Anybody here got an iPod or good mp3 player?

[xcsti]

I love my zen touch, it is simple and has a great battery life. The one problem is that the scrolling is a little awkward and I have found myself scrolling past a title I want repetitivly before I could get it selected.

I talked to a few people who owned ipods before I bought mine, they all said they would have found something cheap had they known. The zen was $50 less than a comparable 20gig ipod and at the time had a HUGE advantage in battery life.

 

[VIPFREAK]

umm... ok...

I can't believe I'm mentioning a Creative product (especially one that you can get face plates for ) but... Creative Zen Neeon

 

[Pupik]

I think you should buy whatever MP3 player fits your budget and has all the features you need. Look into things like HDD or memory size, features (the ones you'll actually use), portability, etc. Will it sit in your car, your pocket, backpack, in your hand? Ask yourself these questions, do a little shopping and homework, and you'll figure out which one is best for you. Good advice when shopping any electronics.

Personally, I think an MP3 player that holds all your music with lots of room to spare is a good choice; you never have to delete anything, unless you absolutely want to.

I received a free 60GB iPod Photo (from work, not some online paradise), and since I've never used anything else, I don't really have much of an opinion on other brands. I like it, it's easy to use, but the battery isn't user serviceable (which might be a problem in 5 years).

 

[GilesGuthrie]

So, what we've learned here is that there are lots of portable MP3 players out there. People seem to have irrational fear and hatred of iPods, and are happy to denigrate a product simply because it's popular. There are lots of people saying really stupid things in this thread.

I take a hi-fi magazine on subscription. Every couple of months they review the available portables at particular price points or styles. If an iPod is in the contest it wins almost every time. Why is this do you think? Do you think that a hi-fi magazine is concerned with the device as a style statement? Do you think it's written by under-18s?

No.

The iPod (regular/Photo/Mini/Shuffle) consistently wins because it offers, in order:
- Sound quality (although they always recommend headphone replacement)
- Software (iTunes is, quite simply, one of the best applications ever - it does its job simply and with no fuss. It's logical and simple, yet powerful)
- Device Operation
- Device Form

The iPod Mini did lose a test against I think an iRiver. Then Apple went and increased battery life and disk size, and chopped the price. iPod Mini wins again.

I would contend that anyone who bought an iPod would be happy with it, unless they had very specific requirements that iPod could not meet, or they are so determined to follow their own path that they are willing to compromise their experience to be seen as different.

When you start looking around, you will see that iPods are being used by every layer and class and division in society.

 

[VIPFREAK]

They were paid to put it at the top. j/k Seriously, will they win in a cost contest? Doubt it.

I've heard a lot of people try to stand up for their iPoos and this one is probably the best, which isn't saying much.

 

[Duke]

I have a SanDisk CruzMicro Companion which I just put my 512mb Cruz Micro in...total cost 150 bucks after buying it with the thumbdrive off eBay.

OK, and I paid $199 for my 20 gb iPod. 33% more cost for what, 4000% more capacity? I'm 40, immune to advertising, and not a fashion victim. I also have a 1 gb Shuffle which I use for mowing the lawn and other dirty work... that I paid $150 for. That's only a 100% improvement in capacity but it's a 0% increase in cost, which theoretically is an infinitely better value (of course going only by capacity here to make the point).

I'll never claim it's the greatest. But at $199 it was the nicest one I saw.

So I was thinking about getting an Ipod Shuffle, because it´s not expensive and it has enough space for me. But, does it have good sound quality and battery life? Is there any other MP3 player around that price with the same quality?

The 1 gb Shuffle is nice for how I use it. I don't want to take th iPod out and wear it while I'm doing yard work. The Shuffle weighs nothing and stays clean and I'm not worried about damaging it. Certainly if you always listen on shuffle anyway, it's ideal for you. You can navigate forward and back but if you hear a song and decide you want to listen to the rest of the album, just slide the switch off of "shuffle" and voila it's in playlist mode. iTunes lets you keep a folder mounted for the Shuffle so you can set up a playlist for it before you sync, or it will randomly grab a new collection of songs for itself if you wish. For general use I prefer the bigger iPod with the clickwheel and the screen, but I like the Shuffle too. With my MDR-EX71 phones it sounds great and is close to weightless.

I've heard a lot of people try to stand up for their iPoos and this one is probably the best, which isn't saying much.

