What would be an inexpensive setup to play & store MP3 ? I know an older couple, who do not have, or want, a computer, but would like to play MP3s without having to constantly use a music DVD since they tend to wear out over time.
Any ideas ?
You could load up a USB stick with 500 or 5000 songs and plug it right into the receiver or radio. Not sure how you navigate to various songs or folders on that type of setup.
That's what I use in my car---the radio has an ordinary USB port and I have a 64 GB thumb drive in it that holds 15000 songs. I use "random play", but you can navigate among folders and go to a given song through the knobs and buttons on the radio.
There's all kind of so-called "mp3 players" that are designed for portable use and playback through headphones, like you might use if out for a jog or bike ride, but I'm not sure how suitable they are for use at home and plugging into a decent set of speakers. I think these portable things have a USB port and internal storage. You "inject" your mp3s into them.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...lt=True&page=1
Some of the radios below have USB inputs and I think you'd play mp3s directly from a USB stick.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...CH&isdeptsrh=1
I'd think the main limitation of all of these things would be the speaker quality. Maybe your friends don't expect much? Maybe they can tolerate headphones? Maybe they already have a decent home stereo with decent speakers that a portable playback unit could plug into? You just aren't going to get hi-fi sound on a 3 inch speaker, but they can be tolerable for ordinary background listening.
Otherwise, expect to pay for speakers or rely on headphones.
I suppose I was thinking about playing the MP3s from a storage device and putting away the DVD.
Seems like some type of HD would be needed and some way to copy the songs to the flash drive or HD.
I've got quite a few 30 y/o CDs in like new condition so I reject the idea optical media "wears out" in any sort of relevant timeframe, especially for an "older couple". That said, a great setup would be an iPod Touch and some sort of AirPlay speakers, either standalone or part of a stereo. An AirPort Express can serve as an Airplay bridge to a stereo that doesn't have AirPlay capabilities. It's what I do, and I like the 1' UI on the Touch for music a lot better than the 10' UIs of WMC, XBMC, etc, plus, I don't have to turn on a TV to play music. They would probably enjoy an iPad even more.
If the mp3s are now on burned DVDs you need to have some way to transfer them to something else--that something else would typically be a USB stick and I assume you'd do that through a computer.
Once transferred to USB stick, you'd then either play directly from the USB stick plugged into something like a radio or stereo receiver or instead transfer again from the USB stick to some type of internal storage on a separately purchased player, usually a "portable" player designed to play through headphones, but possibly connectible to a home stereo system.
The portable devices should have the internal storage. The radios likely don't.
I appreciate the input. I'll have to consider the options and hopefully come up with a plan that will work for them.
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