[Meadowfield]

I've got a buddy who thinks the iPods are too expensive and is considering one of those Creative or other imitation jobs. He is not married to any particular software yet, but he is not fond of the iTunes' iPod exclusivity. I, of course, being a MacAddict never even considered the alternatives but if I were to furnish him with some objective findings comparing the different systems we may have a shot at conversion.

Your reference links here please. Other opeds would also be appreciated:

[Big Mac]

iTMS is by far the most popular online music distributor, and the iPod is by far the most popular, cool PMP. If those two facts don't sway your friend, he's probably too far gone to redeem.

[cpac]

to be blunt, if he doesn't just *see* the difference, he may be doomed. But...

That said, I'd offer/challenge him to go to a store where both iPods and the competitors are sold - let him play with both. If he's not pulling out his credit card immediately for the iPod, then he truly is a lost cause...

(if you need bullet points consider)

-scroll wheel - the ONLY way to navigate 40 GBs of music without killing yourself
-Apple build quality - other things just feel cheap
-hands down the coolest player to have/most wecoming community
-a way to not further Microsoft's attempt to monopolize everything
-"it just works," with iTunes
-iTunes is a great player
-iTMS is better than anything else out there

[Turnpike]

Originally posted by cpac:

-scroll wheel - the ONLY way to navigate 40 GBs of music without killing yourself
-Apple build quality - other things just feel cheap
-hands down the coolest player to have/most wecoming community
-a way to not further Microsoft's attempt to monopolize everything
-"it just works," with iTunes
-iTunes is a great player
-iTMS is better than anything else out there

yes. Lots of yes.

has he played with yours? One of my friends played with mine for about 30 seconds and listened to a few tracks and decided he needed to get one for his music collection (which is quite large). My roommate played with mine for maybe a minute, didn't listen to anything, but decided that if he got an MP3 player of any kind it would be an iPod, because, in his words "just going through the menus is orgasmic". The friend is tech-literate, bordering on tech-savvy as far as the scale of average (non-geek) people go... the roommate is tech-literate, but that's about as far as it goes.

[Meadowfield]

Nothing objective, huh? Bummer. I agree, try them and we're done. But he lives a distance away...

[typoon]

Did you ask him what he doesn't like about iTunes? Is the only thing the "exclusivity"(SP)?

Does he use a Mac or PC? If he uses a Mac you can tell him the other's don't work as well on a Mac. If not then YOu could also talk to him about the others being "exclusively" tied to Windows and or a certain music service.

If he is going to pay for music even though he may have lots of CD's ask him if he would like to rent his music or to own it.

Telling him to go to a store like BestBuy that carriers several players is a good idea. He should then play with each one and decide for himself. For me the click wheel is the best design out there for scrolling through music. I've played with a Dell DJ and didn't like it with in the first 2 minutes I played with it. It has a thumb scroll. I scrolled through about 4-8 songs at a time where the iPOd I can scroll through the entire collection at one time.

Something else that might sway him, the other ones are ONLY USB2. while the iPod is both. The Firwire transfers are Faster over firewire than over even USB2.

[cpac]

Originally posted by Meadowfield:
Nothing objective, huh? Bummer.

All the points I listed above are "objective" to the extent that makes sense when you're asking for an opinion.

If he's looking for product reviews or the like, the iPod is universally hailed as the best thing going. Look for Mossberg reviews in the Times or those in the WSJ. Time's made it their gadget of the year a couple times I think - there's probably about a billion reviews out there by professional people that are going to be about as "objective" as you can get.

[typoon]

Originally posted by cpac:
All the points I listed above are "objective" to the extent that makes sense when you're asking for an opinion.

If he's looking for product reviews or the like, the iPod is universally hailed as the best thing going. Look for Mossberg reviews in the Times or those in the WSJ. Time's made it their gadget of the year a couple times I think - there's probably about a billion reviews out there by professional people that are going to be about as "objective" as you can get.

I second that. Mossberg is pretty objective.

[Meadowfield]

A quick google found a few on iTunes but fewer on the ipod. Any others would be appreciated.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1634140,00.asp

http://www.mp3.com/tech/services_21220230_review.php

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/itunes-review.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3668_7-5092635.html

http://www.earthv.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=2037

http://www.coolmacintosh.com/itunesreview.html

http://www.codemonkeyx.net/node/4

http://slashdot.org/articles/03/10/1...id=187&tid=188

ps: He's an XP'er

[ideasculptor]

I've owned 2 creative mp3 players (A jukebox 3 and a creative zen) and both were made with such crap build quality. Creative releases new mp3 players every 6 or 8 months, but does not support the older models at all. The announce peripherals (such as a wired remote) months before they are available, and then after shipping for 3 months, they abruptly stop selling the peripheral, or they change it so it only works with the most recent mp3 player. An mp3 player without a wired remote is worthless to me (I listen while riding a motorcycle and need easy access to volume and track changes), but that is exactly what I got from creative, despite tons of hype about the wired remote that would soon be available.

To top it off, both mp3 players died within 6 months. The first went when the headphone jack stopped working both ears. Creative refused to warranty, despite the fact that it was obviously a manufacturing problem, They said I must have misused it. The second one died when the power button stopped working, It could only be turned on by plugging it into the wall, which caused it to power on. Once again, no warranty, same excuse. $600+ and utterly worthless.

My Ipod is now well over a year old, and it gets used daily for at least a couple of hours, and when the remote broke, I had a free replacement in hand 3 minutes after walking into an apple store.

'nuff said.

[Dalhectar]

There are some alternatives to iTunes for Windows and Linux users. Might want to try looking here.

I could see the cost issue, an iPod is expensive. I'm not sure other players like the Dell offer any better value really, but they are cheaper. Honestly, I would just recommend waiting an extra month and save up for the iPod.

Also if price limits someone to 1 player and they feel unsafe about a hard disk based player, I wouldn't recommend an iPod Shuffle. Lack of a screen does hurt it for some people. An iRiver or SanDisk might be better depending on the features and price issue. My personal feelings is that the iPod shuffle is the ultimate iPod accessory- not a replacement.

Still I think the iPod is the best player, and I've become an iTunes convert, but I held out for a long while before I really started to like iTunes. Still, I guess its not for everyone.

[Meadowfield]

We lost one guys. Here's a recent eMail exchange-

Thanks all the same.

Paul







I got a Creative Nomad Zen with 60 Gig hard disk for $265 inclusive of everything. I really do thing it is a terrific value.

Doug


Paul wrote:

That's auwfull (y funny) What did you end up getting?



Douglas wrote:

Great site:

http://www.hazynirvana.com/Images/ipodsucks.jpg

Doug

[markb8705]

[joltguy]

Originally posted by Meadowfield:
We lost one guys. Here's a recent eMail exchange-
yadda yadda
Doug

You should cut all ties to Doug. The disease he has may be contagious.

Just a friendly warning.