iPods & MP3 players

[grandmother]

My granddaughters teacher has recommended that she use audio books to help her with her reading.  What ipod or mp player would be the best?

[Nokia]

They're about 200MB each. Just get her something small and cheap.

[Gina-BBY Community Manager · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I have had a few digital music players.  The easiest to use, in my opinion, are the Apple Ipods.  I synchronize my Ipod with iTunes which is their software. ITunes comes with the Ipod.  It connects to the internet and allows me to download songs and audio books.  I generally listen to business books and have found their selection sufficient.  

Gina

[RealGeorgeW Emerging Expert]

Slightly incorrect there Gina...

iTunes does NOT come with the iPod, it must be downloaded and installed from the Apple website. Other than that, spot on.

[Nokia]

Most audiobooks for purchase come from Audible, which is compatible with most mp3 players.

[Daltonthepotter]

A few issues to be aware of when downloading audio books. Do not enable "shuffle", or the tracks of the book will play in random order. Be sure that the download has disc and track #, or a series of consecutive track#, all with the same title. The only problem I have ever had with books was the chapters getting out of order. Sometimes, if the book is on multiple discs, each disc with not be labeled with a unique disc#, i.e. "disc 1, disc 2, etc. What happens then is that the software will put all of the track 1's together, then all of the track 2's, and so on. You can generally fix it with an edit, but it can be confusing.

[Aqueya]

Figure out what will be easy to pause. My library lets poeple download entire audio books in mp3 format, but the danger there is that you have a 40+hour file. Even broken into chapters, they cab be 30min long. Make sure the player you get can "pause" a track, and remmber where you were when you last left off.