Portable noob needs MP3 player advice (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

Yeah, that was bothering me that I thought someone did that. We do have construction workers building a house next door. I am very glad that I didn't go over and make an accusation. I would have made the accusation on flimsy evidence (I can't find it, must be stolen) and I would have been wrong. Major egg on my face.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Well, I just loaded up both my 1gb Creative players and can give a comparison as far as upload time goes. I created 2 different directories on my HD with different sets of music, but both a hair short of 1gb.

When I did the drag'ndrop to the Zen, the dialogue box came up saying 12 minutes to go and it seemed like that. I should have timed it exactly, but didn't. The TX FM box came up saying 6 minutes and did load much faster.

I wonder if their is a relationship between speed and the fact that the slower player uses a cable and the faster player plugs directly into the usb port? BTW, I used the exact same usb port for both players.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

take that attitude to slashdot and see what they do to you.

DRM is terrible, and ensures you cannot use your media where you wish. i'll never purchase any file infected with DRM.

CJ

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm not saying I like it, I'm just saying that the music laws do not allow you to do "as you wish" - that's what makes it illegal.

Again, I'm not saying I like that law, I'm just saying that most peoples objections have to due with the fact that the DRM holds them to that law (to somewhat of an extent).

Until the law is changed, DRM is no more restrictive than most copy protection schemes.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'm not an expert on DRM, but this sounds logical.

I suppose one of the reasons I have not objected to copy protection on DVDs is that I have had no use for copying movies to other mediums. Watching a movie on a small ipod like device holds no appeal for me.

I suppose the one thing I would do, if I could, is back up my DVDs. I have had several go bad on me.

 

[MarkHastings]

I would love to back them up as well and it does stink that I can't, but I guess we have to deal with that.

I think I said this in another thread, but I feel the reason most are ok with DVD copy protection is because that's how DVD's originally came out. We never got used to 'illegally' copying them so easily.

With CD's, we've been able to illegally do whatever we wanted with them for YEARS. Now that they are trying to stop us, we are getting upset because we can't do what we used to. We believe that our 'freedom to do what we want to' is being taken away.

It's kinda like when Napster clamped down and people got mad because they could no longer steal music

It's all perspective. We're just so used to the flexibility of the CD that we won't allow any sort of copy protection.

Again, I don't like it, but I can't argue against it and for me, iTunes has never really stopped me from doing what I want with my music.

That's why I get so upset with these anti-iTunes folks. Most of their arguments have to do with the fact that they are now forced into playing nice. I know there are real arguments out there, but it seems like 90% of the arguments are just people being pissy (like slatdot, hackers and the anti-Mac sites).

 

[BrianW]

DVDs are encrypted, but the encryption is there to prevent unauthorized playback, not to prevent copying. DVDs can be backed up, encryption and all. The encryption is there to enforce licensing revenue from DVD player manufacturers, and the license the player manufacturers must agree to contains clauses that prevent them from making DVD players that circumvent programming on the DVD, like forced previews and Interpol warnings. Also, when DVDs first came out, writable blanks were $35 each, so they didn't worry about copy protection. They just didn't foresee the possibility that prices on media and computer equipment would drop to the point where anyone could afford it. And who can blame them? When has that ever happened?

 

[MarkHastings]

Well, you can probably copy them with the copy protection, but most applications won't allow you to do that and any sort of bypass is illegal.

 

[BrianW]

What law are you referring to? Are you referring to DRM as a law? It isn't. It's a licensing practice.

Fair use is just as much part of copyright law and is just as enforceable as the restrictions on what you can do with a copyrighted work. When you agree to DRM terms, you contract away your fair use rights under copyright law. Far from making DRM the "music law", this makes DRM counter to existing copyright law. By agreeing to be bound by DRM licensing terms, you forfeit rights otherwise guaranteed by copyright law. You are, of course, free to negotiate away just about any legal right you have when you sign a contract, but why would you?

