IPOD still the Best?

[Tyler Howell]

This thread got me thinking: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=41384

Got all tuned up for vacation, loaded the 20Gig with the latest and greatest, packed the jumper cables, FM transmitter, couple sets of ear phones.
2 days before departure my machine is belly up. No warning, no failing batteries, symbols or signs.... just lights out:eek: :mad::( .

It is a rebuilt they sent me after my original went south on warrantee. Everyone says, "not worth fixing". So my question, is there something better out there:confused:
I'm very anal when it comes to my tunes and want the best Hi-Fi.
As mentioned MP#3 leaves something to be desired soooooo what's the top gun this week?
How are the Ipod video machines:confused:
Thanks in advance.

[tod evans]

tyler, for the couple of hours i`ve listened to xm i`m liking it.....only thing is somebody else chooses your tunes but given the selection of genres that shouldn`t pose much of an issue? being all digital the fidelity is on par with a decent (not good)cd player. i think i`m going to like it in the shop:D ...02 tod

[Dave Richards]

Tyler, I touched a new video iPod last week but it belongs to my neighbor. He seems to like it a lot. I wish I'd known you were going to need one. I just bought an iMac and took advantage of Apple's education deal. A "free" iPod with an iMac. Actually the one I ended up ordering still cost $99. If I'd known you were going to need one I'd have worked out the deal with you instead of my neighbor.

Maybe you can find a teacher who is planning to buy an iMac and doesn't want the iPod.

[Ian Barley]

...
[B][I][COLOR=navy]As mentioned MP#3 leaves something to be desired soooooo what's the top gun this week?

Looking confused?? Isn't an Ipod just an MP3 player with extra stuff wrapped around it to make it more (or less depending on POV) userfriendly.

I don't like Apple. I never have because, like Sony, they are over happy with themselves and make things too difficult for anybody who needs to fix or change what they do. Its a personal opinion but nothing that I have seen in 10 years has changed it.

I use Creative MP3. I use it for music which I encode at CD quality for stuff that justifies it. I use it more often for audiobooks which I encode at lower quality because it's just spoken word. I actually have three Creative players. 2 Solid state which get used mainly in the shop and 1 Crative Zen which has a 60gb drive and travels with me with a forthnights worth of "reading" and a full backup of all my business critical data. I have had all of them for at least 2 years and apart from renewing the battery in the Zen (cost about $15 and its a user task) I have had absolutely no problem with any of them.

Tyler - your talking about replacing an item which has failed twice beyond user intervention and planning on using the same manufacturer? Would you be so forgiving if it was a drill or saw that was dying on you? Personally a manufacturer gets one chance to fix a problem. The second problem sees me switch to another manufacturer.

Oh - one other word of advice - don't buy Sony. Sony's software for MP3 is so unbelievably horrible it makes Itunes look good. Please investigate the alternatives before plumbing for Apple again.

[Scott Coffelt]

Still the best in the industry, they have over 70% share and most accessory mfrs make products for the iPod, not always compatible with the others. Dell even got out of that line because they couldn't compete.

[Tyler Howell]

Thanks Ian,
That's why I come to the creek for info.
At present I only have time and $$ in accessories as the pod was a gift.
I really hate their copy protect features to but what's a guy to do.
I don't know of anyone in my circle that is doing better than 2 years on machine. I'm sure the they're out there
How about the PSP:confused: Play Station Portable:confused:
It is reported to have mp3 capability too?

Tyler - your talking about replacing an item which has failed twice beyond user intervention and planning on using the same manufacturer? Would you be so forgiving if it was a drill or saw that was dying on you? Personally a manufacturer gets one chance to fix a problem. The second problem sees me switch to another manufacturer.

[Bruce Page]

IPOD still the Best?

Tyler
I think so.
If mine died tomorrow I'd buy another one.

"I don't know of anyone in my circle that is doing better than 2 years on machine. I'm sure the they're out there"
I've had mine for over 3.

[JayStPeter]

I don't know about PSP. But, many of the other brand players (Creative and Toshiba) are doing well in comparison reviews. Their audio quality is as good as the iPod. It seems like the various reviews usually pick the iPod as 2nd these days, but I haven't seen that one player has taken over the 1st spot in every review. Lately it's been the Toshiba and Creative.

