IPODS: LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM?

Hi Everyone-
Lots of IPOD lovers and haters out there, so I thought I’d start a thread on this.
Do you love them or hate them and why? Try to bring some serious reasons, mixed in with the funny ones, of course.
I love my IPOD, and I am not into status stuff. I bought an IPOD video 30gb. I use it not just for music. I bought some episodes of my fav tv shows that I missed, listen to some very interesting podcasts including educational ones and news. I often switch the white earpieces and wear other headphones when I’m out because there have been people stealing the IPODS.
And I like buying accessories for it, too. I don’t buy everything that comes out, just the most useful ones.

I recieved my lovely mint green iPod mini for Christmas in 2005…and I am in love!! I had previously purchased an iRiver (still own it) that would only store about 2hrs of workout music. Now I have about 5 days of continuous play without repeating a single song. I love the nice accessories you can get for your iPod; I currently have:
Altec Lansing Speakers (bought mine for a considerable amount higher than woot)
2 travel adapters: one is a Belkin that has the radio station display on it the other is a Griffin iTrip that is a nice streamline look since it plugs into the top of the iPod. The Griffin is good for local driving since you can program your local aux radio channel you are going to broadcast your iPod thru, however reccomend using the Belkin for road trips since you cant program the Griffin for out of town channels.
A silicone sleeve with armband-great for my workouts, doesnt jiggle like the iRiver did
A plastic beltclip that my iPod slips easily into for when I dont want it hanging on my arm

Another arguement haters have; “I have to download just from iTunes”, nope, NOT true!!! I use a site called www.allofmp3.com and pay about $1.50-4.99 per album. Or if you choose to get just an individual song, they range from $0.09-0.99 (0.09 being the average). Yup thats right, nine cents a song!!! You can also transfer your old dusty cd’s to your iTunes music library and download to your iPod or borrow a freinds cd for something you dont have. iTunes always has free music Tuesday where you can get 2-3 songs for free; not always what I normally listen too, but hey it’s FREE.

I have no desire to get a video iPod since I use my Dell Axim X50v for that. It has a bigger screen and I can put an entire movie on my 2g SD card. Not to mention my SD card also works with my laptop…so its a matter of choice.

I still dust the old iRiver off from time to time if I am hitting the tread for just a quick 20 min jog, but overall, iPod wins hands down in my book.

Where did you get the armband? Is it adjustable/comfortable?

Also, anyone looking for a long life battery that attaches to your IPOD check out:
http://www.i-luv.com/iLuv/index.php?cPath=71&osCsid=65ea82e5a09ea19cc7ed8fdf5fec8c7c(sorry for long link)
I bought a 55 hr battery, works great. Only con: it makes your IPOD heavier/thicker. I have IPOD video, don’t know if they have ones for regular IPODS.

And you IPOD haters: WHERE ARE YOU? Here is your big chance. You’ve been going on and on in the Woot product forums each night. I want you to be heard, too! If you don’t want to talk about hating IPOD, at least mention a product you find better, and WHY it is better than an IPOD.

Hmmm, I was under the assumption that you could only play Mp3’s that were encoded the way Apple wanted you to encode them (which gives the iPod the capacity it does) and that when you buy a song from the iStore, it comes in that format, which you’d need another program to decode it to an open MP3 format. That means you wouldn’t be able to play it on another system, burn to CD, etc … I know that apple has gone after some companies that make players that WILL play the apple encoded files.

I like open source coding. I like to open the box and mess around with the guts of computers. I am not one for “here is your iPod, iMac, use it how we want you to.” I have a linux box, I use moxilla firefox, etc … I am not sure I want someone telling me what file to use on what player in what format. It’s sounds so very ummmm Microsoft of Apple, don’t you think? I think the fun part of Apple now using Intel parts is that people are cracking the OS and finding all sorts of exploits, which I guess in general Apple users didn’t bother or care to know how it worked, and wish to tweak it.

I like it when I can get a player that will take Divx, AVi, MPG and play it without difficulty, along with WMA, MP3, FLAC, etc … I would prefer to not have to choose between Blu-ray and Hi-def, +R vs -R, and Betamax vs VHS when I should be able to have it all.

Derek

Here’s one! I love iPOD’s but the Shuffle if a POS! Almost unusable. I bought 2 for my daughters and I am SO SORRY. What a waste of money. You never know where you are or where your songs are. 1000 songs all in a jumble…

In addition to the above posting. There are a few other things.

Apple tends to do the exclusivity card. There are tracks I’d love to buy, like the Dresden Dolls stuff, that I can’t because I don’t believe I should buy an iPod for it, or convert the file to a normal mp3.

