The New Ipods
 

Ugh, I just got a new one a month ago. :cuss:

These new ones look very nice.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

If it makes you feel better they will have even more coming out by the end of ther year. But on the plus side yours probably has a bigger drive then the nano.

I got a 60G a couple of months ago. The new one doesn't seem like much of an upgrade. 10% thinner - oh boy. At least mine works with all the existing stuff.

I must be getting old, but the thought of watching videos and playing games on that tiny screen doesn't thrill me. The black case is kinda cool, though.

Everything being in your cell phone is right around the corner. These things will be extinct in 24 months.

um
 

Olympus 20gig Mp3 player with 3" screen and 1.2 megpixel camera.

For $199 from Circuit City . Good price. Oh, I don't like cellphones. More a pda guy.

http://www.popgadget.net/images/mrobe500.jpg

I ordered a 30 gig black ipod today.

"I'm not getting one until it can hold 300jiggabytes and is small enough to comfortably be stowed in my peehole." -gochiefs per Iowanian

The download and view TV shows the day after they air feature might be kinda cool.

Other than that, meh.

I have an Archos personal video recorder that is able to record live tv from my satellite box for viewing whenever, which is great because I'm on the train commuting a couple hours away. It also serves as a fully functional mp3 player and has an 80GB hard drive so I can have 40+ hours of tv and a shitload of songs on it at the same time. It's quite a bit more expensive than an Ipod, but the tv functionality makes it more than worth the difference.

I love how Apple is taking advantage of dumb consumers by offering a 2GB Nano/Mini for $199 while the 20GB version is $299. I guess people are willing to pay more for less space/functionality just because it's smaller.

Yeah. That said, they could have gone all out and done a whole screen and made the click wheel a touch screen application that can be called up with a button, therefore creating a bigger screen for videos.

I don't understand why everybody gets iPod's when you can get a Creative Labs MP3 player that looks exactly like an iPod for $100 cheaper.

Fashion victims

It's the same for anything Apple. You can get better for cheaper, but they make millions. Nobody wants to pay a few cents for a new stadium but they'll pay $4k for a computer they can get for $2k just because it looks like a bubble.

One of many reasons...

Have you seen all of the add ons for iPods? They are THE music device that is now the standard for hooking your music into anything you want. Try hooking your Creative Labs player into your car stereo and have it controled by the stereo itself... look at all of the cases, FM transmitters, boom boxes, etc... all built specifically for the iPod. I personally think there is huge value in that.

I have no idea about the other brands, but my Ipod holds 60 gigs. I use it for music and as an external HD.

Storage on these things is getting ridiculous. I bought an iPod Shuffle.... it holds every damn CD I listen to! It's so quick & easy to wipe & reload, I see no need to spring for the insane storage versions.

BTW, iTunes sucks ass... horrid software. I use WinAmp + iPod plugin... far less buggy on the PC platform.

MP3's destroy music

lol, you land a job w/ the RIAA?

Stability.

My Mac has never had a virus and only once a major software conflict.

Most of the time I'm on it I'm 'bout as drunk as 200 indians, yet it still works perfect. Completely idiot proof.

No, the music industry destroys music.

Storage is good for photos or video and data.

The Creative unit has every single one of those accessories allowing you to connect to your car streo or anything you want. No difference there.

The Creative is 60GB as well. The ONLY difference is the color screen. If that's worth $100 then more power to ya.

By the way, I don't have either. It's just always fascinated me that people will pay so much for Apple stuff when they get the same thing or better cheaper with a different name on it.

I'd rather just...not be an idiot. Take a look at my avatar...I've never had a single problem with my PC and I paid about $1500 for an AMD 64 3700+ w/ 1GB RAM, 800GB hard drive space and a 256MB Radeon x850xt video card. (custom built of course.) Apple can't touch that.

As for stability, I had a little Mac/PC battle in another thread not long ago where I posted a screen shot of my system information showing a 28 day uptime. The only reason it was down after that was because my cat stepped on the power button on the surge protector.

You're right, though. Macs, I guess, are idiot proof. Too much, though. I used one 8 hours a day for almost 2 years. I really tried to like it. For a long time I told myself I just didn't know the OS as well and needed to learn all the keyboard shortcuts, etc. Didn't help. I get around very well on a Mac, but I can accomplish tasks twice as fast on my PC. Not to mention I used to have to bring work home (away from the brand spankin new G4 at the time) and work on my 1.4Ghz AMD because the Mac couldn't handle the illustrations I was dealing with.

