why buy iPods?

[Gomar]

I got a 4gb MP3 player no brand from eBay for $20. It was made and shipped from Hong Kong. It works fine, except the battery lasts about 4-6 hours. Its got FM, no AM, video & photo view but low res. It does have a wheel, but you have to press the buttons. Besides that, I see no significant difference between it and iPods with fancy graphics, bells&whistles. I see 4gb ipods going for $89. I dont get why. Why would you view movies or photos on those small low res LCDs? What's all the gaga about podcasts?I have a FM/AM/SW radio, and have a camera, so dont need that on a MP3 player.An MP3 player is just that, it playes music, if you want a radio or a camera get one.

[RobRich]

Let's see....

What is the deal with buying a Mercedes ABC? I can buy a much less expensive Ford XYZ instead. The Ford XYZ has just as much horsepower, similar options, decent build quality. and can readily get me from point A to point B in relative comfort. Why would anyone ever buy a more expensive Mercedes ABC?

[pullmyfoot]

I buy ipods. I like em. they feel nice they look nice and they do exactly what I want them to do. in the past I had two no-brand mp3 players and they both broke in months. I have an ipod that lasted me 4 years (1st gen nano) and I finally gave it up for a new one because the battery was dying. 4 years. nuff said.

[MrSpartan1717]

I just use my Black Berry Phone works fine for music. And for Video on the go PSP does a great job of it.

[ShyguyXPC]

Rob's Post pretty much sums it up.



Me Personally, I don't care much for Ipod's either but they do work. (mainly the arrogant hype over them, and Apples pricing, Apples products have always been a Premium Price for not much more than you get on a competitors product)

I use my Sandisk Sansa View 8GB Media Player, can view pictures, Videos (Pain in the ass to convert them, but once done, they do look decent on the tiny screen), and Plays MP3/WMA's.

as to low res video on those tiny screens, people don't need High res on such a small screen anyways.

Sansa View Series isn't exactly cheap either, but I bought mine Refurbished a year ago for around $50 or so.

My Cellphone also works as a MP3 player, which is nice, and has a built in camera, though low features and no flash, but it works. Virgin Mobile X-TC phone.

For Movies on the go, as Spartan listed above, PSP does a great job too, down side is having large enough memory stick to read them from (and if its a sony brand stick, Premium Price like Apple), am looking at getting a PSP myself very soon here.

nice thing I like about my Sansa View and X-tc phone, is since more than half of my MP3 collection dates back from the old WinMX file sharing days, I don't have to worry much about them not playing on the device, I can just copy them to the device or memory card (for the phone or Sansa view, both use MicroSD cards) and they'll play.

My Phone has Stereo Bluetooth and I have a Stereo BT speaker kit, so I can get better sound (not a whole lot better), than what the phone can do, and in stereo sound.

Prior to the Sansa View I was using a Sony NetMD mini disc player and would record my music directly to the MiniDiscs with the player connected via USB, but was a pain in the ass, with it requiring to be converted to ATRAC3 and only limited space per disc.

but the audio was usually superb, for my tastes anyways, wired into my cars sound system. (at the time my Car's Receiver was a sony brand, has CD/MD changer controls and some other enhancements, so it all worked nicely)

anyways, though I'm not a big fan of Ipods, they do seem to sell, and many people don't seem to have a problem wasting money on them, even if they break soon due to improper use, or care, people have no problem dumping more money on to them, its along the same lines as people going through 2 or 3 Xbox 360's a year due to over heating and other defects.

My Biggest Gripes are people who only need something simple and are duped into buying an Ipod with all its extra's that they'll never use, and users who think an Ipod is the God of Media Players and haven't a clue of what else is out there and capable of. or assume other companies are copying their coveted Ipods and don't realize that most of Apple's Innovations are nothing more than improvements on other companies idea's.

The Only Ipod I'd consider buying right now is an Ipod Touch, but mainly due to its dual purpose functions as a Wireless internet access device, and many of the games, and motion controller functions.

however I'm not a fan of its size, too small for my tastes to use as a touch screen and controls. for gaming I'd rather have something like a PSP or Nintendo DS, with actual decent game controls like PSP's analog stick, etc.

(Would be nice to combine a DS's dual screen idea with Ipod Touch, clam shell case with dual screens, dual touch screens for more real estate for stuff)

[MrSpartan1717]

Ya I know what you mean Shyguy X PC I payed 60 bucks roughly (Canadian) for my 8 GB memory stick pro duo which is a Sony brand and not third party. But I do travel lots so it was worth it. Plus Movies can add up in size. And when your on that 8 to 16 hour drive it comes in handy. To bad Sony did not support SD and SDHC like most other companys. As for the hype of IPOD it Apples way of saying no its more then an MP3 its an IPOD. Samething with there PC. Its not a PC its a MAC. Plus I hate how you have to use ITunes. I like the idea of draging and droping my stuff without having to use some program. Plus when i worked at Wal Mart for a lil while for extra cash I remeber them trying to send us refurbished ones and saying there brand new. We fliped out on the Apple rep for doing that. And we refused to sell them. Plus if you go threw apple warrenty I have been told they dont send a brand new one they just give you a refurbished one that they have fixed. As far as this being true I could not say. Since I have never had to deal with Apple warrenty in my life time.