14-06-2005 03:25									#1
	Recommend our_man an MP3 Player Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

OK, my brothers and sister all have iPod Minis, but I'm wondering if this is the best out there in peoples opinion, or is the iPods popularity primarily due to brand name recognition?

What I'm looking for (in order of importance):
Size
Interface ease
Battery life
Storage (GB)
Price

Any suggestion appreciated, thanks.

	14-06-2005 03:30									#2
	Suffering from ads?

You can try out an iPod from Apple stores. I'm not sure where you can try out the other MP3 players.

	14-06-2005 03:38									#3
	Re: Recommend our_man an MP3 Player Tired of ads?

quote: Originally posted by our_man ...the iPods popularity [is] primarily due to brand name recognition...

Brookstone lets you try out Creative's Zen Touch, at least the one here in Reno's Meadowood Mall.

	14-06-2005 03:38									#4
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Some electronics stores have players on open display... go take a look for yourself. Interface ease is a real subjective issue.

Some of the players you can look for are:
- Creative Zen Micro (5 GB)
- Apple iPod (4/5/6 GB)
- Archos Gmini XS200 (20 GB)
- Rio Carbon (5 GB)
- iRiver H10 (5 GB)
- Cowon iAudio M3 (the L-version has a battery life up to 35 hours) (20-30 GB)

	14-06-2005 03:39									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

The Zen Micro comes in 4/5/6GB too btw.

	14-06-2005 03:40									#6
	Got spare money?

O, cool... haven't seen them over here yet.

	14-06-2005 03:42									#7
	Remove this text

Circuit City had a deal going on their 5's so that's what I bought.

	14-06-2005 03:48									#8
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

First of all I would advice every person to avoid Apple's Ipod due to Apple's policy of trying to control what you put on and take off of your MP3 player. I will not support a company that tries to place restrictions upon hardware I bought with my hard earned money and I would recommend that no one else reward such controling behavior either.

Creative's Zen Touch does not do this plus its sound quality is slightly better and its prices is significantly cheaper. A 40 GB Zen Touch will run you around $180. Zen is the way to go.

	14-06-2005 03:51									#9
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Apple tries to control what you put on and off your MP3 player? I must have been really sneaky then for them to forget about me .

	14-06-2005 04:27									#10
	Inflate your Upload Space

Don't interfere with his propagandizing

	14-06-2005 04:40									#11
	Re: Recommend our_man an MP3 Player Tired of ads?

quote: Originally posted by our_man OK, my brothers and sister all have iPod Minis, but I'm wondering if this is the best out there in peoples opinion, or is the iPods popularity primarily due to brand name recognition? What I'm looking for (in order of importance): Size Interface ease Battery life Storage (GB) Price Any suggestion appreciated, thanks.

Based on your priorities, you want either a flash player (if size is really an issue) or a microdrive player. If you want a microdrive player, you have the choice between the Zen Micro and the iPod Mini. (There's also the iRiver and Rio models, but I don't know anything about them.) I own an iPod Mini myself.

Size: the iPod Mini and the Zen Micro are about the same size. So its a tie.

Interface ease: I tried both the iPod and the Zen Micro. The iPods have the best interface on the market. Nothing beats the click-wheel imo. iPod wins. If you don't believe me try both.

Battery life: iPod Mini is 18 hours right now. According to Tom's Hardware review, the battery life of the Zen Micro is 10 hours (12 according to the Creative website). The iPod wins. (Otoh, you can easily change the battery on the Zen. But of course you'll have to buy that extra battery. On the iPod, you can't change the battery yourself)

Storage: they all offer 4, 5 and 6GB models. So its a tie.

Price: well, it depends where you buy them. I bought an iPod Mini because it was cheaper than the Zen Micro. And with the money I saved I bought myself a decent pair of headphones. The ones that come with the Mini and the Micro both suck, btw.

	14-06-2005 04:59									#12
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Btw, is there another way to move ones music onto the ipod than iTunes?

	14-06-2005 05:11									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

There are 3rd party applications which will do the same things for you. But the iTunes store is, of course, only on iTunes.

	14-06-2005 05:29									#14
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Thx, the reason is that I wouldn't buy through the iTunes store anyway.

	14-06-2005 06:39									#15
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

www.ipodlounge.com

Best ipod site on the net.

	14-06-2005 07:44									#16
	Suffering from ads?

I recommend something besides the iPod (my fiancee has one) unless you're a fan of a crappy interface on the player, poor support for transferring music (iTunes is crap so we use the Winamp plugin and the iPod never ejects properly from my home computer), or random deletion of all your songs (which has happened a couple times).

At this point the only thing I use her iPod mini for is a portable hard drive - load the music up on it at home, go to work, plug it into my work computer, and play the music through winamp.

	14-06-2005 08:04									#17
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quote: Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui Apple tries to control what you put on and off your MP3 player? I must have been really sneaky then for them to forget about me .

Without using hacks try to transfer your music off of the Ipod on to your desktop. Apple blocks that.

	14-06-2005 08:05									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui There are 3rd party applications which will do the same things for you. But the iTunes store is, of course, only on iTunes.

