[lollavid]

I gotta say, I've been a bit shocked reading these forums over the past few weeks (primarily a lurker). Looking at people's sigs and such, I am shocked at the number of ipods in here. I recently got a new mp3 player and even though I wanted video I still couldn't justify getting an mp3 player that has such a terrible battery life and comes with such poor accessories (not to mention the whole battery-replacement scam). I ended up with an Iaudio x5l with a 35 hour battery life and somewhat crappy screen, but the thing plays all formats and most importantly supports drag-and-drop so I'm not tied to Itunes.

Maybe there are battery mods out there (as I'm sure there are), maybe a way around Itunes, and for sure plenty of accessories you can buy, but it sure seems a lot of work (+ money +sacrifice) just to have a 5g Ipod.

I just thought audiophiles would be less sheep-ish (uh oh, time for the forum noob to get flamed- lol)

just my 2 cents

 

[MartinJ]

The only problem I had with my iAudio was that it did not have a good id3 tag database.

 

[DougGreenberg]

No flames here, as I actually think the question is legitimate, even though I own a fairly new Nano (along with a Rio Karma). I think people flock to the iPod for a variety of reasons: the elegance of the user interface, the straightforwardness of the iTunes software (no, it's not perfect, but it IS easy to use; what's your objection to it?), not to mention the veritable cornucopia of accessories that are available for iPod but not for competing DAP's. It plays enough different formats that users don't generally feel deprived of options. I also think that once something becomes a kind of cultural fad/phenomenon like the iPod, people are simply curious about the appeal, and there might, in fact, be a kind of bandwagon effect, as well. Hey, we're all sheeple, to differing extents (relax, I'm only half-serious here, friends).

Frankly, the battery life issue is pretty marginal, in my opinion, as recharging the battery is no big darned deal, and the battery replacement issue shouldn't even be on anyone's radar screen for quite a while after purchase. And let's face it: by the time most of us need to have the battery replaced, we'll be on to something newer, faster, sleeker, cooler, etc.

 

[jjcha]

Hi, welcome to head-fi.

I'm not going to flame you, but there are a lot of different reasons why someone would get an iPod. For example, a 10 hour battery life isn't a big deal if you are the kind of person who docks their player daily. I got, and still use, my iPod because it's 60 gigs of easy lossless encoding.

I recently upgraded the firmware on my 40 gig iRiver so that it could run FLAC, but now suddenly it doesn't recognize Japanese characters (which is the vast majority of my music) and it's been a less than pleasant process figuring out how to patch the damn thing to get it to work, and I don't think it'll ever get to working right. Kind of doesn't matter as my FLAC encoder still can't handle the Japanese named files and just skips right over them.

Anyway, I'm sure if I had more time I could figure this out, but honestly, I'd rather be spending that time doing other things.

So, anyway, sounds like you found a great product and that the iPod wouldn't be the one for you. That's good - just, honestly, why do you think someone who would buy an iPod would be being sheep-ish? Actually, don't answer that - I've seen too many of these threads derail into flame wars. Guess all I can say is, embrace diversity. Even if that means people owning iPods (or even worse, Bose)

Best regards,

-Jsaon

 

[lal316l]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lollavid I gotta say, I've been a bit shocked reading these forums over the past few weeks (primarily a lurker). Looking at people's sigs and such, I am shocked at the number of ipods in here. I recently got a new mp3 player and even though I wanted video I still couldn't justify getting an mp3 player that has such a terrible battery life and comes with such poor accessories (not to mention the whole battery-replacement scam). I ended up with an Iaudio x5l with a 35 hour battery life and somewhat crappy screen, but the thing plays all formats and most importantly supports drag-and-drop so I'm not tied to Itunes. Maybe there are battery mods out there (as I'm sure there are), maybe a way around Itunes, and for sure plenty of accessories you can buy, but it sure seems a lot of work (+ money +sacrifice) just to have a 5g Ipod. I just thought audiophiles would be less sheep-ish (uh oh, time for the forum noob to get flamed- lol) just my 2 cents

Ipods actually make decent sources if you use the line out and amp. I don't understand what you mean by poor accessories considering the Ipod has the largest accessory support available. Battery is the same as almost all other HD drive players save for some other obscure DAPs. In the case for battery, you must think, "can other players display the same exact things as the Ipod (Bright screen, high quality pictures, and various graphics) without taking a hit to the battery life?" Itunes is not as bad as people think it is.

People who know what they're getting out of an Ipod when buying one ARE NOT sheep. People who buy Ipods just for the hell of having one are, big difference. The Ipod is a, to put in subjective terms, a "good" player. It's not perfect, believe me but it's a hell lot better than 70% of whatever's out there. Apple has the best customer service as well in dealing with their products. Can you say the same for Cowon?

 

[imported_Echo_]

i think it because

1) lineout
2) 60gb for 400 bucks or 30 gigs for 300 bucks a is a good deal
3) many diff formats
4) ease of use and style

not necc in that order

 

[lollavid]

ok- let's see if I can address some of this. First off, I'm a marketing professor and am well aware of Mac's branding strengths. That was kind of my point- I would have thought that such considerations would be less important to those "in the know."

When I said "poor accessories," I meant the ones that are included which is, I think, a slap in the face and, as the Germans say, "unverschaemt" (or just plain rude!).

Finally, I just bought my 30gig X5L from Newegg for $295, so I don't think that one could argue that the price is extremely low relative to the competition. Like I said, I really wanted to want to buy the Ipod cuz I like the idea of watching videos on the go, but once you do that, the "10 hours" of battery life is more like 2 or 3 (I've heard you can't even watch one movie). I would prefer a small screen with fewer fps if I have a battery that actually will support me watching a movie if I am out-and-about.

Oh and thanks for the welcoming jjcha and more generally to everyone so far for the unexpectedly tame responses!

 

[DigDub]

coming from a slew of previous players from companies such as creative, iriver and sony and now the ipod, i find that the ipod is decent for whats its supposed to do, but there are other players out there which are better than the ipod. common beliefs about ipod, such as the 'superior UI', is overrated to me. the good things i find about the ipod is its relatively uncolored sound and the excellent screen.

 

[MartinJ]

We aren't here for the brand but for the name. Would be crazy for the costumer to fight for a corporation that does only sell products to them. I dont think people here care too much about accessories as most will good headphones that are close the players value. And not to mention people using the line out with a portable amplifier.

I guess Apple were able from start provide a great percieved value of the ipods and kept with that. I have an iPod photo (60) and it was at a good price (relatively to the size).

I have never been a loyal costumer, went from rio karma to the ipod photo 60, and now going to the kenwood HD30GA9 for myself and going for the iriver for my dad (xmas).

But I am sure I am not the only one who loves seeing the competition we have with Creative, Apple, Kenwood, Toshiba, Sony, Iriver and many more.

 

[omedon]

I agree about the battery life. It, along with the price, was what kept me from buying an ipod when I really wanted one. That said I haven't bought any other type of mp3 player because they haven't met my criteria and I am now uninterested. I think Apple comes the closest though.

I believe the colour ipods have an improved 15 hour battery life. I haven't kept up with the whole scene but a few very import things I really liked about ipods aside from interface, aesthetics, and coolness factor were:

Small Size
Big Storage
Great Quality (AAC, Lossless)

MP4 or AAC is a big advantage in my opinion. You get better quality with more compression. At the time apple was the only company that supported the AAC (MP4) format. A believe a 128kbps AAC equates to 192kbps MP3 and 192kbps AAC equates to almost 320 kbps mp3.

 

[HiWire]

Stereophile put the iPod through their demanding battery of tests and later declared the iPod to be one of their components of the year. How many other MP3 players would pass muster?

We appreciate good design, and more importantly, great sound.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lollavid Like I said, I really wanted to want to buy the Ipod cuz I like the idea of watching videos on the go, but once you do that, the "10 hours" of battery life ....

Not that I care, but you're off about 40 percent there, Prof. And for a hundred bucks more you get twice the space, 20 hours audio runtime, and 50 percent more for video. Marketing, uh?

 

[n00b]

I'm sure if Rio was still around and they released that Carbon|C in 60 gigs or something, head-fi would be all over that thing. (Rest in peace!)

 

[luuk]

I was wondering the same thing as lollavid.
I thought many headfiers would buy a sony hd-5 (for the great sq, cause that's what's it all about?).
I expected more iaudioplayers because of:
head-fiers look further then the known brands in mp3playercountry.
iaudio has a usereq
iaudio can play more formats (flac, ogg, wav etc.)
iaudio is/was a non-mainstreambrand, and most head-fiers are not the mainstreampeople
iaudio has better buildquality.

I'm not saying the ipod is bad, or is worse then the x5 (I think there equal, each has his pro's and con's).

 

[bangraman]

I have both. The X5 is currently collecting dust. The 5G iPod works for me.