I have no particular love for iPods, though I might be inclined to try one again if someone could give me good reason. My last one was a Creative Zen, which I really liked, but which I could never make my computer recognize (my friend put all her music on it for me). I mostly just use them for running around the neighborhood or at the gym, and sometimes in my car or while travelling, so it doesn't have to do thirty things.
My iPod Classic does everything I need it to. They may be overpriced and iTunes is annoying sometimes, but I can listen to my music every day without trouble. With smaller companies, it's hard to gauge how stable the product's gonna be, or how well they'll support it, or whatever.
There's really no reason not to go with some kind of iPod, honestly. They come in all shapes and sizes and prices, you don't HAVE to use iTunes. The only reason I can see not to at least consider them is if you're a hard-core Apple hater.
Sansa makes pretty decent, cheap MP3 players. If you go with Sansa, make sure you can browse files rather than having to tag everything and make playlists, cause that can be a real pain in the ass.
With a plugin, you can use an iPod with Winamp or Media Monkey or whatever... most media programs have something for it.
The benefit to using one of those is that you can add movies or audio books or whatever without having to convert/import to iTunes' liking, but whenever you need to update or something through iTunes, it'll wipe your iPod and make you sync everything again.
@chipmunk: I'm putting it on my Christmas list, so it can really be any price, but I'd rather be on the lower end of the spectrum. I liked the look of this Sansa: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SDMX10R-8192-PB-R&cat=MP3
@Bustie and Hena: I'm wary of Apple because I had two iPods fail on me in as many years. I want something that will last a while. I actually don't hate iTunes, either - I thought the whole setup was very user-friendly. It was the physical product that crapped out on me.
@Monster Radio: See the link I posted to Chipmunk. I would like to make playlists as well, though, since I will want specific music to play while running or exercising. I was very frustrated that I couldn't create playlists with my Zen and spent so much of my workout skipping through music instead of listening to it.
You know it depends on which iPod you've had. They're so much better recently than they were before, and I'd especially go with something flash drive based over a Classic.
what do you want to use it for? how much music do you have, and do you want to be able to load all of it on the player at once? how long would you want to go between charges? do you want to wear it during impact exercise? would you have use for watching videos? wifi access and other apps?
I don't mean that you shouldn't get one that doesn't use playlists at all. I mean you'll want to make sure it doesn't force you to make playlists if you don't want to.
Also, if modifying your MP3 player a bit doesn't scare you, Rockbox is a very good third-party firmware that will allow you to do much, much more with your MP3 player, and works with some Sansa players. It will even play OGG files and games, and allow you to use a 32gb miniSD. Check out rockbox.org if that interests you.
Speaking of which, the firmware that comes with the Sansa player you linked to is exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't tag all of your MP3s, it won't even recognise that the untagged files are there. It's kind of clunky like that. But Rockbox makes everything happy.
ive had a classic for almost 4 years and the only problem i've had with it is that the headphone jack crapped out around year 3. It's an easy fix but I use it mostly on a dock so I don't need the headphone jack anyway.
so yeah. if i wanted another ipod, i'd get another classic, cos i'm partial, and the nano doesn't come in a big enough capacity for my liking. and i just don't really like the ipod touch.
instead, though, i'm just gonna upgrade to the 32 gb iphone
Next time you buy a cell phone, get one with a microSD slot. Keep your music on the microSD card. Repeat every two years, and never have to worry about this problem ever again.
My 5 gigabyte first day iPod (as in: I worked at Apple and pre-ordered it 15 minutes after they announced it) still works, as does my 512 MB iPod shuffle, my 60 GB iPod, and the 1 GB metal shuffle. At least, I think the purple metal shuffle still works. I misplaced it in my room or somewhere about 3 weeks ago. It'll turn up sooner or later. It always does.
Get an iPod. They really make everything else seem like a cheap, half ass knock off.
my six-year-old 40GB ipod still works, but the battery doesn't hold a charge. i keep meaning to use it for something. i miss the days of firewire connections on ipods.
i do love my shuffle (the gray square-ish one, maybe three years old now?). apparently those are like $30 now. thinking of buying another so i have one pre-loaded with workout music and the other pre-loaded with travel music. ordinarily i'm an extreme comparison-shopper, but when it comes to music i know that apple stuff just works.
i also have an 8 GB ipod touch i won in a raffle. i use it all the time and like it, but not sure i would buy a replacement if i lost it. the wifi thing didn't live up to its hype (at all), because when you're out and about, all wifi networks are password protected these days.
Every iPod I've used has died due to me, not to anything hardware related. They're consistent, stable, pretty, and the interface (regardless of model, excluding the Shuffle) is generally intuitive and friendly. I've had other music/multimedia players in the past, but honestly I feel that iPods are 100% worth their hype.
@valkyrie blondhaar: that's the one i have.. it's reliable but the battery sucks, have to charge it every week. My wife has a sony and that thing has excellent battery life and sound quality. My only complain is that sony is usually expensive and don't get really loud. Their sound is the best i have heard (in my car, it was better than the ipod)
posted on Wednesday, Nov 18th by valkyrie blondhaar
I have no particular love for iPods, though I might be inclined to try one again if someone could give me good reason. My last one was a Creative Zen, which I really liked, but which I could never make my computer recognize (my friend put all her music on it for me). I mostly just use them for running around the neighborhood or at the gym, and sometimes in my car or while travelling, so it doesn't have to do thirty things.