Those 3rd party applications are considered hacks by Apple so Apple periodically changes its software to stop those hacks from working. This is what I'm talking about when I say Apple tries to control your music.

	14-06-2005 08:09									#19
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There is the added problem that Apple doesn't support as many file formats as everyone else does. In short Apple makes an inferior product and tries to charge a premium for it.

	14-06-2005 08:14									#20
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Oerdin, you are FOS. The only notable formats Apple doesn't support are WMA FLAC and OGG. But who uses those?

The vast number of cool iPod peripherals more than makes up for that.

Frankly, people who have continual trouble with iPods must be mental incompetents.

	14-06-2005 08:16									#21
	Suffering from ads?

Lots of people use WMA. Especially those who care about sound fidelity.

	14-06-2005 08:17									#22
	Get a bigger avatar today!

You do know that the majority of downloadable songs on the net are WMA files, right? That means you are excluding yourself from the majority of music simply because Apple wants to lock you in to their silly little file format. Sure, you can use utilities to convert files but they almost always cost you in sound quality.

	14-06-2005 08:20									#23
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by Asher Lots of people use WMA. Especially those who care about sound fidelity.

People who really care about sound fidelity do not use compressed audio formats. WMA sucks anyway, despite the number of shills that have been paid to tout its merits. But wait, I remember you saying that you couldn't tell the difference between WMA and CD.

I guess listening to Rob Thomas tends to destroy one's capacity for aural discrimination – that is unless listening to Rob Thomas wasn't evidence of a complete lack of discrimination to start with.

And I listened to a Nomad Zen not long ago. Superior sound quality my ass. It's a flash bang whizz toy. My cheap flashpod sounds better.

	14-06-2005 08:24									#24
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Sure, WMAs suck and that's why it is the most used format. Right?

Face it Microsoft does deliver a good product that is almost universally usable and that is why it is virtually every where.

As for your claims about Apple's sound quality... Well, just about every single review ever written has disagreed with you. Then again most experts routinely disagree with just about everything you say.

	14-06-2005 08:26									#25
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Oerdin You do know that the majority of downloadable songs on the net are WMA files, right? That means you are excluding yourself from the majority of music simply because Apple wants to lock you in to their silly little file format. Sure, you can use utilities to convert files but they almost always cost you in sound quality.

No. The majority are still in mp3 format. Most torrents are mp3 VBR or high bitrate mp3.

Other than that I find far more m4a files than I do WMA files when I look, but that may be just where I hang out.

Apple doesn't lock you into any format. ****ing hell, you should really think before you post such drivel. You can use all sorts of formats. I have AIFF, AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR and I can play OGGs on iTunes if I get a plug in.

But go on spreading BS if you must. You sound like Asher's punk *****.

	14-06-2005 08:28									#26
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin Sure, WMAs suck and that's why it is the most used format. Right? Face it Microsoft does deliver a good product that is almost universally usable and that is why it is virtually every where.

Except it isn't MP3 is still by far the most used format on filesharing networks.

WMA is like Internet Explorer - used by people because it's bundled with Windows and they don't know any better.

I'm sorry you feel the need to justify yourself since you got ripped with a poor iPod knockoff, but there's no need to invent things.

Evil Steve Jobs!!! Has Asher hacked your account?

	14-06-2005 08:28									#27
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Thanks but I use a number of P2P utilities and WMA is the format. Sure, you can find all the other formats but on most networks you stand the best chance of finding a song in WMA format. That's especially true if you're looking for hard to find songs.

	14-06-2005 08:31									#28
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

quote: Originally posted by Agathon People who really care about sound fidelity do not use compressed audio formats.

WMA-Lossless, then?

Or perhaps they prefer 24-bit/96 KHz 5.1-channel WMA?

quote: WMA sucks anyway, despite the number of shills that have been paid to tout its merits. I guess listening to Rob Thomas tends to destroy one's capacity for aural discrimination – that is unless listening to Rob Thomas wasn't evidence of a complete lack of discrimination to start with. And I listened to a Nomad Zen not long ago. Superior sound quality my ass. It's a flash bang whizz toy. My cheap flashpod sounds better.

Do you realize no one takes you seriously on matters like this?

You sound like a fanboy now more than ever.

"WMA sucks, the music you listen to sucks, your hearing sucks, and BY THE WAY the Zen's sound quality sucks too!! ph34r my mad filosofy debate skillz"

	14-06-2005 08:31									#29
	Support Apolyton

I got ripped?!

Oh, Aggie sometimes you are in your own little world!

I got a better product which has better sound quality, supports more file formats, has a larger capacity, and costs less money! But in Aggie-land I got ripped. The bonus is I didn't support a company that tried to control what, how, and where I use my music and that makes me happy.

	14-06-2005 09:34									#30
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Those 3rd party applications are considered hacks by Apple so Apple periodically changes its software to stop those hacks from working. This is what I'm talking about when I say Apple tries to control your music.

I don't even remember the last time Apple issued a firmware update, which may require 3rd party software, like ephPod to change. Apple knows they exist and doesn't seem that concerned. I've been using the same 3rd party software for at least since the beginning of the year without having to update it in the slightest to use it with my iPod.

So, try again.