Markus

Now, before the Mac types < looks at angrynorth > start having a go and saying that I'm a mac geek and should know all this, I don't so

Thinking about an iPod, am waiting until next week (WWDC) as I've heard a little voice saying there may be bigger capacity (biggest being 60GB) iPods coming out (Toshiba made some comment about delays in shipping of big capacitiy small drives, and make reference to Apple being a major purchaser of these new drives), and I don't want to be dicked with regards to price. Also there may be bigger drives on iPod Mini's but I want a proper iPod, not a mini.

Anyway, the point of this thread. From looking at the spec, the output on the iPod is a std headphone jack (3.5mm? is that right?) which means it's not digital.
Is it possible to get a converter type thing from headphone jack to TOS Link (mini tos link I think) connector, thus allowing me to plug a digital cable from the converter into one of the spare optical connectors on my amp.

Is there any real advantage in doing this? I'm guessing no, and just the normal connectors would be best.

Nick

Have you looked at other better players? iRiver, Rio?

angrynorth

Firstly...

That is really funny Do you do stand up?

Anyway, Markus yes you can use a TOS connector but I don't think you would be looking at any benefit as the iPod doesn't carry an optical out. Although it is in the plans ( or must be ) that the next one will because one of the main reasons Apple chose AAC is because it can carry digital multi-channel.

I just use a normal single phono to RCA convertor and it sounds good.

(Also waiting patiently for WWDC )

Dracoro

Looked at the spec and reviews of the iRiver HP140. Seems to beat the iPod in nearly every aspect.

iPod is good however but poor battery life which you can't have a spare one of AFAIK. iRiver copes with more formats, easier to use as a HDD to store other stuff on it etc.

Think PC Pro did a review this month on all the competition.

Whatever you do, don't get an iPod mini. Only 4G and the normal 20G iPod can be bought for not much more.

Markus

Nick - To be honest I've not really looked. As others know, I'm a big Mac geek, I work for a Macintosh software developer, so have macs everywhere, so the iPod really appeals. Plus there is the autosync feature of the iPod software, which as far as I'm aware does not work with other players, and I'd rather not write a script to sync things.

AG - Thought it might be the case, ah well, normal photo to RCA will be used. My guess is next revision of iPods will be digital, makes total sense.

angrynorth

I really do hate having to come over all Apple-evangelist, but you need to look at the broader picture. It's not all about size of the HD and supporting wma.

<defender>
The spec may be better in the HD size and the support of one more format (wma). But really nothing beats the overall iPod package. Style, ease of use, size, weight, value, and system integration with Macs and PC's it is by a mile the better overall package.

Yes there is the downside of "only" 8 hours battery life, but it plays all day at work for me just fine, plus the drive home. Plenty enough for me.

As for it being easier to use as a HD, this is how it works on the iPod. Attach to computer with Firewire/USB, drag files to iPod. Not exactly difficult? I use the HD feature daily transforming raw after effects projects back and forth between work and home and its easy peasy.

I also have an iPod mini (which I bought for my girlfriend) and again this is a stunning overall package. Yes you can get a 15GB for an extra 75 quid. But when you compare it with flash based players its a good alternative at only £20 - £60 on top. Plus the functionality is identical to the normal iPod and its so very small and great to look at.

I am guessing you haven't got much experience using either? People love their iPods and there is good reason for it. As for the review PC Pro? typically "anything but Apple" attitude and biased magazine, I wouldn't expect anything else.
</defender>


Markus, I really can see the next one being digital although I don't expect a colour screen which I was kind of hoping for a little bit. No doubt whatever it will be, it will be good.

Markus

I seriously don't want a mini iPod, too small, and tbh, does seem a bit gimmick like. We've done the math here, working out if it's better to get an iPod or iPod Mini and the proper iPod is the one to go for.

As for wma files, think I can safely say I've not got a single wma file on my machine, and if I really needed a song and it was only available in wma format I'm sure I could find a covertor for it.

Battery life, well, the thing would be docked all day at work, and more than likley powered in the car (along with an iTrip) and no doubt powered at home, so that kinda takes care of that. If I was seriously worried about battery life then I'd get one of these

As for a color screen, maybe I'm being thick, but I don't really see the point in that, ok, so it would mean the iPod could possibly expand on what it does.

