To ipod or not to ipod, that is the question...

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Okay, this is going to be one of those annoying threads where basically i'm asking for advice just for myself, not for the general good of cc or for anyone else. sorry, but i'm so desperate! :)</p>

<p>So.................my parents have suggested that I find an ipod/mp3 player that i like as a graduation gift. after researching on the internet as to whether the ipod was the best or whether a competitor is better, i'm completely stumped.</p>

<p>A lot of people say that the ipod is by far the best and i admit, it does look attractive, but i've got a few reservations...</p>

<p>1) scratching/breaking--i am, in a word, klutzy, and am very afraid that i will break the ipod in about five seconds flat
2) windows--i am a pc girl and will probably stay that way. most of my parents music, which i will probably want to steal from, is in windows media, and the whole deal about wma and apple stuff confuses me. i will also (looks around guiltily) want to download music off the internet once i get my own computer and from what i hear napster isn't compatible with ipod so it would probably have to be illegal and i don't know how that works with the ipod
3) i keep reading all this info about battery life and replacing batteries and what not, don't know what to think about that either</p>

<p>I would like a player where you can make playlists without being hooked up the computer and that's fast and easy to use. a voice recorder sounds really cool, but that's not really a necessity. sound quality really isn't a big deal to me, because i'm just about tone deaf, and since my parents are probably purchasing, cost isn't really an issue.</p>

<p>So...what are people's opinions on ipods??? I don't want to just go with the trend, but I don't want to just listen to the extremists and rebel just to rebel.</p>

<p>Anyone have any advice for dumb little old me???????</p>

<p>i just realized this is the most horrible thread in the history of the world <em>sigh</em> oh well, cc cafe is supposed to be for useless threads, right?</p>

2

<p>I actually don't have an Ipod myself, but my friends do. Any info I have is second hand...</p>

<p>With Ipods, you can buy music from the apple website, which should be compatible with PCs. You can also copy music from CDs. For battery life, I think my friends will recharge the batteries anywhere from once or twice a week, to once or twice a month (depends on how often they use it. The norm seems to be once or twice a week). My understanding is that you put the iPod into a holder/recharger of some sort (included with iPod) and you plug it into the wall overnight. The iPods also seem to be fairly durable.</p>

3

<p>Dell DJ! Its cheaper and more music-format friendly.</p>

4

<p>ipod has no radio.....i find that a big drawback compared to zen... :(</p>

5

<p>I think of all the big-brand MP3 players iPod has by far the best build/least software problems. Buuuuut, as neha said there are very few extras (radio, voice recorder, etc). Also, apple accessories are ridiculously expensive. Plus, the whole $99 battery change thing is ridiculous.</p>

<p>My personal favorite brand is jetaudio (<a href="http://www.jetaudio.com)%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.jetaudio.com)&lt;/a>. Their products are very well made, loaded with extras, have great battery life, and are very light weight. The only downside is that they are pretty pricey, but if it's something that you're going to plan on having for a long time, it's worth it.</p>

6

<p>Ipod can plal allll those mp3 files u download ILLEGALLY :)</p>

7

<p>"Ipod can plal allll those mp3 files u download ILLEGALLY" </p>

<p>Pretty much everything can. Check out the Creative Zen Touch. It's pretty much an IPOD clone, but it's $70 cheaper and more windows friendly.</p>

8

<p>GuitarShredder05, do u go to NU???</p>

9

<p>my first ipod battery lasted for over a year (until i lost the ipod)</p>

<p>this ipod has lasted for almost 1.5 years without changing the battery so you shouldnt really be that concered. </p>

<p>i have dropped my ipod thousands of times. it has even fallen out my car window a number of times onto the pavement and its still in fine working order with not cracks/major scratched</p>

<p>if all your music is in wma, it isnt a problem because itunes will automatically convert it all into aac/m 4a format. m4a format is better quality and is smaller. so if you go out one day just set all ur songs to convert and they convert without you even having to be there</p>

<p>the ipod is plenty windows friendly. it works the same as it does on a mac (i have both windows and mac). its easy to use and it is the best =P</p>

10

<p>I like the Samsung one better.</p>

11

<p>"GuitarShredder05, do u go to NU???"</p>

<p>Nope, I just graduated high school. I'm going to Lawrence in the Fall.</p>

12

<p>I have two of them and they are great. Never had a problem and use it everyday.</p>

13

<p>i love the ipod...but then again i've never tried the other ones so...
it's definately user friendly...i've had no problems..and if ur afriad of scratching just get a little case...they're cute anyways</p>

<p>and yea to echo someone above...it plays all the illegal music...and converts everything like wma....i love it!</p>

14

<p>I was thinking of getting the shuffle, but the whole prospect of having to buy a replacement battery isn't too appealing. Does anyone know if the shuffle has the same problem?</p>

15

<p>To address the concerns of the starter of this thread:</p>

<ol>
<li>Breaking will be an issue with any MP3 player. Remember that Apple products are known for their high quality of construction, so an iPod will be slightly less likely to break.</li>
<li>ITunes is compatable with PC and Macs, and is far simplier to use the the program that comes with any of the other MP3 players on the market. ITunes converts WMA files to a format the iPod can handle. Music acquired illegal works just as well on an iPod as any other MP3 player.</li>
<li>The battery stuff is basically just a rallying call for iPod haters. The battery will last 2-3 years for most users, and Apple actually has a replacement place for the battery, until Zen and other MP3 player producters, which use the exact same battery model, except their are harder to replace yourself. (an iPod battery can be ordered third-party for $30, and there are shops that supply the battery and install it for $60, plus you get to keep your Pod with all your tunes in it). </li>
<li>You have to make the playlists on your computer for any of the programs, if I recall correctly. I know that ITunes makes playlist creation really easy.</li>
</ol>

<p>I would suggest an iPod because of the easier to use interface.</p>

16

<p>I think you should choose a music service before choosing a player. Basically there are three major camps. If you are rip CDs/use bittorrent/fasttrack/gnutella/edonkey2000 (wink wink nudge nudge) then you are open to a lot of options. If you want to use iTunes for whatever reason then iPod is the only choice. Otherwise, if the other services, such as Yahoo and Napster's subscription services interest you, then you should go with a PlaysForSure/MTP player, such as the Zen Micro.</p>

17

<p>i have an iriver ihp-120 (20gigs). They stopped making those but now they have like new ones that have color displays and stuff. you should check it out. i believe cnet gives iriver products excellent reviews.</p>

18

<p>I love my Ipod for its ease of use and portability (although as my user name indicates, I'm not a big fan of compressed music).
I'm sure you can get some kind of extended warantee if you're klutzy.</p>

19

<p>iPod supports a lossless codec, although I guess players that support FLAC would be preferred in this regard since FLAC is opensource and is slightly more popular.</p>

20

<p>To respond to what audiophile said, it comes with a one-year warranty, and you can get a 3-year warranty for like 20 bucks extra if you buy it at Best Buy.</p>