What do you guys think about iPods?

[Godly Paladin]

I just got an 80GB Classic (sixth gen) for $170. Good deal? Good device? I can still return it...

[bakura_fan]

I think that's good. I got my 30 gig vid for $300. Havn't listened to it in awhile (it's lost in the house in a box somewhere...heh.)

[Raiden no Kishi]

I would call that an excellent deal - my 30GB iPod cost $250. As its runaway success can attest, the iPod is an excellent device. Enjoy it. Love it.

.rai//

[rii namuras]

[color="Red"](I paid a little less than that for a refurbished 60GB. So far I have about 3GB filled up... Very good deal.)[/color]

[GhostontheNet]

Its a great device with vast potential. The Ipod really fulfills a good many of the wildest predictions of the advantages of ubiquitous computing. If you are resourceful enough, you will be able to store most of both your music and DVD collection on your Ipod. So too, with Podcasting fully supported ever since Itunes version 4.9, a whole world of media and information is available to you for free. I find my 30 Gigabyte Ipod Video (5th Generation) to be incredibly useful.

[Kaligraphic]

That's a pretty good deal.

I, personally, like my little iPod Nano. I wish that it was a bigger model, even. It's a nice, simple interface that works well enough. The thumbwheel feels kind of imprecise to me, but I really can't think of anything better, so I don't know that I can ding them for it. It really is pretty elegant, it just feels weird. My biggest complaint about the device itself would be that it needs a proprietary dock connector. I've got USB A to mini-B cables coming out my ears practically, but only one iPod cable. Second-biggest, of course, is that I can't just load it through the standard USB mass storage methods, and have to use iTunes, but I've mostly become accustomed to iTunes.

I know it doesn't have some of the fancy features that as an IT guy I'm somehow supposed to prize, but I just can't seem to care about the ability to run a Java EE application server on an mp3 player. I barely care about the improved audio quality of MP4 AAC. I like my iPod, in part, because I can get rid of the menu options for most of the features it does have. Anything above the basic, to-the-point music playing functionality (and occasionally file storage) is only an annoyance to me, so from that perspective, I will say that I like it. If you want to run a Java EE application server on your music player, you might be able to find a third-party firmware or something.

In short, if you want to put your music files on it and have it play them for you, and you're not too feature-crazy, then it's a fine device, and I endorse it. In fact, if you decide you don't want that 80GB, you can just ship it to me...

[sharien chan]

Love love love ipods. Mine works great even after 3 years.

[Radical Dreamer]

That's a very good deal. iPods are sturdy and of good quality and performance. I'd like a 160GB Classic, myself, just to have a little extra room. XDD But yeah, an 80 gig Classic for $170 is awesome. Definitely keep it.

[Maledicte]

I'm not a big fan of iPods, but space is space, and sounds like you got a good deal.

[Ashley]

Actually I was extremely dissatisifed with my iPod, which broke down just after a year and a half of very careful handling. I have been much happier with my Sandisk Sansa e830, a 30 gig mp3/radio/video player which sells for about 60 bucks.

[ShiroiHikari]

I don't need an MP3 player, so I don't own one. But if I did buy one, it probably wouldn't be an iPod.

[jaems-kun]

for ipods, you got a good deal. Personally, 80 gigabytes doesn't hold my music, so if I'm going to be swapping files anyway, I find I may as well go with smaller cheaper mp3 players. Personally I have fun experimenting with cheap over seas media players. Can get an 8gig flac/mp4 player for under 100 bux, sweet!

[Cardinalman]

ipods are better because they can be used on macs and pc's

[Sae-chan]

For an iPod, I'd say you got a very good deal. I bought my 4GB iPod nano for 200$, and although it's probably the best major thing I've gotten, now they are offering 8GB iPod nanos with video for 200$. That is probably the most annoying thing about it...

[Warrior4Christ]

The main reason I wouldn't buy an iPod is their more limited file format support. Most of my music is in WMA format.

[Radical Dreamer]

The main reason I wouldn't buy an iPod is their more limited file format support. Most of my music is in WMA format.

I'm not 100% sure on this, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that, after you import any file type to iTunes, it automatically changes it to .mp3 format. I haven't tried it with WMA files, but it's worth a shot, I guess. XD

[TalKeaton]

Gah, my 1GB Nomad MuVo and my PSP are all I need.

