My crappy nike mp3 player i have now is about to die and i'm tryin to decide on a new mp3 player. I don't wanna drop the big bucks on a full size ipod. Is the ipod nano worth the money or should i just go with the shuffle? i'll be using it to listen to music goin to class, the gym, etc.

2/21/2006 2:16:06 PM

get the nano, i've got one and its worth it. with 1GB or more of music, you'll probbly want to search through and choose what song you want to play instead of have it on shuffle play all the time.

They're very sturdy too, I spent 2 weeks in Germany with my nano in my pocket everywhere I went, and now I use it daily at the gym.

If you do get a nano, get this InvisibleShield for the nano in addition to any case you might want. It'll keep it from getting scratched up from daily wear and tear (http://www.shieldzone.com/)

2/21/2006 2:21:51 PM

if money is important dont get an ipod, just get a non-apple mp3 player

2/21/2006 2:22:23 PM

And were off.

2/21/2006 2:26:58 PM

if not an ipod then what's another good mp3 player

2/21/2006 2:29:14 PM

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 2:58 PM. Reason : err; damnit]

2/21/2006 2:47:21 PM

Don't waste your time and/or money.

Go with the iPod.

I know too many people who bought other players and couldn't get them to work or they didn't work like they expected. Then they complain and insist on trying to make the one they already have work since they already spent the time and money on it.

2/21/2006 2:57:48 PM

there is a reason they've sold like a bajillion members of the ipod family

keep
it
simple
stupid

2/21/2006 3:27:07 PM

i definitely recommend the nano - i use mine almost everyday to and from work

-ZiP!-

2/21/2006 3:32:36 PM

Quote :

"there is a reason they've sold like a bajillion members of the ipod family "

yes, advertising and making them "look cool"

2/21/2006 3:57:16 PM

hundreds of products have received similar advertising pushes and manage to fail

i laff everytime marty mcfly asks for a Pepsi Free

so i am inclined to disagree with your response mr. guth
advertising can only take you so far

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 4:08 PM. Reason : meh]

2/21/2006 4:07:52 PM

so you really think ipods success is due to its technical innovation and ease of use?

2/21/2006 4:20:24 PM

^ Partly, yeah. And how they broke the market and got people on their propritary software before somebody like Microsoft did

Oh, and the outstanding marketing hype.

But seriously, iPods work great as-advertised, and the marketing hype works in your favor when it's resell time. I have bought, used, and sold 4 iPods in different generations. Never have I sold one for less than 80% of what I paid for it, even after nearly 2 years of use.

2/21/2006 4:47:39 PM

^^yes

Quote :

"advertising can only take you so far"

2/21/2006 4:59:11 PM

there are better products that dont need itunes

2/21/2006 5:02:16 PM

^ And won't resell for beans.

2/21/2006 5:17:34 PM

http://onlinestore.cowonamerica.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=78

Plays all the formats you could want. Supports Linux, Mac OS, Windows. Photo viewing capability. About as big as 2 fingers. (Click on a product for full details.) You can get one off eBay for cheaper than the site though.

2/21/2006 5:30:46 PM

who cares about resale value of consumer electronics?
poor people

2/21/2006 5:33:44 PM

i have never about the resell value of electronics before i bought them

2/21/2006 5:35:43 PM

Quote :

"who cares about resale value of consumer electronics?"

People who do a little thinking before buying.

Wealthy folk don't stay rich by blowing their money around...

2/21/2006 5:57:37 PM

most people dont resell mp3 players

2/21/2006 5:58:58 PM

Quote :

"hundreds of products have received similar advertising pushes and manage to fail i laff everytime marty mcfly asks for a Pepsi Free"

wasn't that just slang for caffeine free pepsi? they still make that stuff... besides, lots of blockbuster movies have tons of product placements.

2/21/2006 6:07:27 PM

5gb creative muvo2 fm on sale at tigerdirect for $140...18 hours on a battery, reads playlists (mp3, wma)...screw apple

2/21/2006 6:17:11 PM

Quote :

"most people dont resell mp3 players"

So I'm an idiot for selling my 4G 40GB iPod for 80% of my purchasing price and only having to pay a marginal fee to upgrade to a 5G?

Or is the idiot the one who paid full price for both and lets one just sit around doing nothing?