Anyway, that's enough for now. Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a Mac/PC battle. ;)

Not a big deal, buy what you need.

A computer isn't any different than a car, you buy it for what you need it for. :)

Not if you encode at a high enough bitrate. They say 128kbit is CD quality but it's simply not. I never go any lower than 192kbit and often use 256kbit. If you can hear the quality loss then...well then you can hear better than the rest of the world. Congrats!

So Bose, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, BMW, Honda, VW and every other stereo maker/car company has products built for the Creative players? Umm... nope.

There are hundreds of companies making products specifically for the iPod. If I want a new case for my iPod, I have massive amounts to choose from. Same with boom boxes or any other accessory that I would be interested in because they have 75% of the market.

Not the point. Pretty much any portable MP3 player you buy these days is capable of utilizing an FM brodcaster, just like the iPod.

iPod is the most recognized name in the market; it does not have the market cornered however. As a matter of fact, you can buy comparable units for far less $... and have the same functionality.

Of course, you're one who partakes of the Apple kool aid, so I'm sure my heretical take falls on deaf ears.

I got a little MP3 player for less than $50. I think it's a MuVo. From Creative. It holds a few CD's and it plugs into one of the USB slots on my PC and shows up as an extra drive. It's simple but effective. Drag and drop and you're on the road. I also have an FM transmitter that plugs into the headphone jack that let's it play on my car stereo on the cheap. Simple but effective.

It may not say "designed for Creative MP3 players" but you can sure hook it up to every one of those types of stereo devices. I haven't seen how any of the car manufacturers are implenenting the use of iPods. Is it just a little thing you plug it into or something? The Creative unit is almost identicle to the iPod. It wouldn't surprise me all if it fit and worked just the same.

The same thing from apple would have been $129.99.

EXACTLY! I used to work for an electronics liquidation place. We LOVED it when Apple people would call. They paid so much stupid money for stupid products. How about that Apple iSight for instance. $150 for a shitty web cam!? Or the $199.99 AirPort access point comparable to the Linksys, Belkin, Motorola, etc. units that run about $130 or less? I just don't get it.

Heh. I think my little player is cool. I can load it up for stuff I like and play it on the way to work. I've been temtped to look hard at the Apple stuff but it seems to be mainly hype.

I know the BMW unit will let you use your stereo controls for skip/scan/shuffle and the like.

Believe me, it really is. When I worked at that liquidation place we got about 1000 iPods on one of our bids. Those damn things sold SO FAST. We had paid $25.00/each for them and sold them all day long for $249.99.

We had the other brand units too and the only difference was the look..and the price. We sold the otheres for about $179.99 and couldn't hardly get rid of em. They all worked exactly the same!

America has a funny economy.

Most car adapters you get for any MP3 player will allow for the same. May not be as "clean" of an install as the factory BMW ones, but nothing really ugly and works just the same.

Because your daughter's high school friends or the hens at your wife's gym will look at the other player and be like "oh, that's not an iPod". :harumph:

I looked at a car that was "iPod ready" on the premium sound level, and basically there was just a plug where you could insert whatever cable from the iPod into the head unit and it would play the songs on the iPod.

Maybe it doesn't look "clean", but neither does having your iPod and a cable dangling out of your dash.

Apple has always been expensive. If you talk to an Apple kool aid drinker, it's analagous to BMW versus Mazda/Ford.... you get what you pay for.

I've worked with both systems and found both annoying in one respect or another. IMHO Apple has been stupid to lock their OS to hardware. Everyone knows the money is made in licensing, not in hardware. Everyone but Apple, I suppose. Perhaps that's why they have such a miniscule market share? :hmmm:

I like my iPod Shuffle. I could not find a smaller MP3 player... that thing is tiny! Its no larger than a pack of chewing gum, and it holds 300+ songs. Of course, I listen to punk, so the songs I like are all < 2min, but still it holds a butt load of music! :)

Only complaint I have had is/was w/ iTunes. The interface/GUI is nice, but it is a flaky POS! It intermitently fails to recognize my iPod, then it geeks the firmware. Once I switched to WinAmp + the iPod plugin, I had no problems.

I think you are missing the point.

Look at boom boxes for example. Bose, Altec Lansing, Klipsh, etc., all have boom boxes for the iPod. Options at any price point. How many companies have boom boxes for the Creative players? It's nice to be able to choose from a wide variety of products. Do you not agree?

Everyone and their brother is building products for the iPod. Why? Because it has become the standard. The iPod is about the complete experience. You may discount that, but millions of people agree. Why has the iPod become a HUGE business? Not because us Apple loving zealots :rolleyes: all went out and bought one. Apple sold almost 6.5 million iPods the last QUARTER. They are obviously doing something right.

Yeah, I think it's very cool... however the other MP3 player manufacturers are doing the same thing - only cheaper.

Apple needs to pay close attention to the market, or they'll get trounced (again).

My "ipod" comes with a phone, camcorder, multimedia player, keyboard, and operating system.


http://www.bisonium.com/blog/images/...2ru05yiq-1.jpg

I think you have to with what works for you and pay for what you want. $50 did me up fine.

examples?

I completely agree. Some aren't too picky ;)

Holy crap, what did that mofo cost?! I hope you use it for business too ! :)

I work with a guy from Japan... he has the coolest *$&%ing gizmos EVER! His freaking wrist-watch also acts as a remote control. It's hilarious - we'll go to lunch and he'll start changing the channels on the televisions at the restaurant... confuses the hell out of peeps :D

Most of the nano's will prolley be recalled here, customers are pissed on how easy they scratch. We are talking a fingernail will ruin a nano, that is how soft the material they made them with are... They look great and have a color screen but come on there are tons of other mp3 players that are better.. That olympus mp3/video/camera is great, they were on sale for 150 after rebate a few weeks ago...

Examples? Are you serious? Have you not looked at the market lately?

Oops, forgot, Mac zealot. Okay, go to www.pricewatch.com & click on MP3 players. You'll see a large list of differing platforms and maufacturers to choose from.

My old pda could do that.. It was a hp model, you could also control vcrs/stereos anything that was a IR signal...

Just like what was mentioned about the way it hooks up to the car, it's just a cable that plugs in. Same as hooking up audio to any audio receiver. The iPod or Creative player or whatever you choose just plugs in to the audio input and you're done. So your argument of having a wide variety of products to choose from is obsolete. You can get any of those products with a different MP3 player as well.

I'm glad you brought this up. When I had my treo I used Winamp to stream music via a web address. Connect to that with your Treo and whoa-la...my 800GB of desktop HD space was now my MP3 player space.

Yep... same deal here, only in wristwatch form. I get a kick out of reactions as he flips through stations. Best is when the employees pick up the remote and switch the channel back, only to have it flip through stations again as they sit the remote down :D

He is correct, generally anything that says it works with IPOD either has another accessory for a different mp3 or will hook up to that mp3 player.. Ipod is just great at marketing, 4 out of 5 mp3 players sold are ipod.. And of that 4 out of 5 people paying for a Ipod or misinformed or trendy or sheep...

I have a nano and I can run my fingernail on it all day and it won't scratch. From what I understand, it is the same material that iPods have always been cast in, but the black material makes scratches much more obvious.

I use mine a lot and it has a few scratches, but not bad at all. I don't even carry it in a case. I do plan to buy one to keep it from scratching more.

Thats good for you, because at my work since those things released we have had about 13 returned, I get yelled at for some reason... Did you buy the 2 or 4gig model???

Yeah, I use it for everything... It cost a pretty penny, but I get my money's worth!

Not correct.

The way the car systems work is this... Manufacturers make the car stereo with the ability to hook an iPod to it with the PROPRIETARY iPod connector. Why is this needed? Because it allows the stereo to control the iPod without seeing the iPod... it acts like a disc changer. The plug in cable is installed in the glove compartment so you can hook in the iPod and close it away. The car stereo then, not only controls the iPod, it displays the track information as well.

The BMW install, for example, lets the driver change tracks with the controls on the steering wheel. Others through the head unit, steering wheel or remote control. Again, choices galore.

4GB. Best bang for the buck.

Were all of the returned ones black?

They're not cheap, but if you don't have to buy a $300 or $400 MP3 player ALSO then you're saving money. Not to mention they'll do navigation, email, IMs, web browsing, they'll connect to domain servers, they can be used for barcoding or as keys (realtors use them to get into houses now) plus MANY more features.

