Ipod shopping!

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:20 pm

I've been looking towards getting an Ipod or some form of mp3 player for a couple of weeks now, and I can't seem to decide between them all.

I only have about 3 GB of music on my computer but have had up to 13 in the past. I'm not much of an active person so I really wouldn't be running or exercising with it, just have it to walk around campus/ignore people at family get togethers.

On campus it seemslike I can get better prices on ipods (when compared to the BestBuy website) and I want something useful and get the most for my money.

For $269 I can get a 20 GB ipod with the color screen (hard drive based and has skip protection for 17 minutes) Its $299 at best buy

For $229 I can get a 6GB ipod mini (I guess apple stopped making these?) or an ipod 4GB nano. I think both are flash memory based, and the nano has a color screen.

Can anyone give me impressions/ random thoughts about the ups and downs of these things? I keep leaning towards the 20GB ipod since its the most for a bit extra money, but the nano's size catches my eye too.
I haven't been able to decide for 2 weeks now >.<

Post by **Best First** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:30 pm

i think the Nano looks sexy.

My suggestion is move over here and get a job where you are paid in pounds sterling and then all $ amounts will seem trifling.

When do you plan on using it - that kind of dictates which is best. Nano would be glove for the gym for example.

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:34 pm

I really just plan on having it on hand anywhere I go, and use it when I can. Waiting in line, waiting for class to start, going to class, eating alone, walking around. I do want to get into exercising but I don't really feel as though I have the time or will to do it.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:36 pm

whichever ipod you get you clearly need to get Eye of The Tiger on it.

If its just for geenral use, 20g seems most prudent.

Probably worth looking at some of the other brands as well, some have significantly better battery life (e.g the sony one)

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:41 pm

I looked at the creative labs - zen sleek player, but it doesn't have the color screen, I don't like the shape of it as much, and has extra features I don't see myself using.

Eye of the Tiger is a must for anything you can move around with!

Post by **Best First** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:45 pm

yeah, Zen looks a bit balls.

Laser Rod Optimus Prime · Post by **Laser Rod Optimus Prime** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:01 pm

I've been enjoying my iRiver for over a year now. It's a 20 GB model. It has a usb 2.0 connection, it doubles as a second hard drive (currently holding FF Advent Children, FFVII: Last Order, and all of melody of Obivion + 5 GB of music with about 10 GB to spare. On the same price scale as the ipod as well. It's only available thru the website tho.
www.iriver.com if I recall right.

(I'm using an older style H100 series, just for note)

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:15 pm

I just bought the 2 Gig iPod nano. My music library is only 1 gig and I really hope I'm never in a position where I need more than 500 songs with me at once, so...

Btw, this device is SMOOTH AS HELL!

Post by **Computron** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:56 pm

iPod mini ftw.

In blue of course.

While walking to school it's interesting to note how many iPods there are. Literally 1 in 4 students seem to have one.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:32 am

Computron wrote:iPod mini ftw.

In blue of course.

While walking to school it's interesting to note how many iPods there are. Literally 1 in 4 students seem to have one.

I think it may be even more here at NIU.

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:54 am

I guess I am leaning more towards the Nano, it costs a bit less, takes up less pocket space, and its not like 60+ hours of songs will be that important on a machine that has around 14 hours battery life. :-p

What other things can you do with it? I know about pod casts, and the calendar, alarm clock/timer. But it sounds like you need to have programs on your computer to use the calendar/contact book features, and import the info, rather than enter the info manually, directly into the unit.

wideload · Post by **wideload** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:09 am

definatly go nano.... the mini uses a hard drive and the nano uses flash. The flash has no movign parts so its less likely to break.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:48 am

I'm actually loving my sony ericsson K750i, but only cos I bought a 1 gig memory stick for it. MP3, 2 megapixel camera and phone, covers all my bases in one handy unit.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:15 am

Me? I've had a Creative Jukebox 3 for about a year now, second-hand off of eBay. 20Gb. I'm actually coming close to filling that now so I've sourced an 80Gb drive for it. It's easy to maintain: free software, replaceable battery, replaceable hard drive, replaceable screen. Yeah it looks like an old Discman and it weighs a ton but I count that as a security measure rather than a drawback.

Best First wrote:i think the Nano looks sexy.

Best First wrote:yeah, Zen looks a bit balls.

If you buy an mp3 player based on how it looks, you might as well buy a car based on what colour it is.

I dunno, I'm more serious about how the thing works, what happens if it breaks, how much music it will store and how much battery life it has, rather than how much it resembles a credit card. Besides, I find iTunes to be a pain in the arse, and perhaps I'm a bit put off by all the people I know who have bought iPods and then had to return them.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:56 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Best First wrote:i think the Nano looks sexy.

Best First wrote:yeah, Zen looks a bit balls.
If you buy an mp3 player based on how it looks, you might as well buy a car based on what colour it is.

Its a turn of phrase Captain Obvious.

If i say Joe Cole looks a good player it doesn't mean i fancy him. The interface on the zen 'looks' crap and i don't see much in the way of extra features that compensate. Plus its weighty.

The nano is flash, which means battery will be mint (a la the shuffle) and the size makes it ideal for the gym.

