[beacon73]

I was fingering through this weekend's ads and saw a MP3/Hard-Drive device at Best Buy that hold more than the iPod and for much less.

I forgot what the device is called or who makes it, I am sure it is on their website. However, this thing hold over 5 gigs of data, I think there is a model that holds 6 gig and another that holds 20 gig. It connects via USB and the device can act as an external hard drive just like the iPod. I think the 6 gig model goes for something like $149 and the 20 gig model goes for something like $224....this is considerably less than the iPod.

Sure, it doesn't have the firwire connectivity but I ask how many times do you completely wipe out your iPod and re-transfer all of your songs? I have only transferred ALL my songs once, it took 5 minutes (1.23 gig).

The device does not look as good as the iPod and I think it is a little bigger, but for almost $200 less how can it be overlooked?

I still think I paid too much for my iPod $399. Still think it is overpriced by at least $100....I am a hard-core, die-hard MAC fan, but no one is going to convince me the iPod is REALLY worth the $399 I paid for it.....I am thinking about selling it.....I find that I don't use it enough to justify the high cost.....and I have heard stories that it skips when you take it jogging.....

[qnc]

man i love my iPod

i got 60 albums on it and it doesn't jog when I do cartwheels let alone jogging

I paid �350 and for me It is the best


buy your USB what ever the thing is but I'm keeping my iPod

that is a fact

[ 11-26-2001: Message edited by: qnc ]

[Max8319]

it's called an Archos Jukebox.........it sux.........the battery time is no where near the ipod......you can only use the supplied batteries, 4 AA..........it's a lot bigger...........it sux ass.........i used to have one and couldn't stand it anymore.........i went out and bought a rio volt and it was a lot better.....it takes forever to transfer files......to fill it up, it takes atleast 2 hours....i took my ipod jogging and it didn't miss a beat........stick with the ipod.....it's so much better than the Archos Jukebox........it would be a mojor step back for you to buy the archos.......the ipod is still the best and there looks like there are a lot more stuff to come for it....theres a game of bricks on it (?), and a remote hopefully.....like MOSR said, it's called iPod, not iMusic and something that deals directly with music....apple may release software that will make the ipod so much more than a music player......stick with the ipod.....i would never sell my ipod

[ihxo]

Originally posted by beacon73:
<STRONG>and I have heard stories that it skips when you take it jogging.....</STRONG>

hmm.... if you really have an Ipod, go take it for a jog and see for yourself. If you don't have an Ipod then you have to hear stories from other people.

[Todd Madson]

I've gone leaping about like a frenzied Walrus with the iPod and there was
no problems at all with skipping or other interruptions. I had a blast
dancing around like a maniac.

Hi. I want an iPod but the price is to expensive. I found some information on the Archos Jukebox (20GB version, cost: 250 dollars) and I wanted to respond to some guys post up there.

&lt;&lt;it's called an Archos Jukebox.........it sux.........&gt;&gt;

It's called the ARCHOS Jukebox Studio 20 Digital Audio Player. It doesn't suck. It lacks many cool features that the iPod has, but it does offer 20 GB of disk space for a little more than half the price of the iPod. That's something worth looking at.

&lt;&lt;the battery time is no where near the ipod......you can only use the supplied batteries, 4 AA&gt;&gt;

Correct about battery time, Eight Hours (Not sure if thats 8 hours of continuous use or not) and it does take four double A batteries.

&lt;it's a lot bigger...........it sux ass.........&gt;

It is wider, taller and heavier. Correct. If you are like me, you like your system (whether it be a desktop, latop or mp3 player) to be cool looking and compact. But, hey...the Archos MP3 player/portable hard drive does have 4 times more hard disk space. Don't forget that.

&lt;&lt;it takes forever to transfer files......to fill it up, it takes atleast 2 hours....&gt;&gt;

The rate of transfer is 1150KB/sec which isn't nearly as fast as iPod's firewire. But, how often do you add 1,000 of gigs to your mp3 player? I estimate I would add about two songs a day after transfering all my current songs. That takes only 10 seconds. Do you really need to pay hundreds more for transfer speed?

