Help a mother out! Digital download question.

Do you know if iTunes is compatible with Creative Zen players?

I have a Zen and love it!! Onetiger is right -- you have to put stuff on a CD first. It's not too much trouble, though. But personally I prefer the slightly less legal (but free) Kazaa! Or is it Kaaza?

However, there are some Creative Zen players that are Napster enabled if you're interested in going that route, otterpop. If you are, here's the page that will tell you if your player is compatible:  http://www.napster.com/compatible_devices/index.html

I know I've downloaded stuff onto my Zen from both iTunes and Napster. One worked fine and the other had to be put onto CD first. I can't remember which is which.

Another method *cough* is to find someone (me me!!) to share their collection (for a small fee!) which is 100% known to be music files and nothing else!!!

I'd be careful posting such things publicly, may end up with the copyright police breathing down your neck, not to mention that we don't condone piracy of protected material.  

However, there are some Creative Zen players that are Napster enabled if you're interested in going that route, otterpop. If you are, here's the page that will tell you if your player is compatible:  http://www.napster.com/compatible_devices/index.html

Cheers... it's just that i have a pretty large (300+) iTunes library already built up...

I've fixed the error of my ways and now only have MP3 copies of my rather large 1000+ CD collection

Cheers! Dennis! West London Slough UK!

Otterpop,

see this  http://www.download.com/HotRecorder-for-Media/3000-2140_4-10459430.html

it will do what you want for a small(ish) price

Thanks everyone... i bought an iPod Nano the other day.
Just got tired of researching everything! 

I'm off to play my 45s.....   

I'm off to play my 45s.....   

 

Seriously, does anyone know of a good turntable to buy? I do like my CDs and my MP3, but I have a ton of vinyl that I haven't played in years. I really miss it!

Seriously, does anyone know of a good turntable to buy?

It's become almost impossible to buy a new turntable these days which is both reasonable quality and a sensible price.  The only way to get anything remotely decent new is to go with professional transcription decks like broadcasters use, or the high-end "Audiophile" type units.  You can guess what that means -- Mucho pesos.

There's something of a revival of interest in records, and you've probably seen the ads in magazines for units which combine a turntable with a radio and CD player: "Dust off your old vinyl and relive those great days!" they say, or something like that.

Please, please, please, don't waste your money.  I haven't seen a single one of those cheap modern units yet in which the turntable portion isn't utter garbage.   I wouldn't let any of my precious record collection anywhere near that junk.

My best advice for getting a reasonable quality turntable at a sensible price is to look for an older used deck in second-hand electronics stores, on eBay, etc.    You'll get a turntable which will cost you no more and be of far superior quality.

Please, please, please, don't waste your money.  I haven't seen a single one of those cheap modern units yet in which the turntable portion isn't utter garbage.   I wouldn't let any of my precious record collection anywhere near that junk.

I have seen those ads! And, no, I haven't been tempted to buy one. My aunt did order one, though, and it's not terrible. Not exactly what I want, but not as awful as I'd expected. I thought some company in the US (Sharper Image? someone like that) was coming out with turntables. Have you seen or heard of those?

I can't say I recognize that name, but with the increase of interest there are quite a number of standalone turntables on the market again now.  Just for a sample:

http://dealtime.co.uk/xPP-turntables

I've had a quick look at some of these when I've been in various stores, and to be honest I'm still not impressed.   Even the units retailing in the £100 to £200 range are not a patch on a good hi-fi turntable from years past, quality wise.

I have quite a number of different decks around here (if I counted up exactly how many, I'm sure you'd think I'm even crazier than you already believe to be the case ), but the newest one is a Pioneer belt-drive deck from circa 1975/76, and I wouldn't swap any of them for a modern replacement.

If you wanted to look for something with slightly more modern styling, the better hi-fi decks from the 1980s are still a good choice, and easily obtainable.   Run-of-the-mill decks in the lower and mid-price ranges really started dropping off through the 1980s though, as CDs gradually became the "in" thing and all those mini-stack systems started using horrible cheap plastic components with the turntable really only tacked on as an "extra."

The other thing to consider with any separate turntable is the amplifier to which it will be connected.   Hi-fi amplifiers always used to come with inputs designed for record pickups, but many modern units provide only line-level inputs (CD, Aux, etc.) which are not suitable for the direct connection of a turntable.   You'd need either an amplifier which specifically has phono inputs, or you'd need to buy a separate pre-amplifier which will convert the signal into a form suitable for connecting into the line input on your system.