And nearly all the anti-iPod people - especially you - have only managed to demonstrate that you hate the iPod... because you hate it. The only one of you with anything like a reason to back it up is eMad.

On the subject of battery life, I get about 10-12 hours out of the iPod, and 12-14 hours out of the Shuffle. I don't think that's unreasonable. My main issue is actually how long it takes to charge rather than how long it plays once it is charged.

 

[smellysocks12]

I received a free 60GB iPod Photo (from work, not some online paradise), and since I've never used anything else, I don't really have much of an opinion on other brands. I like it, it's easy to use, but the battery isn't user serviceable (which might be a problem in 5 years).

This is with practically all hard drive based music players. The positive site about Apple is that they do have a decent replacement service, and if you don't want that there are 3rd party replacements sets with which you can do it yourself. (www.ipodlounge.com reviewed many of them)

They were paid to put it at the top. j/k Seriously, will they win in a cost contest? Doubt it.

Who says that low cost is what Apple is aiming for? I guess people who buy an Audi A4 are dumb too, for not simply buying a Volkwagen Passat which is practically the same car but cheaper?




Off topic: Wow, Duke on the same team with me here.

 

[VIPFREAK]

And nearly all the anti-iPod people - especially you - have only managed to demonstrate that you hate the iPod... because you hate it. The only one of you with anything like a reason to back it up is eMad.

oh sorry... here I'll change that with the ex. for the iPoo shuffle.

let's see... $150, no screen, 512mb, and a "shuffle feature".

Mine... $180, Backlited screen, 512mb, has several SETTINGS for different kinds of "shuffling" AS well as...

- FM Radio which you can record from
- Line-In Record
- Eq

and last but not least a built-in transmitter for wireless use in a car for example.

Is that good enough??

oh yeah and I'll even say the batt. sucks because it's a gum type which isn't common but it lasts 10hrs. I think it was maybe more.

Is that good enough why an iPoo is worthless???

I can make a list for the 20gb later but I have to leave for work.

 

[Pebb]

I,m going to be buying an MP4 player this year or next year buds.

 

[smellysocks12]

let's see... $150, no screen, 512mb, and a "shuffle feature".

Mine... $180, Backlited screen, 512mb, has several SETTINGS for different kinds of "shuffling" AS well as...

Is that good enough why an iPoo is worthless???

Stop being an arsehole and backing up your opinion with lies.


First of all a 1024mb version costs $129, so for $50 less than yours you could have had a shuffle with twice as much space. A 512mb shuffle is $99, which is almost half the price of yours. So you practically paid $80 for a screen and built in radio.



Besides that why would you want to record from the radio anyway? Probably only "because you can".


I don't even want to see your list of why a normal iPod is 'worthless', because you'll only prove that you are prejudiced.

 

[Duke]

oh sorry... here I'll change that with the ex. for the iPoo shuffle.
let's see... $150, no screen, 512mb, and a "shuffle feature".

Uhh, NO. $150, 1 gb. The 512 mb Shuffles are $99. The rest is true.

Mine... $180, Backlited screen, 512mb, has several SETTINGS for different kinds of "shuffling" AS well as...
- FM Radio which you can record from
- Line-In Record
- Eq
and last but not least a built-in transmitter for wireless use in a car for example.

...for $81 more - almost twice the price - of a comparably-sized Shuffle.

Is that good enough??

No.

$19 more than you paid for your wonderful bargain bought me a 20gb iPod. An additional $20 for the FM tuner/transmitter. Call it $40 (22%) more for 4000% more capacity. Where's your bargain now?

Is that good enough why an iPoo is worthless???

Still, NO.

Look, hate what you want to hate, I don't care. But don't pretend that your extreme position is dictated purely by objective logic when you clearly can't even begin to back it up.

 

[stumpydino]

ipods ew. i prefer the zen and dont think i have something against apple i have a G5. i dont really like the look of ipods milky color either

 

[Raptor65]

Well, guys, I appreciate all the comments, the good and the bad, but I've pretty much decided that I'm still gonna go with the iPod. It sounds perfect to me. I have one simple question, that I haven't seen answered anywhere. All I want to know is if you can still listen to music as you charge the battery, b/c if so, then it will really be perfect b/c most of the time I'm near a plug-in anyway, so. If somebody could fill me in on that, i'd appreciate it.

 

[Duke]

All I want to know is if you can still listen to music as you charge the battery, b/c if so, then it will really be perfect b/c most of the time I'm near a plug-in anyway, so. If somebody could fill me in on that, i'd appreciate it.

