To iPod or Not To iPod?

[piperpilot]

My intell tells me that my husband is thinking about getting me an iPod for Christmas. My problem, however, is that I don't think I really want one. With a large SD card, I can carry and play plenty of music on my iPAQ. Sure, you can carry more music on an iPod, but I never listen to music for more than an hour or so anyway. So, I ask you, is there something so great about the iPod that I would be crazy not to want it for Christmas? I can think of a lot of gear for my iPAQ that I could get with the money that he's planning on spending on the iPod.

[Jason Dunn]

The iPod is a single-function device that's great if you're a hard-core music listener who wants to carry 1000's of songs with you and listen for several hours every day. That doesn't sound like you. :-)

Your husband may be partially influenced by the fact that HE thinks it's so cool - I was buying my wife Ashley an MP3 player (for when she works out, a Pocket PC is too big) and we were in Fry's looking at the Rio models. I thought that the Rio Nitrus with the 1.5 GB hard drive was SO COOL, and I wanted to buy that one for her, but ultimately she wanted an SD-card based model that was lighter and smaller.

Be honest with your husband and tell him what you really want - he'll appreciate it in the end when he sees how happy you are. :-)

[Leo the 3rd]

Well as a long time iPod owner (and advocate - I have the original scroll-wheel 5GB and the 3G touch well 15GB), I love the both. Being able to carry around a variety of my music, I never have to listen to the same tune twice. Playlist are a fantastic feature of the iPod. SmartPlay list when using iTunes is another great feature - make up playlist based on genre, year, even based on frequency or infrequency of play. One thing the iPod will cause you to do is be organized about your music. The iPod also throws in a few features of a calendar, address book and notes. If you're using a Mac then iSync is great for keeping this information organized. Plus you get plenty of storage for on the side if you don't fill up the iPod with music. Also you get 3 games to play - my fav being music trivia where it plays a short snippet of your music and you have to guess that tune. And you get an alarm clock. And you can listen to audiobooks from Audible.com .

Usually the first smile that comes over ones face is the brilliance in the packaging. Unwrapping each layer of your first iPod is an experience you'll remember.

Some things to know are that you'll want a nice case to protect it from scratches. Also it will require charging but expect up to 8 hours of use on a single full charge. If you don't have a firewire or USB2.0 card in your PC then you'll need one - I recommend Adaptec's Firewire card for speedy transfers and easy installation.

Also check out iTunes. It's free. Check out the music store and audiobooks. Rip your music using iTunes to play around with making playlists. And last go to a local Apple store, CompUSA, Target, Best Buy, Virgin Megastore and try one out. I hope my response has been helpful and let me know if you have any questions.

[piperpilot]

Thanks Jason. I had to do that to him last year when he bought me a Sony Clie because he thought the swivel display was cool. I much preferred the iPAQ 5455 that I got to replace it and I have not regretted it for a minute :D

[rzanology]

I refuse to pay $300 for soemthing that only plays music....thats madness!!!!!! Oh im sorry...it does contacts as well :roll:

[Jason Dunn]

I refuse to pay $300 for soemthing that only plays music....thats madness!!!!!! Oh im sorry...it does contacts as well :roll:

Thankfully, this thread isn't about YOU is it? :wink:

[anthonymoody]

PiperPilot,
As my family's resident gadget guy, I've found myself in your shoes every Christmas for the last 3 years (including this one....). And every year, I've pursuaded the potential givers not to get me an iPod. As cool as I think they are (and I DO think they are VERY cool), I agree completely with Jason in that the iPod is "a single-function device that's great if you're a hard-core music listener who wants to carry 1000's of songs with you and listen for several hours every day."

That's not me. I also agree with Jason in that it doesn't sound like you either...

TM

[GoldKey]

I refuse to pay $300 for soemthing that only plays music....thats madness!!!!!! Oh im sorry...it does contacts as well :roll:

If you adjust for inflation, probably cheaper than the original walkman, and so much more funcationality.

[Janak Parekh]

The iPod is a single-function device that's great if you're a hard-core music listener who wants to carry 1000's of songs with you and listen for several hours every day. That doesn't sound like you. :-)
I agree that a Pocket PC is a great music device, but you don't have to be a hardcore music listener to enjoy an iPod. I listen to it perhaps an hour every day, and am still very happy with the purchase. The ability to carry all my CDs is incredibly convenient. It's also convenient in that I don't use my Pocket PC's battery up for listening to music. And the remote control is a biggie for me.

On the other hand, I do have a daily commute and want the variety at the touch of my fingers, and perhaps that's the appropriate motivation. On the other other hand, my sister doesn't have a commute and she still loves her iPod to bits.

Let me give you this advice: you can easily survive without an iPod, but do not play with a friend's iPod if you ever see it. It's a very, very dangerous thing. :lol:

--janak

[Leo the 3rd]

The iPod is a single-function device that's great if you're a hard-core music listener who wants to carry 1000's of songs with you and listen for several hours every day. That doesn't sound like you. :-)
I agree that a Pocket PC is a great music device, but you don't have to be a hardcore music listener to enjoy an iPod. I listen to it perhaps an hour every day, and am still very happy with the purchase. The ability to carry all my CDs is incredibly convenient. It's also convenient in that I don't use my Pocket PC's battery up for listening to music. And the remote control is a biggie for me.