2/21/2006 6:23:01 PM

Quote :

"5gb creative muvo2 fm on sale at tigerdirect for $140...18 hours on a battery, reads playlists (mp3, wma)...screw apple"

Quote :

"A company that ships MP3 players with viruses and has their top-of-the-line sound cards' eprom wiped when another pci card is inserted needs to go bankrupt."

There is a reason it is cheap, because Creative Labs is just taking dumps in boxes these days.

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 6:26 PM. Reason : fuck Creative]

2/21/2006 6:24:04 PM

you can say that all you want...but i

1.) have no virus on my mp3 player
2.) am not buying a sound card (as if that has anything to do with this)
3.) would rather spend $60 less for 2.5x the space, with the ability to use it as a flash drive, not have to use proprietary software to load up my music, AND have the versatility of using multiple file types and playlists

apple loses.

2/21/2006 6:30:40 PM

my friend who has the zen touch is insanely happy with it.

my friend with the nano is kinda "meh" about it, and has a few complaints.


I know which one I would get.

2/21/2006 6:36:33 PM

it really breaks down into a few questions you must ask yourself:

1.) value? ipod is out...i mean, it's pretty expensive for what you get

2.) style? ipod is in, and probably above most other players

3.) functionality? ipod is toward the top, but it does NOT dominate (just depends on what features you want - playlists, file type, proprietary software requirements, use as an flash drive, battery life, etc.)

4.) durability? ipod loses...you must buy some sort of case (~$15-20) to keep it from being scratched up beyond recognition)

5.) resale value? ipod wins...used ones go for just a bit less than new ones

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 6:43 PM. Reason : eh.]

2/21/2006 6:42:56 PM

^ good call

2/21/2006 7:08:02 PM

how is the ipod "toward the top" for functionality? it requires itunes, doesnt support a wide range of formats, and is difficult to use as a flash drive

2/21/2006 7:35:55 PM

Quote :

"wasn't that just slang for caffeine free pepsi? they still make that stuff... besides, lots of blockbuster movies have tons of product placemen"

you're right about the second half
it is still the caffeine free variant

for some reason i thought it was pepsi clear

and ipods are durable as fuck
i take my mini to the gym >4 times a week
its taken falls, bumps, and bangs like a champ

ps
this thread has never been done before

2/21/2006 8:00:12 PM

get the ipod because there are so many accessories and different ones to choose from.

2/21/2006 8:02:22 PM

Quote :

"it requires itunes, doesnt support a wide range of formats"

iTunes is just as good/bad as MusicMatch or any other tune software.

And by "wide range", you must mean it doesn't support windows media formats? Because I think MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV would be enough to get the average joe by.

Just use mp3s, that way it's compatible w/ everything.

2/21/2006 8:13:35 PM

other mp3 players have the same accesories
yes itunes isnt worse than musicmatch, but musicmatch sucks too. and you have to use itunes, its seriously retarded.
the limited format thing i guess i was really talking about as a video device

but heres the big part:
ITS FUCKING OVERPRICED

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 8:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2006 8:19:05 PM

Quote :

" it requires itunes,"

Anapodexplorer et al.

Quote :

"doesnt support a wide range of formats"

Quote :

"AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF"

for photos:

Quote :

" JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only) and PNG formats"

and if you get a video ipod:

Quote :

"H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats"

by contrast, let us compare the two players listed here:

Quote :

"iAUDIO U3 2GB Black MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV, MPEG4(video) playback JPEG (Image) File Viewer Supports MAC OS (Data transfer only), Supports Linux v 2.2 or higher (Data transfer only)"

and

Quote :

"creative muvo2 MP3, WMA and WAV no images no video"

Quote :

"and is difficult to use as a flash drive"

Because plugging the thing into your computer is so fucking hard.

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 8:47 PM. Reason : adsfadf]

2/21/2006 8:47:08 PM

yay more bloated software to get it to work

no one gives a shit about mac and linux

you have to do more than plugging it into the computer

2/21/2006 9:10:32 PM

Quote :

"yay more bloated software to get it to work "

If you can't give up winamp:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=138888

if you want something else take your pick:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod-software-windows/

and I hardly call a 1 MB program bloated.

Quote :

"no one gives a shit about mac and linux "

Except the people that use them.