On the iPod, yes. The 'Pod charges through a port that plugs into either a FireWire port (and charges it through that) or the same port has a cable that plugs into the charger brick. You can listen off the other end while it charges through the port.

The Shuffle charges through a powered USB port... I haven't tried it but I see no reason it couldn't be used while charging.

 

[VIPFREAK]

Look, hate what you want to hate, I don't care. But don't pretend that your extreme position is dictated purely by objective logic when you clearly can't even begin to back it up.

Well you guys just shuffle along then... since that is the ONLY thing you CAN do.

whatever.

 

[oosacker]

Well, guys, I appreciate all the comments, the good and the bad, but I've pretty much decided that I'm still gonna go with the iPod. It sounds perfect to me. I have one simple question, that I haven't seen answered anywhere. All I want to know is if you can still listen to music as you charge the battery, b/c if so, then it will really be perfect b/c most of the time I'm near a plug-in anyway, so. If somebody could fill me in on that, i'd appreciate it.

most players can play while charging.

 

[Flame-returns]

I am a pround owner of an iRiver H340;
it has a colour screen,
2 headphone jacks (ones a line outbut I use it when sharing, easier than one of those splitter things)
It can play videos,
it has a radio,
a built in mic and record function,
a line in (a couple of musical friends of mine were recording a track when my laptop crashed, I managed to continue recording on my iRiver, 2 guitars, 1 bass, 2 mics, some ams, a tascam, and an interface were all plugged into my iriver.)
A usb host port allowing me to plug in my digital camera...

The 20gb version of the iRiver player costs less than a 20gb U2 iPod, iPods are not bad, they are just VERY OVERPRICED!!!

I do however object to iPod owners seeming to think that;
a) the iPod is the only mp3 player out there,
b)it is not an mp3 player.

 

[the_undrtaker89]

I got this, It's pretty good for travelling.

The battery life is pretty bad tho and it's got a lot of bugs in it, such as load is very slow, freezes every once and a while, fragile(kinda I've dropped it over 50 times by now and there aren't any functional problems) but the kick stand in the back broke and the earphone slot is too wide, so headphones are loose. The thing can last me a whole day of school. It supports mp3,Asf,Mpeg4 and a few others.
I think they took it off the market tho, because it was so faulty. But I've become best friends with it. In the beginning it really pissed me off, but now i don't know what I would do without it. And it's great as a second HD.

 

[gibus]

I'm at my third iPod, and I am so glad that I always stuck to them. (no they did not break, I just resold each one of them to upgrade to a newer one).

My mom and my sister have iPods too, and believe me, they do not go anywhere without them. One thing that I am sure that no other 4-6gb player can do is survive the shock of a bike riding over it, falling from the first floor, and my sister's iPod is still going...

You're making a good choice buying an iPod, don't forget to make use of the student reduction if you meet the requirements. Makes the iPod even cheaper.

To all of you people that are crying about the price, one day you'll understand that paying for quality is worth it. Of all my three ipods, this includes a 2nd Gen. Ipod 20 gig, 4gb Mini 1st Gen. and my new 2nd Gen. Mini in the 4gb version, they are all still working. The 20 gig 2nd Gen. is now owned by a friend and he has ordered a new battery that should last around 8-9 hours for fairly cheap. I've seen people change the battery and honestly it ain't hard. A dumb blonde did it, so can you. IPod players are of high quality, and honestly if they weren't, I don't think you'd get companies like Bose making docks for a "crappy and expensive player".

 

[VIPFREAK]

I was just wondering on the damn verdict for the iPoo... Does it do drag and drop at all??? even the HP versions or is it strictly only iBoons??

edit:

I think I will be getting a Creative Zen Neeon Has everything my player has except for the FM Transmitter but it has 5gb. 👍

 

[discopotato]

hey, i got my 512 mb with a screen, eq, line in, microphone, and shuffle feature for 100$ too. i could've bought the 1 gb for 150$ but i was low on funds at the time. but ipods are good none the less but i'd prefer something else. i'm retarded but i couldn't figure out how to navigate my aunt's ipod mini but my mental condition explains that. i read a contest of small HDD mp3 players and the iPod mini won because it looks cool. not because of sound quality featured formats (a few ogg compatible ones were in the mix) or anything but because it looked cool. never read that mag again.

anybody know how the dell DJ is?

