Use of Audiobooks Has anyone used the shuffle for audiobooks? Does the "bookmark" feature work? (i.e. on other ipods you can stop in the middle of a book and it will restart at that same point). Use of Audiobooks Has anyone used the shuffle for audiobooks? Does the "bookmark" feature work? (i.e. on other ipods you can stop in the middle of a book and it will restart at that... » Read More Use of Audiobooks Has anyone used the shuffle for audiobooks? Does the "bookmark" feature work? (i.e. on other ipods you can stop in the middle of a book and it will restart at that same point). « Show Less
1102296
You can't really bookmark, but when you turn it off and then back on, it is in the same place.
1102297
I am going to stand up for Marian, yes Audible can use the iPod, but your local public library probably offers a service called Overdrive (which is free with you library card compared to paying for Audible.com) that allows users to download audio books free of charge, but due to software issues they cannot be played on an iPod.
1102298
Marian, you are wrong. I second Flora's comment: Audible audiobook are natively supported by iPods. Audible support is explicitly listed in iPod tech specs!
1102299
The actual Apple IPods will only play audiobooks that you buy from Apple, because Apple refuses to let other audiobook publishers use their audio file format. Geuine Apple IPods also do not have the ability to "bookmark". To play downloadable audio books from libraries, Overdrive, Audible, etc., you need a non-Apple bookmark-enabled mp3 player. Most libraries and audiobook Web sites have a list of players that can play their books; the most ubiquitous are the "Creative Zen" line of MP3 players. They are not as slick as IPods, but they can play library audiobooks, and when you turn them off, will resume where you stopped. The actual Apple IPods will only play audiobooks that you buy from Apple, because Apple refuses to let other audiobook publishers use their audio file format. Geuine Apple IPods also do not have the ability to "bookmark". To play downloadable audio books from libraries, Overdrive, Audible, etc., you need a non-Apple bookmark-enabled mp3 player. Most libraries and audiobook Web sites have a list of players that can play their books; the most ubiquitous are the "Creative Zen" line of MP3 players. They are not as slick as IPods, but they can play library audiobooks, and... » Read More The actual Apple IPods will only play audiobooks that you buy from Apple, because Apple refuses to let other audiobook publishers use their audio file format. Geuine Apple IPods also do not have the ability to "bookmark". To play downloadable audio books from libraries, Overdrive, Audible, etc., you need a non-Apple bookmark-enabled mp3 player. Most libraries and audiobook Web sites have a list of players that can play their books; the most ubiquitous are the "Creative Zen" line of MP3 players. They are not as slick as IPods, but they can play library audiobooks, and when you turn them off, will resume where you stopped. « Show Less
1102300
I listen to audiobooks on my iPod all the time, you just import the CD's as MP3s into iTunes, and then drag them onto the shuffle. I find the audio quality of the library editions and Audible to be unacceptable (similar to am radio). The iPod also bookmarks your last position when you turn it off as long as your battery is charged. You do not have to use "aac" (Apple audio file format) files on the iPod, you can use MP3s, which is the standard format.
877837
Marian, this statement is completely wrong. I Am a long time member of Audible and can download books onto my iPod. In fact Audible offer a large discount off an Apple player as a promotion to get you to join. Audible works seamlessly with iTunes.
1102301
You are wrong about the larger ipods not being ale to play books from sources other than Apple. I get two or three books a month from audible and they work great on my 60g ipod. The bookmarks work and I have no trouble at all. I have 69 books (including Atlas Shrugged at 55 hrs and The Fountainhead) and every album my wife and I own and haven't hit 15 gig yet.
1102302
You can download many free audiobooks in m4b format from www.gutenberg.com. iTunes imports them without any trouble and they can be downloaded to iPods from a playlist. The bookmark feature seems to work, my (20GB) iPod started up where I had left off.
1507366
Yes it will book mark your audiobook , it will also keep your place for your music file or album.. I truly love this item. it is my second one, and that is only because I lost my first one.
712758
I don't know. I use it for audiobooks and I delete them when I have listened to them. Ann TT
3023
Yeah, personally I can't imagine trying to use a shuffle for books or podcasts even. I also had a second gen shuffle die on my in only a few weeks. IMO you really want at least a nano.
