Kevin Groat

Looking for some advice please. I'm looking to purchase either one of the new Ipods, Nano or Video, or a decent MP3 player, maybe the new Sony Walkman.
I've no idea how the Ipod system works though, can I load my own music or am I limited to downloads from Itunes. I know the Ipod has some odd copyright protection and I believe you can't load MP3 files.

Any advice welcome.

Reality

I'm not expert but I believe you can download MP3 to the iPod with no problems.

Knowing Sony you are much more likely to have copyright / download issues with the walkman - you certainly do with the minidisc system .

GaryK

Just use iTunes on your PC/Mac and either buy your music online or rip your CDs in iTunes and sync them with your iPod, dead simple!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Can't comment on the problems, or otherwise, with downloads.

I DO know, however, that the iPods have reliability problems. My youngest is on his third "Nano", his mate is on his second early model, two others have still to take theirs back............

Meanwhile, my Sony 20GB MP3 unit just soldiers on

Alcazar

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Why restrict your choice to Apple or Sony? There are plenty of other perfectly good players out there that don't include any spurious 'protection' nor lock you into the whole iKnowbest routine.

Take a look at www.mp3players.co.uk or www.advancedmp3players.co.uk and you'll see, there's loads of choice. You'll struggle to find any unit that won't play MP3, most will do WMA, and some will play OGG too. Typically you just plug the device into a USB port, it appears as a hard drive, and you just drag & drop files onto it using Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

^^^^^^^
What he said

Alcazar

SJ_Skyline

Had a Sony NW-HD1 for nearly a year now. No problems whatsoever.

20GB hard drive with 30 hours playback on a full charge. Sits in a charge cradle that connects up to a USB port. My version is the old-old one which only supports ATRAC but Sony's software encodes from MP3/CDA to ATRAC on the fly. The newer models - HD3, HD5 and the latest all support native MP3 with no conversion.

As Andy and Alcazar say - don't limit your choice, there are loads of models out there. The first decision you need to make is do you want solid state memory or a hard drive? Consider looking at iRiver and Creative products

Kevin Groat

Guess what I really meant was 'Ipod or MP3' player, Sony was just an example. Just don't quite understand why the Ipod seems to sit in a different category to all the other MP3 players

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Marketing, that's all. iPod is a brand, which Apple have quite cleverly made synonymous with portable music players.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yep, in the same way as Sony did with early cassette players, "Walkman".

Alcazar

ozzy

Ipod

Pros: looks fantastic, user interface is great, no restrictions on MP3, does the job
Cons: slightly overpriced, reliability is a little suspect, tied into iTunes too much, doesn't support WMA (whether you want that is another matter), battery life isn't great

Sony

Haven't really used the Sony (just played with one in the shops), but personally the colours are horrible and the design isn't as nice as the iPod. Should have a colour screen IMHO.

OllyK

I think this was covered a little while back. You can load MP3 by hand in to an iPOD but it requires some jiggery pokery. You can also use iTunes, which some people seem to like. While you shouldn't be using copy protected stuf any way, I don't think you will have any problems with iTunes (Yet). Personally I'd go for some generic HD MP3 player that can be accessed the same as USB external Hard Drive as a fall back.

ozzy

There is no problems using non-copyrighted MP3's with iTunes. I've never used *and don't want to use) copyright music formats. I just rip my CD's and stick them straight into my iTunes library and upload them to my iPod.

EVOVI

I would go for an Ipod..30 million people cant be wrong..I must admit I was against buying an Ipod at first and did not want to pay £50 more just so I could have an ipod.I opted for a creative player and what a load of crap that was.I took it back after a month and got an Ipod.
Every song I had already on my pc was automatically converted and copied into Itunes so it does play all formats after it converts them..
Another reason for the Ipod is there are so many accessories for it..

Tiggs

have used Itunes on the pc for ages- got Mrs a 30gb ipod for birthday at the weekend and its superb, just plug and play.

also got the Bose docking speakers for the kitchen so she can listen to it while cooking! Great sound from a little unit.

T

Markus

Have a look at all MP3 players in your price range, see which one fits your needs.

Personally I would go for an iPod, but I'm an Apple Geek, so that's part of the reason.

As for getting music onto it, you will need to use iTunes, which is the simple method, or third party software if you don't want to use iTunes for some odd reason. It will accept MP3 files, if it did not then I'd be screwed as the majority of my music is in MP3 format. You are not limited to downloading tracks from the iTunes Music store either. For example, you could use allofmp3.com and download tracks from there and they will work perfectly on the iPod.
You can also rip CD's into iTunes to get your existing music collection onto it. I think the default these days for iTunes is to encode into AAC rather than MP3, but the iPod will play that anyway, or you could change the format it rips CD's as to MP3.

Kevin Groat

Thanks guys, at least I know what I'm looking at now Ipod wise.

PeteT

iPod every time for me, I hate any Sony MP3 software, iTunes is superb by comparison.

n one

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for this thread Kevin and all those that have replied, its just whay I needed to know.


Neil

ScoobyDoo555

Ipod vote from me!!

Dan

trackman

I've had my Ipod mini for about 6 months now. No problems whatsoever. Highly recommended!

Bartop

Recently got the balck 30gb ipod with video - awesome bit of kit - looks v.sexeh - not bad price. Scratches up like **** tho !

n one

iTrader: (5)

Where`s the best place to get an ipod? Nobody seems to have them in stock.


Neil.

Markus

Have a search on here for a user called AllanB, he works for MacWarehouse so might be able to sort you out

PeteT

Argos have them and I bought one in Dixons last weekend

ozzy

Apple direct? I bought one last week from their online store for my sister's Xmas.

boxst

Hello

I don't know why no-one can produce something that matches the Ipod. I'm just as bad as everyone else. I went to look at the Nano as a present for my wife and it is just amazing. It is probably $100 (I'm in America today) more than something that is better from a functional and memory perspective but it just doesn't look or feel as good.

If I was Creative or Sony I would just go to my designers : "Look, like that .. only cooler, don't worry about the other stuff". Like Sony did with the PSP actually.

Steve

MJW

I think the iPod also has a big advantage in that it can play Apple Lossless music files which, although bigger in size sound a load better (when you ditch the OE headphones and buy some decent ones)

ru'

Also, due to the much larger customer base, there are loads more things you can buy to go with your iPod; this was the reason I got one (i.e. Alpine interface to my HU).

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...27#post4676827

n one

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Markus.

Neil.