Ipod Users - Any Good?

Knub

From reading the above so far, the consensus on iPod seems a bit "meh" so far.

The point with iTunes is not only is it slow on a PC, but it it is incredibly un-intuative (unlike apples software normally I must say). Its just a pain in the backside. As music management and device software goes it's just abysmal.

To the unlock/no iTunes option - yes it is possible, but the extra things you have to do and the software and possibility of paying Apple - NUTS TO THAT.

I can go and buy a top of the range Creative Zen and have instant access and easy to use mp3 player without all the faff. This is what I currently use. Charges on my PC overnight and lasts about a week with 1-2 hours of play time a day without charging...

Each to their own, but I fail to see why iPod or Nano or so amazing. Just because they are an Apple product and therefore you look cool with your white headphones and little white device...

To all the people saying its so great and you can listen to music in your car, at work, on speakers at home, etc, etc - you can do all this with other Mp3 players without buying all Apple's extra hardware and gimicky products. Thats like saying "I like my Apple iPod because I can play music away from my PC/Stereo..." the sad bit of news is - you can do the same thing with other mp3 players!!!!!!

isofa

It's easy to use the other apps not iTunes, you don't have to pay Apple anything. Apart from buying the device, just like you have to pay Creative to buy the Zen - erruk fancy paying Creative anything - "NUTS TO THAT" [sic]. What is the problem, Apple are a commercial company there to make profit, like MS, Creative or anyone else. Ridiculous argument.

Fail to understand why some people just like to put the boot into a company that makes good products, typical English attitude I guess, probably why MS gets such a kicking with Windows.

For me design, ergonomics, quality and sound are important when choosing a music player. The iPod is a stunning piece of design, flawless, it's a beautiful object, as well as performing its function perfectly. If you are happy to carry a less-well designed object around with you which does the same, fair enough. Each to their own.

I guess some people will be happy with cheaper / generic things, others happy to pay more for quality / brand. Same with cars you drive, houses you buy etc.

cymrugirl

my 2 cents
my main player is the ipod touch (1st Gen) bought in 2007. I constantly switch between watching tv shows, movies and songs and the battery on my touch lasts about 7-8 days between charges. For me, it's the best one of the whole lineup. I also have a nano and it's hard going back to the click wheel but it's useful for when I want to work out. The nano is a 3rd gen 4GB and I won it sometime last year. Battery on it is pretty good. I have my workout vids on there so will use it about 3-4 times a week and each vid is about 45 mins in length and will easily last at least a week without a charge.

It was worth it for me because I got the touch at a big discount and the nano I got for free! :P

Though I concur that itunes on windows is crap.

warrenpeace

back when I got mine they were still giving away the proper chargers for them which you plugged into an actual plug sockt to charge. It had USB as well though.

randomtask_2

I have the 80GB iPod video (5th Generation). Acquired in Hong Kong while on holiday in 2007. Can't recall exact price but it was definitely cheaper than the UK equivalent. Still working fine today though suspect battery life isn't quite as long.

Good points - simple to use, syncs well with my Macbook using iTunes though occasionally fails to be detected (nothing a quick reset on the iPod doesn't resolve), huge range of accessories and docks available (not that I personally use them), decent though not class leading performance in terms of sound quality. It does the basic job, though I concede there are better performing digital audio players out there.

Negatives - chrome finish is a fingerprint magnet, no support out of the box for some audio file formats (WMA, FLAC) , hard to use without taking it out of your pocket (unless you buy the remote control), appalling supplied headphones...actually, that really bugs me when these are thought of as 'cool' - I happen to think you lose a lot of credibility wearing these rubbish headphones...

Marty_J

Knub wrote: »

From reading the above so far, the consensus on iPod seems a bit "meh" so far.

Eight individuals posted above you (including yourself), and six of them said something positive.

consensus |kənˈsɛnsəs|
noun [usu. in sing. ]
general agreement : a consensus of opinion among judges | [as adj. ] a consensus view.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin, ‘agreement,’ from consens- ‘agreed,’ from the verb consentire.

The point with iTunes is not only is it slow on a PC, but it it is incredibly un-intuative (unlike apples software normally I must say). Its just a pain in the backside. As music management and device software goes it's just abysmal.

It does perform better on a Mac, but then again, so does almost every piece of cross platform software I recall using. It works the same on a Mac as it does on a PC, so I don't get how the PC version is unintuitive.

Nor do I understand why it sucks for music management or for managing devices. I've never used an easier to use piece of software.

To the unlock/no iTunes option - yes it is possible, but the extra things you have to do and the software and possibility of paying Apple - NUTS TO THAT.

Paying money for what?

I can go and buy a top of the range Creative Zen and have instant access and easy to use mp3 player without all the faff. This is what I currently use.

What faff?

Charges on my PC overnight and lasts about a week with 1-2 hours of play time a day without charging...

My iPod Touch only takes a couple of hours to fully charge if the battery is completely flat, and it lasts for a week or more with a few hours use every day.

The only thing that really drains the battery fast is browsing the internet, checking my emails, or using one of the 50,000 applications available for it. I'm sure you have just the same problem on your Creative Zen.

Each to their own, but I fail to see why iPod or Nano or so amazing. Just because they are an Apple product and therefore you look cool with your white headphones and little white device...

Because they look good, are really well built, and they do what they're designed to do really well?

To all the people saying its so great and you can listen to music in your car, at work, on speakers at home, etc, etc - you can do all this with other Mp3 players without buying all Apple's extra hardware and gimicky products. Thats like saying "I like my Apple iPod because I can play music away from my PC/Stereo..." the sad bit of news is - you can do the same thing with other mp3 players!!!!!!

What "extra hardware and gimicky products"?

