Mp3 player without a PC?

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

My parents want an mp3 player but don't have a computer of any kind. Can one transfer music from CDs to an mp3 player using just a CD (or a DVD) player or do you need a PC?

Rookie · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Karma :

Unless there's some DVD or CD player with a USB port, which is unbeknownst to me, yes they will need a computer first.

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

Oh, great, so now I have to buy them PC, too, as they live in another country. Evil or Very Mad

They definitely wouldn't have a fancy CD or DVD player.

Thanks, Rookie!

Rookie · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Karma :

If they just want a pretty standard USB plug in player which they can drag and drop files onto, you'd get away with getting them an old PC for £100 or even a laptop for £150+. Windows 98 should work on most these little USB MP3 players.

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

Rookie · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Karma :

Probably 1999 onwards, at the very least. But if you hunt around eBay, it will say whether it has USB or not.

Laptops will have to be newer to have USB, though the top of the range laptops in 2000 had USB. I had a Toshiba, very good laptop which cost £1500 in 2000 but goes for around £200 these days.

numark1 · Scared of girls Joined: 10 May 2004 Karma :

You might be able to get ones with line in plugs which means you could record from a cd player or cassette player or something. Thumbs Up

numark1 · Scared of girls Joined: 10 May 2004 Karma :

Rookie · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Karma :

I would worry about Windows 95 compatibility though, if that's all 1996 computers could handle...

numark1 · Scared of girls Joined: 10 May 2004 Karma :

I have a spare windows 98 lying around somewhere. Wink

The View Askew · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Karma :

Use someone elses machine Wink

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spitfire · Trackday Trickster Joined: 05 Jul 2005 Karma :

I saw a Hifi advertised somewhere that ripped CD'S straight to MP3 to download to a player....now if only I could remember where I saw it !

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

If it were me, id borrow their cds, turn them into mp3 files on my pc and then transfer the files to the mp3 player.

however i think ipods charger gets power from the pc, so you may need to also get a charger that will plug into the wall for them
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Hex · Party Boy Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Silly question, but why do they want a mp3 player?

If they don't have a pc of any sort where do they intend on getting the mp3's to play on this mp3 player?

Or are they just after something like an Ipod?
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Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

I don't think USB was support until Windows 98 SE came out (rather than normal Windows 98), which suggests it was later than 1998 that it became common. However an old cheap PC should be capable of running 98 SE quite easily if they are not doing anything flash with it.

As to needing a USB port you can easily buy a PCMCIA USB card (ie, card that you plug into a laptop PC to give you some USB ports). I know we have used one of these with our old Pentium 133 laptop.

All the best

Keith
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colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

once the files are transferred onto an mp3 player, you dont really need a pc so it seems a bit of a waste to buy a pc just to do that

they would probably struggle doing the transfer process anyway so easier to do it for them
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The View Askew · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Karma :

EuropeanNC30R... · Gay Hairdresser Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Karma :

Sounds to me like a typical case of "must have that, it's cool", when they have no practical use for it.

I agree with Colin, if they have no computer they'd probably struggle to transfer files across.

Sounds like they'd be better off with a cassette tape walkman.

colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

i dont think there is anything wrong with them having an mp3 player

my ex girlfriend had an ipod but no pc. she used itunes on my pc while she was with me, and before she left, i transferred all her cds to mp3 and then she loaded them onto her ipod. she had quite a bit of good stuff so that wasnt just me being nice

she still uses her ipod but has to charge it at work on the pc's usb as she doesnt have a charger you can plug into the wall. she doesnt need to get a pc.

a full mp3 player is less hassle than cds or tapes

paivi, when you next go home to visit, collect their cds and buy an ipod in this country fill it using your pc and then post it to them

i wdnt be surprised if a return flight wd be cheaper than a pc and if they havnt had a pc b4 expecting them to be able to transfer cds to mp3 player is a bit iffy.
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Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

The reason they want an mp3 player is that they spend four months of the year living in a caravan in Spain & Portugal (escaping the brutal Finnish winters) and they don't really have space for a CD player with loads of CDs. This trip they took only about 10 with them and got bored quickly. So, I thought I'd get them an mp3 player & speakers so they could record into this tiny device practically their entire collection to avoid boredom and running out of storage space.

Meh, I'll go home at Easter and bring their CDs with me and post the whole shebang to them when I've transferred the files. Looks like the cheapest thing to do.

Thanks for your input, guys!

HerbalDayZ · Banned Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Karma :

Few options .

Minidisk player ? prob cheaper as ther eolder i prefer mine over any mp3 player .

With minidisk most have rcord function so you plug it into a headfone jack an just record .The benefits of this is they can basically record from anything cd player tv even a walkman .

Or you can now get mp3 player stereos .I own a phillips so i can record mp3's to cd which will take about 120 tracks instead of the simple 18 a normal cd can hold .If they asked nice as you have a pc from a guess that your using one to post here you could allways make them the cds then post them to your parents .

I can put around 8 9 cds onto 1 normal cd as mp3s an the cd player will pick em up an play them .Along with the normal type of cds.

Hope this mite help
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HerbalDayZ · Banned Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Karma :

Somthing like this ?

https://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0138990312.1142902115@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfjaddhflfgjgecflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=0&sm=1&tm=0&sku=850200&category_oid=-25839

# MP3-CD playback
# WMA-CD playback
# CD-R/ RW playback
# Digital amplification
# 2-Way speakers
# 150 Watts (RMS)
# Bass Boost
# Graphic equaliser
# FM/ AM tuner
# Remote control

web exclusive £122.97

They then have radio ,Tape ,Cd , Mp3,
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my sepllnig is bad i udnretsand taht so i aolpisge.
dys?lex?i?a (A learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.dyslexia (impaired ability to learn to read)