I only read through the first couple pages of this thread, but I use an iPod Touch:
1. I can
do more than just listen to music; I have Chinese learning apps installed, traditional Chinese Mahjong apps, Notes for quick reminders or the sort (e.g. a room number/time for a meeting), Safari for basic internet browsing (e.g. checking my school e-mails)
2. I'm not an audiophile (yet), but even if I was, the iPod is a portable device and since I'm on the go when I listen to my music it would be
hard (at least for me)
to tell the differences in sound quality between lossless format music vs compressed.
3. Relating to sound quality,
I actually don't know how to properly use an equilizer. That being said, I almost never use an EQ. If I want bassy sounds, I use my Sennheiser CX-300 earbuds. If I want a more balanced-sounding experience, I switch to my Skullcandy Hesh headphones. <- both sound muddy and I'm looking to buy my first high-fidelity phones (which is the main reason why I'm in this forum
)
4. My previous PMP's were from Creative Labs, one broke while the other was hard to use, so I wanted something
durable and easy to use. The iPod Touch has a glass touch screen and a metal backing, it sounded durable at the time, more so than plastic anyhow and the interface was really easy to adjust to. I've tried using the old Zune interface and I found it difficult to navigate around the device.
5. If I need to let someone else use the device to browse my music or apps, chances are the
other person will know how to use an iPod over, say a Cowon device.
6. The
brand name and external cases make an impact on the user's image, in my opinion.
For a Zune, I usually hear: "Hey what kind of MP3 player is that? Oh......a Zune.....I see..." wheras an iPod would be more like: "Hey what kind of MP3 player is that? Oh sweet, an iPod! What kind of apps do you have, etc."
As a side note, this is actually one slight disadvantage to using high-fidelity headphones at school. For a less school-friendly brand: "Hey what kind of headphones are those? Huh....Grados, I've never heard of them" wheras a more school-friendly brand: "Hey what kind of headphones are those? Woow Beats by Dr. Dre! No way! I've heard those sound soooo good! Can I try listening to them?"
7.
It's easy to add/remove digital media on the iPod Touch using iTunes. I'm not super technical (I've tried Songbird and I never really liked it) so I want something that can manage my media and allow it to sync to my PMP with ease. With iTunes I can add music via drag-n-drop to my library, organize my libary (though it's pretty limited I think), and sync what I want to my device.
Edit: I didn't mean to bash any of the above media devices/gear. I honestly haven't heard of nor used a Cowon device before so I personally would find it hard to use if a friend let me take a look at it. At the schools I've attended, the Zune has usually been an unpopular and looked-down upon device amongst the crowd. Finally, I also haven't heard of the Grado brand prior to joining thse forums, so if someone told me that they were wearing a pair of Grado headphones my reaction would be: "oh okay" wheras the more mainstream school headphones like Beats by Dre would lead me to a reaction similar to what I posted above.