Are you complaining because the iPod has more accessories than any other mp3 player?

To answer the OP's question, I had a 5th Gen iPod with Video, which was purchased in 2006. It worked flawlessly, and I gave it to my step-daughter a few months ago, and she is happily using it. It still has excellent battery life, and does everything it's supposed to do.

I now have an iPod Touch, which really is amazing. There's just nothing out there that comes close to what you can do with it. It's functional to an almost ludicrous degree. You can do so much with it, I had been playing with it for about a week before I remembered it plays music so I should probably put some on it. The iPod interface on it is absolutely gorgeous and really easy to use. Even if you just wanted to use it to listen to music, its iPod interface makes it a more than worthwhile purchase. It's exceptionally well built, and is a beautiful object even when it's not switched on.

The sound quality of both my iPods has been fantastic. I've met quite a few of the world's top music producers and sound and mastering engineers, and guess what mp3 player they all used?

I do agree with others who have said the Apple-supplied earphones aren't exactly great, and my advice to anyone buying an iPod would be to budget for buying some better ones. I have a pair of Shure SE530 earphones, which sound fantastic. If you're on a budget, Sennheiser make some nice earphones for not very much money.

jaydeeuk1

For once I agree (mostly) with Marty.

Think I need to go lie down.

mluton

I have a 5th gen video which I originally paid £299.99 for 4 years.

Its in perfect condition still now, the battery lasts forever and its never failed on me once.

I use itunes, but also use winamp for managing my ipod music.

Gers

Love 'em -got loads of 'em!


First one was a touch wheel - no colour. Just found it the other day and it works well still though it's now not in regular use.

Then 2nd generation Nano (PRODUCT)RED - this one lasted me listening to it non-stop on a 20 hour flight from Melbourne to Dubai and then a 7 hour flight from Dubai to Newcastle. Absolutely perfect.

Got a 1st generation Shuffle which is great for short trips. Got a 2nd generation Shuffle which is lost in the bedroom!

Lastly got a new iPod Classic which is just brilliant.

Apart from the design feel and the sheer beauty of them none of my players is set to 'sync' with iTunes. I do it manually and so can control the use of my own music better. And now that it's possible to just drag and drop (or copy and paste) from my PC hard drive straight to the iPod life is so much simpler.

I have to agree about the rubbish headphones! Invested in a pair of in-ear Bose headphones and music on the go is now bliss.

For me it's always going to be form with function and the iPods meet that design criteria.

Knub

isofa wrote: »

Stuff

I was referring to your comment when I said about having to pay apple for DRM before it was introduced. Something you said yourself should be free.

Regards software, when I buy something I want it to work out of the box how I intend it. With an iPod I couldn't do this. I'd have to download your third party software and sort it all out to get it to work how I want it. With my ZEN I plug it in, drag my files over and it all works. Job done.

Thanks for your generalisations on "English Attitudes". Funnily I'm more of a Microsoft Fanboy than aApple and I don't slate MS, only Apple. Purely because the fanboys are easier to wind up.

Regards comments about less well designed, beautiful products and me being happy to carry around "inferior products" that do the same thing... You kinda proved my point for me. You carry around your iPod because it looks good and you are a sheep who likes to pay more for a device that does the same thing as something £50 cheaper? Asthetics aren't the be all and end all for me. I'd rather not pay the extra for a spinny navigation wheel/system and my device to be white.

Paying more for things and cheaper/generic brand comment; I mean what the hell. At no point did I mention any cheaper or inferior products, only mp3 players that outshine/rival Apple. Creative is not inferior. Infact I'd trust them when it comes to sound more than I'd trust Apple. If it was how to look cool, trendy and be one of the fashionable sheep - then I'd go to Apple.

Oh and if we are talking "inferior" technology, yadda, yadda, yadda - how come we are on like the 7th generation iPod now? And all the first gen ones were absolutley abysmal? They didn't exactly get it right first time really did they?

MartyJ, thanks for your definition of the word consensus. I find that grammar Nazi's are quite adept at telling me things I already knew. How I read it... the comments weren't exactly "rave reviews" and weren't "condeming it", therefore "meh". Perhaps go look that up on your dictionary and copy/paste it in here too?

FYI :- I used the word consensus in the correct context. Even if you think my analysis or summary of the consensus was incorrect, there was no need to copy a dictionary definition. I'm English, you speak my language, not the other way around.... In hindsight, you would have been more accurate defining the word "meh".

Regarding the rest of picking my post appart, I've said how I feel on the iPod. I'm not going to pick yours appart becuase it would be a rather frivalous excercise and would also make me look like a tool. The only thing I will say is the Zen I currently own was unpackaged, plugged in and had a copy of my music collection within a few clicks. All without software use, simply plug/copy/play. This isn't possible on iPod. Which is why I don't own one and cannot be bothered with the "FAFF".

I did say in my OP, each to their own, your reasons as to why you think the iPod/Nano are so good are the same reasons I use my mp3 player: "Because they look good, are really well built, and they do what they're designed to do really well?". Except the original iPods weren't. Fair enough now they might have a grip on their hardware but originally they didn't.

Finally with regards "gimicky products". Apple sell a lifestyle choice, not "SUPERIOR HARDWARE/SOFTWARE, etc". They effectivley get sheep by the balls and then bring out all the "must have" accessories such as crappy stero speakers you can dock your iPod into and get real poor sound quality OUT LOUD and other such gubbins that to be fair, can always be achieved using 3rd party manufacturers/bit of dabbling and or a cable for £3 quid into your real hi-fi.

My comments end here, you know my view, I know the fanboys view. I'm sure the OP can do some thinking for himself and a bit of research before bleeting his way down to the Apple store...