iPod Overrated?

[{I}{K}{E}]

This (http://poptech.blogspot.com/2005/04/ipod-overrated.html) site has some good comments why you should not buy an Ipod, but they don't say anything about other MP3 players. I dont wanna start a debate about how good the Ipod is. I just wanna ask if anyone can name 1 or more MP3 players that are a good alternative and why it is as good as the Ipod or beter


:)



Ike

[Peerzy]

Sony HD-3 or something like that.

Drag and drop, no Itunes shit,
Supports more formtats,
Smaller,
Nicer OS, very easy to make your own playlists and stuff,
Cheaper by loads (20gb Ipod = £220 20gb Song = £180)
Comes with headphones, nice carry case and other extras (Ipod comes with itunes)
Can be used as a hard dribe

There are more as well. My friend had an Ipod and he hated everything about it, he sold it on ebay and ordered his Sony, he now spits at people who own Ipods :lookaroun

[Samurai]

I prefer the Creative Zen.

-Easy to use.
-Stylish.
-Excellent sized HDD's.
-Decent priced.
-Excellent Battery Life.

[MCHeshPants420]

I've got a 60gb Creative Zen myself. The software to put the music (and other data files) onto the player is shit but everything else is pretty decent. Long life batteries, huge size all for £250.:01:

[sparsely]

I'd get a zen if i had the money to spend on one.
/me has liked them since they first appeared on the market.

[leeferdude]

My iPod kicks ass

[Illuminati]

This debate has been discussed quite a few times (even in PC Gamer UK... :huh: ). In a lot of these cases, the iRiver has been scored a bit higher than the iPod.

Can't really say anything on the subject myself - Rarely have a time my laptop can't do the job :D

[neevakee]

im geting a gmini xs200 i dont see why i should get an ipod other than the interface. This thing is not even an once heavier then the ipod mini and it holds 20 gigs and it is 2/3 of the size of a regualr ipod. Only down side a battery life of ten hours, but i rarley listen to that much music straight, or when im not aroungd an electircal outlet. aybe a international flight, but i also have a laptop and the inflight movies to fill the rest of my time. Oh also the gmini along with being 2/3 the size and it is almost 2/3 the price of an ipod

[jetje]

everything made by creative is better... :w00t: ipod just stole their idea with the HD, have my Creative Jukebox for more then 8 years now. Still working great... :01:

Ipod suxxxxxxxxxxx :naughty:

no really, guess it's all a question of taste ;)

[sparsely]

according to what I've read, the Sony HD3 has to use navtive software for transferring files & songs.

That's too bad, as I generally prefer Sony products.

From all I've read, I'd probably go with an iRiver H340

[Rip The Jacker]

I bought an iPod, spent 2 hours trying to get it to work, researched online to find a ton of people with the same problem, returned it and got my money back.

[Illuminati]

Well there's the answer to that question. :D

On the plus side, you have an idea what not to go for in an MP3 player - So have a look online at what other players people are recommending :)

[suprafreak6]

GET AN IRIVER its an alternative to ipod but way better it holds music videos pictures all

[oloz]

I love my iPod. The battery is rather easy to replace if you take your time and be careful. There are also many third party software plugins that allow some-what drag and drop capability.

[Tago Mago]

I prefer the Creative Zen.

-Easy to use.
-Stylish.
-Excellent sized HDD's.
-Decent priced.
-Excellent Battery Life.
I've got the 30G Creative Zen. £70 cheaper than a 20G ipod, works a treat, good battery life, removable battery so you can get a spare, works with wav and various other formats.

[neevakee]

just orderd my gmini xs200 man it is so sweet. Why on earth you guys lug around an ipod or a zen is beyond me, i have 20 gigs and only a few 5-6 gig hard drive mp3 players weigh less then mine. Look at it, i think you will be thourghly inmpresse i got it at provantage for 215 before a 15 rebate.

[Tago Mago]

That is quite a slinky looking player. But I'll carry on weight training with my Zen, I guess.