&lt;&lt;the ipod is still the best and there looks like there are a lot more stuff to come for it....theres a game of bricks on it (?), and a remote hopefully.....like MOSR said, it's called iPod, not iMusic and something that deals directly with music....apple may release software that will make the ipod so much more than a music player......stick with the ipod.....i would never sell my ipod&gt;&gt;

Huh? Theres more stuff to come for it? Like what? You means like...games you can play on it? Sounds cool. A remote? I don't think so. The ARCHOS Jukebox isnt just a hard drive either. You can store all types of files on it just like the iPod.

Good things about each:
iPod: Battery life is better, better design, much better interface, smaller, possible games coming out for it
Archos: Much cheaper, four times as much disk space

So, if you want the most disk space as you can get, have a PC or are low on cash...get the Archos.

[G4ME]

But, how often do you add 1,000 of gigs to your mp3 player?

I have never come close to even seeing 1000 gigs befor in my life. but, you could transfer that much on and off you ipod and still beat the Archos by half. I will stick with a company that is known for superior quality and workmanship over cheapest buck. you pay for what you get.

obviously i made a typo. i meant 1,000 mp3s not 1,000 gigs of mp3s. you get what you pay for? usally, yeah. but, is the ipod really two times better? the ipod, with 1/4 as much hard disk space, is two times better? I dont know about that.

[G4ME]

its all about the user I have 3.7 gigs of MP3 thats 804 songs over 2 days and 5 hours plus music. and I find that I am listening to the same five new cds that i recenly purcased. if you say that it is a 20 gig HD then get a 60 gig firewire HD thats three times bigger than you Archos and it has firewire so it will still take half the time to trasfer 60 gigs then it would 20 gigs on to the archos. the ipod isn't about storage its about solving the problem that all these other MP3 HD (or solid memory for that matter) palyers were suffering from

1 battery life
2 size
3 interface
4 controls
5 storage
all of witch the ipod solved for. if you want 20 gigs then get a POS player if you want a sloution to your problems then get the ipod.

[iPaul UK]

Just for the record.. I have seen 30gig portable Juke Boxes on sale. You don't have to be Einstein to know this is 6 times more than the iPod. I did read a review of these here in the UK, that said the sound quality was very good by MP3 standards. A quick search on Sherlock found me the company web addy if anyone is interested PJ Box 100. You pay for that huge HD tho, as this costs even more than the iPod!

PS, I think the above website only mentions the 6 & 20gig versions. But I have seen another site with the 30gig one listed.

iPaul,

It's too bad that you don't appreciate your ipod, but since I recieved mine I have been in true heaven. I currently have about 3.7 gigs of mp3's on my hard drive and have every intention of ripping the rest of my CD's collection when time permits (approx. 200 discs)

Since I recieved my ipod FOUR DAYS AGO, I have wiped and reloaded new songs every morning. Why? Because I can, and I don't have to worry about it taking four hours.

The battery life more than compensates for itself in the long run. I can't imagine having to replace batteries so often as has been stated about the jukebox. What about the fact that it recharges in an hour. The time I save for the convenience of having my music whenever and wherever I want it is a true joy.

My $400.00 was very well spent, and for the first time in my life I am looking forward to my annual cross country drive across the country to visit family for the holidays. Simply because it will be accompianied by the soundtrack of my choosing without the clutter and hassle of CD's and Tapes.

[Max8319]

Great! 20 gigs over USB! good solution......

i go for quality over quantity........ipod is extremely refined.....i can't stand low quality things like the archos.......if you like crappy things, then get the POS archos.......the one thing that the archos has is hard space........that's all........but since it uses USB, that takes away from the fact that it has a 20 gig HD.......

quality=ipod
cheap=archos

[BigMac2]

There is something that no one have mention yet, My iPod is a work tools at first, No more CD-ROM, no more Utility, No more system Disk, no more Zip. I think I will make more money with My iPod than it cost to me. Making G4 maintenance with that Baby is a charm. Booting of the iPod making some backup, recovering a HD crash, the iPod is the only HD mp3 Player that you can do that! And the last thing, I impress every one with that little baby!

[iPaul UK]

atarirat, I never said I had an iPod. I was merely taking the oportunity to point out some competition to the iPod. While also pointing out that the iPod is certainly far from the most expensive MP3 player in it's class.

