ok, so my MP3 Discman went boom last week. I need to buy something to replace it.

Of course, my first instinct is to run out and buy a 60GB ipod Photo.

Can those of you that have ipods, iRivers and the like give me the lowdown? Keep it simple, if you can.

I don't really need any bells and whistles like video, photo and all that shit. I just want something that will hold a lot of music, and play it back reliably. And if it can handle being used during cycling and running, all the better.

I sold my iRiver H320 to get the 60GB ipod.

I loved the iRiver but needed more space as I use it when I DJ.

IRiver:
Built in FM Tuner
Built in Recording from Mic or FM
Better sound quality
Hack to allow video viewing. (I tried it but can't watch a movie on a small screen. Good for cartoons.)
Great battery life

Ipod
Best navigation
Many more accessories
More space
crappy battery


Hard drive players are not recommended for running. I have used it and never had any problems. Just get the extended warranty

I got the 60 gig photo ipod....

i dont use the photo apect, nor do i care about having album covers to look at..

i loooooove that I have about 15k songs with me at all times!

no complaints.

Not true. The Ipod is quite well received among audiophiles (at least those who will allow themselves to be defiled by the vile presence known as mp3s) because of it's nearly perfectly flat frequency response. The sound of the Ipod is very "true" to the source material. The people who rant about "sound quality" do so generally because they're used to sound that's "colored" by the players (and any audio equipment they own - usually lower end stuff) themselves. From what I've read, the IRiver and Ipod are pretty even. This is like the Kodak vs. non-brand processing: people LOVE Kodak pictures, but they are NOT true-to-life - the colors are all artificially overemphasized to make them really pop.

But I have to say that the recording capability of the Iriver is seriously cool. I definitely would use that were my 40gb Ipod equipped with it.


Haven't had a single problem with mine - battery or otherwise.

I say it every time one of these threads pops up, and I'm saying it again: Treat these players for what they are - tiny computers with fragile harddrives that needs maintenance and they'll probably last a long time. Most people seem not to be able to do this, for whatever reason.

for the record i think it's the newest gen on ipods that are having problems. i have an original one that's still going strong with plenty of battery and i've even swaped out the hard-disk for a 30gig one. as opposed to the one mlle got which has been relpaced twice in the course of a year.

I have a Creative Zen. It's 20GB and doesn't do anything fancy other than play the good damn music. All I really need. In fact it's not even half full.

Never really had any problems with it. A couple of times it's froze but it has a reset button which fixed it no problem. Sound quality is good (although the earphones aren't great as you'd expect), battery life is good (charges up real quick and lasts long if you tweek the options) and uploading tracks and albums is easy peasy and very fast. I've even dropped it a couple of times on to the pavement (and I'm quite tall!) without the case or internal parts being damaged so you would have to conclude the build quality is good.

I think you can pick up the standard 20GB model pretty cheap now. I saw one in the shops the other day for £50 ($100) less than I paid 6 months ago.

If you just want a simple MP3 player with decent memory that just does the job I'd recommend it.

I compared the same audio files on both players with the same headphones. My personal pick would go to iRiver. I have seen charts comparing the output and the iriver also won out.

I still went with the ipod because of space and navigation.



I wont say I own hi fi. I own mid - fi
Yamaha & Klipsh System

My bro has a 40k listening room with tube amps and all this real hi-fi equipment. That is truely amazing listening to vinyl through tube amps. He gets crazy with upgrades.

My thing is I listen to my ipod as I am doing something else and dont need the best sound quality

Anybody have any suggestions as to what online retailer might have the best deal on ipods? (Should I choose to go that route)

90% of the people I know with ipods had theirs crap out. mine has crapped out as well.

yours didn't crap out again did it ryan?

define "Crap out".

i have this too. i love having so much music with me at all times.

although, i do use the album cover feature... it doesn't take up much space at all.

i did have a few problems in the beginning with my i-pod but i'm thinking it's probably because the old computer i had at work was a piece of shit so it didn't like my i-pod.

i never got it working/bought a new battery

spontaneously fuck up. i had mine hooked up to itunes, hit 'yes' on the 'DO YOU WANT TO UPDATE THE IPOD SOFTWARE" and it never turned on again. other people I talk to just say the battery just dies, without warning. others say that stuff just decides to stop showing on the screen, etc etc.

I have an iRiver but I'm not sure I can recommend their new players. They don't have the cool features that I love about my (now discontinued) H140.

If I were to get a new one I'd probably get an iAudio X5, although I'm waiting to see if they're going to release a 60gb version. Until then I plan to buy a new 60gb drive and higher capacity battery so that my excellent little player will last me for a while.

I've got the IRiver H340. I haven't had any problems with it yet other than when I turned it on once it said I had no files on it, so I turned it off and back on and the files were back. That hasn't happened in awhile though. If you do get an IRiver, plan on getting another pair of headphones for it as the Sennheiser ones that are shipped with it are really uncomfortable in my ear. I'd suggest downloading Irivium Explorer. It's $25 but it's much easier to use than the program that comes with the Iriver.

Do you have one? If so, what's the verdict? This looks seriously cool. I really like bumpy touch-pad idea.

I've owned 4 iPods in the past 2.5 years, and haven't had a problem with any of them (I've upgraded 3 times for more space). Currently own the 40gig, and will soon be upgrading again to the 60.

Obviously, many have had trouble with their iPods---I guess I'm lucky.

Wait for Christmas or you'll be kicking yourself for missing out on the 80 (maybe 100?) that's sure to be released just in time for the big buying season.

I agree...Had mine for over a year and a half(same model), and think it's pretty good for the price...The only problems I have had as well is the freezing..But that was pretty early on and not much lately at all...If I were to get another..Most likely the same only bigger...

No one will have the best deal on iPods, but if you want to get a player from another manufacturer, check out Price Grabber. Check the seller ratings and comments to look for potential problems, but they are pretty easy to sort out.

The reason you won't find more than five bucks difference between iPod prices at different vendors is because Apple puts stringent controls on the pricing of their products. If a retailer decides they want to sell the 60 GB iPod (MSRP $399.00) for $325.00, then Apple will swiftly cut off their supply and not allow them sell Apple merchandise. This applies to most, if not all Apple products. They make their money selling hardware, and they will not discount it.

I have a Creative Zen XTRA 40G. I does what it should and I play it everyday. The interface is not as sexy as the ipod, but who cares?

My theory is that even though these things are expensive - especially the ipods - the man is counting on the fact that we're going to replace them as often as cell phones. As soon as they get a little smaller and whatever, in theory the consumer will feel ridiculous carrying around something slightly bigger than a deck of cards.

Of course they aren't made to last.

Amazon. They have a credit card and if you sign up for it, you get $30 off. If you do it at the right time, you can save quite a bit like my wife did - my 40gb was on sale for $379, plus that $30 off made it $349. At the time you couldn't beat that. I don't know what the deal is with Amazon and why they get those deals, however Costco can also have them slightly cheaper, too. Also, if you're a student, you can get a good deal by buying direct from Apple with their student pricing deal.

had one for 3 weeks now....

so far, so good. i'm loving everything about it.