iPod quandry

[Bozza]

Armed with a couple of print outs from oh-so-cheap Internet retailers I found myself in John Lewis yesterday perusing their array of Apple products.

I had swayed on this for a long time: Do I buy an iPod?

I asked the chap if they had the 40gb in stock. "We do sir. Would you like one?"

"You do price match online retailers, don't you?", I asked.

"No", he said before commencing on a monologue as to the fixed costs models of online and bricks and mortar retailers and how they'd pricematch Dixons etc. if they were selling cheaper. By this point I was mesmorized by the little white box and duly handed over my bit of plastic to secure one.

I took it home. Usually with gadgets like this I get all excited. I was not excited in the slightest. I carefully took it from it's box and marvelled at it. I didn't remove any of the plastic sealing from it however.

It is sitting next to me right now with "Don't steal music." sticker still in place.

So - the quandry - do I keep it or take it back? I guess I'm not sure how much I'll use it. I'll use it in the gym. I could use it at work, but I currently use my laptop for MP3 playing. I could use it in the car with the little radio transmitter thingummy, thereby giving me all my music (and that of others) whenever I'm on the move. I suppose I could use it at home similarly to save arsing about with CDs.

The other part of the quandry is that there are supposedly better devices out there - like the Creative 60gb effort that costs £50 less. But it's not an iPod is it?

NSC - over to you - keep it or take it back?

 

[Rangdo]

How much was it? Ebuyer.co.uk sent me an email saying that they're doing the 20Gb one for £199 including vat until tomorrow morning.

 

[itszamora]

It won't change your life, but do keep it as they are fabulous things. You should have bought it online though, much cheaper. Get an iTrip (the radio thingy) as that works in your car or on any radio etc. etc. and is great. I particularly recommend the 88.7FM frequency.

 

[Bozza]

Wanted 40gb so 20gb no good to me. £299 - the standard RRP. It was one of those "Want it now, so will pay more" moments which is where on-line retailing can't compete sometimes.

I could get one for £268 online and take it back to John Lewis, thereby getting a little bit back.

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

I'd bloody love one, but I have not enough cash for it, and am not likely to either. I'm loving dicking about with iTunes though. It's great.

So I'd say keep it.

 

[tinx]

Definitely keep it, ignore the fact there ar eothers alledgedly better about, They don't look as nice and after all it is an ipod. I am considering getting rid of my ipod mini now and getting a proper one, simply because the new 4G ipod looks so cool compared to the 3G.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

Take it back.

An Archos Gmini400 is far better and comparably priced

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

We bought one each for our two. After two months our lad's one stopped working - we sent it back they refunded - he bought some golf clubs. Our daughter rarely uses hers, although enjoys owning it.

Return it. Buy somehting you are sure you want. Like a seat at Falmer.

Which reminds me ..........

 

[El Presidente]

I have a 40gb and love it to bits, at the gym, walking the dog, phonesex with the wifes sister, all can be done easily with your ipod. The iTrip is fantastic too, used it when travelling down to Brighton with the family, and had transferred the Harry Potter audio book onto the ipod and it kept the kids quiet the whole journey.

Only downsides are battery time ( I have an old one limited to 8 hours, new ones are 12) and the fact that you cannot create playlists whilst on the move

 

[Hilton]

Get an i-River, far better sound and it's a radio as well

 

[Lush]

I've had one for about four months and never used it - although it's happily connected to my iMac downloading the stuff I've got on iTunes.

Possibly because I don't commute and don't like headphones.

 

[Bluejuice]

iPod will always win hands down. It is a thing of beauty and it's made by apple so you can trust it.

I'll admit the battery life could be longer but since owning my mini it hasn't left my pocket (where it fits more comfortably than my Minidisc ever did).

Essential kit for any 21st century man.

Creative and other manufacturers might have bigger capacities and cheaper prices but they aren't iPod's, simple as that.

If you're anything like me (and to be fair I have always used walkmans very regularly for years) then you'll wonder how you ever coped without one.

 

[Bozza]

Kept it.

 

[Gwylan]

iPod will always win hands down. It is a thing of beauty and it's made by apple so you can trust it.

That's always the argument that Apple fans make. They say the same about their computers as well: it doesn't matter that they're a heap of crap, just look at the way they look.

I can never understand it myself. I see no reason whatsoever to get an iPod. I have a portable CD player, so if I want music on the move I can use that. I work in an office with iPod nuts who hassle me every time I buy a CD so they can burn it on to their system. But why go through the process of doing that, why not just play the CD? It seems daft.

Oh yes, there's iTunes to download individual tracks, but as that seems to be a batch of middle-of-the-road and teeny bopper trash, there's little chance of ever seeing anything I'd want to buy.

Apple are marketing geniueses though, I'll give them that. They created an object that is not essential for anyone's life, styled to make it aesthetically pleasing and initially controlled supply to create a buzz about it. Quite brilliant.

 

[Cian]

Take it back, get the iRiver

Or an Archos, as they do way, way more.

 

[METALMICKY]

Well done Bozza for starting this thread. I was serioulsy thinking of putting a mini I-Pod on the Xmas list and wanted a few objective opinions particularly as Apple do seem to have spun a great marketing plan.

My primary use would be down the gym so i need a device that whilst relatively feature rich is compact and can attach unobtrusively. Memory capacity is not real issue as i don't want to load up my entire CD collection and it will be the gym or long train/plane journeies where it will get used (say perhaps 5 albums of 70 mins length).

Archos,I River or I-Pod? Any further obs gratefully received

 

[Cian]

I'd be torn between the Archos (video playback, etc, but on a tiny screen) and the iRiver (they're much, much cheaper usually)

So torn in fact I'm still using my laptop in my backpack as an MP3 player because I'm still not sure.

However the iPod has too many hardware reliability issues to be a serious contender, even if it didn't look so camp.

 

[Marc]

iPod? HAH...its nothing but a fancy looking tape walkman shrunk to half its size...and thats the ONLY good thing about it! I showed my mate my bulky Xclef HD-500 and he was so amazed that it could do so much (Radio/record/various settings for playback etc) that he took his iPod back and got an HD-800 (smaller version).

As the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover, in this case, never judge an MP3 player by its appearance

 

[itszamora]

Well done Bozza for starting this thread. I was serioulsy thinking of putting a mini I-Pod on the Xmas list and wanted a few objective opinions particularly as Apple do seem to have spun a great marketing plan.

My primary use would be down the gym so i need a device that whilst relatively feature rich is compact and can attach unobtrusively. Memory capacity is not real issue as i don't want to load up my entire CD collection and it will be the gym or long train/plane journeies where it will get used (say perhaps 5 albums of 70 mins length).

Archos,I River or I-Pod? Any further obs gratefully received

An iPod mini souds like it may be just what you're looking for; 4GB memory will easily be enough for the music you want and they are very very easy to use.

Also, check out the new iPod photos - let you take 25,000 photos around as well as the music and has a colour screen to look at them Quite pricey at the moment though.

 

[Cian]

If you're even considering the iPod Mini, get the Creative Labs Muvo

As goes the photo-iPod, get an Archos

The iPods will fall apart on you eventually - dodgy batteries, IBM hard disks, and Apples build quality (which is atrocious, just google for "Exploding Powerbook" and "Crumblin Powerbook")