A Long Expected Journal

MP3 players have gotten pretty cheap these days, you could get one like this, the only trick is that it's battery powered as well. AAAs are a lot easier to carry around though, and it just needs one at a time?

Just about any media player you get is bound to have issues, unless you're like...in business class and they have plugs for chargers. Probably the one with the most charge time would be an iPod, and that would require iTunes and lots of frustration. Ones like the one I have (and the one I linked, it's very similar) basically work like a flash drive, you can just plug them into your USB and drag and drop files, and since they work off flash memory they're a lot less expensive and a lot less likely to up and die, but their capacity is smaller. 'nother option is one like this Sansa, which has more memory and a rechargeable battery. They usually run off USB power, but you can get a wall charger too. Only trick would be if the wall prongs are different in Japan.

Stop by Circuit City if you can and look around. I think they're still open, and since they're liquidating everything you might find something cheap...

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AND ADDED ON; I don't know if this will work for international flights, but I know for domestic you're usually allowed one carry on and one 'purse.'

Messenger bags count as a purse and you can cram a lot of crap in there. S'what I did when I went to Washington this last summer. :D

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This is why I love my flist. That little one you linked up there would be about perfect. One AAA is a lot better than a pair of AAs for probably the same battery life. A rechargeable one would be easier, but I'll have no way to recharge it while I'm in-transit, and that's the worry, really. And that one you linked is about five dollars cheaper than the ones I found while messing around this morning. I shall consider this, yes.

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Like someone said above, MP3 players aren't that expensive anymore, although personally, I'd invest in an iPod. :[ It's super handy and extremely user-friendly, plus the Nano operates on a flash drive which means it's less likely to break down since there are no little pieces that can fall apart inside unlike devices which use a hard drive. It has a 24 hour battery life, so it should last you almost the entire flight.

If you don't care about having the ability to pick your songs, the iPod Shuffle is the cheapest (I think 2 GB storage for under $90). It is also extremely tiny. You could pop it in your shirt pocket or clip it to your belt loop.

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You wound me, Maia. :<

And fine, I admit that I'm prejudiced against iPods and other varieties of Apple product.

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Muahahaha. You know, at first I was kinda against it too because it was everywhere, but then I figured I should give it a shot before I decided to condemn it. And it worked like a dream unlike my first MP3 player which lasted all of 3 months before it completely died. :( So now I am in love.

(Also, I must admit to being a big whore for aesthetic value when it comes to products, and I adore Apple's designs. >>;)

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I was more against it because of the whole hearing people rant and rave when it died like two days after the warranty expired and people having problems with iTunes and all of that. :< Plus, they're too expensive for me to even consider and I have no need for a MP3 player with enough gigs to nearly outdo my hard drive. I still haven't filled mine and I just have a little 2 gig Creative MuVo.

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If I actually planned on using it a lot, I probably would spend the extra money for something bigger name, but I don't really travel much where I can't listen to the radio in my car or music on my comp or whatever, so this trip may very well be the only time I'll need it.

My nephew has a Nano and absolutely adores it, though, and that long battery life IS tempting. I shall think on this further, but yay options.

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As the others have stated, an MP3 player will be your best bet. My iPod is pretty much my lifeline, take it everywhere. If you don't need the 30-120 gigs on a Classic, you could always go with a 4 or 8 gig Nano. And if you don't want to spend the amount on a new, you may be able to find a nice used one on E-Bay or something.

Other than that... I haven't entirely kept up with the news, but you're going to Korea, yes? I know when I went on Korean Air, they actually had satellite radio AND whole cd's downloaded to their system that you can listen to. I actually built my own playlist on the way back and just listened to that the whole way. ^_^ So, if you don't feel like dishing out any of your own money, there will at least be options while you're on the plane.

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I think I would be going with the Nano if I did get an iPod. I only have 4 gigs of music on my comp in the first place and I wouldn't need all of it.

Japan, actually. ^_^ I've got a friend who's over there with the JET program, and she's a BigEaster, so she scored tickets to DBSK's Hiroshima concert for The Secret Code~ *bounces* I am routing through Incheon, though, and flying Asiana Air both ways, so they might have that. I will have to look!

I've never flown overseas or gone anywhere that involved planes all on my own, though, so I'm a bit nervous. Any advice there? ^_^

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With the Nano, even if you only have 4gb of music now, I'd still go with at least an 8gb. Just because you don't get the FULL 4 gigs, and the 8 gig will give you room to add as you acquire new music.

That's so cool~! Very exciting that you get to go to a concert. That's kinda my ultimate goal for... someday. *laughs*

As far as flying advice... Try to get up and walk around relatively often, otherwise you just feel kinda weird. It was really difficult for me to fall asleep on the plane, so I'd suggest maybe some motion sickness medicine or something to make you drowsy. Or, hey, just do like I did and not sleep the whole way. *laughs* Other than that... Just try to relax and get used to the idea that you'll be in tight quarters with a bunch of other people for a long time. If you're okay with that, you should be good to go. ^_^

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I was planning on visiting her anyway this summer, but we were GOING to go to Comiket, which is in August. Then she put her name into the ticket raffle and ended up with a pair of tickets, so! I never ever ever thought I'd get to go to a DBSK concert, so I'm SO excited, even though it's still four months away. XD

I'm pretty good at sleeping through many things. I'm hoping I'll be able to do that, since the flight out leaves Chicago at 1:00am and arrives in Seoul at 5:00am local time. -_- Gonna be a loooooooooooooooooong day if I don't manage to sleep in there somewhere.

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I use a Coby MP3 player that I bought for about $35.00. It holds 2 GB of music and is remarkably sturdy; except for the earpieces which are trash. It is tiny and can run for a very long time on a single AA battery.

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So you like the Coby brand? I've been seeing mixed reviews online when I'm looking, but the one Ani linked to (which is a 4gb but for a similar price) looks about perfect for what I want.

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I overpaid? Woes.

I am very happy with my MP3 player, particularly its durability. It spends a lot of time getting banged around in my book bag and still functions well. I even left in my pants pocket and put it through the washing machine once and it still runs.

That said, there are some glitches. The earpieces that it comes with break easily. It also has a tendency not to sync up exactly if I am trying to program songs to play in a particular order, which annoys me.

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I dunno about that. It seems to be on sale at Amazon.

Wow. Washing machine? Really? That.. is very durable. o.O

I was planning on switching them out for my own pair of headphones, anyway. It took me some time to find a pair that didn't kill my ears in the first place, so I think I'll stick with those. Does it have a randomize feature? Or do you have to set a playlist?

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Yep. Washing machine. Although that was the 1 GB player. I liked it enough that bought a second with more space. The 1 GB still works.

The 1 GB player does not have a randomize feature, but the 2 GB one has different play settings, like random and repeat.

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