What do replace my lost walkman with?

[JustMe]

Okay, my walkman has just completely disappeared. I have taken the house apart and it is not re-surfacing. I use it mostly for exercising. I have a treadmill and sometimes use it for regular walks.

One of the big considerations is that I do not have high-speed/dsl/broadband internet. I just have a dial-up that I only pay $10/mo for. At this point, I really can't afford to upgrade that. I don't know much about the IPODs/MP3 players, but from what I understand I would need to download songs from a website? That doesn't work with a dial-up, so I am wondering if these are out for me. Do they even sell regular walkmans anymore?

Thanks for any info/suggestions!

[ray7694]

I would get a cheap Sandisk Mp3 player. You can get one for under $50. You can listen to the radio and burn any cd's you already have. Your dial up should be able to handle transferring cd's. I wouldn't download music with that connection.

HTH

[infomama]

How about copying your CD collection onto your PC and transferring it to an iPod (shuffles start at $49 according to Apple's site but I would just get a Nano). Easy enough. Itunes is kinda crappy IMO so I use a free music organizer called www.mediamonkey.com You can download it thru Cnet as they have verified virus free downloads if you wish. It is far and above iTunes and you can use it with all iPods/Mp3 players and iPhones.

[writermama]

For exercising, I have a shuffle. I love it because it is so tiny and just clips to my clothes. I bought a refurbished one from Apple. ( http://tinyurl.com/74sapm )

I also have a nano (an older one before the video ones came out). I like it for listening to podcasts, and managing playlists of the kids' music and my music. I currently have mine hooked up to our home stereo. For exercise, though, I still prefer the shuffle because it is small, light, and when I'm exercising I really just want to listen to one set of songs.

Sandisk also makes good mp3 players, DH got a refurbed one (on Amazon IIRC) that was very cheap and he likes it.

I don't buy music online (because I hate DRM), I just rip my own CDs.

[Melaine]

I got like three refurbished Sansa mp3s on Woot.com for about $40 total. If you watch them you may find a deal. Or look at slickdeals. I really like how the shuffle's clip on your clothes though.

[lizajane]

i would get a shuffle. i have one and it is perfect for workouts. it clips to you so you don't carry anything or feel any weight of a walkman clipped to your waist. i clip mine to my shirt/jog bra strap. it never skips or bounces. they are $47 at sam's club.

you don't have to use the internet to put music on it. you can just load the software then upload all your CDs onto it. if you want to buy a song, you can go to itunes and buy it and let it download while you do something else, since it will take a while. but putting CDs onto it doesn't take long at all.

seriously. perfect. check them out.

[zag95]

If you want to listen to radio or CD's get a CD Player- my DH just bought a Sony at Target for like $40. He likes to listen to AM and FM radio and his CD's- we're just not ready for all of that new technology yet!!!

[ahrimie]

i would get a shuffle. i have one and it is perfect for workouts. it clips to you so you don't carry anything or feel any weight of a walkman clipped to your waist. i clip mine to my shirt/jog bra strap. it never skips or bounces. they are $47 at sam's club.

you don't have to use the internet to put music on it. you can just load the software then upload all your CDs onto it. if you want to buy a song, you can go to itunes and buy it and let it download while you do something else, since it will take a while. but putting CDs onto it doesn't take long at all.

seriously. perfect. check them out.

I was going to say the same thing. You don't have to download or purchase music with the shuffle, though you can. Just put your cds on your computer and you can put it on the shuffle. All you have to download is iTunes (if you don't have a MAC).

Or, I'd suggest any other cheaper MP3 player... most of the other ones are Windows based and if you have a PC, you probably already have windows media player.

[LD92599]

store.apple.com has refurb shuffles for $39.00

You can also borrow CD's from the library and add them to your itunes, this way you're not out any $$ but new songs and you don't need internet to do it either.

Laura

[o_mom]

Yep - an iPod or other MP3 player would be fine. You don't have to download any songs. I have never downloaded anything and just filled mine with all the CDs we own.

[inmypjs]

I really appreciate this thread because I actually have an Shuffle and have no idea what to do with it! I'd like to think that I'm fairly saavy with technology but when it comes to music and downloads I have no clue. So all I have to do is download Itunes or this mediamonkey software and it will help me put my CDs on the computer?

[JustMe]

Thank you, thank you for all the responses!

So just to clarify...I can listen to the radio on a sandisc, mp3, and shuffle, but not an ipod? And on any of these I can download cds through a program on the computer that will work with my dial-up connection?

Thanks!

[kijip]

So just to clarify...I can listen to the radio on a sandisc, mp3, and shuffle, but not an ipod? And on any of these I can download cds through a program on the computer that will work with my dial-up connection?

Correct. Ipods (including the shuffle- it's just a model of iPod), for some reason, do not have tuners to listen to the radio. As such, even in a Mac household (we have 2 MacBook Pros and a iMac with nary a PC in sight), I have to say I prefer the Sansa I got for $20 refurbished on buy.com last year to our Nano. The Nano barely gets used because most of what I want to do with a portable music player is listen to the radio.

[ahrimie]

Thank you, thank you for all the responses!

So just to clarify...I can listen to the radio on a sandisc, mp3, and shuffle, but not an ipod? And on any of these I can download cds through a program on the computer that will work with my dial-up connection?

Thanks!


but just to clarify: a shuffle is an ipod. it's their lower end model.

and to the other poster about the shuffle: just download itunes and you can upload your cds onto your computer. then, plug in your shuffle and it'll sync it automatically :)

[MelissaTC]

I also second (third, fourth??) a Sandisc. I bought a Sansa clip which is slightly larger than the new Shuffles, clips on to my shirt for exercise but has a screen and a fm tuner. I love it. I can watch the tvs at the gym with the tuner or listen to my music. I also have an iPod but prefer using the clip.

[JustMe]

Okay what is the difference between a sandisc and a sansa clip? I am very ignorant, here!

[ray7694]

Sandisk Sansa options:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat46000050015&type=category

[Corie]

My husband's OLD yellow Sony walkman just died. He is so sad.

He just bought this new Sony walkman at Walmart.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Walkman-Digital-Tuning-Weather/dp/B00140DBRY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231294632&sr=1-7