My iPod Classic does everything I need it to. They may be overpriced and iTunes is annoying sometimes, but I can listen to my music every day without trouble. With smaller companies, it's hard to gauge how stable the product's gonna be, or how well they'll support it, or whatever.
Make sure you look into battery life and stuff too.
get a nano
There's really no reason not to go with some kind of iPod, honestly. They come in all shapes and sizes and prices, you don't HAVE to use iTunes. The only reason I can see not to at least consider them is if you're a hard-core Apple hater.
@Bustie: Really? What else can you use? I do want an iPod (the big original ones) but I can't stand itunes!
Sansa makes pretty decent, cheap MP3 players. If you go with Sansa, make sure you can browse files rather than having to tag everything and make playlists, cause that can be a real pain in the ass.
With a plugin, you can use an iPod with Winamp or Media Monkey or whatever... most media programs have something for it.
The benefit to using one of those is that you can add movies or audio books or whatever without having to convert/import to iTunes' liking, but whenever you need to update or something through iTunes, it'll wipe your iPod and make you sync everything again.
how much are you willing to spend?
i have a sansa for workout and the car since it is cheap is just an mp3
@chipmunk: I'm putting it on my Christmas list, so it can really be any price, but I'd rather be on the lower end of the spectrum. I liked the look of this Sansa: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SDMX10R-8192-PB-R&cat=MP3
@Bustie and Hena: I'm wary of Apple because I had two iPods fail on me in as many years. I want something that will last a while. I actually don't hate iTunes, either - I thought the whole setup was very user-friendly. It was the physical product that crapped out on me.
@Monster Radio: See the link I posted to Chipmunk. I would like to make playlists as well, though, since I will want specific music to play while running or exercising. I was very frustrated that I couldn't create playlists with my Zen and spent so much of my workout skipping through music instead of listening to it.
You know it depends on which iPod you've had. They're so much better recently than they were before, and I'd especially go with something flash drive based over a Classic.
what do you want to use it for? how much music do you have, and do you want to be able to load all of it on the player at once? how long would you want to go between charges? do you want to wear it during impact exercise? would you have use for watching videos? wifi access and other apps?
I don't mean that you shouldn't get one that doesn't use playlists at all. I mean you'll want to make sure it doesn't force you to make playlists if you don't want to.
Also, if modifying your MP3 player a bit doesn't scare you, Rockbox is a very good third-party firmware that will allow you to do much, much more with your MP3 player, and works with some Sansa players. It will even play OGG files and games, and allow you to use a 32gb miniSD. Check out rockbox.org if that interests you.
Speaking of which, the firmware that comes with the Sansa player you linked to is exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't tag all of your MP3s, it won't even recognise that the untagged files are there. It's kind of clunky like that. But Rockbox makes everything happy.
ive had a classic for almost 4 years and the only problem i've had with it is that the headphone jack crapped out around year 3. It's an easy fix but I use it mostly on a dock so I don't need the headphone jack anyway.
so yeah. if i wanted another ipod, i'd get another classic, cos i'm partial, and the nano doesn't come in a big enough capacity for my liking. and i just don't really like the ipod touch.
instead, though, i'm just gonna upgrade to the 32 gb iphone
Next time you buy a cell phone, get one with a microSD slot. Keep your music on the microSD card. Repeat every two years, and never have to worry about this problem ever again.
My 5 gigabyte first day iPod (as in: I worked at Apple and pre-ordered it 15 minutes after they announced it) still works, as does my 512 MB iPod shuffle, my 60 GB iPod, and the 1 GB metal shuffle. At least, I think the purple metal shuffle still works. I misplaced it in my room or somewhere about 3 weeks ago. It'll turn up sooner or later. It always does.
Get an iPod. They really make everything else seem like a cheap, half ass knock off.
my six-year-old 40GB ipod still works, but the battery doesn't hold a charge. i keep meaning to use it for something. i miss the days of firewire connections on ipods.
i do love my shuffle (the gray square-ish one, maybe three years old now?). apparently those are like $30 now. thinking of buying another so i have one pre-loaded with workout music and the other pre-loaded with travel music. ordinarily i'm an extreme comparison-shopper, but when it comes to music i know that apple stuff just works.
i also have an 8 GB ipod touch i won in a raffle. i use it all the time and like it, but not sure i would buy a replacement if i lost it. the wifi thing didn't live up to its hype (at all), because when you're out and about, all wifi networks are password protected these days.
Every iPod I've used has died due to me, not to anything hardware related. They're consistent, stable, pretty, and the interface (regardless of model, excluding the Shuffle) is generally intuitive and friendly. I've had other music/multimedia players in the past, but honestly I feel that iPods are 100% worth their hype.
@valkyrie blondhaar: that's the one i have.. it's reliable but the battery sucks, have to charge it every week. My wife has a sony and that thing has excellent battery life and sound quality. My only complain is that sony is usually expensive and don't get really loud. Their sound is the best i have heard (in my car, it was better than the ipod)