New Gadget: I Finally Bought an MP3 Player

After spending way too long trying to use my PocketPC as an MP3 player, I finally gave up and bought a Creative 40 Gig Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. I bought it at Fry’s last Wednesday and started filling it up for a California trip last Thursday. I’ve accumulated 300+ CDs over the years, so it’s going to take me awhile to load everything.

Being a cheapskate, I was looking for the most bang for my buck. I bought my son the same model last Christmas and paid about $240 for it – he loves the one I got him. I was surprised to see Fry’s offering it for $199, especially since the 30 Gig model was more expensive. I briefly considered buying an iPod, but I still feel they’re way overpriced. However, I did buy a pair of those nifty iPod ear buds with the money I saved… Bottom line: the iPod ear buds are overrated too. They sound nice, but I wasn’t able to keep them properly seated in my ears.

Once I get all my CDs loaded up, I’m going to look into Yahoo’s new music subscription program. For $7 a month I can download as much as I want…who can resist? I know I never truly “own” the songs I download, but $7 a month seems like a reasonable price to pay for this approach. Even if they raise it to $10 or $12 a month down the road, it sounds like a great service. Creative’s MP3 players are also supported by Audible.com. I’ll probably download my next audio book to the MP3 player instead of my PocketPC.

Comments

[Brad Hill]

Good choice, Joe; congrats. BTW, the Yahoo! service costs just five dollars a month if you pay $60 for a whole year in advance. It protects you against price increases during that year, too.