As for people grumbling about USB. Well obviously FireWire is better.. But surely, once you got the bulk of your music into your MP3 player, uploading a few more tracks here n there really doesn't call for FireWire speeds does it?

At present, I don't have any kind of an MP3 player, other than software ones like iTunes etc. So my opinion is relatively unbiased. But I have been quite tempted by this.. Philip XP401 A bit different to the iPod concept I agree. But it's way cheaper, good quality and pretty neat all round I think..

[JLFanboy]

Something that strikes me as funny about this whole iPod vs. Jukebox argument and the like, is that it's exactly like the Mac vs. PC argument, e.g. a G4 at 867 MHz is better than a PC at 2 GHz. We know that it's not the actual speed or the actual numbers but the user experience that matters. So what if another Mp3 player has more space and costs less? Nobody here questions buying a G4 that's technically slower than a PC, because we all know about the Apple user experience.

All in all, these Mp3 players are all different, but we still know which one is going to the the simpler, more enjoyable one.

[jtc]

Originally posted by iPaul UK:
<STRONG>But I have been quite tempted by this.. Philip XP401 A bit different to the iPod concept I agree. But it's way cheaper, good quality and pretty neat all round I think..</STRONG>

I think they got it completely wrong. It's roughly the same size as solid state players, and you have to go through the hassle of burning a CD everytime you want to change a few songs. Get a nomadII and 128 MB smart media card for about the same price if you're looking for a small player.

[iPaul UK]

jtc, well i've not made my mind up about any of these gadgets yet. But I thought the Philips thing was kinda neat cos the media is readily available, and very cheap. And each disk can store around 3 hours worth of MP3's (185mb per disk). And I don't consider burning a disk that much of a chore. CD burners are fast these days, so a 3" 185MB CD certainly isn't going to take long. My 8X burner would pop one out in around 3 minutes or less. Even iTunes 2 will now burn your MP3 files to CD. And then of course you have that CD pretty much forever, just like any other CD. Plus those disks can be played on other machines too, like many hardware DVD players and other computers etc. And from what I can see, I doubt it's much bigger than an iPod, if at all. It will play regular 3" audio CD's too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming it's the ultimate MP3 player, or that it's better than the iPod or whatever. But I do think the little Philips XP401 is good for the money. So might be worth a look.

[G4ME]

I am totaly against the entire Disc thing, I brought my cd player to school for 3 years now and I've scratched many a cds in my case logic cd holder. Not to mention changing CD when I want to listen to a new Cd, it is time consuming and cumbersome, All I have to do is push a couple of buttons and bam an entirely new CD, Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity Simplicity

[OAW]

If one is satisfied initially loading 6GB+ of data over USB, and manually managing incremental updates (which can easily be several CDs at a time BTW) over USB .... then by all means save a few pennies and roll with a jukebox. Personally, I think this would be about as interesting and definitely as time consuming as watching grass grow ... but hey, YMMV!

However, as an extremely satisfied iPod owner, all I can say to this is that you get what you pay for!

OAW

[Nebrie]

Originally posted by iPaul UK:
<STRONG>jtc, well i've not made my mind up about any of these gadgets yet. But I thought the Philips thing was kinda neat cos the media is readily available, and very cheap. And each disk can store around 3 hours worth of MP3's (185mb per disk). And I don't consider burning a disk that much of a chore. CD burners are fast these days, so a 3" 185MB CD certainly isn't going to take long. My 8X burner would pop one out in around 3 minutes or less. Even iTunes 2 will now burn your MP3 files to CD. And then of course you have that CD pretty much forever, just like any other CD. Plus those disks can be played on other machines too, like many hardware DVD players and other computers etc. And from what I can see, I doubt it's much bigger than an iPod, if at all. It will play regular 3" audio CD's too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming it's the ultimate MP3 player, or that it's better than the iPod or whatever. But I do think the little Philips XP401 is good for the money. So might be worth a look.</STRONG>

It's nifty but I bet that just like most other mp3 players, you're gonna end up tossing it in a corner once the novelty wears off and the hassle comes out.