Known Knowns

I’ve decided I want to purchase some kind of MP3 player.

This is a big deal for me because, if it weren’t for my software-engineer husband, I might still be living in a grass hut and pooping in a small hole in the back yard. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and I’m actually pretty computer-savvy for a regular, ol’, non-engineering type. But the truth is, Josh is the technogeek in the family, so I usually leave this stuff to him.

Case in point: he picked my cell phone for me : the ultra-hip Razr. (Aside from my turquoise Crocs and fish pants, it might be the hippest thing I own.) When I recently broke it by dropping it for the nine-hundredth time (those things are durable as hell,) he did the research and got me a new phone, called tech support when it arrived broken, and eventually fixed my old Razr by pressing hard on an annoying piece of metal that will remain anonymous. The same basic principal applied to my laptop. And our TV. And our car. It’s not that I refuse to do the research, or that I’m subservient (ha) but he clearly likes to do it, and I clearly enjoy his choices, which might be one reason why we’re so compatible.

So I decided I wanted an MP3 player. I used to have an Ipod Shuffle which I liked about 40% of the time, when it was working properly. This was the first generation Ipod, the lamer-looking white one with no LCD. It was okay when it wasn’t completely cutting out on me. So we sold it to some sucker on Ebay and my life has never been the less for it.

Now things have apparently changed. I’m facing an hour-long bus ride to school every morning. In the midst of my corporate toiling, I’ve become a news addict, particularly in the morning. And because of where I work, I’m starting to get used my complete and increasing dependence on technology. So, though I, now is probably a good time to buy an Ipod.

Now it gets tricky. What kind of Ipod? How much space on the drive? What color? Do I buy the skin? How about the elastic band for wearing the thing on my arm? I thought and thought, and spent many hours on the company dime, researching the best thing for me, looking for a discount, chewing on whether I should get the extended warranty, and blah, blah, blah. Before this, I researched a lot of sewing machines and ended up with a great choice. Before that? I can’t remember the last time. Isn’t that why I married the Engineer?

Alright, I’m getting tired of documenting my every decision with regards to this MP3 player thing. The long and short of it is, I’m not even getting an Ipod! They are the comfortable choice for most people who are afraid of the research, but the fact is, they are flawed just like every other piece of technology. The other fact is, the Ipod wasn’t exactly what I wanted, and in the process of assuming that’s what I was going to get, I forgot that there are about a million of these little gadgets on the market, so one of them ought to be a pretty close match to what I want, which includes, in no particular order…

• The ability to play news podcasts, or, even better, listen to the radio on the bus
• The ability to store lots of music, but I don’t require 30 gigs, more like 1 or 2.
• I don’t care about video. At all.
• I do care about price and am not looking to pay more than about $100.
• Voice recording would be great, so I can record lectures, which I hear is a helpful study method
• A battery life that will get me to school and back. I can recharge over night.
• Some kind of little screen to help me navigate to my podcasts. (So the Shuffle is out.)
• It would help if it wasn’t totally lame looking, but I guess I take what I can get for under$100, right? Must look good with turquoise Crocs and fish pants.

So, really, when you think about it, those things aren’t necessarily all in an Ipod. So, I did a little more research, read a ton of reviews, and this is what I’ve come up with:

This is the SanDisk Sansa Express and it has a lot of the stuff I want, plus it’s butt-ass cheap which makes me want it even more. I’m going to give this thing a try and maybe even do a review in my non-techno kind of way. This research has actually been fun but I’ll probably still leave most of it to Josh, because he likes it way more than I do. The weird thing is, I’ll be able to say I actually have an MP3 player, which makes me slightly more hip than I really am.