MP 3 Player guidance sought

[Geronimo]

One of my kids is turning 14. He wants an MP3 player. His PC hasUSB 1.1 no 2.0 or firewire in sight. Any recommendations?

[RichW]

What kind of music does he listen to and how much music (in terms of running time) does he want?

[gcutler]

Most MP3 players will work fine with USB 1.1, I had an MP3 player with 128MB of RAM and the USB 1.1 would take maybe 10-15 Minutes to dowload all 128MB of data (assume 1-4MB per song)

If he had one of those GIGABYTE memory sized MP3 players USB 2.0 or Firewire might be more realisitic.

How about a MP3 CD player. If he has a CD-Burner, he can burn MP3s to a CD-R or RW and play in the device like a portable CD player. that way he has an endless supply of music depending on the CDs he has with him? (It is like having 10+ regular CDs on one MP3 based CD.)

But I'm guessing he would want one of those new ones, a really small units that holds like 10GB. Can't give any insight into those. "When Daddy was young he used to have to duct tape a reel to reel player to his back to listen to the music he wanted to hear, and I couldn't go further then the extension cord would allow" :D

[JBKing]

Portable?

I got a Panasonic bookshelf stereo for my daughter this past Christmas. It is one of a few (at the time anyway) that will also play MP3's. So instead of converting 16 or so mp3s to an audio CD, I can burn a 100 or more on one CD. I can look up the model number if you are looking for a fairly cheap system for a fixed location.

Portable players-- I've never really looked at.

[Geronimo]

He is into rock. to some degree alternative rock but only a tame version of that.

I think the CD burner is a terrific idea but when I broached that idea to him he was adamant about not going that way. But maybe he will soften.

BTW he must get his stubbornness from his mother there is no other possible explanation.

I know the iPod is firewire only. Do most of the other portables use USB 1.1 ? I am asuming a USB 2.0 or firewire device just won't work. But I giess I am leaning to a non hard drive device. This kid is all by and trust em he will be rough on anything and a hard drive does not sound like a good idea.

[firephoto]

Firewire cards are cheap if you don't want that to be a limiting factor.
Here's some reviews.
http://hardware.mp3.com/hardware/

The interface is one of the most important things. When you get hundreds of songs on something you want to be able to sort, search and see what's playing at anytime. The ability to create playlists on the device is nice too.

[gcutler]

Originally posted by Geronimo
I know the iPod is firewire only. Do most of the other portables use USB 1.1 ? I am asuming a USB 2.0 or firewire device just won't work. But I giess I am leaning to a non hard drive device. This kid is all by and trust em he will be rough on anything and a hard drive does not sound like a good idea.

Any device over a year old or so (with less than a few hundred megabytes) is probably USB1.1. If it has a hard drive or had close to a gig of RAM then the device is probably USB2.0 or Firewire. If it is USB2.0 it would probably work under 1.1 but would take hours and hours to copy over files. So you may want to invest in a USB2.0 or Firewire card (maybe it comes with it?) Here is a very inexpensive firewire card (will need Win98 Second Edition or newer OS)

$20 Firewire Card
http://www.buy.com/retail/clearance/product.asp?sku=70010068&loc=114

$25
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10309046&hdwt=30805&loc=101

$30
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10313158&hdwt=30701&loc=101

$20 USB 2.0 Card
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000086TKV

Most of the time the difference is the SW bundled or quality of tech support.

[Geronimo]

Thanks for the advice. Now he wants a particular PC game. Tomorrow it may be a TV or possibly a cell phone. But I appreciate the help.