02-17-2005, 04:27 PM

Are non-Ipod mp3 players compatible with Mac - can you use them?



I'm looking at some buget mp3 players for gym use and I'm worried that they won't work with my mac (G4 desktop). Does anyone have experience with this? I'm concerned because the software all seems to be for PC's except the iPod.

Would I have to run some kind of PC simulator to get songs from my hard drive to the mp3 player? If so, any suggestions?

Thanks.

02-17-2005, 05:00 PM

My daughters each have a Creative MuVo 128 and an RCA Lyra 1021 and I sync them up using my iBook. I just drag and drop the songs to the players once they're mounted. All I need to know is where the songs are on my Mac.

Typically, you don't need to use their management software, and you can't use iTunes.

Just make sure the MP3 players you're looking at support drag-n-drop. Fortunately, most do these days.

Another caveat: songs you buy at the iTunes Music Store won't play on non-iPods. For those, you would need to convert them to regular MP3s.

02-17-2005, 05:07 PM

Thank you vey much.

I'm actually looking at the MUVO as well, so this is good news. I was just worried that the mac wouldn't recognize the MUVO when I plugged it in. But, this calms my nerves on the topic. Thanks again and thanks for the extra info on iTunes.

02-17-2005, 06:46 PM

What the question should be is..why aren't you getting a non-iPod MP3 player. If I was getting an MP3 player for the gym purpose I would go with the iP{od shuffle..

02-17-2005, 10:11 PM

yeah. the iPod shuffle isn't to bad of a price for the amount of space you get. and you dont HAVE to shuffle the songs, you can go by playlist. so if it's for gym, i don't think you'd be going thourhg your songs and menu's on a click wheel. if you dont want that, then any other mp3 player will work usually. it's just like putting a HD in, excpet it's usually flash and is removable. most of the time you don't need the software it comes with, and are better off without it. just drag and drop, though i heard that is really crappy in OS X ?

02-18-2005, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by shaun89

... just drag and drop, though i heard that is really crappy in OS X ?

Huh??

You plug the device in, OSX sees it as a disk drive, you drag the stuff to it, eject it, and you're done. It couldn't be any easier.

Many of the MuVo models have FM tuners as well, which would make it good for a health club where they play the audio for the TV monitors on FM.

02-20-2005, 01:51 PM

Something I just discovered:

iTunes does recognize the Creative MuVo as a music device. I was able to plug my daughter's MuVo into the USB port on my iBook and iTunes recognized it. I can drag songs to the unit but that's about the extent of iTunes' "management." I can't, for example, delete tracks from it within iTunes. Other than that, the iBook recognizes it as a plain old detachable disk.

02-20-2005, 03:28 PM

ya id say go with the ipod shuffle for the gym

02-20-2005, 10:25 PM

i was just doing some research myself about mac compatible (specifically itunes) players and the rio carbon 5 gig is probably imo the best non ipod option. excellent size and excellent value here in toronto, canada. it's 100 less than the ipod mini and offers 1 more gig of memory and up to 16 hours of battery life which kills the mini! I hope the ipod mini rumors will give it comparable performance to the rio carbon 5 gig.