I'd go for either the iPod or Creative since they seem to be the top 2 in popularity and accessory availability. The iPod still kills everyone in accessories and popularity though. I haven't seen any stereo receivers or auto head units that have Creative/Toshiba/iRiver interfaces available.

Another consideration is media. If you bought a lot off iTunes, you might be out of luck with another player. I don't know, I still buy CDs and rip them. There is also a growing popularity of podcasts. I have even seen some woodworking related ones available lately. I haven't tried podcasts, but the "pod" part leads me to believe they won't work with other players.

Apple has sucked me in over the last 4 years. I have so many adapters plugged in anywhere I listen to music that it would cost me more to change brands than to just get another iPod.

If I were to change brands, durability and battery life would be the reasons. My latest 4G player seems to have a much better battery system than the 3G it replaced. My 3G player was only living about 4hrs. after 1.5 years (before getting stolen). The 4G is approaching 2yrs. now and still working well with no noticeable decrease in battery life (~9+ hrs.).

Jay

[Chris Padilla]

Apple has sucked me in over the last 4 years. I have so many adapters plugged in anywhere I listen to music that it would cost me more to change brands than to just get another iPod.
Jay

Ah, there we have the brilliance of Apple marketing! They know they've got you hook line and sinker!

I guess I'm not as into my music. I still use a $10 radio in the garage and CDs in the car (although I did experience Sirius for 9 months...very cool) and that is about it.

[Ian Barley]

Accessories - No doubt about it - Ipod has the clear advantage and if getting a flashing gonk that lipsynchs with your music is important that you are far more likely to find one that is apple compatible. All my Creative players have come with everything I need for them except cables to connect to an "aux" socket in my van. That I had to buy seperately - cost me nearly £2 ($3.60).

Podcasts - No problem. I use Juice to download my and it is great. It's "donation-ware" so it costs as much as you think its worth. Mine cost me £20. It manages all the podcasts that I am interested in and makes it easy.

Copy Protection / Software (media) - Most of my content comes from Audible dot com and is copy protected by them but plays just great on my players. If Audibooks are a factor check out their list of supported devices. Other than that my music is mostly ripped from CD with the odd mp3 download from Amazon. I have never had any copy protection issues.

PSP - I have no knowledge but there are loads of MP3 enabled devices. My cellphone is one of them but I never use it for that purpose.

I am also interested that the idea of biggest market share is a strong reason for chosing one technology over another. I agree that it is a factor but if it was a dominant one then the same argument would make Apple computers in a home environment a bad choice and for some they clearly are not. I just don't see this as a betamax/vhs battle because the same media (1's and 0's) works in all the competing systems.(with the exception of stuff which is distributed solely over Itunes. Any provider making that business decision has excluded me from their audience)

Bottom line Tyler - Investigate the options. Try and get a look at the supporting software as much as the device itself. Sony make beautiful players but their software will make you weep. Creatives software is OK. It is not ludicrously intrusive in the footprint it will make on your computer and it is reasonably intuitive. Itunes is reasonably intuitive but I dislike the way it tries to take over all kinds of everything that are nothing to do with it. I seriously thought about buying a Mac Mini so that I didn't have to have Itunes on my PC to support my (fashion victim) wifes Ipod Nano.

[Tim Morton]

Tyler...yes iPod is still by FAR the best product out there...we are a 4 iPod family and have had ZERO problems. I have used mine for 8 hours a day for years. But hang tight if you can...they will be wireless very soon!!!:cool:

PS ditch the FM modulator and go for a direct hook-up...SQ goes up 10fold.

[JayStPeter]

PS ditch the FM modulator and go for a direct hook-up...SQ goes up 10fold.

Uggh, yeah. Even one of those $10 cassette tape adapters is better.


I am also interested that the idea of biggest market share is a strong reason for chosing one technology over another. I agree that it is a factor but if it was a dominant one then the same argument would make Apple computers in a home environment a bad choice and for some they clearly are not. I just don't see this as a betamax/vhs battle ...