[100%]

never understood the ipod hype
as with all techy products they fade away.
anyway it helped Mac's finances

[{I}{K}{E}]

never understood the ipod hype
as with all techy products they fade away.
anyway it helped Mac's finances

I think people get an Ipod because 'their friends' have Ipods and imo the Ipod looks much better then the other MP3 players ;)

Creative Zen looks ok, but I don't want one which such a 'large' screen. it looks like an PSP :P

Creative Jukebox seems as good as an Ipod (or better) but I dunno how much those costs

[100%]

I think people get an Ipod because 'their friends' have Ipods and imo the Ipod looks much better then the other MP3 players :P

My Gfriend bought an ipod a while back, she has used as many times as i have fingers on hand - and no her cool factor has not gone up - infact for me it has gone down. Sheep?

but...
I reaaaaalllllyy appreciate the "usb/firewire" connection that comes with it - i use it daily :P

[abu_has_the_power]

ipods suck. i have a iriver h320. plays movies, ogg, pictures, fm radio, recording, etc


and 2x as much batt life


go iriver!

[sparsely]

not to mention that it's apparantly the only "free" (as in, no proprietary software needed to transfer files) mp3 player out there.

[neevakee]

nope my gmini is free too i plug it in and it is as good as having a 20 gig hard drive pluged in to my computer

[Monkster]

i have a cute little panasonic 256 mb, not software required and weighs 50g uses as AAA battery that lasts 10 hours, the only problem is its less than adaquate memory :(

[mysterioushu]

For those who recommend Sony digital audio players, I have one word for you... SonicStage. Ugh.

Despite the attempts of every other company to copy the iPod's interface, the iPod is still (in my opinion) the most elegant, easiest-to-use audio player. The fact that it doesn't support drag-and-drop is drawback, but at least iTunes is much more refined than any other music management app out there (*cough*SonicStage*cough*).

Oh, and I don't hate on Creative or iRiver players, so the least y'all could do is stop hating on iPods. To each his own, eh?

[orcutt989]

Sony HD-3 or something like that.

Drag and drop, no Itunes shit,
Supports more formtats,
Smaller,
Nicer OS, very easy to make your own playlists and stuff,
Cheaper by loads (20gb Ipod = £220 20gb Song = £180)
Comes with headphones, nice carry case and other extras (Ipod comes with itunes)
Can be used as a hard dribe

There are more as well. My friend had an Ipod and he hated everything about it, he sold it on ebay and ordered his Sony, he now spits at people who own Ipods :lookaroun

I read that the sony Hd-3 includes an Itunes-like software, and if you drag and drop that the MP3 files will not play.

[wholesome]

i laugh at anyone who invested in any SONY mp3 players... and don't even get me started with the iRiver...

as far as i'm concerned, the best ones are the i-pod photo (60GB) and the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra...

[asmithz]

I think the best is the Creative Zen Micro.

5GiG, witch is enogh for me. FM tuner, you dont get that with many. 12 Hour batery Life. The price for it is cheap too ($185 after tax).

I dont need to play video or anything else but mp3s, thats why i bught it.

[Djtima]

ipods suck. i have a iriver h320. plays movies, ogg, pictures, fm radio, recording, etc


and 2x as much batt life


go iriver!

yeah but what about price its almost 2x the price isn't it? :lookaroun

[scottfree]

iPod all the way
Anything else would be uncivilised :cool2:

[Snee]

ipod is good if you have a mac, I think, then you can just drag and drop, or something, according to my pal.

On a proper computer you have to cope with crappy itunes, so I definitely wouldn't get an ipod myself.

I have a 1 gig card in my phone, I can put a few albums on there, and as a bonus I don't have carry around an mp3 player as well as the phone. I kinda' think something like that is the ideal solution, it's less stuff you have to remember to bring when you have to go to uni/work/whatever.


Otherwise I might get a muvo. My kid brother has one, and I like it. It doesn't require any extra software, and it's pretty cheap. It's fairly basic though.

[loadedet]

I used to have a ipod 20 gb, this broke within the 14 day no quibble money back guarantee wat a waste of time, i now have got a mini creative zen have had it now for 6 months no probz at all!!!

[hunaja]

I love iPods. They look and work great. Although, there are better alternatives.

[Taken Aback]

I love my iPod. I even have a set of skins for it.

A good iPod is a well dressed iPod. ;)

[99%]

http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/media/DGiAeMFPgy2e.jpg

[Taken Aback]

http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/media/DGiAeMFPgy2e.jpg

Scary....I actually have that somewhere. :)

[rzf]

I got my iPod mini as a gift... I wouldn't complain :)

[maebach]

what about the mini? i won mine off the pepsi contest.

