Are Ipods that good? A lot of people at school have said no, don't get them. They look really cool, but should I get one? What do you guys think? I just want some reviews from people who actually have them...or have bought other MP3 players that are just as good. Or, should I just screw the whole idea of getting an MP3 player and stick with CDs?

By the way, I'm asking because I'm looking for an MP3 player.

I have an IPOD mini 4 gigs... it can hold about 1000 songs... I wouldn't trade the thing for the world personally...

Get a iPod 4G, put linux on it, play Doom during class.

I'd wait for the new video iPod to come out, and get a used one cheap. iPods, in my opinion, are one of the best MP3 players out there, but are just too expensive for alot of people. If you can get it cheap, it's definately worth it.

Ipods are incredibly expeisive compared to other MP3 players. If you're getting an mp3 player go for another brand and you'll save yourself a lot of money.

I personally wouldn't have any type of audio player that uses a hard drive. Solid state is more reliable.

That said, I recently purchased a small Sandisk player. It's not big on space. It only has about 256mb. But I'm happy with it. I filled it up a few days ago, and haven't yet got through all the songs I've uploaded. Depending on how much music you listen to and/or whether you want a player to permanently store music on, you might consider something like this. It only ran about $50, and has some pretty decent features, including a voice recorder and radio. And it's rediculously light. Meh, it's good enough to satisfy me. You might consider something like that. They (naturally) have larger sizes. I don't know what you encode your mp3s at, so this might be really bad if you use high bitrates. They have them up to 1GB in this size (length is smaller than the width of your hand). Maybe they have more, I didn't really look too hard.

http://www.sandisk.com/retail/dap.asp

[edit: Better link.]

They also have these up to 4GB. Also very small.


Here's their prices for their various audio players. I should mention they also play wma and wav.

iPods can run LINUX. That makes them automatically better than all other mp3 players.

iRiver 900x series.

Sandisk players are crap. As far as value goes the nanos are pretty good, considering how expensive flash memory is.

Personally I don't know anyone who's had an iPod and used it regularly for more than a year without having some kind of major problem with it.

Me.

There's much better audio players, to be honest. MUCH better. The iRiver series, the iAudio series, and I've heard the Samsung series is good, but I've also heard bad things about the battery life I can't confirm.

If you're looking for 20 gigs+, I reccommend iAudio. If you're looking for 4-6 gigs, the Nano is actually decent, but others have better audio quality. I'd say the Creative's new line is probably your best bet.

.

iPods are going to run you $50-$100 more than a different brand with similar features.

I personally own one of the sam sung ones. THe sound quality is absolutely amazing. Its better than all the Ipods out there except for maybe the original. However, the battery is kinda short. 10 hours or so its done.

I have an ipod mini. Great battery life, great features, great everything. Worth every penny.

You should check out players by iRiver and iAudio. They're high quality players with tons of features and, generally, great battery life. The feature I like most is the number of codecs they support. Like, every iAudio player supports Ogg Vorbis, for example. There are also quite a few offerings from iAudio and iRiver which have FM radios built in. The outputs on most players from both companies are significantly better than any iPod's, and the earbuds they give you are significantly higher quality. I believe most iRivers come with rebranded Sennheiser buds, and most iAudio players have something from Cresyn, the company which, I believe, makes the drivers for Audio-Technica's line of high end earbuds (like, over $100).

iPods are great. I have a mini and it has everything I need, and way more space than I have music to fill it up with.

Me too

They are probably not good as their enormous sales might suggest. Most people probably buy them because it's a hot item more than for superior functionality for the buck.

hmm, how is ipod linux? I would normally despise ipods because of the hype, the cost, and apple; however, Linux would be sweet. How well does it run?

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Yeah...... well I need a player that plays .ogg files..... because all 1300-ish of my music is ripped in Ogg Vorbis.

