I agree with other members here, I do think iPods are improving alot.

In highschool there was a wave of people raving about their 3G iPods all of a sudden and I never really like the thing cuz it looked like a bar of soap, was big and expensive for an mp3 player and never sounded even close to my mediocre cd player. I think late 2003 was when there was an iPod boom in Italy. I could suddenly see them everywhere. Back then people thought it is the music player of the future that can store lifetime's worth of music. Not quite...

The 4G ipods were "ok" but I never really wanted one until the U2 version come out with a color screen. It instantly looked like a future classic, especially since not many people have one, so I snatched one. Initially I was still abit disappointed to be honest, but now I realise it really needed a decent set of headphones.

The 5G ipod really got my attention and I think its a fantastic little thing, aside from its poor battery life when playing video. But, I have a PSP and iPod, so that puts me out of the market. But yeah its a fantastic little thing.



I really love my U2 ipod and with my recently purchased super.f1 5 pros, it has the kind of sound that is truely awesome for a non amped DAP. Its also pretty amazing that my ipod gets alot of attention compared to my roommate's 5G ipod.

I use an ipod now for a portable because I can't critically listen on the bus, so that extra 10% in sound quality doesn't mean anything to me. The scrollwheel is easy to use. I hate recharging every 1-2 days, and iTunes starts up slow and hogs a lot of memory. It's nice to have a ton of generic accessories available on ebay for cheap too.

For home listening in the dark , my nano is definitely lacking. I kept trying to put the blame on my phones at first, but what I really need is a better source for critical stuff.

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And that's the problem - they are slowly getting better. Even though Apple knows what other features their competitors have and what features Ipod users want and what improvements can be made to better the sound quality, instead of producing an all-out, state-of-the-art Ipod, they dribble these improvements out instead. Me thinks this is purely greed on Apple's part, knowing that the die hard Ipod users will glady trade-in their old ones to obtain the latest version.

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Technically, I'm a MD and Net MD Convert (even though I still use 'em), and now a "die hard" iPod user. However, I went through a battery upgrade on my 3G iPod, its got a new life, and I still think its line out is very good, so I do not yet plan an upgrade.

I owned a Iriver IHP-120, Sony VAIO pocket, Zen sleek and now a 5G video Ipod and to be honest They've all given me hell. But my obsession with buying DAP's is wearing down and I think I might stick with my Ipod for a year or two

I also find Ipod bashers pathetic, well not people who have had problems with one in the past or people who need features that the Ipod does not have but people who say sh!t like "people only buy them to be cool or trendy" or "people buy them because they are stupid and dont do reasearch" That crap really isnt necessary.

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But deep down, those pathetic iPod bashers really want an iPod! They are the non-conformants who refuse to buy an iPod just because the majority has one. It makes them feel special, and sets them apart from the "everyday" crowd--- just like the high school kid who dyes his hair pink because everyone else's hair is black or brown.

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I doubt it. But you're right about the rest. The anti-herd herd mentality


It's the sheer number of posts from people who it's very clear have never even given it a chance that irks me a little sometimes. Also a point of irking are the equally non-considered 'iPod is greatest, STFA the rest' posts (however it's fairly low in even iLounge) but Head-Fi threads at least provide some balance to that argument. Perhaps that's the reason why these sorts of threads go on for so long.

The ipod is a decent player but dosen't do enough imo. Its form factor was my sole attraction to it, and that wasn't important enough to loose gapless playback, pretty much every codec, and a whole host of other features. I wanted a music player, and the ipod just dosent deliever.

I'm a recent convert to the ipod. I used to hate them, because they were a product that sold only because of apple's marketing, and not because of it's quality. With the recent improvements in sound quality in the 5g, I finally bit and bought one. Sound quality is indistinguishable during casual listening from my Zen Micro and Zen USB 2.0. The form factor is absolutely amazing. I use an invisible shield protector, and I can just slide it into any of my pockets and barely know that it's there. It's even thinner than my razr phone!

I was originally an anti-iPod guy, but after tons of research and actually seeing it. I have been converted. One of the thing that makes me to go with iPod is that it supports lossless codecs, and the reliability and apple's awesome customer service.

I dislike both ipod bashers and ipod fanatics in generally. All products will have their advantages and pitfalls, and the ipod lack of functionality in some areas do not entirely outweigh its strong points, those being:
1) Reliable and tough, though scratchable. More than decent user support.
2) Decent sound quality and option to update to lineout/amp.
3) Mass storage cfor dual platform people.
4) Decent screen, with good photo and limited video abilities.
5) Best selection of 3rd market acessories, especially cases.

Given my lack of interest in EQ and radio (I had a Zen radio remote and I didn't use it as much as I thought it would), I got an ipod 5G over the X5. I think the only equal is the Zen Vision:m, which surpasses the ipod in several major areas (codec support, screen and scratching) and is behind in several major but often overlooked areas: mass-storage support, storage/size (no 60GB available; and also slight larger size for the 30GB model).
I have admit a certain distrust for Creative. I love Singaporeans, it is true, but my Nomad Zen FW had disappointed me. I had heard from Zen users, back in the day, that the Zen was "built like a tank". When dissected my Zen, I discovered that the metal was really very thin. I was also ways stuck with carrying that big case around, making a big player even bigger, and Vaja cases were then out of my reach (location). The Zen also crashed constantly into the second year, which I was unable to fix.

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same

but it has it small niggels... where is the firmware update?

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LOL... what a great and subtle way to say that "Head Fi'ers are a bunch of huge geeks"!

Seriously though, I felt exactly the same as you do. When I first discovered Head-Fi about 2 years ago, I was shocked at the partisan, sometimes hateful comments about my beloved iPod. Looks like the Apple brainwashing has been a huge success, eh?

I toyed with recording mp3's on MD back in the days before even NetMD with legal downloads and an MD deck. it was a general disaster. Forget sound quality, just getting the damn thing to function was a challenge. The advent of lossless codecs (yes I know Apple was not the first or even the best lossless codec), coupled with the ease of use of the Ipod interface adn the iTunes interface got me hooked. I know own 3 iPods and a whole slew of hard drives, and have 330gb of CD's ripped and three music servers. The iPod sometimes sacrifices the control and maybe even ocassionaly sound quality we in this forum cherish for ease of use. Remember, thier business strategy is to get an ipod in the hands of hundreds of millions of customers, not to service the tiny audiophile community.

When i got my IHP-120 it was up against the ipod 3G

at the time i was looking for something that could record to wav and play alot of formats...and act as a removeable HD...the 3G ipod ( and all ipods really) require itunes to load music...that coupled with the piss poor batt life and the lack of useable recording features pushed me towards the iriver....still now i do recomend the ipod to certain people...and some of the issues i had with it have been cleared up in the last few generations i still am prolly going to stick with my IHP-120 definatly now with the addition of rockbox firmware