That is all beside the point today. Because I can't read on the train, I have used a cassette player and books on tape and then books on cd and finally books on mp3 player. The mp3 player is wonderful because it is small and you don't need anything else. I'm afraid to listen to music because I can't help singing along when I recognize a song. Really, I can't help it. I hear a song I know and I just have to sing. I'm afraid I'll sing aloud on the train and embarass myself. I can carry a tune and have sung in choruses and church choirs but I'm sure the other riders on the train would prefer not to listen to me. So, I download books, mostly fiction, and listen. I listen as I ride and especially as I knit. I don't watch television so this is my entertainment. I depend on my mp3 player.
And it let me down. Big time. Last night, it died. I have a Creative Zen Microphoto. (It's my second Creative product and is only 18 months old) which is not a cheap product. It's a portable hard drive and holds 8G of memory. It let me download books from netlibrary which is important because ipods don't. I love it. Or rather I loved it. (photo stolen from Wikipedia). After some research, I learned that the hard drive freezes frequently. People reported this problem with disturbing frequency. And the only solution to this is sending it back to Creative and letting them charge me 140.00 dollars to fix it. With no guarantees that it won't happen again. Are they crazy?!? For that much money I can get a new one and one that won't freeze up on me.
So, that is my mission today. I am heading out to look for a new companion. A new buddy that will fit in my knitting bag and keep me entertained.
Needless to say, It will not be a Creative product.
4 comments:
Thanks for the warning. Major bummer when your books break!
So sorry - I have a little Sansa, and it's indestructible. Two years, no problem, and it was relatively inexpensive. Its only drawback is that you can't bookmark in books - but if you turn it off during a book, it does go back where you were when you turn it back on.
It's amazing how quickly we come to depend on these things. I recently had a .pdf file of a book I have used a lot come up damaged. Ouch. Then I had to figure out which site I downloaded it from.
Another vote for Sansa. I hate ipod for the same reason--I feel inhibited by the fact you're pretty much stuck with certain formats you can download. (But I can't stand Apple in general, so it could just be a carry over grudge...hee hee).
Both Dr. MS and I have Sansas. He's got tons of music on his, whereas I'm more into the podcasts. I only have 1 gig on mine (he has 2 gigs)...and I'm surprised how much crap I can pack on there.
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