Comments on: The diePod

By: Reuben

Reuben — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 16:52:21 +0000

Ezster, I would certainly recommend the Creative Nomad Zen player. I have been using it for 10 months now without the slightest problem. True, the Ipod is better looking, but is it worth paying $250 more just for the looks? The Zen 60GB player is now available at several stores for around $250, which is about the best buy there is. The only downside of the Zen is that you cant play stuff downloaded from the Itunes store, unless you’re willing to transfer the AAC files onto a CD as audio files and then rip back as MP3. I personally pick up all my music from Napster and the new Real store which offer songs for $0.49 and albums for about 5 bucks. A not to be missed deal :)

By: BTD Greg

BTD Greg — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:26:03 +0000

I really like me Archos Gmini 220. It’s very convenient, especially for a PC user. It basically works like a portable hard disk (and I’ve used it that way many times). It pops up as removable storage on WinXP, and you don’t need any special software to play music or copy files off of it. It also has line in recording/mp3 burning (which I have used—for example, to record this John Kerry “hair pollution” sound clip—and a built-in Compact Flash reader (which I have not used.) It’s not as sleek or trendy as the iPod, but I like it.

By: eszter

eszter — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 13:26:35 +0000

I appreciate people’s suggestions. I don’t know if some missed the fact that not only one, but two iPods have given up service in my case. I can’t imagine spending more money on Apple products at this point (for iPod related gadgets in any case, although I’ll think twice before going with another gadget from them as well). I will check out the alternatives. Thanks.

By: Persimmon

Persimmon — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 06:06:09 +0000

Apple makes wonderful products, in many ways, but you should definately include the extended service plan in any purchase from Apple. That’s the smart thing, with Apple. Yes, it adds to your cost (and no, generally I’m not big on extended warranties…but realistically, that’s how it is.) Perhaps it’s one price for the innovative products they keep making us happy with? Less than ideal, I’d rather they did more QA, myself, but there you are.

By: Doctor Memory

Doctor Memory — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 04:31:22 +0000

As Patrick Hayden mentioned above, there are cheap third-party aftermarket batteries available for the iPod, and some of the companies will even install it for you for a small extra cost. Alternatively, Apple will sell you a brand new battery, installed, for $99. I can understand not wanting to give Apple any more money after your experience though. Or you can just do what I did and buy a Rio Karma, which is about the size and weight of a 4G iPod (differently shaped), supports Vorbis audio, and can sync over ethernet.

By: cafl

cafl — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:40:23 +0000

My elder daughter just bought an ipod with her first summer earnings, and we all think it’s great. I read about the battery problems (look here http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/ for more info). When my younger daughter yearned for an ipod equivalent of her own to take on a trip, we settled on a hack. Like delirious d I went with a cd player that we already had that understood how to play mp3’s from a data cd (many but not all portable cd players can do this). Then I ripped 15 or so of her favorite cd’s at a low bitrate using our audio software of choice (jet audio) and burned her a data cd to take on her trip. She was initially worried about the sound quality, but decided it was just as good as car radio, especially given the likely ambient noise. The cd was only about 1/4 full…I ran out of time. So for people who just want the convenience of lots of music without having to haul around a lot of cds this is a viable choice. You can trade off quality for length of play.

By: John Quiggin

John Quiggin — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 02:47:22 +0000

I got mine replaced, no questions asked when it died – and it had had a bit of a bump. So I’m with the happy users on this one. Like stu, I keep all my files on the iPod, in fact that’s the primary use for me.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 02:32:39 +0000

I baught a Gen2 iPod and it was fantastic. Alas, it was stolen. I then tried one of th enew mini iPods, but it didn’t work all that well. As Larry suggested abovge, try the new gen4 iPod. 12 hour battery life, they’ve solved some of the other bugs and unlike th enew sony 20 gig walkman, iPods double as storage devices, calendars, contact books, etc. The thing with Apple products is, when they tweek, they tweek hardcore. Likewise, though, when they work, they are excellent.

By: fyreflye

fyreflye — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 02:19:39 +0000

To avoid these frustrations just give up the idea that a steady burble of silly love songs is preferable to silence.

By: Karim

Karim — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 01:39:31 +0000

I have a 512MB card with my treo600 and it does the trick for me – enough music for traveling and getting around time – but not my entire library—- works well for me!

By: Stu

Stu — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 00:09:47 +0000

I’m listening to my iPod right now while I write this at work. It’s plugged into the extra power cable I got (like most everything Apple based, it’s expensive, but very useful), and so I’ll listen to it on the subway ride home, and while I do laundry tonight, and probably up until I go to sleep. I love my iPod, which, along with iTunes, has completely revolutionized the way I listen to music. I have never owned anything else by Apple, and thoroughly mocked my roommate’s devotion to the copmany, but I love my sleek little device. I think it’s downright foolish to use anything but iPod/iTunes. I have the 20GB iPod, which holds about 4000 songs (with one GB devoted to being a portable hard drive: carrying around all my documents and some of my digital pictures). But you can safely discount what I have to say…owning my iPod turned me into a fanatic. If yours didn’t turn you into one, you might be a lost cause. But seriously, the next generation stuff is supposed to have most of their problems conquered.

By: JC

JC — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 23:33:26 +0000

Well, my Nomad Zen just died. And it’s not the battery. The drive is just wiped, and I need to reformat, or something. 1000 songs down the drain. We’re just unlucky, I guess.

By: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick Nielsen Hayden — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:25:27 +0000

In fact, the iPod battery is user-replaceable, for some values of user-replaceable; all you need is an X-Acto knife and nerve. The batteries themselves can be purchased for $50 or so from a variety of vendors.

By: Fresh

Fresh — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:20:17 +0000

I have a first generation, 5 gig iPod, and it is still going strong. If and when it goes out, I’ll be getting another one. Could be the best consumer electronics device I own. iTunes makes it awesome too.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:03:43 +0000

Not to mention a summer abroad. With two months away from my computer, I have no regrets about a purchase that enabled me to carry the bulk of my music collection across the Atlantic. Mine has suffered some strange and inconsistent behaviour problems, though, for which I sent it in for servicing before I left, but got it back in exactly the same condition. I’m going to wait until I return in two weeks to contact Apple about this, but we’ll see just how inconsiderate their customer service is.