iPod Info?
 

I must be the only person on the planet without one, but I can finally afford it. I really like the style/small size of the Nano. 4GB is plenty...I don't really need to carry around my whole collection. However, I don't want to compromise sexiness for reliability. My dilemma is that I don't know about the available accessories or overall performance between the two types (Nano vs. Standard). Would anyone in the know please offer some input on this purchase? Anything relevant would be helpful. Price is of no concern. Which is best and why, capacity aside?

You should really ask someone on the Apple forum (if there is one), but to give some sort of answer; I wouldn't even get an ipod. Shop around first, look at other players, then make your decision.

I like the creative Zen. You pay way less and at 64kbps you can get 15,000 songs with about 256k color, which kills the ipod video's 56k color.

But for small space for what you're looking for, Ipod Nano's break really easily, and ipod mini's aren't too reliable either. I would go with a regular Ipod if possible.

Hope that helped,

Can't go wrong with this little baby:

 

High-Quality and Durability in a Classic Stereo Cassette Recorder
Industry Standard Recording Only From Sony
Original Carrying Case Included
Works Flawlessly!

^Exactly. My portable cd player plays mp3's and so does my car stereo. I fit 12 whole SY shows on one cd in mp3 format.

Same here. I fit my 20 live shows on two CDs in mp3, and then all the extra stuff (Instruments+ CDs, Branca stuff, etc., plus all the videos from the website) on a third one. And that was all it took. I couldn't get more than 10 shows on each, though. iPods are not necessary.

i have this

40 gigs
200 dollars

mp3s sound like shit, i like to listen to my cd player ive had for 5 years or a homeade tape on a walkman (which sounds way smoother than an mp3 player)

I have the Creative Zen Touch, and I love it. The sound is amazing, and it doesn't scratch. It's bigger than the iSucks but it's cheaper and worth it.

ok do not make mp3s at less than 192 kbps the compression is too harsh and you lose just about all of the dynamics in any frquency. all of the players are pretty much the same, don't just buy for the name, shop around, do not fall for any advertising of how many song these things can fit on becuase they say all these facts like 15000 songs but that is fine if you like the qulaity to be of hold music on a telephone. if you want it for music only forget about colour screens. if you you want it to look good then you are looking at more than listening to it. and buy good headphones i recommend sennheiser px 200 or beyerdynamic dtx20. for mp3 only encode at either 192 or 320 kbps or go with cd quality wav or aiff files. all the headphone pre's are pretty much identical and i doubt anyone could hear the difference using a good set of reference headphones.

Thanks terminal p

I say get an Ipod. They interface and navigation really just blows the competitors away. I would have said get a creative a long time ago, but I really love my 30gig ipod video.

People that say that MP3s suck really don't know how to rip a CD. Rip it at a low compression rate. I always go 192 kbps ore higher. Maybe it was because I was raised with them, but I think MP3s sound great, if ripped properly.

At 256kbps the difference between CDs and MP3s are mostly academic. Nanos have a bass quantization problem, look it up, they tend to distort basses very easily. The best iPods in term of headphone drivers and potential audio quality(also depends on your earphones) is the Shuffle and the iPod Video. The video at 60 GB has 64KB of onboard memory, is fast, is about as thick as 10 playing cards, and smaller. Carrying 10 CDs around is very irritating, I have been there and done that. I still have my MP3 CD portable player. For best results, buy an iPod video, get a set of in-ear modules(even cheap ones like Panasonic RP-HJE50s), rip at nothing less then 256Kbps. And also, no one uses the album art feature on iPods anyway, everyone knows it drains battery life immensely. Also, the 60GB iPod video has 4 hours of video life if you're so inclined. The 30GB has half of that.

you must've been listening to mp3s with a low bit-rate

I think once you get past 196kbps you're just being picky. I've never been the least bit bothered by anything at 196. At 132 it becomes noticable, but I can still live with it.

i rip at 192
i remember when i asked about mp3 players on the g4tv forums and these guys got into a deep discussion about bit rates

I wouldn't buy an Ipod. They're for the people who need the newest mobile phone each month when ones released, and buys all the useless flashy shit that you can spend more money on if you want to.

