, just make sure when she's got it in her pocket she knows how to play pause and skip.

g/l

also maybe u should use part of the money to buy her some cute budget earphones.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenjchang /img/forum/go_quote.gif i wouldnt worry about the software so much, you'd probably have to be the one to upload songs for her anyways, just make sure when she's got it in her pocket she knows how to play pause and skip.

I can't help her upload anything, that's the whole point. I'm in the UK and she's in Canada. If she lived here, there'd be no problem, I could show her how to do everything. But she doesn't have much patience. That's why I was looking for something easy enough for her to use without giving her brain overload. . .

Quote:

also maybe u should use part of the money to buy her some cute budget earphones.

Yes, I'm going to. Thanks

 

[hockey_magnet]

Yikes! I meant "downloading" - it's been a long day. or the Shuffle - I would not be the least concerned about SQ based on what you've posted so far. There is nothing wrong with the Apple products - not the absolute best SQ supposedly but they certainly hold their own and are used un modded by many Head-fiers. I certainly don't think the Sensa you are looking at is going to have noticably better SQ than an iPod. The main thing is, for a new user, almost everyone has one . I guarantee you that somebody she knows well already has an ipod and uses itunes and can help her if she needs it. To me this is the most important thing to consider.

Chris

 

[WiredMonk]

Better yet than shackling her to the iPod bandwagon and making her pay for her songs, just pick out an MP3 player with less internal capacity and an expandable memory card slot and just download the tunes to a large SD, then mail those on over. Flash mem is so cheap these days it's unbelievable.

 

[LaBreaHead]

"The main thing is, for a new user, almost everyone has one . I guarantee you that somebody she knows well already has an ipod and uses itunes and can help her if she needs it. To me this is the most important thing to consider."

______________________


A good point ... but there might be simpler solutions.

I did something similar for a friend. She lives in another city and hadn't even used so much as a portable CD player. I asked her to lend me her four favorite CDs so I could "get an idea what she was listening to," then I surprised her with a Creative Muvo (now the Zen Nano) with her favorite music on it. (She now owns three Creatives and a Rio Carbon, plus a Sony portable CD player ... I've created a monster!). An advantage of a small flash player is that it can be mailed back and forth easily and safely. Plus the Creative is simple drag and drop -- anyone with a rudimentary understanding of Windows and Windows folders can help her load it (or load songs off of it, if desired), and she might well learn to do it herself. And running off of AAA batteries might appeal to someone who might not be connecting the player to a computer often.

The suggestion about getting an iPod was not bad, as the availability of assistance would likely be much greater ... but there's still iTunes to deal with(she doesn't sound likely to try Anapod or any of the alternatives). Do you think she would want to eventually download music, or just rely on rips from her CD's ... and who would help her with either of those, or would she be forced to get the hang of it?

Would you want to pre-load her player with at least a modest collection of songs, to let her have at least something to listen to so she can enjoy the gift right when she gets it? I think that might be a nice introduction to the functionality of such a player, whatever you get.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBreaHead /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you think she would want to eventually download music, or just rely on rips from her CD's ... and who would help her with either of those, or would she be forced to get the hang of it?

I think initially she'd just rely on ripping her CDs. Maybe once she's done that and can enjoy the freedom of having all her music in 'one' place - she'd perhaps want to get into downloading stuff too. As for anyone 'helping' her, I honestly don't know, and I don't want to ask because I'd have to give away the surprise.
Quote:

Would you want to pre-load her player with at least a modest collection of songs, to let her have at least something to listen to so she can enjoy the gift right when she gets it? I think that might be a nice introduction to the functionality of such a player, whatever you get.

Yes, I'd thought of that. It's a fantastic idea because she'd be able to listen to it immediately without having to grapple with instructions first. Like I said in an earlier post, I don't want her to chuck it in a cupboard out of frustration, because that would put her off for ever! But if it already has music on it, I'm 100% sure she'd force herself (or her friends!) to help her later when she decides to figure it out for herself. I bought my Aunt a dap last year and filled it up with Elvis stuff for her. She was thrilled to bits with it. But I'm not sure what my sister-in-law likes apart from Coldplay, so I'll have to do do bit of 'digging' to find out. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[hockey_magnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiredMonk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Better yet than shackling her to the iPod bandwagon and making her pay for her songs, just pick out an MP3 player with less internal capacity and an expandable memory card slot and just download the tunes to a large SD, then mail those on over. Flash mem is so cheap these days it's unbelievable.

You do not have to buy songs to play on an ipod - you can play any MP3's or AAC's from any source you want - whether you rip them, get them from a friend, downml;aod them from another source or whatever - you just can't play WMA's

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grommal /img/forum/go_quote.gif In your original post, you said you'd go to $100. The 2GB Sony 6xx series (lesser earbuds, but includes the FM radio that's missing from the 8xx) is going for $99 at the Sony Style stores and site, at least that's the price in the U.S. True, it's at the top of your $ range. You just missed a really good sale price from Target.com on the Muvo V100 2GB unit. It was going for $49. Now it's back up to $69, but that's still a good price for a brand name player (very small monochrome screen, though). Here's another idea. Get yourself whatever new whiz-bang player you wish you had plus some fantastic new IEMs, and give your friend your Sony!

that last suggestion's the best i've heard so far! =]

 

[Aevum]

the iriver micky and the sensa shake are out of the question, right ?

 

[jmageshazam]

Creative Zen V or V Plus

Seriously indestructable.
I've dropped min thousand's of times and its been submerged in water about 4 times. Every time its submerged, I just put it in front of a fan on high for an hour and it works like new. However, after upwards of a year of total abuse, it sometimes shows a reboot screen at startup. Just select reboot on the screen and it will work fine. Sound quality is pretty decent too!

 

[kikkomang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmageshazam /img/forum/go_quote.gif Creative Zen V or V Plus Seriously indestructable. I've dropped min thousand's of times and its been submerged in water about 4 times. Every time its submerged, I just put it in front of a fan on high for an hour and it works like new. However, after upwards of a year of total abuse, it sometimes shows a reboot screen at startup. Just select reboot on the screen and it will work fine. Sound quality is pretty decent too!

why did you bump this thread?

 

[shigzeo]

yeah, i will have to join the ipod camp unless you not she has anything against ipod. i began in the ipod hate camp saying all sorts of bad things about everything especially the sq. then i listened to one, bought and sold it.

i went to cowon and meizu from minidisc. they were easier to use than md, but still, drag and drop does not always work well. if you don't have tags right, you cannot listen to the proper album - and cowon did not get tags right till middle of last year - i had to rename every file.

honestly, ipod is so damn easy. auto fill, personal management, playlists and other options. if she ever gets audio phile, get her some better earphones or headphones. i would doubt that she could tell the difference of the ipod bass roll-off compared to the incredible roll-off from cowon, trekstor and kenwood players.

Wow: sorry, i just read the last page today... this is an old thread. sorry mates