Black Friday Deals - Tablets & eReaders

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My only quibble with the SanDisk people is their use of boring black and gray for the 8gb versions. Why only purty colors for the 4gb ones?

Probably because most people buy the cheaper 4GB version.

[tubemonkey]

More Apple devices have been added courtesy Best Buy and Target.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I prefer several tiny devices to one large device. That way I can stash them about - home, carry, car, work - and never be without one. 4 x $250 = $1,000 vs 4 x $30 = $120. Besides, a Clip fits easily in the coin pocket of my jeans. Not so with the iPod classic.

Additionally, the Clips offer a large feature set - MP3, WMA, Audible, Ogg, FLAC, AAC (Zip only), FM radio, voice & FM recorders, stopwatch (Zip only), mSD card slot.

Don't get me wrong, I have more than one iPod too. All of them I've received as gifts so...I have several generations of the Classic each one successively bigger and the 5th & 6th gen Nanos. I use mostly the 6th gen Nano now as a watch.

I don't want to bring my Classic to work so using the 6th gen Nano as a watch gives me access to all kinds of things - a watch, calendar, podcasts, music, FM radio, pictures, fitness etc. And the 5th gen Nano has a bigger screen for watching videos. And yes, cheaper than losing or having the $250 unit stolen.

On extremely stressful days when I typically forget my iPod at home I know I always have music with my Nano watch. I just have to remember to keep headphones in my purse. My music carries me away from dealing with the stupid people at work.

[Blossom]

Add me to the Sansa Zip Clip fan club. My little blue one has had so much use this year that I want another one, this time Orange! I use mine for audiobooks (Includes Audible) .

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Player 5 for music and other things. I can also sync my Audible books on it. I leave my music in the cloud so this is perfect for me and portable but if I want to do housework I use my Clip+ for music or Clip Zip for audiobooks. It's so small you clip it anywhere like your shirt or pants and it actually stays in place it's the size of a matchbox. So it's perfect for everything.

The Zip Clip does have a few quirks.

• Never hit the pause button before the player is fully booted up. It starts a bug that none of the buttons will work. Turning the player off then on fixes it but I have done this multiple times without thinking.
• It sometimes shuts down when using a Audible book for no reason and a hard reset is needed. (Sansa is aware of this issue but has not fix it yet)
• If you take out the SD Card you lose your place on your audiobooks that's on it.
• It can't fast forward an audiobook or mp3 that is more than 300MB in one file. You will need to split the mp3 up.

Some of the Zip Clip perks that I love are:

• It's small so you can clip it anywhere on you or your purse....etc
• Overdrive WMA audiobooks never expire so you can delete at your convince once you finish listening.
• It's inexpensive so if it breaks you're not out alot of money.
• It's durable. I've drop mine more times than I can count. Once on the kitchen floor that the card came out. Still works like a charm.
• It has great battery life. If not in use the battery stays charged forever. When I use it I get up 10 Hours depending on what type of format I am listening to.
• You can add up to 32GB with the Micro SD Slot
• It's has a FM Radio on it.

I highly recommend JVC Marshmallows Ear buds for your Clip. I got to get another pair for my SGP5 the Samsung ones aren't that comfy.

I use this case for my Clips. If I get the orange Clip I will order the pink one.

[dreams]

I want purple this time.

It can't fast forward an audiobook or mp3 that is more than 300MB in one file. You will need to split the mp3 up.

Ah ha. I wondered if something was wrong with one of my files when I couldn't fast forward on a book a while back. It was the only file and I never even thought about the size of the file being a problem. Thanks Blossom. I will have to check the files size if that happens again.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by dreams

Ah ha. I wondered if something was wrong with one of my files when I couldn't fast forward on a book a while back. It was the only file and I never even thought about the size of the file being a problem. Thanks Blossom. I will have to check the files size if that happens again.

I use Audiobook Cutter Free Edition v0.7.5 to split audiobooks. It's an old version before they went pay. ($15) (You can google for it) It splits by Silence detection. It works well.



I agree that there aren't many Wow Me deals this year for Black Friday.