I own an Iriver - and it's been well worth it's money. I don't regret it at all.

all my friends have ipods but i dont i have a sony MP3, shop around first.

I'm not being a corporate whore, I just think the Nano is the best as far as transporting. Thanks all for your input.
Fuck, I really didn't feel like shopping around, but that's why I asked. So again, thank you for curbing my "gotta get it now" compulsion.

p.s. I know most everyting about audio compression, and though I appreciate the informative posts, rest assured I am a 192+ HQ or HQ VBR encoder.

I've still only got a portable mini-disc player. 5 hours of music in one place strangely seems to be all I need.

gross generalisation but hey you are allowed to opine

iriver is a damn good brand.
lower prices and slightly better sound reproduction than ipods.
anyway,as was said in a thread on the old forum,mp3s are alla about portability.
there's no way you can hear music with an hi-fi and adeguate silence travelling on a train, so why don't go with portable mp3 players?
you can't travel or walk around bringing your record player -amplifier-6feet tall speakers.
AS was already said,just make sure you buy good headphones (sennheiser make good ones,as someone else pointed out),rip at high bitrates (do'h) and use equalization properly.

I have a 4th generation iPod. I love it. However, you should shop around first. I did and found what worked best for me.

Of course I should have put 'generally' in there somewhere. But that is what I have found. It's safe to say that the majority of portable mp3 owners have an ipod. Why? It's mostly an uneducated, ill-informed purchase. It's whats 'cool' and popular, so it has to be the best.

Anyway.

Perhaps it is so cool and popular because it is the best. Really simple: Ipods are the best, so everyone gets one. Everyone has one, so it becomes trendy.

there are lots of good headphones on the markets these days which are noise cancellation phones, these have tiny microphones on the outside of the phones and the signal is put into the phones out of phase so any outside noise is cancelled in the actual headphone, this does not account however for the size of the phone and outside noise that gets directly to your ear.

don't use equalisation because all onboard equalisation on every portable player is garbage. the studio engineer and the mastering engineer have worked their asses off to make the albums you buy sound good, don't eq them with inferior software eq's in portable players. just get good phones.

terminal pharmacy, once i risked my life walking across the rails with bull in the heather pumped on too high volume to hear the train coming....i think the "pilot" of the train (how do you call them??) supposed i was aware of it and did not brake.well,anyhow,something like 3 seconds after i walked off the rails i felt the ground shaking,i turned and i saw the train passing 2 meters away from me...from that day i tend to make "outside" noises "heardable" when i walk/bicycle around...but in a "safe" environment noise cancellation headphones are definitely a good choice...regarding equalization, i happen to love more the sound of many albums on my ipod mini using rock or electronic presets...but i think it's all about personal tastes in that case,i like to pump basses a bit...and 65daysofstatic albums are much better with the electronic preset ;) .
so,i'd suggest to start with no equalization,then check if it can help enjoying your listening experience...that's all folks!

It's all a matter of personal preference regarding EQ. One man's meat, yada, yada, yada....

nicfit, that would be a train conductor i believe

i think he meant train operator/cum driver.

he he,i oughta go back to school and learn some basic english...i'll call them "huskers on a train",end of the problem.

right on!

I have the latest 30GB black iPod, it cost me fortune,

erm,.....
the sound quality's AWESOME, it plays better than I expected
file management & features are really great
video and picture quality are also splendid (however, only .mov files are supported)
but what sucks big time is battery life! It lasts poor 4-5 hours of music play, without even turning the backlight on or doing any graphics-heavy operations (such as photos, videos or games)

erm....maybe only mine's crappy and needs treatment but it really makes me feel dissapointed about it

i have the g4 20gig and the battery lasts 8 or more hours

I've got the same, :( got stolen once in my science class, everyone knew it was him, and his mom made him pay me $400(for the ipod itself + case+ insurance) incase it was broken and i got the ipod back, wasnt messed up at all,so 400$ scored :)
my battery dies fast when i put my stuff on shuffle, but if i take it off and just listen to...one particular band whatever battery lasts me for a while,.. Im assuming you listen to stuff on shuffle..? Pretty much it wastes more cause the laser eye thingy has to move around
++ does anyone know how to get stuff onto the calender?, as in put in events etc.