Nick

WTF does that mean? Do you read The Sun?

The original poster has mentioned that he hasn't looked at any other brands. Most reviews place other models over the iPod, particularly the Rio Karma which has network capability & also the iRiver H140. The iPod only sells well because of the excellent Apple marketing. Both the Rio & iRiver have auto sync software. 15 hour playback on the Rio & 16 hours on the iRiver. RCA outputs on the Rio which supports WMA, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, & has incredible auto playlists, plus ability to create playlists on the fly (while it's playing).

http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/sho...del=220&cat=56
http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=H140

angrynorth

It means its funny, the iPod is the best package available. I'm sorry if it was a little over-sarcastic, but your reply was also blunt in describing the competitors as better without explanation, especially when this was a question about a particular feature off the iPod. My apologies

No I don't read The Sun.

The iPod does not "only sell well because of good marketing" It sells well because its the best overall package as described above.

From the features off the others you mention, the only things the iPod doesn't do on those is WMA (ogg vorbis is supported under iTunes. In fact iTunes now recognises WMA's and recodes them to work with the iPod.) The auto playlist function in iTunes is incredibly open to customisation. Battery life is as mentioned above and yes there is no network ability without iTunes, although with the arrival of Airport Express this looks to change.

what would scooby do

Now my company has negotiated 13% to 20% of Apple products I'm tempted to get an Ipod, but my Creative xen works just fine (if a little bulky), just don't want to re-encode all my WMA tracks

angrynorth

Bummer, thats a nice discount. I could do with that

The re-encoding shouldn't take too long, like I say iTunes now does it automatically if you want it too.

what would scooby do

sure thing angrynorth, our parent company has negotiated this deal worldwide, I've been told we are the first corporation to get this level of discount.

I'd rather re-encode direct from the CD masters to be honest, as after listening to DVD audio all other formats are pure crap, and I only tolerate compressed formats due to convenience

Dracoro

Judging how good the overall package depends on your requirements.
I cna only speak for myself, but for my requirements, the iRiver best fits what I need.

Good battery life
Good remote/able to use without 'looking' - iPod had a touchpad navigation which I don't like and the remote is too basic not a patch on some of the competition. I also like to 'feel' my way round a device whilst it's in my pocket etc. This is also an area where many mobile phones fall short but that's another topic
I have some wma and wav files so need to be able to facilitate this.
40GB - I have 25 GB of music and I also want to use the device for storing documents for when I'm travelling/working.
Folder navigation. Support both or folder, not id3 tags alone (which i really don't like as I've got a fair bit of stuff that doesn't have all the 'extra'(id3) mp3 info stored.
Seamless PC integration (no s'ware to install etc.)
Radio is nice to have
USB, good i/o, optical o/p a big +.

While the iPod supports some of what I want, it falls short on some crucial areas therefore it's not a good package for me. The iRiver supports ALL my requirements.
Both are fantastic bits of kit regardless.

One big no-no for me regarding the iPod is price. 40GB iPod is £400 whereas a 40GB iRiver is £280.

As for PcPro, they say the iPod is a great bit of kit, just not the best. they certainly don't seem to portray any sort of 'anti-apple' sentiments in the article.

angrynorth

Fair enough Drac, Its never going to be all things to all people, nor is anything. That's just the way of competition. As for PCPro, we have an office subscribtion and some of the things I have read about Apple in their in the past have been so misinformed and inaccurate that's its quite funny. Although I haven't seen this particular review.

WWSD, that really is a good level of discount, its bloody hard to get anything out of them at all, they are a bit tight on pricing sometimes. If you live the DVD audio you know AAC supports multi channel compression? So you can bring these down too. Unfortunately the current iPod doesn't output this yet, but the Airport Express thing does, so it looks like the next iPod will be multi-channel. May be worth holding off for a bit as with Markus.

Markus

We get a pretty good discount here for being Premier Apple Developers, think it's something like 15 - 20 percent. Now, if *cough* the company *cough* was to buy the iPod I'd get the discount, plus as it is a company purchase, I'd not pay tax on it, so would save even more. Thing is, we only get a certain number of hardware assets a year and I don't really want to use one up for just an iPod, now if there were a couple of Dual 2.5 G5's on the order list, well, why not

AG - good point about the digital output nature of AE, I'd forgot about that.