[dreams]

Thanks, so far that was the only file that had a problem with fast forward.

Last year wasn't fantastic for many deals (I thought) and this year has not impressed me yet. I get the Black Friday emails and I haven't been too excited about anything. Though I am looking for a clip zip for around 25 dollars or less this year.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by dreams

Thanks, so far that was the only file that had a problem with fast forward.

Last year wasn't fantastic for many deals (I thought) and this year has not impressed me yet. I get the Black Friday emails and I haven't been too excited about anything. Though I am looking for a clip zip for around 25 dollars or less this year.

I'm looking for a cheap tablet that will play all Angry birds. It's for my nephew who I finally got to meet two weeks ago. They live in CA and flew to NC and we went down there. He's six years old now and has just finished a 5 year battle with Leukemia and after two bone marrow transplant is in remission. We never know what to buy for him but he would not stop playing that game on Hubby's phone. So now we know. Angry birds just came out with Star Wars edition. Which he will love. He loves Star Wars.

I keep hoping the $99 Google tablet rumor is true.

[dreams]

you find a great deal for your gift to your nephew. He sounds like he has gone through a lot. I hope he continues in remission.

I think I remember that costco had a great early clip zip deal and radio shack had something, as I bought my last one there.

*ducking and getting ready for a fast retreat* I have never played Angry birds and I am afraid if I start I will be addicted to playing and not reading.

[Sigyn]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Hear hear, Catlady - but purple ?

Lawks .....

Mind you, if there was a bright yellow one .........

Mmmm ... paint ... mmmm... I wonder......

No, mustn't - already got 3 ....

Not that i would know anything about this because i was raised to always approach a book with clean hands and to never write in them . . . but fingernail polish has worked well so far for most plastic and/or rubber things i have tried thus far.

You can mix colors and everything. If you would ve really annoyed by a goof test the battery door or other "inconspicuious" area, use masking tape and have polish remover or acetone to hand.

I'm thinking stocing stuffers or valentines presents. :-D

[Sigyn]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm looking for a cheap tablet that will play all Angry birds. It's for my nephew who I finally got to meet two weeks ago. They live in CA and flew to NC and we went down there. He's six years old now and has just finished a 5 year battle with Leukemia and after two bone marrow transplant is in remission. We never know what to buy for him but he would not stop playing that game on Hubby's phone. So now we know. Angry birds just came out with Star Wars edition. Which he will love. He loves Star Wars.

I keep hoping the $99 Google tablet rumor is true.

aw. if i had two hands i would knit him something from you to him. Dep on where in Cali he lives he might not need knitted things and he might be sick of blankets - or not - but i can make quite a few animals and stuff some invented from my very own brain. Pm me i might have stuff around to mail.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I use Audiobook Cutter Free Edition v0.7.5 to split audiobooks. It's an old version before they went pay. ($15) (You can google for it) It splits by Silence detection. It works well.

I just use Audacity's silence finder to split up the audio books into chapters.

[elemenoP]

Since you guys are talking iPod alternatives, I have a question. I was thinking of getting my 7 year old an inexpensive mp3 player for Christmas. Not that she has asked, but right now she has a Barbie CD player and she knows that it sounds terrible. It seems... wrong to me for someone of her generation to build up a CD collection. Antiquated. Seems like it would be better to have an mp3 player and a speaker or speaker dock. We are an Apple family but I would rather get something less expensive for her.

So my questions. If I get a non-Apple mp3 player, how hard is it to manage the music? All I have to do is figure out where on my computer my mp3s actually are, and then drag them onto the player? My music comes from iTunes, Amazon, and my own ripped CDs. Is the interface on these little players, like the Sandisk clip zip, easy enough for a child to navigate?

Thanks,
eP

[Catlady]

With the Sansa Clip+ and Clip Zip, all you do is drag and drop.

The controls are small, though--so she'd need to have fine motor skills to operate them.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I use this case for my Clips. If I get the orange Clip I will order the pink one.

How are the speakers on that case? I have considered getting one a couple of time, but have been burnt on speakers that small more than once.