Then again, like cars and manskirts, MP3 players are partially about fashion.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:13 am

My mp3 player has nothing to do with fashion, being as it's always tucked away out of sight (barring the headphones, natch), and more to do with providing me the facility to listen to music whilst I'm about.

If my car was anything to do with fashion, I wouldn't have a Corsa that I've washed once in the 9 months I've had it.

For the record: iRiver iHP-140. 40gb external HD, FM radio, recorder, 16 hour battery life, USB 2.0; plays mp3s, wavs, wma and ogg, not just mp3 and aac like a certain other make I could mention, blah de blah.

Yeah, it's a bit big and blocky, but seeing as it lives out of sight in my coat pocket, that doesn't make a jot of difference.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:32 am

hence partially.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:39 am

In that, for some people, they are heavily about fashion?

As I interpreted you as meaning "for everybody, they are partially about fashion."

Isn't the English language funfunfun?

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:44 am

Brendocon wrote:In that, for some people, they are heavily about fashion?

As I interpreted you as meaning "for everybody, they are partially about fashion."

Isn't the English language funfunfun?

hmm

I think my basic point is thus:

If i could a) drive and b) afford it i would buy a 911.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:09 am

...

I have a friend who just bought an iPod. I laughed at him.

It took him 3 or 4 days to connect it to his PC (which I eventally did for him).

He had it for a further week.

He then took it back to the shop, saying he just needed to buy one, and actually owning one was far less of a fulfilling experience. If that's not about fashion I don't know what is.

I could afford a new car. I like the one I have because I don't have to worry about someone keying or stealing it and it's cheap to run. I could probably afford my ideal car (a new-style VW beetle with a Spiderman paint job), but there's no way I'd park it around here.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:01 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:
He then took it back to the shop, saying he just needed to buy one, and actually owning one was far less of a fulfilling experience. If that's not about fashion I don't know what is.

isn't sneering at people because of what they buy equally about fashion? Its like jeering people who like to wear designer labels.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:31 pm

Best First wrote:isn't sneering at people because of what they buy equally about fashion? Its like jeering people who like to wear designer labels.

Yeah, I do that too. I buy most of my clothes from charity stores. Went out the other day to find me and my friend were wearing the same shirt, only with a £29 price difference (I got mine for £1 because the designer label had been removed). Then again he mocks me for collecting toys. Goes around, comes around.

iPods are still rubbish.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:03 pm

Best First wrote:i think the Nano looks sexy.

When do you plan on using it - that kind of dictates which is best. Nano would be glove for the gym for example.

Besty forgets to mention that he lives a decadent lifestyle. If you don't have the fast cars, faster women, and frequently ruined tuxedos that come with being the First, you may want to approach life a little differently.

We got a free 4 gig Mini with our new Mac (Yes, Macs suck in many ways, but since Chrissy is a designer and we had two other Macs, it was the best choice). It works great if you have a Mac.

However, having seen and learned the capabilities of Rob's dinosaur, I think I'd get one were I looking for more space.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:24 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Best First wrote:isn't sneering at people because of what they buy equally about fashion? Its like jeering people who like to wear designer labels.
Yeah, I do that too. .

whilst trumpeting your own unifom. i love this, its seemingly universal

my ipods fine by the way, no problems whatsoever, ever. And the shuffle is glove.

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:21 pm

I'll pose the question again, what else are ipods useful for, like what are other practical uses for it. I looked it up online and all people had were joke lists like "use it to scrap ice off my windshield" and such.

The nano 4gb, I went to buy it today and they were (as expected really) sold out. So I have 5 more days to consider it. I saw one today and got 15 feet close to it, looks great.

Post by **Computron** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:13 pm

Podcasts are a big draw for me. NPR podcasts like NOVA and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer are excellent ways to pass the time while walking to class.

In addition iPods can also be used as giant memory sticks. Plug em in, transfer a ton of files (an iPod mini really is just a hard drive after all) and then move em over to another computer, no itunes needed.

On an aside if Prof Smooth's NIU comment refers to Northern Illinois University, which I'm 99.9 percent sure it does, then we're talking about the same school...

Which means I'm living Brendocon's nightmare. Namely being within walking distance of Smooth.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:20 pm

Computron wrote:Which means I'm living Brendocon's nightmare. Namely being within walking distance of Smooth.

Nah, that and having a really heavy duty saw is one of my aspirations.

Pissin' Poonani · Post by **Pissin' Poonani** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:21 pm

I have a couple of multi-packs of Walkers crisps, so I think I'll try to win one. Of course, I may have stood a better chance if I hadn't already eaten half of them and lobbed the packets...

Kup_1 · Post by **Kup_1** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:47 am

We sell them at work. Pieces of crap. We actually have a "No returns" policy on them.:-)

Take a look at the Toshiba GigaBeat.

Much more bang for your buck, and easier to use.....

Bigger screen, and better sound. :-)

And not everyone will be carrying the thing that you have.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 3:46 am

Computron wrote:
On an aside if Prof Smooth's NIU comment refers to Northern Illinois University, which I'm 99.9 percent sure it does, then we're talking about the same school...

Which means I'm living Brendocon's nightmare. Namely being within walking distance of Smooth.

Dude, you go here too?