 

[VIPFREAK]

Eat your hearts out iPoo owners Muahahahahah Oh and I got a FM Transmitter cheap too.

 

[Duke]

Eat your hearts out iPoo owners Muahahahahah Oh and I got a FM Transmitter cheap too.

Why am I eating my heart out again? You got an MP3 player that's 25% the capacity of mine, that has a small and ugly orange screen, and you paid $4 less than I did. I can't really see the controls, so I can't pass judgement on them; but the fact that I can't see the controls doesn't say anything good about how easy it is to operate.

Actually, including shipping, you paid $6 more than I did for 15gb less capacity. I'm underwhelmed. Frankly, the built-in FM tuner you got is no replacement for the FireWire I got, considering I can upload all 20 gigs of music faster than you can put 5 gigs on that thing via USB.

And it's in a case (80mm x 47mm x 16mm) only slightly smaller than mine (104mm x 61mm x 15mm) and no smaller than an iPod Mini. Yet your display is only 4 lines of text; and less than half the size of my display on my 4G. The current iPod displays are 220x176, full color, compared to your 128x64 2-tone. Ohh, wait, you can change the color of your backlight - 7 whole choices. Congratulations. What a value.

Yours weighs 100g less than mine (75g to 175g), I'll grant you. When I take up marathon running, I'll carry my Shuffle instead... at a mere 22 grams, and it's only 84mm x 25mm x 8mm.

Honestly, you're beating yourself to death trying to prove that we're idiots for owning iPods, and I must say from an objective standpoint, you're failing spectacularly.

 

[Flame-returns]

http://iriver.com/html/product/prpa_product.asp?pidx=42

Try that, a great mp3 player with a colour screen, radio, and video playback. It also has every possible feature in the player and every possible acsessory in the box. This includes a very tough good-looking leather case totally free...

All for less than a U2 iPod...
Satisfied, Duke?

 

[VIPFREAK]

Why am I eating my heart out again? You got an MP3 player that's 25% the capacity of mine, that has a small and ugly orange screen, and you paid $4 less than I did. I can't really see the controls, so I can't pass judgement on them; but the fact that I can't see the controls doesn't say anything good about how easy it is to operate.

Actually, including shipping, you paid $6 more than I did for 15gb less capacity. I'm underwhelmed. Frankly, the built-in FM tuner you got is no replacement for the FireWire I got, considering I can upload all 20 gigs of music faster than you can put 5 gigs on that thing via USB.

And it's in a case (80mm x 47mm x 16mm) only slightly smaller than mine (104mm x 61mm x 15mm) and no smaller than an iPod Mini. Yet your display is only 4 lines of text; and less than half the size of my display on my 4G. The current iPod displays are 220x176, full color, compared to your 128x64 2-tone. Ohh, wait, you can change the color of your backlight - 7 whole choices. Congratulations. What a value.

Yours weighs 100g less than mine (75g to 175g), I'll grant you. When I take up marathon running, I'll carry my Shuffle instead... at a mere 22 grams, and it's only 84mm x 25mm x 8mm.

Honestly, you're beating yourself to death trying to prove that we're idiots for owning iPods, and I must say from an objective standpoint, you're failing spectacularly.

it's ok, I know your obssessed with that circle you can twirl around all day too bad it didn't do anything else.

I was referring to the iPoo mini more but even the 20gb will do because while your going through all 20gb for a certain song I'll be ahead thanks to drag and drop which includes organizing it my way not iPoo's way. That's FM radio, FM Radio record, Line-in Record and Voice record. That's funny I heard USB 2.0 is actually faster and even if it isn't I don't have a problem uploading song from a different computer because I don't need proprietary software(iBoons) like your iPoo.

Tell me when your batt. runs out.

well in that case I can take my old mp3 player and configure the many "shuffle" features.

I'm not beating my self? are you?

 

[discopotato]

yeah duke, you got yours for 200$ but how are one of us supposed to get one for that much? I can't find anything like it. 220$ for a 30 gig zen xtra is good for me and doesn't have that painful touch interface that i don't like a whole lot. plus 4 gig ipod mini 200$, 4 gig zen micro is 180$(yay) plus i like my wma's too. but ipods are still good at that.

 

[Duke]

http://iriver.com/html/product/prpa_product.asp?pidx=42

Try that, a great mp3 player with a colour screen, radio, and video playback. It also has every possible feature in the player and every possible acsessory in the box. This includes a very tough good-looking leather case totally free...