[Roxas2210]

I agree with TalDeaton

[Kaligraphic]

Actually, RD, it doesn't. I think it'll transcode DRM-free wma to m4a before it can play them, but other file types, such as mp3, wav, aiff, and others, can be used without transcoding to m4a. You can still do so if you want to, though, as a right-click option.

[Warrior4Christ]

I'm not 100% sure on this, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that, after you import any file type to iTunes, it automatically changes it to .mp3 format. I haven't tried it with WMA files, but it's worth a shot, I guess. XD

But converting 7GB of WMAs could take quite a bit of time, let alone double the amount of disk space...

[bigsleepj]

On some very basic level the iPod (and any MP3 player) is a particularly useless gadget for its popularity.

Still I like mine.

[Song_of_Storms]

I love my ipod, but since I'm usually always seen with my laptop, I just crank up E-snips and the likes when I need music. n.n;

[yukoxholic]

Ipods are great and you did get a really good deal. They do exactly what most MP3 players due house your CD collections in an allotment of space the only thing I dislike about IPods is that they do not support a lot of formats like lossless audio (you can actually fit ten times the amount of storage using lossless audio format), ogg, FLAC, etc. For most people wav, mp3, and mp4, is sufficient enough but I have different filed audio so I-pods aren't the best pick for consumers that have other audio formats. Plus, battery life doesn't seem to fair well with ipods. You're always constantly charging them at least I was always. That and you always have to use Itunes when there are way better music burning programs out there.

I did own an i-pod once. It was a 4GB Ipod mini which lasted a good 3 years. It probably would've lasted longer if it wasn't always thrown in my bag, tossed, beat, and falling around a lot. I love Creative Players and Cowan as well as hard-drive based mp3 players.

Though I miss the old school mini disc players. They were amazing and mine still works to this day. *___*

[jon_jinn]

ha ha! i just bought a 4GB I-pod about 2 weeks ago. it was about $120 but it came w/ a leather case too. i wouldn't have bought an I-pod but i had this $100 gift card that i needed to spend before it expired.

[NuclearPeon]

ipods are better because they can be used on macs and pc's

I would disagree, based that the 6th Generation IPods cannot be used on linux currently because of their encrypted hash tables, yet another attempt for Steve Jobs to unnecessarily lock another market out.

On topic though, I myself own a 160GB Black Ipod.

Here are some things I hate about it:
- Very poor format support (no .ogg, .flac, etc.)
- You have to use iTunes for 6th Gen iPod and up
- Occasionally glitches up on me requiring restart
- No A/C power adapter included, only usb charging.
- Easily scratched
- Easily stolen
- Pricey

Here are the reasons why I bought it:
- 40 h battery life
- 160 GB (I have used 120 of that)
- 30fps framerate video (previous player had only 15)

$500 (CAD) later...

@Radical Dreamer: iTunes automatically encodes to aac format, I believe, although you can convert it to mp3 manually.

[animewarrior]

I don't go ANYWHERE without my Ipod Nano...Mine was $170 for an 8 GB (CAD) so I'm thinking you got a REALLY good deal... and NuclearPeon you can buy an adapter than makes you able to connect your Ipod to an electrical outlet or if you want, there is a car adapter as well. I love my Ipod so hey I think you should keep it.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I would disagree, based that the 6th Generation IPods cannot be used on linux currently because of their encrypted hash tables, yet another attempt for Steve Jobs to unnecessarily lock another market out.

Locked market maybe, but the Linux Market isn't a major one to begin with.

[KagayakiWashi]

You got an excellent deal, although, I would recommend if you got it from a place that has a battery replacement policy to go ahead and spend the money, because the battery will get to where it cannot charge. I had mine for 2 years I think and had to have the battery replaced. Then, eventually I could renew it....but I'll probably get a bigger one since I can't get EVERYTHING onto it. But I definitely recommend a battery replacement deal if you can still buy it.

[animewarrior]

I can't get EVERYTHING onto it.

Quoted for the truth...I constantly have to switch up what I have on mine because I don't have room for it all... T_T (has an Ipod Nano 3rd gen. 8GB)

[KeybladeWarrior]

Nice deal. Though, I really don't need 80Gigs to hold my music. All I need is a PSP and a computer.