I also like the fact that in general, I just plug my non-iPod into the USB port, hit Windows Explorer (if I’m in Windows) and whammo, it’s a removable drive. Just drag some MP3’s in there, and I’m done.

Derek

The iPod can play just regular mp3’s also.

I own a Cowon iAudio X5l, and personally I couldn’t be happier. It plays WMA, MP3, FLAC, OGG, ASF, WAV, and even MPEG4 for video. Better still, it comes with a program called JetAudio that handles all the conversions and imports it directly to whatever folder I choose. The os is a file tree system, so you don’t have to worry about crummy ID3 tags messing everything up. To top it off, the player has a host of audio effects built in, including a bass boost and a 5 band EQ (and even a 3D sound setting, if that’s your thing), FM tunner and recorder, built in mic recorder that’s pretty decent, and a line-in recorder, directly to MP3.

And I actually still use WMP. I found a filter online and now all of my music is on my iAudio. If I want to listen to music through my computer, I plug in the iAudio, open WMP, and there it all is! I can even play the FLAC and OGG files in WMP.

I absolutely hate iPods. This doesn’t mean I don’t think it is a competant mp3 player though. I hate the way apple markets and over prices their products. It screams to me this: (in a french accent)
“To be ze cooles’ cat around, get an iPod. What, you say you can’t afford one? Then you can’t afford to be cool and elite like me! Oh, and your music will be used by iTunes! Yes, now your your pc will shudder to a stop like a beautiful woman in my arms. You could use another program to play your music collection, but iTunes is SO sexy and crashes frequently (on pcs) making listening to music EXCITING. If you buy an Apple computer, you will have absolutely no problem ever using any iPod! Plus if you use it for a while, you won’t miss the staggering selection of applications that are available the ‘other’ computers. Who said having choices was a good thing? Naturally, you must buy one. Now.”
:wink:

My biggest problem about this situation is that in “bringing music to the masses”, we are using inferior products and file formats because “no one has ever heard of Ogg.” These stupid Americans have no idea what the hell a file format is, as long as it plays music! Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to be stylish. (BTW, since when was white stylin’? :wink: )

Basically, I hate being limited to any program. I prefer task specific programs, rather than a do-it-all program that performs slower than any of the others. For example I use the Billy mp3 player to listen to my music. I would suggest it, but most iPod owners (sweeping generalozation coming :wink: wouldn’t like the fact that it does not connect to the internet to check if you have obtained any “possibly illegal” musicand doesn’t have a visualizer. OMFG! It also doesn’t have massive overhead. For ripping and encoding, I use db PowerAmp. Enough of that though.

In my personal experience with iPods (I had one for a month from a friend), I have found the click wheel to be too touchy and I didn’t like the layout. Why should I have to scroll through artists if I know what song I want to listen to. Also, the whole, “I can’t queue music thing” sucks. It may have been fixed, but there was no way to smoothly go from one song to another or make a playlist. God forbid functionality over fashion.

I currently have a 2nd Generation Dell DJ 20GB mp3 player. I enjoy using it, and am glad I don’t own an iPod.

P.S. I also HATE it when someone asks if I have an iPod when they are actually asking if I have an mp3 player. IDIOTA!

1 Like

You would have/will get used to the click wheel. You can make a playlist, there are actually 2 ways.
First off, you can just make a playlist in iTunes and it will be transfered to your computer.
OR – When you are looking at songs, hold down the center white button for about 2 seconds. The song will flash and be added to a playlist called ‘On the Go 1’. Name can be changed in iTunes later.

You can put pretty much ANY music file into iTunes, and it will convert it automatically to put it on your iPod. The only file it won’t let you play is one that has been bought by another iTunes user…they are encrypted and ask for a password.

I love my iPod. The interface is easy to use, and it stores a ridiculous amount of information. Plus, as a student, I can get it at a discount. I have an aux input on my car stereo, and I can plug my iPod right in and have about 2000 songs at my disposal for my trips.

For the haters…you probably don’t like walmart, either, eh?

First off . HATE IPODS.
With that said, I use an RCA Lyra RD 1071A yea its not as sexy as an ipod but its much smaller and with the price drop in SD cards i have 1GB of songs in mine. sure its not 2000 songs but mine is about 1/2 the size of a pack of cigarettes and when dropped it keeps on playing.
I dont view Ipods as portable… they are to weighty and fragile to be a carry around device.
The Lyra is drag and drop… no DRM crap… if its a song on your computer… you can put it on you Lyra… if you are at a friends… you can share.
I love the fact that it fits in the palm of my hand or my shirt pocket and when people see me wearing headphones … assuming i have an IPOD… they ask " hey what do you have on your IPOD?“… I pull out my tiny LYRA and say " Anything I want to.”

