Questions about using an MP3 player

[308nato]

My 12 year old got one of these for Christmas .

I know nothing of the MP3 thing. As an old fart I still listen to the radio and CD's (I remember switching from 8tracks to cassette even though it was just a fad

Seems simple enough but what do I need to convert my/his Cd's to MP3 files? Will mediaplayer do it or do I need to get Nero or something? His pc runs XP Home. And I have no experience with the DRM issues so I am not sure what you can and can't do without being told no by the PC. I don't want to have to fight the damn thing.

And as far as downloading music, what is a reputable site that would be easy for him to use and I don't have to fear his PC getting infected from? Something with much Classic Rock / Metal as that's what he likes.

thanks for any help and not abusing old dad to much (I hope)

 

[zig3695]

www.mediajukebox.com is a great start. learn that program and you can do everything with ease.

dont buy any music with drm. we need to protest that into the ground. its working too, apple sells drm-less music now

 

[pm]

To convert CD's to MP3's you need what is called a ripper - although nowadays most MP3 programs have ripping capability. One free, good, easy-to-use open source ripper is "Freerip". http://www.freerip.com/ Another free one is CDex which is good too: http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

A good place to buy music is Amazon.com - it's cheaper than iTunes, and there's no DRM.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Amazon.

 

[308nato]

Amazon sounds good..thanks!.....was just going to charge it up (it came with a USB only charger)and with the firmware loaded it won't charge unless you load the Creative software. Found a way around that (formatted 128meg as a removable device so Windows sees it as that). Maybe it's just me but I refuse to load any Creative software. If MediaPlayer 10 will recognize it he is going to try that first to rip/transfer because at least he is somewhat familiar with it.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Whew. When you said "I date myself..." I was afraid I was in the Love and Romance forum.

 

[308nato]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
Whew. When you said "I date myself..." I was afraid I was in the Love and Romance forum.

Fear not....I'm married and look like our avatar...no romance here :laugh: