The Great Hunt for the cheapest Ipod

Andrew_G

How do again Folks

As a relative newbie (but long-time fan of this Forum) I hope I'm not out of order here in suggesting that users post their suggestions for the cheapest Ipod Retailers to this thread?

My daughter has asked for one this Xmas and won't be swayed with other MP3 Alternatives. I understand from reading other threads here that their price "maybe" regulated somewhat by Apple.

I realise there have been some other similar requests posted here but after doing an extensive search I couldn't find a constantly updated thread that includes discounts available for using coupons or discount codes etc.

I know the link below has already been posted but this seems to rely on a mixture of 10% off store coupons (which I don't have), double points vouchers (again I don't have one), and needs purchased on a special night (none in my area - Belfast)

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Urgents;action=display;num=1101460441;start=0#0

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers

P.S. Budget is a max. of £200 - hopefully a lot less.

Glad

I presume you are lokking for the Apple iPod 20GB
in which case you will be lucky to find it under £200 without some kind of voucher etc ?
I looked at the ipod mini for my daughter but have been put off by poor aftersales help and the fact that batteries are only available from apple, am now buying one of these
which still hold 1200 tracks in mp3 form and are being sold with a free spare battery at the moment.

jake_bullet_2

There is a lot of misinformation posted concerning iPod batteries. Firstly the batteries generally last somewhere in excess of 2 years, there are plenty of people still using the original iPod with the original battery.

Secondly the batteries are readily available from several sources other than Apple and are not particularly difficult to fit. Batteries for the 4th generation Ipod come in around £20 and the iPod mini battery around £25.  

Spending £25 after a couple of years really doesn't seem unreasonable to me, anything with rechargeable batteries would require the same.

People want the iPod because it has the best user interface (currently), the best integration with the computer application and it looks "cool".

As for the arguments about music format, the iPod plays the only 2 that matter - mp3 and aac.

Mp3 is about the most common format out there (if you're in the sorry position of using wma then the free supplied software will convert it to mp3 for you) and the itunes music store uses aac, none of the other online music stores are having any impact anyway.

If you want stuff like FM radio, a glorified dictaphone or REALLY want another file format then you'd do better to look elsewhere but too many people seem happy to knock the iPod for reasons that simply don't matter to all but a very few.

Andrew_G

Thanks for the answers so far folks but where's the cheapest place is to buy an Ipod? ???

Trying to convince your kids a Creative Zen (or indeed any another MP3 Player alternative) is technically better than an Ipod when they've got their mind set on one is nigh on impossible and frankly (for a quiet life I'd still rather go for the Apple product.

The coupons thing is what I find hardest to grasp. What online Retailers that sell Ipods do I have access to money-off vouchers to and factoring all that in who is the cheapest?

All advice appreciated.

matt987106

Mp3 is about the most common format out there (if you're in the sorry position of using wma then the free supplied software will convert it to mp3 for you) and the itunes music store uses aac, none of the other online music stores are having any impact anyway.

BUT isnt WMA files half the size of MP3 ???????? thus double the storage ?????

Beninio88

Firstly the batteries generally last somewhere in excess of 2 years, there are plenty of people still using the original iPod with the original battery.
.

Yep. I own the Gen 2 iPod that I bought 2 and a half years ago and I have not noticed any significant decrease of battery life. I use my iPod every day without fail. Same applies to both my brothers iPods which were purchased at the same time.

Amazon do them for quite cheap.

Andrew_G

Best prices so far for a 20 GB Ipod.

Simply Computers £205
Amazon £207.99
Dabs £209.99
Savastore £210.56

Any advances please?
I'm still not using coupons/money-off codes so if anyone has any for the above or can advise of some for other Ipod Retailers please do.

Andrew_G

Anyone heard of this crowd?
http://www.pcagain.biz/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=680&categoryid=108

£176.24 including VAT for a 20GB Ipod but hardly a well-known Company alarm bells ringing in my head

Beninio88

That picture is of an older model (3rd generation). Kids being kids they will probably want the newer one.

freds_dog

BUT isnt WMA files half the size of MP3 ???????? thus double the storage ?????

Yes, but at about a quarter the quality. The best format quality-wise *and* size-wise is mp4 (aka AAC), which has been proved without any doubt to be better than mp3 and much better than wma. You can - if you want, and whatever player you have - choose to encode your files in whatever format, and whatever quality, so giving yourself the ability to store greater numbers of tracks on your player. It just so happens that the format that gives the best quality for the smallest size is mp4. Don't be misled by anyone who tells you otherwise.