On the other hand, I do have a daily commute and want the variety at the touch of my fingers, and perhaps that's the appropriate motivation. On the other other hand, my sister doesn't have a commute and she still loves her iPod to bits.

Let me give you this advice: you can easily survive without an iPod, but do not play with a friend's iPod if you ever see it. It's a very, very dangerous thing. :lol:

--janak

Ahh, come on over to the dark side. Next thing you know you'll even want a G5 or Powerbook. Muhaaahaaaa! :twisted:

[Janak Parekh]

Ahh, come on over to the dark side. Next thing you know you'll even want a G5 or Powerbook. Muhaaahaaaa! :twisted:
Who said it was dark over there? I definitely want both a G5 and an AlBook. :lol: Being a UNIX geek helps, too. And it's the only UNIX solution that supports native Microsoft Office and Pocket PC syncing at that...

Not going to be able to budget it for a while, though. :cry: And I really want Apple to make an ultraportable laptop (i.e., under 3 lbs).

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

BTW, just to make my opinion a little more balanced... :lol:

I used to use my iPAQ 3870 for heavy audio listening before I switched to the iPod. I have to say, I do miss the iPAQ's DSP and ability to have custom equalizers, which the iPod does not have (it has just presets). Don't get an iPod for improved sound quality, because I think the iPAQs have amongst the finest sound reproduction of handheld devices, and having the variety of playback programs is also very useful.

--janak

[fmcpherson]

I think an iPod makes a bit more sense if you own a Mac. The iPod is really a portable Firewire hard drive with a small OS and app sw for music playback. I carry a full backup of my PowerBook on my iPod in addition to my 11 GB music library. The integration of iTunes with the iPod is perfect and better than any type of music sync you can do with a Pocket PC.

[Janak Parekh]

I think an iPod makes a bit more sense if you own a Mac. The iPod is really a portable Firewire hard drive with a small OS and app sw for music playback. I carry a full backup of my PowerBook on my iPod in addition to my 11 GB music library. The integration of iTunes with the iPod is perfect and better than any type of music sync you can do with a Pocket PC.
This is no longer true, though. ;) The new iPods have USB2 support, and iTunes on Windows works functionally equivalently to iTunes on Macs... I sync my 12GBs of AAC files between my work desktop and my iPod now. (200 albums, to be precise. 8O)

--janak

[PetiteFlower]

I was just watching some of the special featured on the Two Towers extended edition DVD and they were talking about how they couldn't get their real time network connection to extend all the way to Peter Jackson's house in London, so they would dl the videos at the studio and save them on Ipods and carry them over to his house :)

[Ed Hansberry]

Be sure to check out www.ipodsdirtysecret.com first. :devilboy:

[mrkablooey]

I agree completely with Jason in that the iPod is "a single-function device that's great if you're a hard-core music listener who wants to carry 1000's of songs with you and listen for several hours every day."

I'm not one of these people but I do appreciate the iPod every time I use it. Being able to have a large portion of my music collection at my disposal at all times is a huge plus. Going to mow the lawn? Just scroll to the tunes. No need to upload/download music to a SD card. I also have AUX-IN in my car so I can plug the iPod in and use that without carrying a ton of CDs. I often get in the mood for something in particular on the way home from work and without my iPod, I probably don't have the disc on me. With the iPod, it doesn't really matter. :)

[Janak Parekh]

Be sure to check out www.ipodsdirtysecret.com first. :devilboy:
Well, that's a controversy in and of itself, because you can get the battery aftermarket for $49 (www.ipodbattery.com) and from Apple themselves for $99. But, if you prefer, substitute the Dell DJ, the Nomad Zen, the Rio Karma, etc. into the equation here and the discussion remains valid...

--janak

[beckp]

Well if you read the reviews, while the iPOD is marketed well it doesn't get great reviews on sound quality. Check out the IGN "Gear" site for info. There is a company that IMHO makes the best stuff called iRiver. Their CD, MP3 memory only and MP3 Hard drive players are fantastic. I went with a MP3 memory player because of the following:

1.) While I have plenty of memory on my Tosh e740 I didn't want to expose it to the rigors of mowing the lawn, exercizing, soccer games, etc. My PPC costs too much. If I want to listen to music at the office I use my PPC

2.) I stayed away from a hard disk unit beacuse to me I don't need that much music at one time and it introduces a mechanical factor back into the equation, which add some amount of frality back into the fold.

3.) Some folks may baulk and a "non-recharable" battery model buy for someone that has both in his household, poping in a new AA battery sure beats the heck out of battery charging.

4.) Price

[Janak Parekh]

Well if you read the reviews, while the iPOD is marketed well it doesn't get great reviews on sound quality.
It does have a good S/N ratio, but yes -- I was not blown away by the iPod's audio features, especially the lack of custom EQ and the fact that it distorts bass a little too quickly.

There is a company that IMHO makes the best stuff called iRiver.
iRiver is indeed worth watching. CNET reviewed their newest hard-drive player and liked it a lot, aesthetics notwithstanding.

1.) While I have plenty of memory on my Tosh e740 I didn't want to expose it to the rigors of mowing the lawn, exercizing, soccer games, etc. My PPC costs too much. If I want to listen to music at the office I use my PPC
I wouldn't worry about vibration, etc. -- just dropping it. An arm strap might be useful for things like running; on the other hand it might be a little too bulky. If you don't find that uncomfortable, the Pocket PC can serve as a nice solid-state player.

--janak