 

[Christ Reynolds]

doing as you wish makes it illegal? WAY too general of a statement. what if i want to play an itunes DRM infected song on a non-apple device? DRM disallows that, but is there something illegal about what i mentioned? doing "as you wish" is not automatically illegal. DRM assumes every customer is a criminal.

CJ

 

[MarkHastings]

EDIT--Whoops, way off topic. Sorry for the derail.

 

[BrianW]

Again with the editing!

Perhaps we should start another thread. Or have we already covered that topic before?

Russel, I've looked into portable multimedia devices (video/music), but I just don't know what to recommend. I don't very much like the idea of having a portable device with a hard drive, but there probably isn't a flash-memory-based portable video device worth having, due to the memory restrictions. Video quality and UI preferences are highly subjective, personal choices, and unless some of us can tell you which devices to flat-out avoid because of bad quality, you're probably on your own.

Good luck. The world is depending on you.

 

[John Pine]

***UPDATE on Sennheiser CX300 ear canal monitors!***

If you listen to mostly classical music, these buds are not for you! Unless you plan on listening motionless in a resting position. Due to the fact that most movements of cord transfers noise into the ears. I still love this buds, and for less than $50 they can't be beat!

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> With CD's, we've been able to illegally do whatever we wanted with them for YEARS.

Could you list some specific things you are referring to? You seem to think everyone who dislikes DRM is a thief.


> Until the law is changed, DRM is no more restrictive than most copy protection schemes.

And most copy protection schemes suck, so that is no advantage.

 

[MarkHastings]

Again, if you don't have an iPod, then I understand the complaints, and if you don't like the iTunes app, that's fine too, but then don't use it - fine and dandy. But if that were the case, then you wouldn't hear people bitching about it, but you do, so I have to assume their complaint is far reaching than what I just mentioned...so what is it then??

iTunes songs allow you to play the files on up to 5 computers, you can back them up in case you lose them, you can upload to your iPod and you can burn to CD (which removes the copy protection)...so for those who think DRM is 'restrictive' what else do they want to do with the songs that they can't already do?


p.s. and the songs are $1 - putting up with the DRM is worth getting a song for $1...especially when the alternative is paying $11 to get the same song from a CD (to avoid DRM).

EDIT: UGH! This is why I keep editing my posts. I don't want to derail the thread and I know these DRM argument won't go anywhere. I know how I feel and I've heard all the arguments and I still feel the way I feel, so there won't be any convincing me otherwise - so I'll bow out now instead of deleting my post.....

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've got a great idea! Let's drop the drm discussion, its been flogged to death and we have chasm of disagreement that is not going to be closed.

BTW Mark apologized to me offline of this discussion, thank you Mark, and lets talk mp3 players.

 

[BrianW]

Thanks for the update on the CX300, John.

Also, I wanted to let you know that I took my Samsung Z5 on a week-long trip, without a charger. It was charged up before I left, and during the week, I was able to listen to music for between 2 to 5 hours a day for the entire week without depleting the battery.

I know that a few in the forum I linked to claim that their batteries go dead overnight or in a couple of days even when they're not listening to music, but I'm convinced now that these people just don't know how to turn the Z5 off. Just because the display is dark doesn't mean the player is turned off. I've checked, and if left on (and not playing), it will go dead in a couple of days. But if you turn it off between uses, the battery charge should last several days and deliver close to the specified play time, regardless of how long you wait between uses.

I hope you find my experience reassuring.

(I still love the player, BTW.)

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Nice dodge on my question about what people are illegally doing with CDs, so I assume you have nothing to back that up.


> if you don't like the iTunes app, that's fine too, but then don't use it

I like iTunes, the software, just not iTunes, the download service.

Another issue with it is that the songs are recorded at low quality (128), so why would I want to buy them?

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm not going to play that game. You're not going to agree with me....I'm not going to agree with you, so we're done here.

 

[John Pine]

Good info, thanks Brian.

p.s. same here!