It's not all about fashion. I hate all the white stuff. 4 years ago, there was no real viable option. Most of the competitions devices were virtually unusable. Believe me, I didn't want to get hooked on the iPod. Until recently it pissed me off to pay big bucks for things with the Apple proprietary connector. Now it's cheaper and the competition has similar stuff (the connector on the new Creative Zen M looks like it may even be the same).

My point about the iPod having the most accessories is that they are necessary. I can't imagine buying an unpopular brand and not having a selection of cases for example. I have my iPod on or around me most of the time I'm awake. I went through 4 or 5 cases in search of the best. I can go down to my local electronics borg and fondle 20 more for suitability.

[Ian Barley]

...It's not all about fashion.....
I never said it was Jay. I think that the Nano is a highly styled item aimed at a "fashion" conscious market, like my wife. In this instance I use fashion to denote that my wifes method of selecting a player was to look at what other people in her gym were using. I don't believe that it offers significant functionality benefits compared to its present day competition. From my experience of having to twice reformat and reinstall my wifes Nano, a task which I have never had to do on any other player I have owned or used, there are some costs involved in following fashion. Other Ipods are clearly designed with different aims in mind but they are all generally given more attention to in visual terms than my Creative Zen ever was. Heck - even my refusal to follow fashion is a fashion!



My point about the iPod having the most accessories is that they are necessary. I can't imagine buying an unpopular brand and not having a selection of cases for example...
And I guess thats another difference of opinion. All my players have come with some kind of case and in each instance it has been perfectly adequate for my needs and demands on the player. I can't imagine spending good money on an alternative case when a good one has been provided with the player. I guess we have just established at least one of the boundaries of each others imagination.:)

I am not grinding an axe here. Just trying to ensure that the words MP3 player and Ipod are not taken as synonyms.

[JayStPeter]

Tyler,

Before you go throw down a couple hundred bucks, have you tried all the methods to get your current unit back up and running. There is a reset button sequence (google reset ipod). It can be a hassle if your battery went completely flat. By completely flat I mean that it doesn't even have the juice to come up and say the battery is dead. I found that if I plugged it in to power and reset it I could get it back to life.
While it seems simple, take a look at the hold switch too. That one's gotten me before. If you've already done all this, ignore me ;) .

Jay

[Greg Narozniak]

I don't like Apple. I never have because, like Sony, they are over happy with themselves and make things too difficult for anybody who needs to fix or change what they do. Its a personal opinion but nothing that I have seen in 10 years has changed it.

I use Creative MP3. I use it for music which I encode at CD quality for stuff that justifies it. I use it more often for audiobooks which I encode at lower quality because it's just spoken word. I actually have three Creative players. 2 Solid state which get used mainly in the shop and 1 Crative Zen which has a 60gb drive and travels with me with a forthnights worth of "reading" and a full backup of all my business critical data. I have had all of them for at least 2 years and apart from renewing the battery in the Zen (cost about $15 and its a user task) I have had absolutely no problem with any of them.


Creative Zen (I have the micro) and if it died tomorrow I would buy another one without hesitation. User replaceable battery (I have 2 justin case), FM Tuner built in and the SW is very easy to use and playes MP3, WAV, etc. Not an Apple fan in any way, shape or Form.

[Tim Morton]

Creative Zen (I have the micro) and if it died tomorrow I would buy another one without hesitation. User replaceable battery (I have 2 justin case), FM Tuner built in and the SW is very easy to use and playes MP3, WAV, etc. Not an Apple fan in any way, shape or Form.


Just for the record...I can change the battery on my iPod...play wav files and MP3 files. But no FM....of course with Howard off to Sirius....i never listen to FM anyway. Oh...and I am a HUGE apple fan...but the more people that stay away the better for me.:D

Also Tyler if you want to run thru some troubleshooting ideas with the iPod PM me. Or are you 100% sure its dead? Symptoms?

[Tyler Howell]

I got Tunage.
Thanks to Tim Morton. I'm back in the groove
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410)
I popped the hood on my IPOD, took an AED (Automated External Defibrillator), 10 lb. sledge and 1/2 " socket to get her purring like a kitten.:D
Actually a little clean up around the battery contacts was all that was needed to put her back in tune.
Thanks Tim, now I can allocate those funds for more toyls.:cool:

[JayStPeter]

Tyler/Tim, Good deal! I'll remember to ask Tim first if I have any problems ;) :D



I am not grinding an axe here. Just trying to ensure that the words MP3 player and Ipod are not taken as synonyms.