I don’t hate IPODS but at the same time I don’t love them either. I really don’t have a use for them. At work I listen to music on my PC, in the car, I have the CD/MP3 player, at home PC and sterero. Why would I buy this thing to listen to music? If I travel I have my laptop which can hold more data and do a lot more. I just don’t see what all the fuss is about.

I got one as a gift, and I’ll agree that the “shuffle” feature of the shuffle is frustrating. But, I can also listen to the songs in the order that I load them. So, I have a general idea of how my playlist is ordered, and I’m good to go. It’s also super small. And I really like that. If nothing else, it’s a great jump drive I have on me at all times.

On another note, I agree that iPods are very “trendy.” I work at a college campus where everyone seems to be walking around with little white earbuds. Last week, I visited a campus where I didn’t see any iPods and virtually no headphones at all! It made me think that my current campus has made them uber popular because people want to be the same as the rest of the crowd, not because they’re a handy music device.

Conclusion: Generally in favor of mp3 players, doesn’t have to be an iPod though.

I’m definitely a hater. First off: Why in the world would you buy a player with even the smallest capacity option being so huge that most of their users will never come anywhere near filling it (however, this situation did change with the introduction of video). Also (as was mentioned earlier in this string), I absolutely hate being bound to a program (like iTunes). One of Apple’s biggest downfalls, I believe, with the iPod is their product lines. When they come out with a new generation of the iPod, they discontinue all the earlier series, so for example, now you can’t pay less than the price of a video iPod and get a photo iPod, they only sell video ones. In comparison: Creative has the Zen Vision:M. They are both the same price, but the Creative player has FM radio, a sleep timer, a choice of colors, support for more video file formats (which are free to convert and common), and Cnet rated it higher than the iPod. Need we mention that the famous interface on the iPod is acutally patented by Creative (look it up, it’s true). In addition, the batteries. I don’t know if this problem has been fixed, but it used to be that after only a couple hundred charges the battery was shot, and replacing the battery not only voided your warrantee, but also ran the risk of ruining the hard drive.

I also hate the brand naming thing. Imagine for a minute that you were like half the iPodders out there and had absolutely no knowledge of electronics. You go to a store and want to buy a new set of headphones for your iPod, what do you do? You will probably pay more for a box that says “iPod compatible”, than a set that doesn’t, but will work just as good if not better.Add to the list the word podcast, in reality, you can use a podcast on any MP3 player, or on your computer with no MP3 player at all.

There’s more, but I think I’ll stop the ranting here

1 Like

thanks for the correction/info…

Doesn’t really change my stance on iPods though… :wink:

Like I care? No pressure to buy/use one. I don’t work for Apple nor make a cent from your purchase.

It all depends on who you are;
For me, a player like the Toshiba 40gb would rock for the price & space & features, but I would have to deal with issues sometimes, I.E. bad support, lacking information, bad software, accessories, etc

For my Girlfriend thats about to go on a trip to europe… a brand-spankin new 30gb ipod is the best way, Its engaved, warrentied (and trust me, I know people that have (ab)used that warrenty) It works pretty simply, has lots of support, pretty common software (iTunes) and accessories everywhere (even the dollar tree for christs sake), Plus it Just-Works ™

its al about who you are, I wouldn’t buy an ipod for my self, but I did for my gf. (luckly i got a discount of a few %, so it turned out to be $300 with shipping and tax, which isn’t too bad (and of course the free engraving).

Tux

I dislike iPods…They’re everywhere…And I borrowed one for a week; it was nothing special. The accessories are overpriced.

I dunno… I just dont find them worth the price since (like I said) they’re nothing special (imo).

My two cents ;p

That seems rather complicated. See, the X5(l) has two playlists. One is like the first one you mentioned, you make it on the computer and then transfer it to the player. After all, a playlist is just a small file that tells the player what order to play back all of its data. However, the X5(l) also has what they call a “Dynamic Playlist.” As I search through my files if I see a song I want to add to a play list I click once, select “add to list” and then click again. Done! Its a constant playlist that I can change on the fly. And inside of the DP folder I can actually see the titles of the songs in the list and add and remove as I like. Very simple.

While people are on the subject of mp3 players, can anyone suggest a good one for jogging? (debate iPod or other all you want) I want something light, small, 1-2gb, with probably a fairly sturdy headphone jack. Thanks!