Where are the non-SDMI MP3 Players?

alen asks: "I'm in the market for an MP3 player. I've been looking at various models and they all seem to be SDMI ready or compliant. Looking at customer reviews on Amazon confirms this as you'll find at least one person saying you can't transfer the music from the MP3 player to your PC. At least on the newer players you do." I've been resisting the urge to get an MP3 player for precisely this reason, opting to use my laptop and a cassette adaptor for those long driving trips, but this is hardly affordable or efficient. Handhelds might work, but memory is a problem here. Are there any players out there that haven't forgotten the "fair" part in "fair-use"?

"So far I have narrowed my search to 3 choices. I want it to sound very good and be able to play music encoded at 128kb or higher.

The Rio Volt 250 is a CD based player so the SDMI thing doesn't really apply. The Creative Labs Nomad II" proudly displays this as a feature. The Samsung Yepp doesn't use SDMI, but something called SecuMax as stated in the Nomad II technical specs on Amazon. And this little tid bit on the Samsung Yepp homepage confirms that SecuMax is just like SDMI.

Now I'm not looking to download any illegal music from the Internet. I simply want to listen to my CD collection on the train to work or while working out. And there is freely downloadable music out there. If I were to download a song at work or a friend's house, put it in my MP3 player I then wouldn't be able to transfer it back to my PC at home to add to my collection. Where is 'fair use' when the artist is giving away their music for free? And I don't have the link, but what of the recent surges in so called 'secure' CD's that one can't rip into MP3's? Where is the 'fair use' there? Or are we supposed to purchase multiple copies of the same music in different formats?"

Comments

Ask Slashdot:

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there any weaponized viruses that can cause the sudden and catastrophic loss of all muscular control of the sphincter? If it can be delivered to large portions of the population, would we all be forced from the cities, fleeing before a sickening tidal wave of "mud", if you know what I mean and I think you do?

Re:Women - The Myth of the Internet

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you calling my mother a lesbian!?!?!?!?

Ask Slashdot:

[Anonymous Coward]

Are homosexuals really Gay?

Re:Copying from portable to PC?

[Anonymous Coward]

gah, i really should gramaar check these things before sending them off.

who are in groups = who are not in groups

Re:Homosexual: Dead at Age 25

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I think his name was King Africa

rent a gun and buy a bullet...

[crow_t_robot]

kill yourself... ...it's for your own good

VHS - PAL vs NTSC?

[DamienMcKenna]

I moved from Ireland to the US and have to re-buy all the movies I bought because I can't play them on American VCRs. Is that fair?

Re:iPod?

[Anonymous Coward]

How does it "blow it out of the water" (gay expression, btw).
I have an Archos, so I'm familiar with its strengths/shortcomings.

Re:I don't think that word means what you think...

[Anonymous Coward]

Wub, wub, wub.....

Re:iPod?

[Anonymous Coward]

How does it "blow it out of the water" (gay expression, btw).

gay expression?

What are you.... 12 years old?

Re:iPod?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Gay" is now an accepted part of the language, meaning "goofy, in a dorky way". Where have you been since the 5th grade?

Gay and Ghey, read on...

[WiseWeasel]

You're thinking of the word "Ghey", meaning lame, as opposed to the word "Gay", meaning homosexual or happy, depending on your era. "Ghey" is a perfectly acceptable word, not to be confused with "Gay", so this is not using homosexuality as a negative label. I am pushing for the broad acceptance of the word "Ghey" in the English (well American anyway) language, so as to avoid critique from Gay rights groups and individuals. So the next time someone says "you shouldn't say 'Gay' like that", you can say, "oh no, I'm saying 'Ghey' as in 'lame', not 'Gay', silly goose!".