No worries, I didn't take it as axe grinding. Hope my response didn't appear that I did, was just in a hurry at the time and probably didn't re-read well enough to ensure proper tone. It's gotten to the point that it's all pretty minor stuff that differentiates the top few players.

Jay

[Ian Barley]

I got Tunage.
Thanks to Tim Morton. I'm back in the groove
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410)
I popped the hood on my IPOD, took an AED (Automated External Defibrillator), 10 lb. sledge and 1/2 " socket to get her purring like a kitten.:D
Actually a little clean up around the battery contacts was all that was needed to put her back in tune.
Thanks Tim, now I can allocate those funds for more toyls.:cool:

Well done Tyler. That will save a lot of reconfiguration and reloading hassle anyway.

[Christopher Pine]

Sounds like most folks here are talking about hard drive systems they use.. Is that why they only last two years or so?(someone said that). I use a creative "nano" for tunes on the go. It works great and honestly I have not evaluated (compared) it with an IPOD. I have not seen at least for my purposes anything I can't do with mine that the ipod does? I have cd quality tunes. I take it that the bitrate is the factor for that? What determines that IPOD is the best system? Market share? If that is what some are sayign I find that interesting because the Apple computer folks have said that was the opposite fact with the computers :)
Like I said havingnot compared them, what differences in quality of the sound operation etc is there?
Great discussiona and I do believe here on the creek we can compare notes on this and not be at each others throats.
The apple vrs pc arguments I have seen allmost come to blows.
:)

Chris

[JayStPeter]

Sounds like most folks here are talking about hard drive systems they use.. Is that why they only last two years or so?(someone said that).

I was talking about hard drive systems. Up until the last two years, the iPod was the most robust of these players. The transfer software worked and the user interface allowed easy selection of what you want to play among the thousands of songs stored. The iPod was also clearly more refined in playback quality. More recently competing systems have basically caught up to the iPod. In fact, the current top few look and function in daily operation like iClones.
IMO, now that the hardware is basically the same, the future is based on the online services. Competition among the services has already led to artists/labels picking their services. Format wars and copy protection schemes will also be (are) a pain for everyone. Especially anyone who wants to change brands/services.
<rant on> I don't use online services. I also will not buy copy-protected CDs regardless of how much I like the artist. I want CD quality source that I own and can use in whatever player I get in the future. I don't steal music and I don't want to be forced to resort to a hacker to play the music I do own. <end rant>

[Tim Morton]

I got Tunage.
Thanks to Tim Morton. I'm back in the groove
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=426410#post426410)
I popped the hood on my IPOD, took an AED (Automated External Defibrillator), 10 lb. sledge and 1/2 " socket to get her purring like a kitten.:D
Actually a little clean up around the battery contacts was all that was needed to put her back in tune.
Thanks Tim, now I can allocate those funds for more toyls.:cool:


Glad to be of help....kind of cool how easy it is to open those babies once you see the video:D Hold the fix takes!!!

[Tim Morton]

I was talking about hard drive systems. Up until the last two years, the iPod was the most robust of these players. The transfer software worked and the user interface allowed easy selection of what you want to play among the thousands of songs stored. The iPod was also clearly more refined in playback quality. More recently competing systems have basically caught up to the iPod. In fact, the current top few look and function in daily operation like iClones.
IMO, now that the hardware is basically the same, the future is based on the online services. Competition among the services has already led to artists/labels picking their services. Format wars and copy protection schemes will also be (are) a pain for everyone. Especially anyone who wants to change brands/services.
<rant on> I don't use online services. I also will not buy copy-protected CDs regardless of how much I like the artist. I want CD quality source that I own and can use in whatever player I get in the future. I don't steal music and I don't want to be forced to resort to a hacker to play the music I do own. <end rant>

It seems like FLAC is a viable download for getting CD quality...I have downloaded a few from the Dave matthews store...SQ is great, but its a HUGE file and you still need to rip them down to something "compressed" in order to put them on the iPod. I don't consider the iPod to be an audiophile type device, I still like CD's better for pure SQ....but for ease of use and being able to listen at the office....its great.