Speaking of Mp3 players, I wanted a flash based Mp3 player, since my zen micro dropped a few too many times.... yeah... and because I am pretty active I wanted something I could run with, etc. I was looking at the Rio Forge 512 MB mp3 player, and maybe getting an extended warranty, plus a 1gb SD card. Any thoughts on the brand? I have heard mixed feelings toward it. Nightwind has had a Cali that is seemingly indestructable, so that is good, however I have also heard that they break (but then again, there are stories like that for every mp3 player). Any thoughts or suggestions?

Alright thanks guys. I'll most likely be looking into the ipods.

It runs pretty damn good for a MP3 player. It even comes with podZilla, a clone of the iPod browser that can be configured to run applications easily. Failing that, it only takes about 10 minutes of use to get used to using the scroll wheel to type. Sort of like in video game high score boards, but faster. :p

EDIT: As for what type of iPod is best, I'd say the 4G series (regular 4th gen, mini, photo, nano). The ones with the clicky wheel with the buttons right on it. They run faster than 1G or 2G, and 3G's buttons are messed up (the ones along the top).

[QUOTE=Double Helix]Nightwind has had a Cali that is seemingly indestructable[/QUOTE]

My Cali really seems indestructable too, and I'm using it all the time at my family's hardware store where I work. The only issue I would have with buying a Rio player is that the company that last bought the Rio brand kinda closed down shop on it from what I remember hearing, but then again i could be remembering incorrectly.

iPod mini is quite nice, but you should still get iAudio X5.

Or more like, iAudio seX5.

(Then again, originally I thought this thread was about them odd chinese players called Ipods)

appIe lPod, a.k.a. Nlntendo, a.k.a. lBM.
>_>

I would accept an Ipod if I could get one for free, but I wouldn't pay for a bunch of storage that I would never use. I don't have that much music, so several gigs of space is simply overkill for me. I also don't need to hear music everywhere I go-- I prefer silence when I'm out and around (It's almost like introspective meditation) -- the only exception being that I like listening to Cds when I drive. We live in a noise-innundated culture-- I feel that people have forgotten how to appreciate silence and solitude in everyday life.


Personally, if I had several hundred dollars to spend on a luxury item, I would rather buy a handmade folded katana than an ipod.

Get one of those new ones that play videos. That would be awesome.

I love my iPod.

[QUOTE=Double Helix]Speaking of Mp3 players, I wanted a flash based Mp3 player, since my zen micro dropped a few too many times.... yeah... and because I am pretty active I wanted something I could run with, etc. I was looking at the Rio Forge 512 MB mp3 player, and maybe getting an extended warranty, plus a 1gb SD card. Any thoughts on the brand? I have heard mixed feelings toward it. Nightwind has had a Cali that is seemingly indestructable, so that is good, however I have also heard that they break (but then again, there are stories like that for every mp3 player). Any thoughts or suggestions?[/QUOTE]
Rio went out of business.

[url]www.rioaudio.com[/url]
they're back. (or they are goING out of business... one of the two. Either way, I can still get a new Forge from plenty of places.

...I have my wimpy sandisk player plugged in with knoppix running right now. Works fine.

Or are there huge differences with the knoppix disk than with full Linux?

[QUOTE=Connection Problem]Personally I don't know anyone who's had an iPod and used it regularly for more than a year without having some kind of major problem with it.[/QUOTE]
i know at least a dozen people that've had ipods for a year or more that have never had a signle problem. excluding the one kid whose broke because he dropped it down a flight of stairs.

Do you even know what Linux is? Who made it? Or how to use it?

That being said, plenty of players can run Linux. Steef.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]Do you even know what Linux is? Who made it? Or how to use it?

That being said, plenty of players can run Linux. Steef.[/QUOTE]
Um, link?

What I find hi-larious is that Apple is going to have to change their menu system because Creative has patented it. I really like the iRiver players and the Archos is good for people who like Linux, and I've heard the screen on the Nanos scratch really easily.