Does anyone know if ipods are only compatible with apple computers?

No, i have one and own a PC

ta, i was just wondering as i want one.

from what i hear there well overpriced, plenty of similar capacity players at around half the cost

they are a bit big aswell compared to some of the others

For hard drive based players the IPODs are expensive but are SMALLER then the creative labs products.

I got a 30GB creative labs for £200 new rather than pay £300+ for an IPOD with less capacity.

Also the creative labs one plays .WMA format :cool:

I suggest you look at both as they have each pro's and con's

(Like IPOD battery issues etc)

for what they are thay are well over priced.

So we've gone from "just wondering as i want one" to overpriced and oversized in about an hour? :D



[Edited by djuk - 1/23/2004 4:33:00 PM]

try archos jukebox aswell, i had one last year 20gig model was £200 not sure what there at now, bout oct they had the multimedia version 20gig that plays videos and images and plays mp3's etc.. for about £250 i think

i am like a women :D

Did that google link just suggest something then change its mind and vanish?

iPod plays MP3 and AAC. What are the battery issues with the iPod?

The iPod is the market leader for personal MP3/AAC player and data storage and for good reason, end of.

the only reason thats the case is because of hype. :p

Well, you're one of CR's less informed individuals, so what would you know? ;)

Yeah, they have good marketing. How many other MP3 players have you seen advertised on TV?

Apple sells itself on brand image and the :cool: factor, not necessarily tech abilities or value-for-money.

iPod battery - 8hrs
Creative Jukebox Zen - 12hrs

The problem I heard of with some iPods is even with an overnight charge, they still weren't showing as being fully charged. Seems to be a memory problem with older batteries and models, so new ones should be sorted.

Don't just blindly follow the crowd, check some out and make your own mind up.

Stefan

I've heard in several different places around the web that the creative labs players have better quality sound output than the ipod as well. Probably subjective, but it's worth investigating...

Hold an iPod in your hand and have a go with one. The nip across the counter and get one of the other MP3 players around (iSores :p) and have ago on those. You will buy an iPod, its the market leader because it is the best product by a country mile, simple.

PS to those who have fallen for the the (un-researched) media hype over battery issues, swing by the original site iPods Dirty Secret and click the link (conveniently disguised as the page title) which will show a statement from the Neistat brothers retracting what they say in the movie. Don't make your decision based on lazy journalism.

PPS you could always pop by some of the iPod websites out there such as iPod lounge and ask the people on their what they think of the 1st generation, 4 year old iPods and its battery life and warranty cover.

PPPS I don[/url] an iPod myself yet, but after seeing 3 others everyday at work for the past 8 months. I will be buying one next week.

[Edited by angrynorth - 1/24/2004 11:45:27 PM]

I have held an ipod in my hand. Didn't like it. :(

The word "overpriced" sprung to mind for what it did. I'm waiting until this technolody comes down to a more reasonable level. Until then, I'll just keep the headphones plugged into the back of the pc (at work) ;)

:eek:
Faints

I have to admit i'm an iPod fan, having had both 20g and 40g ipods.

Overpriced for what they do, I disagree... I'm currently in the process of moving house and had to put my stuff in storage... Including my CD's.. despite that I still have the majority of my cd collection available to listen to..

I use is as a back up drive for my Business docs and files..

Also use it to transfer data from my to my GF's pc, like photo's games and anything else she decides she wants to pilfer from me.

I get enough usage out of mine to justify the cost easily..

Also looking at getting the MM reader to take the files from my Digi Camera while on holiday but still waiting for a couple of reports on this...

So for 400 quid I think it's a bargain...

Plus apple made a success of this long before there was any TV advertising, when the initial iPods came out there was nothing that touched it, and My opinion is they people are still playing catch up now...

We'll have to agree to disagree I think ;)

True, but how often do people actually move house?

I've just bough a box of 25 dvd-r discs for £9.95 from blankdisckshop.com (25 x 4.5gb). A bit cheaper (and more permanent) for backup purposes I think. Also, as my work pcs have around 120gb of data on them, it wouldn't be much use for me :)

I use a rewritable dvd :)

As for the digicam, I've got a 1gb smartdrive in my camera which is more than enough for a holiday (can hold around 370 photos).

Sorry, still not convinced :D

3 people at work have IPOD's 2 have been sent back due to battery problems (not charging). There is a bios upgrade which cures some problems with charging IIRC. Fact that they don't currently support WMA kinda makes them obsolete in my eyes (the whole media industry is standardising on WMA)

Horses for courses though, if you want something small and bling bling get an IPOD, if you want value for money, better sound quality but chunky/cheapo looking get Creative Labs..

all it has over the alternative brands is bling bling value, which aint that good if you never have it out in public sight (personally i wouldnt be comfortable having one out in public as some scally is likely to try and get it off you at knife point as its common knowledge what they look like and cost.

Saying that WMA is better quality than the Dolby developed and open standard AAC is hilarious.
The only person to so far come to this conclusion as far as I am aware is this idiot Paul Thurrotts windows Supersite, YEAH!

The audio codec Apple use (AAC) is not Apple's own. It was developed by Dolby Studios and has so far proved in all credible tests to be equal to in all areas and better in most than WMA.

Also why the hell would anyone want to use a codec with such draconian DRM limitations.

[Edited by angrynorth - 1/26/2004 5:18:09 PM]

[Edited by angrynorth - 1/26/2004 5:23:28 PM]

Actually, I've several cds which sound better when using wma to encode them instead of mp3. Seems that for some types of music, wma is better, and for others, mp3 is the king. Best to have a player that can handle both and then you are covered whatever :)

OMG it gets worse. MP3 is awful quality compared to CD, WMA and AAC. Even when encoded at massive bitrates. This is very, very well documented.

just to add, the iPod will also play MP3

Oops, I meant AAC not mp3 (been a long day). I can't play AAC in the car though (the player only handles mp3 and wma), so it's pretty pointless for me.

But if you burn CD's with iTunes using the AAC codec you will find that the quality is almost up there with original CD's.

Also, AAC won't just stop working one day when Microsoft decide you have:

-played the track too much
-made more than one copy of a track you have purchased
-bought a new computer and copied it to that
-upgraded windows media player
-decided to buy an item that Microsoft can't control, so just decide to switch off your rights anyway.

A bit of advice for those putting much faith into the WMA codec. Read the DRM terms and conditions with Windows Media Player. Then ask yourself who owns that CD you just bought, you or Microsoft.

DRM is something that should concern everyone. For some reason people seem to think that Windows is the be-all and end-all of operating systems, which might be fine for the ignorant who know no better, but not for me.

And Ozzy, please don't say I've jumped on a bandwagon - if indeed that paragraph was aimed at me - you have no idea who I am or what I do or what I have or haven't already tried, thanks :)