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iPod - tell me why I should buy one

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Target:
I had a Creative MP3 player a couple of years ago: much cheaper than iPod; I could put just about any music on it that I wished, purchased & downloaded, my own ripped CDs, etc. Only problem was that the battery started lasting less and less hours each time I used it until it was impossible to keep it charged. However iPods were also having battery issues then and theirs weren't replaceable at all. Anyway I don’t use one now.-J-Mac (November 17, 2010, 12:08 AM)
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I bought a Zen a couple of years ago for my wife, but the battery life is abysmal, and it won't work at all without their proprietry software and drivers (indeed, they claim trying to do so will brick the unit).  Worse, there is no support for it past XP, so she can't even maintain the thing (good thing she has a support person on staff...)

I wouldn't write them off, but I'd certainly be cautious about getting another one

Renegade:
Renegade

Somehow I can't help feeling that you might not be as objective on the subject as some others here ;))

...

I'm not averse to other brands (my current player is an IRiver, and it's been excellent), I was just trying to get an alternative viewpoint on iPods seeing as our retailers don't seem to stock anything else.  Ideally I'm looking for a device that is in no way proprietry, ie one that doesn't require special software or drivers to charge or manage (effectively it would be USB key with a music player built in...), but that wasn't actually the point of this thread

-Target (November 17, 2010, 12:36 AM)
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That's about as unbiased as I get. Well, on this topic anyways. I at least said some nice things about the iPod before I pointed out all it's bad points. :)

As for a USB key with a music player built in, you can get a decent player for $30 or $50 now easy. They're all pretty much the same, except for the proprietary ones that try to lock you in, like the iPod. And they're all made in China. I think I'd go for a cheapo now if I were to buy another.

Dormouse:
Phones are a bad way to go. Their batteries just don't stand up enough for media playback. Especially video.
-Renegade (November 17, 2010, 12:01 AM)
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 :huh:

I carry a spare battery and & have a charger in my car. Rarely need to use either (Android phone - HTC Desire). Listen to music on it much of the day, though don't often do videos. The GPS probably drains the battery faster than anything & I use that quite a lot some days if I'm not in my own car. The saving of weight & number of gadgets to carry is well worthwhile. Calls automatically interrupting/resuming the music is a good bonus which saves extra faffing around. I wish I'd done this earlier.

cranioscopical:
You probably should buy one because it's a slick little gadget that doesn't seem to give any trouble, and has a really nice interface (sample of one).
As with just about everybody else, I don't like the idea of the Apple lock-in. In reality that's no problem for me as I don't buy stuff to load onto it.
FWIW, I use mine when I'm doing noisy stuff that needs ear protection — it's audio only.

What kind of iPod have you in mind? I see they range in price from about AU$70 to AU$330 at your Apple store.
Thought about eBay?

Darwin:
Sorry, Target - I managed to read "Touch" after iPod in your subject line, so was thinking of alternatives to it in feature set.

Other than the iTunes lock-in, I can't think of a reason not to go iPod... unless you are concerned about audio formats, as Renegade pointed out.

Having said that, there are alternatives out there. Archos has a line of media player only products that are cheaper than iPods - my sons each have one and I am impressed by the sound quality. One son has an Archos 43 Vision and the other a 3CAM Vision. The 43 seems to sound a bit better but the 3CAM is otherwise superior in terms of its touchscreen (both are non-capacative but the 3CAM Vision performs almost as well as one), video playback quality and portability. Both connect to your PC as USB drives. They support FLAC, OGG, and WMA amongst others. I know that I sound like I'm on an Archos kick, but they're what I have the most recent experience with.

Superboyac likes the Sony Walkmans. I don't know which model he uses at the moment, but here in Canada there are a couple of lines available (E and S) and they are very competitively priced and have a nice feel to them (played with a couple in the store). 

Finally, I've never seen one in the wild, but Cowon players are very highly rated.

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