[Rob van dam]

I have a few questions so be patient.

Since i seem to be one of the few mac owners worldwide who own an ipod i just want an unbiased opinion on some things.

How does the ipod family in general compare to the battery life of say sony Mp3 player's? I recently saw a sony mp3 player with up to 40 hours of playback.I realise in all proudcts battery life is an estimate but it seems pretty good.

I have seen other sony products claiming up to 70 hours which seem great.I dont know what else to ask at the moment(memory problems ) but if anyone can add anything benfifcial to my query that would be great.

[chabig]

I think you answered your own question. Other manufacturers claim longer battery life. There is your comparison.

But they're usually bigger, heavier, clunkier, incompatible with iTunes, etc... If you're a single-issue shopper, then go ahead and buy something else. But the iPod is the best overall music experience.

[iMacfan]

I think the best thing to say is that the iPod family trump anything else in terms of elegance and ease of use, including the management of your music via iTunes. Some other players are better on battery life or price or some features, but you won't find such a complete package elsewhere without getting a far more infuriating of clunky interface.

David

[Rob van dam]

Thanks for the feedback guys.Your right if you get one thing you will sacrifice another.(In terms of good battery life vs crap interface).

[icruise]

Just out of curiosity, which sony products are you referring to?

[Rob van dam]

Originally Posted by Icruise

Just out of curiosity, which sony products are you referring to?

http://www.sony.com.au/walkman/catal...questid=160499

up to 40 hours.Looks crap but 40 hours none the less.

http://www.sony.com.au/walkman/catal...tegoryId=30333

This runs on a AAA batteries and has 70 hours playback.

Also about headphones.Are the ones supplied as bad for your hearing as they say or should one opt for ones that sit outside the earlobe.

[Zeusbwr]

*has trouble hearing you: what?*

hehe.

I dunno, i'll prob be deaf soon. I listen to the default ipod headphones, well 1 ear, as i work everyday. I like it cuz my work is physical and whatnot and its out of the way. But if i go deaf.. that would suck :o

[icruise]

Originally Posted by Rob van dam

http://www.sony.com.au/walkman/catal...questid=160499

up to 40 hours.Looks crap but 40 hours none the less.

If you'll look at the fine print, it gets 40 hours when playing ATRAC format music at 48kbps. That seems like a very low bitrate, but maybe ATRAC can pull it off. Anyway, when playing MP3 at 128kbps (which is the bare minimum these days) it gets 30 hours. Makes me wonder if it might not get even less battery life when playing higher bitrate files. Interesting, since I never made the connection between bitrate and battery life, but I suppose it has to access the hard disk more often with higher bitrate files, and the act of decoding may take more power as well.

http://www.sony.com.au/walkman/catal...tegoryId=30333

This runs on a AAA batteries and has 70 hours playback.

I don't think you can directly compare this to the iPods. This runs off of normal alkaline batteries and not rechargeables. And I wonder what effect the bitrate will have on this player's life as well.

But in any case, even if you ignore the difference in usability between these players and the iPods (to say nothing of the difference between Sony's crap software and iTunes) both of these players lack things like a color screen. Things like that both add to usability and subtract from battery life.

Also about headphones.Are the ones supplied as bad for your hearing as they say or should one opt for ones that sit outside the earlobe.

I don't think it's the type of earphone so much as the volume that you listen at.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

If that is the most important thing for you better get a sony.