All for less than a U2 iPod...
Satisfied, Duke?

Sure, it looks like a nice MP3 player indeed! I don't have any problem calling a good piece of equipment good, no matter who makes it. I don't know the price for the H320 (I couldn't find it listed), but it's pretty much like the newer color iPods, minus FireWire but plus an FM tuner and video playback. I'd never use the video feature, I don't think, but I could easily see how someone might.

[edit] OK, I just looked, and the new 20 and 60 gig 'Pods offer composite video out and they'll take picture input from digital cameras or via syncing. With the composite video cable they'll broacast slideshows with audio to a TV or projectore. Still, it's not video playback, I agree, but it's not nothing, either.

The U2 iPod is a terrible value, too; only an idiot would pay that much extra for it. It's more than half again what I paid for my 20gb 4G iPod, and the only thing is it's got a black and red case. Even if I liked U2 all that much, I'd be a fool to buy it.

But I'm not on here saying "eat your heart out, iPoo owners" and then offering up a product that was $6 more expensive than an iPod while being considerably worse in capacity (the iPod was 400% larger in storage) and notably lacking in features (screen size, FireWire support). I paid $199 for an open-box, unused iPod 20gig 4G; the same thing that he paid for his 5 gig player, also open-box. I just walked into the Apple store and they had 4 or 5 of them sitting there on the back table; I'm sure they're available online as well.

I'm not an iPod fanboy. I've never said that iPods are the only MP3 player worth owning. But VIPFREAK is so obsessed with not having an iPod that he's trying desperately to prove that they're bad, and he bought something that is notably not as good, for the same money, and he's on here bragging about it.

 

[Duke]

it's ok, I know your obssessed with that circle you can twirl around all day too bad it didn't do anything else.

It does a lot of things. In fact it's really easy to control volume, position, playback, and the menus with it. It took about 27 seconds to figure out the first time I used the 'Pod, and I've never had to think about it again until now. How exactly does it "not do anything else"? What precisely does it need to do besides provide a simple and fast interface to the music? Should it cook me breakfast? Change my oil? Your posts make no sense.

I was referring to the iPoo mini more but even the 20gb will do because while your going through all 20gb for a certain song I'll be ahead thanks to drag and drop which includes organizing it my way not iPoo's way.

Again, do you actually know anything about iPods? In the time it takes for you to find the file on your computer's hard drive, I'll find it on the 'Pod. It's just not that difficult. And where on earth do you get the idea that I must adhere to "the iPoo's way" in how the music is organized? I can set up any playlists I want, organized any way I want. Why do you keep insisting I can't?

That's FM radio, FM Radio record, Line-in Record and Voice record.

I've admitted I don't have an FM tuner/recorder. I don't need or want one, but that's irrelevant; the fact is this feature is not included in the iPod. There is one advantage you've shown me so far. ONE.

That's funny I heard USB 2.0 is actually faster and even if it isn't I don't have a problem uploading song from a different computer because I don't need proprietary software(iBoons) like your iPoo.

You're making a big deal out of this; to me it's not a big deal, but I'll grant that to some it might be.

The 'Pod will take USB 2.0 or FireWire. I don't know which is faster, but I've got my options. I know for damn sure that FireWire is faster than USB 1.0 on computers that don't support 2.0, like my 5-year-old G4, among many others.

Tell me when your batt. runs out.

I'll let you know in about 13 or 14 hours. Short battery life is not a problem of the 4G pods, anyway; I have to charge mine about once every 2 weeks. Again, you keep insisting this is a problem, when it hasn't been for several years at least.

well in that case I can take my old mp3 player and configure the many "shuffle" features.

How many different ways can you need to shuffle? And if I need to do that, I can quickly set up playlists to duplicate whatever mode you're talking about.

I'm not beating my self? are you?

No. I'm beating you. So far you've almost completely failed to demonstrate that anything about your player is better than my 20 gig iPod, except for the fact that it's not an iPod, which is apparently the single thing you're most concerned about.

 

[VIPFREAK]

Ok, well I'll be enjoying the multiple capabilities of mine while yours just looks pretty... I'm done with my argument and people will see how much they lose out, if not they are just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[Duke]

Ok, well I'll be enjoying the multiple capabilities of mine while yours just looks pretty.

OK, enjoy your FM tuner. That's the only thing you've got I don't.