Complete newbie user trying to figure out how to create playlists using Winamp

[norika]

Hi, I just purchased a SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip and I’m trying to figure out how to copy audio books to it, so I can listen to thier parts one after the other in Playlist fashion without having to use the Rhapsody software (it appears that you have to pay $10 per month for Rhapsody…correct?)  

There are different approaches. One set of instructions I found, for example, was about using Winamp and music folders…

Would this be the right approach for audio books, or just for music?  I had never heard of Winamp, but did download it and managed to create a playlist and copy the parts of my audio book to it…  I’ll slog my way through the instructions but I’d first like to determine if this is the right approach to start with!

[norika]

P.S. Here are the instructions I’m referring to: (no room for them in the first part of this post):

1. Connect your player in MSC mode. 
2. Create a new, blank playlist in Winamp. (Double-check it as I’ve found it sometimes adds your entire library to it un-announced). I usually right-click on PLAYLISTS . . .NEW.
3. Open a Windows Explorer pane with your player’s MUSIC folder in it (NOT your music folder/library on your computer!).
4. Drag’n’drop the files you want on the playlist from the Explorer window to the large playlist pane in Winamp.
5. When finished with your playlist, double-click on the playlist name in the left pane. This will send the contents of the playlist up to the Playlist Editor pane.
6. Click on FILE|Save Playlist. Here you will get the standard Windows SAVE box. Name your playlist again (should be the same as you named it in Winamp) and save in your MUSIC folder on your player (NOT in the PLAYLISTS folder as you would think. This is where you get the [empty] playlists).

[norika]

Hi…???  Is there anyone here who can help me?

[tapeworm]

Your player plays digital audio files. It doesn’t care whether they be music or spoken word (audio books). So any playlist creation method you use will work equally well for either. There are many methods to create playlists; you’ll just have to experiment to find the one that you like best and/or find easiest. The most important thing about audio book files is to have them tagged correctly. You can’t trust them to have their ID3 tags set up in the way your player needs them to be for proper operation. MP3Tag is a great, free program makes makes it very easy to edit them.

Here’s a similartutorial for creating .m3u format playlists in Winamp. It is dead simple and I have created dozens over the years.

[miikerman]

I don’t do playlists and so am not worth much, here.  But I located this thread with info. from another of the experts here, and perhaps it will help you.  Good luck!

http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/Sansa-Fuze/Adding-Playlists/m-p/55917#M40804

edit:  Looks like Tapeworm and I were posting around the same time, pointing back to his earlier Winamp playlist instructions.  Hope that’s a good sign for you!