432604
Most any MP3 player will work for books. A couple of things you may want to consider --- Where do you plan on downloading your books from? Many libraries have services where you can "check out" downloadable media and listen to books for free. Unfortunately, most of these services DON'T work with Ipods or Zunes. If you plan on using one of these services, check their website for compatibility. I also primarily listen to books on my MP3 player. I had an Ipod Nano (my daughter accidentally lost it!) and it was my favorite. I really miss it and keep trying to convince myself to splurge and buy another. My son has a Creative Zen and it also works well for audiobooks. Some of the lower end, cheaper units are designed primarily for music. With these, it's hard to access a specific track. So, for instance if you're on chapter 20 of a book and accidentally lose your place, then you have to "click" through 20 chapters to get back to where you were. On the better units like the Ipods and the Zen, you can go right to it. (for instance, sometimes I forget to turn the player off when I turn the car off and it's hours ahed of me) If you ever listen to more than one book at a time, make sure it has a bookmark feature. Otherwise you'll lose your place in book 1 when you switch to book 2 and back.
1491713
Each book will maintain its own bookmark upon exit. The FF-RW function works ok, the longer you hold down the button the faster it goes. Books will resume position after shutdown. I have both the Clip and ZIP, with the current firmware upgrade. I use mine exclusively for audio books.
717232
I don't use mine for audio books but my husband does and he says yes...it does. Please note though....he uses his primarily for audio books and the unit died after about 6 months of use. I have the same player in a different color and only use mine for work outs and mine is still working. I don't know if it was because you have it on such a long time when you are listening to audio books versus music or not.
2283006
I use the earphones with an iPod Shuffle. With that device it is one tap for pause, two taps for skip forward and three taps for skip back. Just checked, it works.
323487
I've never downloaded audiobooks before, but I think it should work. It is a regular ipod, if you can download it you can play it.
181219
I've had mine for a couple weeks, listening primarily to Audible.com books. So far, it's been the best I've found (aside from an iPod) with resume (interestingly, if the sleep timer shuts off the system, when you turn it back on, you don't need to hit play: it just starts playing where it left off). I haven't tried with any books using a DRM system yet, though.
271170
I have used this for audiobooks for more than a year. It is important that it is not paused while you fast forward or it will skip. It also seems that I have the best luck while pressing gently and steadily down on the right arrow key. If I press down without holding, the player skips to the next section. I have found that the player starts up right where I left it off if I hit pause and let it power down on its own. The only times I have to find my place are when I accidentally skip to the beginning of the next section or when I recharge it. I always have a pad by my computer and just write down the section and hours/minutes so I can find my place easily after charging.
611041
I use mine purely for audio books. I can download 8-10 books at a time (I am a member of audible.com). There are a few minor flaws with it, but I have worked out a few glitches. Holding down the FF or REW buttons cause it to speed up in that function. Also if you are in the chapter mode you can skip by the chapter. I have never tried it with podcasting, even though that is available through my service with audible.com. They have you register your device and then downloading is very easy, so I can't imagine that downloading a podcast would be any more complicated than a book. The only other flaw I have noticed is that when you pause it and then start it again, it skips a few seconds ahead. It doesn't do it if you pause then turn it off then turn it back on. (Pause then off is the way it will remember where you left off and when you turn it back on it will be at your stopping place ready to go again.) Hope this helps-I plan on picking another up for my kids.
1815483
I found that this is not the case. You cannot turn the unit off and have it restart where you left off. I listen to a lot of podcast and audiobooks. For example, if you're listening to a 45 min podcast and turn it off halfway through, you will need to restart the podcast. FF and rewind on the unit are so bad that they should be considered useless.
1145727
I don't have an audio book on mine yet, but for a song, there is a play speed option when you hold down the right side of the screen for an extra 2 seconds. It can be set to 0(default), 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Not sure what speeds they correspond to. Since audio books are part of the Music library options, I would guess this option is also available for audio books. I have firm-ware version 2.01US, so you might have to upgrade if your player has an older firmware. I didn't remember seeing the audio books option in the earlier firmware.
151721
A fellow audiobook lover, yes it can be used to listen to audio books that's why I bought mine. The volume level on some of these tablets is not very good but with the ihome mini speaker it really did boost the volume, I find myself turning it down. I can literally listen to my audiobooks and hear them being read all over the house. If you're on the fence about purchasing go ahead and purchase I think you wil be pleasantly surprised, and if not return it Amazon makes returns very easy.
1599995
Hi Larry - I am also looking for mp3 player for audiobooks from NetLibrary - Do you know if Sansa has bookmarking feature? How did you narrow your choices to Sansa? Thanks for your help. Willow
2165833
I have copied numerous books from CD into ITunes and then synced them to my IPod. I assume that copying Audible books is similar. Check out this page: http://www.audible.com/dc