[hugh.jeego]

This debate has been discussed quite a few times (even in PC Gamer UK... :huh: ). In a lot of these cases, the iRiver has been scored a bit higher than the iPod.

Can't really say anything on the subject myself - Rarely have a time my laptop can't do the job :D

i have an iRiver 40GB and it kicks ass

i just used it at a friends house to transfer 30GB of movies, music and crap. SUperfast!!

iPods suck severely.

plus iriver has voice recorder and radio and stuff........

........so there.........i win

[Grisbi]

I know that the ipod is overrated but i just can't help but love mine.

[Celerystalksme]

I love my Gen4 20gig iPod (colour screen), i have a PC and its still easy to use for me...But im a tech geek...I now have something in everyone of my 4 pockets: iPod, Nintendo DS, Phone & wallet. Also have a desktop PC and laptop (both P4's). Gawd i've turned into such a tech geek. Im just anti sony tho, so my opinion will be biased.

[abu_has_the_power]

ipods suck. i have a iriver h320. plays movies, ogg, pictures, fm radio, recording, etc


and 2x as much batt life


go iriver!

yeah but what about price its almost 2x the price isn't it? :lookaroun


:blink: no.... i bought mine last year for $300, same price as the 4th gen ipod when it 1st came out

[Keikan]

I use "George"

http://www.dansdata.com/usbmp3.htm

[Reffy]

I have an iRiver H340, and I love it like a small electronic child. :happy: :P

iRiver > iPod

[rnichilo]

buy a nomad

[cpt_azad]

Ipods are dead

Get a PMC or PMP and you'll see how much better it is. Creative Zen 20gb PMC is the best thing ever, I got mine a week ago, and let me say its well worth every penny I paid for it. It has a 3.8" LCD screen, supports a lot of formats, removable and recharable battery, carrying case, headphones and a bunch of other stuff. Considering it plays videos, its awesome. As of right now I have on there all the Futurama eps, all the Family Guy eps, all the Trailer Park Boys eps, a lot of music (lots of albums, oh and a picture automatically gets transferred to the player which is the album picture) and some movies with 5gb leftover.

[cpt_azad]

Or look at the Iriver PMC-120, it has a smaller screen than the Creative Zen 20gb PMC (3.5" compared to 3.8") but has a lot more features, the difference being 50 bucks.

[maebach]

I won the Ipod mii from pepsi, I used it twice. the backlight didnt work so i sent it back got a new one and now i'm selling it. I hate Itunes, i really do. I think I'll buy a PSP with the money.

[soopaman]

ipods suck. i have a iriver h320. plays movies, ogg, pictures, fm radio, recording, etc


and 2x as much batt life


go iriver!

yeah but what about price its almost 2x the price isn't it? :lookaroun



no - the iRiver is about £180 for the 20 gig version - i work in an electrical retailers and i wouldnt touch Ipods, Sonys or Creatives - they dont measure up to the iRiver.

[huendchen]

The iRiver H100 series is unbeatable with the Rockbox firmware; Gapless playback and FLAC support ... the only alternative for me would be the Rio Karma with gapless, flac and that sweet 5-Band parametric EQ, too bad that Rio is out of business. I'd never buy a player without gapless support.

[abu_has_the_power]

the ipod just came out with this thing called the ipod nano. it does look pretty sweet. but compared to my pimpriver h320, all it's got is size. my pimpriver pwns it in everything else

[suprafreak6]

already a news thread on that

[erRor67]

So let me get this straight..

iPods use iTunes to transfer music (no drag and drop).
iRiver and Creative Zen dont need extra software (drag and drop supported).
And what about Sony? Does it need extra iTune-ish software to work?

And as for what files they stuport, iPods only do music/pics while the others include movies yes?

[abu_has_the_power]

the iriver h320, not the h10, allows u to play divx and xvid @ 500kb/s or less @ 10fps. but only if u get the newest firmware (1.2 and up)

the others don't do shit.

there's another one now. it's called the cowon iaudio x5. not much better than the h320. it does play both ogg and flac, and it plays video @ 15fps.

[maebach]

I wanted one of those Creative Zen Media Players with 20gb hard drives. I just wanted to know how to store movies on portably media players. Are all movie types able to play, avi, mpeg, mpeg2?

[abu_has_the_power]

i think they only play avi.

[maebach]

does anybody have any info or personal experience with these players that they can share. I just want to know if its worth $600