MP3 Recommendations

[Talapia]

My kids want an MP3 player this X-mas.
I am leaning towards the Apple Nano or
shuffle. Any other recommendations
out there? I am looking for something
around $150 or less.

[mlbowman1]

Between the two, go for the nano. You aren't able to select what you want to hear on the shuffle. I got my wife a nano and she loves it.

[Talapia]

Between the two, go for the nano. You aren't able to select what you want to hear on the shuffle. I got my wife a nano and she loves it.

Yeah, that is a good selling point. Do they
seem really fragile? If so, I may just have
to go with the cheaper shuffle. I can get
2 of them for almost the price of one Nano
and my 10 and 12 year olds are kind of
rough on stuff.:D

[LEADDRAFT]

I bought my daughters a RCA mp3 player. It was around 60.00 dollars....
Still going strong though...

Hint...
Try newegg.com
They have great buys and deals on those type of things...
Thats the "only" place I shop for comuter parts and the like......
Peace..

[BubbaBlue]

I have a Shuffle and a 60G Video IPod... and I got the GF a Nano a few months ago.

They each have their good and bad points. For the money, the Nano is a good bet. User friendly. They hold up pretty good, but I suggest getting a case or skin for it because they scratch up pretty easy.

Also suggest getting aftermarket earbuds to clip on the headphones. ~$12. They increase the bass response a lot and help keep the headphones from falling out of your ears so easily.
.

[Talapia]

Thanks guys!

[mlbowman1]

I would say get a cover for it because it can scratch, but won't break. She's dropped countless times, but hasn't broken...

[fisherkid]

but my sister got a shuffle it broke within a year. And there's the fact that you can't chose anything. My sisters shuffle breaking may be the exeption not the rule but it just doesn't look durable. The fact that you cant select songs, to me makes it not worth it.
then again I know nothing about them
Fisherkid

[sprtsracer]

I have been researching the same thing and have come to the conclusion that the Apple is the best way to go, simply because there are more aftermarket accessories for it. I'd rather have the regular Ipod, but a Nano would be the second choice. The shuffle, as stated above, doesn't let you select the songs, etc. If you go to CNET (Google it) or Crutchfield (Another Google) they have some good specs, tips on selecting, etc. as well as decent prices. (CNET lists the cheapest retail locations).

[SeaSalt]

i like Apples' Ipods and own one myself. Best thing about Ipod is their software. But, I don't like the fact that they make all their songs their own proprietary format. If you buy music from their online store, it will come in Apple's own proprietary format.

Check out this one, IRiver Clix (Amazon price is 149)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000FGEC94.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65933357_.jpg

Reviews can be found on CNet. Pretty cool screen.

[sprtsracer]

Funny you should mention the Clix...that was my second choice

[johnnyleo11]

As much as these things cost, tell your kids to take good care of these things b/c they are pretty fragile.

iPod software is so much better than any other software out there on the market. I have a sony mp3 player that I use when I workout b/c it's so tiny and small compared to my full size ipod. My ipod holds 40GBs, the sony one only 1GB, but that's enough to put on some workout music.

Be warned though. Ipods don't really cost that much unless you want to get the accessories that come for it. Straight up highway robbery if you ask me.