They truly are the best bang for your buck. I ended up selling mine because I wanted to try out the HP model that had wireless networking and ran on MS instead of Palm. That one was a little bit ahead of its time. Most of its features had little bugs.

And none offer all the options an iPod does.

Ok. I looked through the MP3 accessories area and found a few FM transmitters (who really wants those anyway? the quality is horrible) and a case and a charger for an iRiver.

Is that the huge market that I missed? It must be my zealotness clouding the view ;)

And I can plug my Mac into any Unix machine and it works fine in a network, right?

I mean, USB/USBII/ethernet are all the same? Right?...

MARKET...is the key word here. It's all about marketing. You can use the same damn cables/adapters to hook up almost any other MP3 player with any audio receiver.

No, you can't.

Recievers are set up to recognize specific products/signals/devices.

My digital camera has the same USB connections any other camera has but only a few models work with OSX.

Same connections, limited compatibility...

Please tell me you're kidding and you're really not that stupid. Audio inputs are one thing, USB, Ethernet, etc. are something entirely different.

[. And of that 4 out of 5 people paying for a Ipod or misinformed or trendy or sheep...[/QUOTE]

ROFL ROFL

I'm confused by this statement. Only a few models what...the cam's or the cables? If certain digi cam models won't work on OSX I highly doubt it's the USB cable that's the problem. USB is USB. It'll work. If not then that's just another Apple limitation.

You are forgetting the functionality part. Kinda plays a role here.

We are talking about integrating the music player into the system. No other player can integrate like the iPod can. Not because the iPod is special, but because companies know the iPod is the market leader, they make their system adapt to it.

You are a reerun.

I see no difference in functionality. The implementation of the iPod into an audio systems consists of audio cables of some sort. You can use those same cables with any other MP3 player. You give me a device that says it works with an iPod and I'd bet that same device will play almost any other MP3 player just as easily.

Just like their product specific display hookups their putting on the back of their systems now, forcing you to purchase one of their insanly priced Apple displays.

I'll give credit to Apple. Somehow they know how to get people to buy their shit and that's great for them. I just don't understand us Americans sometimes. We're strange.

Please refer to post #59. I'll bet you can't connect a Rio (or any other MP3 player) to the iPod connector that is used to make that functionality happen. It isn't a simple mini-plug we are talking about here. It is a connection that transmits more than the music.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what it is.

Sony makes a bazillion digital cameras and camcorders but only about 1/5th work with OSX/OSX apps.

Don't ask me why...

Oh yeah... that crazy DVI connection. :rolleyes:

No, it's not just a DVI. I think I may have had that backwards. I just remember at Dealexpress (so I can quit saying that liquidation place I worked at) we always had to leave a Mac up and running so we could test all the Cinema displays. It may have been that the displays would only plug into a Mac, not that you couldn't use the Mac w/o the cinema display.

You get what you pay for?
Knockoff's are for cheapskates and/or geeks?
It's the marketing, stupid.
If "Creative" is in their name then why didn't they come up with it first?
They're chick magnets, dude.
I own stock in Apple.
I prefer to reward innovation and design than a "look a-like"?
Those people in the commercial look like they're having fun.
I like to have excuses to go to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store.


--->

Actually IPOD gets most of their ideas last, they just happen to have the best marketing period. Ipod did not start the mp3's, they did not do color screens first, hell they stole the name of nano from creative. Still wondering what will happen with that in court. Apple just has the best marketing out of anybody. They do not have shit for innovation compared to everybody else and at the price. Just marketing, marketing, marketing.

First, that's moronic.

Apple has got to have the absolute worst marketing of any PC/Comp maker out there.

There aren't 100 billion sites out there taking jabs at them because it's convincing. It's $#it. I can admit that and still like the product.

2nd, they combined software with hardware and made a mint. Their site offers high quality d/loads and cheap prices.

Edit: there must be some marketing genius out there. You've got moron teenagers (redundant much?) asking their parents to buy them $2,000 computers to go with their $400 iPod.

Microsoft isn't the only person to take advantage of the idiot quotient ...

Uh, "nano" means extremely small. How did Apple steal that from anyone?

Because there is alreay a nano mp3 player out there for the past year.

We are talking mp3 players here.. If you want to bash them for their other products make another thread... A inferior product selling 4 out of 5 total mp3 players is marketing power.