Quote :

"you have to do more than plugging it into the computer"

Such as.....? Because I see hundreds of these every day, they all plug into a computer and show up just like any other drive.

2/21/2006 9:22:12 PM

he's saying you have to check a check box in the options of itunes so it will work as a flash drive. its really hard

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 9:29 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2006 9:29:02 PM

ahaha ok im done

2/21/2006 9:39:07 PM

nothing is easier than simply plugging it in and having drag-and-drop...the end

Quote :

"how is the ipod "toward the top" for functionality? it requires itunes, doesnt support a wide range of formats, and is difficult to use as a flash drive"

i was simply referring to the click wheel...i hate apple, i hate ipods, but i'll admit that the click wheel is very easy to use...that said, my muvo2 is no harder, just different

2/21/2006 9:39:11 PM

Quote :

"you can say that all you want...but i 1.) have no virus on my mp3 player 2.) am not buying a sound card (as if that has anything to do with this) 3.) would rather spend $60 less for 2.5x the space, with the ability to use it as a flash drive, not have to use proprietary software to load up my music, AND have the versatility of using multiple file types and playlists apple loses."

The point is that Creative Labs has had some insane quality control issues. These are not minor problems, their engineers missed HUGE problems and still let products ship.

2/21/2006 10:20:15 PM

Quote :

"has had"

!= has

i have more than twice the product for less than 2/3 the price, twice the performance, and about 1/10 the gayness...and it works just fine

i win.

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 10:25 PM. Reason : eek]

2/21/2006 10:24:44 PM

i have a pink ipod

what percentage gayer is my music device than yours?

2/21/2006 10:30:21 PM

immeasurably.

2/21/2006 10:31:55 PM

k

cool

2/21/2006 11:11:04 PM

^^^^ You don't have a scroll wheel though.

2/21/2006 11:33:30 PM

muvo's pretty nice now.

it really boils down to how you're going to use it and what music stores you like the best. if you're just doing stolen mp3's it doesn't matter. if you like itunes, then you're pretty much going to use an ipod.

Ipods are good, have good sound quality, and if treated well are VERY durable. The nano's screen is fucktastically scratchable, but it can be run over with a truck and still play. I would NOT try that with the muvo (I've broken two.)

That being said, if you want voice recording, wma and wmv support, use of multiple non-mp3 stores, fm receiving/recording then don't get an ipod. iRiver and iAudio players have many more features than ipods do. They cost a bit more for the basic players, but when you factor in the accessories required to get the same functionality (currently there is NO voice recording on 5th gen ipods too) then the other players are a much better deal.

The bargain players also get the job done if all you want is an ok player that just... plays music. An mp3 player is not a complicated peice of technology, and you can even build them yourself with some flash memory, some microcontroller parts etc., and an altoids tin. Muvo's will work just fine 99.9 percent of the time, just like dell ditty's and the walmart cube thing. They're not as pretty and probably not as well made or designed as the ipods, but they do what they need to and that's all that matters for some people.

That being said, I love my ipod mini. I also only paid 30 bucks for it because of a 200 dollar discount I got for various reasons. I'd have bought a muvo tx fm instead however had I not gotten the discount so make of that what you will.

Ipods are good, just treat them with kid gloves in terms of the nano's screens and dropping anything with a harddrive in it. The competition also has alot to offer, so don't discount them. Look at the stores that offer supported formats, and consider what music you actually like. They'll all sound basically the same, and none is spectacularly better than the others, although the ipods are spectacularly more popular.

2/22/2006 12:56:48 AM

can you tell a difference in the way they sound? my dad has an ipod and some other mp3 player (i think a creative zen micro) so he could play around with the rhapsody subscription.

he swears that music sounds better coming through the ipod than it does from his other player. is there any truth to that, or does he just want to think the apple is better? I tried listening to the comparison, and couldn't tell the difference, but my dad's an audiophile and can notice all kinds of imperfections that i'd never ever hear.

2/22/2006 1:00:21 AM

^ the mp3/aac/wma encoding differences and imperfections between files is more likely to cause a noticeable differences to more people than player differences. that being said, the ipod has very good sound quality, but many (not all) players have just as good quality.

2/22/2006 7:36:17 AM

2/22/2006 8:06:00 AM