[Crocodile]

Want to buy a player for my granddaughter's 7th birthday. She's reasonably careful with kit (hasn't broken the DS - yet!), but there will obviously be some manic whirling around (dancing?)!

Really don't want to get involved in iTunes so something with drag & drop & reasonably robust. I also don't think in-ear phones are a good idea for a youngster.

So, any recommendations please?

[JUS]

My daughter originally had my 2nd hand iPod Mini at the age of 8...she just picked it up and used it straight away. I loaded it with all the music she liked at the time..so there was no thought of her having to use itunes...her listening pattern stays quite stable...perhaps a new album every few months when I decide to introduce her to something new Good thing with the pod is you can set the sound limit - what ever you choose I'd recommend making sure you can do that.

Em is now 10 and has upgraded to an 8gb ipod Touch...she bought a JBL StageIII dock the other day from selling the top prize she won in a raffle lol Even though she is tech savvy and creates her own web sites and does various quite incredible stuff on her own I still sync her pod for her.

[richard plumb]

I'd recommend an ipod anyway. you should be able to pick up a 4-8GB previous generation (or older) one off ebay for a decent price (£50?). You can load it up with itunes then leave it alone. Or set up playlists so she can just dock it now and then.

Plus there are loads of docks availalbe, so she could use it to listen to music in her room without needing headphones.

Then if you don't agree with in-ear headphones, just buy a pair of over the ear ones. I'm not sure there are any decent mp3 players that come with over the ear phones - just take up too much space in packaging.

[Crocodile]

Thanks guys.

The Samsung looks pricey for what it is? No SD slot, no voice recording, small screen. Can't find much availability either.

Maybe I've misunderstood the iPod. I was under the impression that the only way to use it is with iTunes? If you can drag & drop then I'll take a closer look but I don't want iTunes having even a sniff of my own collection.

[JUS]

Sniff your collection. Whys that? It wont delete all copyright infrigements lol

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by JUS

Sniff your collection. Whys that? It wont delete all copyright infrigements lol

I have a general aversion to unecessary software, especially when it becomes bloated & wants to have control of everything. I've seen too many reports (maybe false?) of iTunes dicking with tags & album art. Nothing to do with any copyright issues.

I would never download anything from iTunes & certainly wouldn't use it for ripping. So really don't see the point of buying a product if I'm forced to use it.

[JUS]

I've not had any probs with tags or album art - I think the probs people face is mainly with copying the covers to their pod (doesn't affect the ones on your pc), but I've not had any problems as I said. I've only bought 1 album from the apple store...just to see what all the fuss was about.

OK. Fair enough. I think you are forced to use it if you buy an ipod.

[Crocodile]

Well if it's any use to anyone else, I went for the 8GB Samsung YP-T10 for £50.

• 2" colour screen.
• Can play video as well.
• Cartoon animated menu.
• Voice recorder.
• Drag & drop (although it does have it's own software as well).
• No buttons to break.
• Bluetooth.
• Compatible with chargers etc. of our Samsung phones.

Recently discontinued so some good prices around. Most online sellers have sold out but Hughes stores still have a few.

Turns out a mate's missus has one & loves it, & he loves the pain free nature of the software.

[Crocodile]

Quick update after setting it up.

+

• The video is very watchable for such a small screen.
• There's a text-to-speech download at www.emodio.com that's surprisingly usable.
• Volume can be limited.

-

• The USB/charger port ISN'T compatible with that of our G600 phones.