rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2007-07-23 09:14 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2007-07-23 09:14 pm
questions; music; weird vid links that only I care about...
Hey internet peoples! Any of you ever been to Yellowstone Park? If yes, please boss me around feel free to offer advice or comments. eta: we'll be staying near the south entrance, so anything about Jackson Hole or or Star Valley would also be helpful. /eta
As long as I'm asking for advice, any thoughts on MP3 players? I'm looking for one that has at least 2gb of memory and uses a replaceable battery (like AA or AAA), or a battery that's easy to recharge. FM Tuner and voice recording would be excellent but not required. So if you have a brand you like or a brand you hate (even if they don't match what I'm looking for), let me know why. I hate shopping for electronics. It's annoying.
I finally had a RL friend finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She immediately phoned me so we could talk. We both oohed and ahhed and were generally big nerds on the phone.
I feel like I ought to be useful in this post, since I'm asking for help. Most of you are probably already aware of this, but Pandora is a cool, free online music service. You can create multiple "stations" based on music you already like, and they'll guess about other songs you might like, based on what information you give them. After the first several songs you have to register, but it's still free, unless you want to use their mobile service. (I wouldn't be surprised if Pandora is shut down eventually, due to the whole internet radio royalties controversy.)
Two things I like about Pandora: 1) if you click that you don't like a particular song that's playing, it will skip to the next one in the queue and 2) I'm getting a lot of names of artists to hunt down on emusic. BTW, if you haven't tried emusic, you can get a trial membership with free downloads.
One of my favorite French-language singers, Axelle Red, has a new single, Naive. The video is here on YouTube. (I find it amusing that Axelle, who grew up in the Netherlands, learned French from TV and from her parents arguing in French in an effort to keep the kids from knowing what they were arguing about.) eta: the vid's okay, what I really like is the song. /eta
La Grande Sophie, who sings in French and actually is French, made one of my favorite French music videos (not that I've seen many), and I found it on YouTube as well: On Savait (devenir grand). Video quality isn't spectacular, but it never is on YouTube.
As long as I'm asking for advice, any thoughts on MP3 players? I'm looking for one that has at least 2gb of memory and uses a replaceable battery (like AA or AAA), or a battery that's easy to recharge. FM Tuner and voice recording would be excellent but not required. So if you have a brand you like or a brand you hate (even if they don't match what I'm looking for), let me know why. I hate shopping for electronics. It's annoying.
I finally had a RL friend finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She immediately phoned me so we could talk. We both oohed and ahhed and were generally big nerds on the phone.
I feel like I ought to be useful in this post, since I'm asking for help. Most of you are probably already aware of this, but Pandora is a cool, free online music service. You can create multiple "stations" based on music you already like, and they'll guess about other songs you might like, based on what information you give them. After the first several songs you have to register, but it's still free, unless you want to use their mobile service. (I wouldn't be surprised if Pandora is shut down eventually, due to the whole internet radio royalties controversy.)
Two things I like about Pandora: 1) if you click that you don't like a particular song that's playing, it will skip to the next one in the queue and 2) I'm getting a lot of names of artists to hunt down on emusic. BTW, if you haven't tried emusic, you can get a trial membership with free downloads.
One of my favorite French-language singers, Axelle Red, has a new single, Naive. The video is here on YouTube. (I find it amusing that Axelle, who grew up in the Netherlands, learned French from TV and from her parents arguing in French in an effort to keep the kids from knowing what they were arguing about.) eta: the vid's okay, what I really like is the song. /eta
La Grande Sophie, who sings in French and actually is French, made one of my favorite French music videos (not that I've seen many), and I found it on YouTube as well: On Savait (devenir grand). Video quality isn't spectacular, but it never is on YouTube.
no subject
Of those, my least favorite is probably the iAudio, but they all definitely have their downside. The MPIO was my first player--it's a 512MB, and I still use it when jogging because it's lightweight and plenty functional. It's got an easy menu system, too, but it has no pause function, which is a huge problem I have to work around (and one of those little details you can't usually find out except MAYBE after hours of research or asking someone who owns one). I've had the best experience and fewest irritations with Creative products so far (the Nano runs on batteries, but it's only 1GB; I don't know much about the 2GB MuVo but personally I'd be willing to bet it's a decent choice). But the SanDisk Sansa M200 series (ranging from 512MB to 2GB with the same features, I believe) has some very nice (and surprising) features for such an inexpensive option--I've been happier with it than any of the other non-Creative players I've tried. It also runs on batteries. My favorite thing about it is the large (and clearly marked) controls. Sure, you can get used to tiny toggles and buttons, but personally I find them a little tiresome. (Comparatively, the Creative Zen controls are usually a little easier to use than those on, say, the MPIO or iAudio, also.) The main trouble I've had with the SanDisk is that folders/playlists aren't as customizable as I'd like (but that's a common complaint with smaller players, at least in my experience).
Man, buying MP3 players sucks--I've put in more than my fair share of research on them, and after giving several as gifts and setting up most of them for technologically incompetent people, I have MUCH angst over the various combinations of pluses and minuses. Gah. Anyway, happy to try to answer questions if you want more specific details about any of the players I listed.
no subject
I was playing with it yesterday afternoon and the FM tuner works better than the old radio walkman I have, the music files are click-and-drag to upload, the battery can be changed out easily. My only complaint so far is that the music I've downloaded from emusic.com is all being listed as artist and album unknown. I'll have to tinker with the folders on my computer to see if I can change that information somehow--it's weird, b/c when I download the artist name and album name are automatically included in the file, but apparently it's not done in the right way. Whatever. Oh, and as for durability, the product comes with a year warranty and it was a whole lot cheaper than other 2gb mp3 players with similar features, so I decided to take a chance.
Thanks for your information!