Great Ipod/ Ipod-ish Hunt

Former_MSE_Andrea

We want to tap the MoneySaving community's collective knowledge to find the cheapest Ipod around and gather them all in one easily accessible place. If you've spotted a bargain let others know here.

Please state clearly whether it's an Ipod, an Ipod Mini or a Shuffle or other type of machine

This isn't solely about Ipod but Ipod-ish and other Mp3 players that do the job.

Click reply to report your finds.

ACID

Can A Shuffle Be Included In This Quest>???

Former_MSE_Andrea

Yeah, why not. If you can make it completely clear which one it is that would be great.

crispy

I'll start with some prices people can try to beat.

These are straight from DEALTIME.CO.UK to give people some guidance. No real legwork in posting these but I think it's a nice target to beat. Prices do not include postage although a few are free P and P. basic accessories generally with all only.

Ipod:

4th generation:

20GB: £198
40GB: £253
60GB: £309

Photo Ipod:

30GB: £235
40GB: £264
60GB: £299

You can get a 3rd generation 20GB from Bt site for £150 + p&p.

Mini:

All 4GB: 129.24 inc P and p.

P.S Ive had an 3rd gen 40GB IPOD for just over a year now and it's just been stolen. Loved it, always good. Never filled more than a tenth of the 40GB with my humble music collection although I never got round to adding everything on there.

With the insurance money ( if I can get cash instead of IPOD replacement) I'm looking to buy something like this for £200.

PVR H140 Portable Media Centre.

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hardware/mp3mp4wavwmaatracplayers/productView.htm?quicklinx=3KMS

You can plug into a TV and record, download videos off your computer etc and still listen to MP3's with 40GB harddrive too.

Anyone else rate these new little media players?

alpha112

I have an Archos AV340 (40gb media player). Personally its been the single biggest waste of money Ive ever had.

-It records off TV, but the quality and user interface is very poor.
-It can play videos transferred from the PC, but the format (aspect ratio, data/bit rate, sound and video formats, and frame size) has to be exactly right otherwise it just refuses to play.
-Its big and heavy, its too big to fit in a pocket comfortably so its not particularly portable.
-The screen is too small to watch a video on without hurting your eyes, especially for long periods of time.
-The battery life is abysmal, 2 hours of video at the very best, but usually 1.25-1.5 hrs - not enought for a full film.
-Even if it did do video well in retrospect I dont think id have used it too much.

On the plus side it does give decent sound.

You have to ask yourself if you will really honestly use it, and is it worth the hassle of converting all your videos to a compliant standard?

I recommend you spend ~£150 on a decent MP3 player and pocket the change.
For example: the Archos Gmini XS200, which i recently bought in the US and have been very happy with: the battery life is good, it plays any music I throw at it with good sound, but best of all its absolutely tiny: it has 20GB od storage and is still smaller than an iPod mini!

crispy

Thanks Alpha112,

I think, depending on what insurers say, I'll definetly test drive anything before buying. Richer sounds near me has some on display and should let me have a play I hope.

I guess I'm after an MP£ player with whistles and bells on it. basically 90% listening to tunes and 10% watching funny short clips for a giggle.

Looking back I cant believe I spent so much on the POD in the first place. (Before I found this site and also before I realised I'd be skint now.)

Any other opinions out there?

Bubba_Shaboo

All well and good folks but this thread is about the cheapest iPod around:

MSE_Andrea wrote:

We want to tap the MoneySaving community's collective knowledge to find the cheapest Ipod around and gather them all in one easily accessible place. If you've spotted a bargain let others know here.

Please state clearly whether it's an Ipod, an Ipod Mini or a Shuffle.

Click reply to report your finds.

Can we get it back on track as I'm after a 512MB Shuffle for Mrs Shaboo and am hoping for the lowdown from those MSE'ers in the know.

lellie

alpha112 wrote:

I recommend you spend ~£150 on a decent MP3 player and pocket the change.
For example: the Archos Gmini XS200, which i recently bought in the US and have been very happy with: the battery life is good, it plays any music I throw at it with good sound, but best of all its absolutely tiny: it has 20GB od storage and is still smaller than an iPod mini!

God yeah! My sister got that the other day for her birthday.. it's ace. it's the smallest 20gb on the market.. it's not even half the size of the ipod - it's so small.. sound quality is excellent..

the archos gmini 220 is also £150 on bt website at the moment - that is slightly bigger but it has a compact flash reader which allows you to view photos from CF in black and white which is cool.. and has a voice recorder - if you don't mind the slightly uglier (it's a bit manly - black and square) and slightly larger player this one is an absolute bargain.. - it's still smaller than a zen touch or ipod - it's about the size of 2/3 of a floppy..

kev_middleman

Think this has been posted before but if you go through the Apple Education store (http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukInd) you get the following prices:

iPod Mini 4Gb - £128.08
iPod Mini 6Gb - £155.10

iPod 4G 20Gb - £192.70

iPod Photo 30Gb - £229.13
iPod Photo 60Gb - £284.35

Prices are for students but might be of use to some people.

NellyLock

sorry to not help in with the finding of cheapest price but isnt the point of moneysaving trying to find a good product at a cheap price, by singling out apple arent you just reinforcing what is happening everywhere else...ie apple are winning the mp3 battle because of word of mouth not nesc because of the quality of the product, why not have a great mp3 player for <£100 /£200 etc or even have a poll to see what mp3 players they got and whether the like etc...just be interesting to see feedback.

ipods arent allways the best even tho they get all this hype...end rant

thespacecowboy

NellyLock wrote:

sorry to not help in with the finding of cheapest price but isnt the point of moneysaving trying to find a good product at a cheap price, by singling out apple arent you just reinforcing what is happening everywhere else...ie apple are winning the mp3 battle because of word of mouth not nesc because of the quality of the product, why not have a great mp3 player for <£100 /£200 etc or even have a poll to see what mp3 players they got and whether the like etc...just be interesting to see feedback.

ipods arent allways the best even tho they get all this hype...end rant

If it was a 'what is a good mp3 player' it's a whole different discussion, and probably not the best one for this board.

Let's face facts; people will buy Ipods. So with that in mind, why not help them get a good deal?