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| Grave 874th Post
 
Red Carpet Regular Member++
    
    
    
|  "Re(4):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 13:01
quote:
Just get a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. When you buy Ipod, you are just paying an extra 100-150 for the name only.
Or, y'know, don't. For one, Creative has the worst tech support of any company I've ever dealt with. No one else has ever yelled at ME because I inquired about drivers that were promised months ago. If that wasn't bad enough, a friend of mine got one of these for Christmas and I was kind of dismayed by everything about it. Cluttered interface, poor button arrangement. Nothing about it was intuitive in the least. Pay the extra money only if you care about getting the best user experience possible. If you don't want to buy an iPod, that's dandy. At least look to iRiver, Archos, anyone but Creative.
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| Undead Fred 1983th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
   
    
| "Re(5):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 13:10
quote:
Just get a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. When you buy Ipod, you are just paying an extra 100-150 for the name only.
Or, y'know, don't. For one, Creative has the worst tech support of any company I've ever dealt with. No one else has ever yelled at ME because I inquired about drivers that were promised months ago. If that wasn't bad enough, a friend of mine got one of these for Christmas and I was kind of dismayed by everything about it. Cluttered interface, poor button arrangement. Nothing about it was intuitive in the least. Pay the extra money only if you care about getting the best user experience possible. If you don't want to buy an iPod, that's dandy. At least look to iRiver, Archos, anyone but Creative.
The reason why I wouldn't really be interested in getting iPods of any sort is the whole non-replaceable battery thing... The battery lasts for what is it, 180 hours? Then you have to get a whole new one, more or less? Bleh.
But yeah, this is just standard Apple stuff to me... "We'll paint it purple and re-sell it as a new item and Mac fans will love it!" It just seems weird that their selling points for this thing are that you can't tell what the hell it's going to play next and that it's a "tuneful fashion statement." It's cute and all, but just doesn't seem practical at all to anyone but people who like Macs.
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| Grave 875th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(6):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 13:30
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The reason why I wouldn't really be interested in getting iPods of any sort is the whole non-replaceable battery thing... The battery lasts for what is it, 180 hours? Then you have to get a whole new one, more or less? Bleh.
But yeah, this is just standard Apple stuff to me... "We'll paint it purple and re-sell it as a new item and Mac fans will love it!" It just seems weird that their selling points for this thing are that you can't tell what the hell it's going to play next and that it's a "tuneful fashion statement." It's cute and all, but just doesn't seem practical at all to anyone but people who like Macs.
Seems like a short estimate. I've had my 20GB for 2 years now and the battery's still fine, and it's had a hell of a lot of use. Go figure. I expect it to crap out sooner or later, but that's the nature of rechargable batteries. It is user-replacable, but not easily... and that's the problem. They really should fix that.
I am kind of amused that the iPod shuffle's selling point is... well, the shuffle. Though you can set it to play straight through the playlist on the unit itself. To me, a screenless flash mp3 player and USB flash drive combo is worth $100. I'd only keep the songs I'd want to listen to while running on it, because running is the only time my HD iPod has ever given me trouble, and having a USB drive in the same package (all smaller than a pack of gum and lighter than 4 quarters) seems pretty nice. I kind of wondered who iPod mini was aiming at (until it sold reeeeally well), but I can see what some people would want from this. Plus it's already been proven that tiny, pretty things sell no matter what they do.
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| OmegaDog 1408th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(5):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 13:46
Mac mini's nice, just on the basis that it's cute and transportable. I like my comps like that. On the iPod shuffle, though, I really would prefer a screen to go with that.
quote:
talk on alternative music options
Or, if you're light on MP3s and don't mind not having the option of having a portable 40 GB HD, you can also just use the money toward a PDA with wireless capabilities. You can listen to net radio stations anywhere there's good wireless access and walk around with it -- and if you really want to listen to a few MP3s, you can use a CompactFlash or SD card for that purpose. (It'll probably be a while until CF or SD cards affordably reach the size of current portable HDs -- but at least on size, we've got at least 4GB CF Cards out right now.)
That, and, depending on the processor and available space, it can be a nice little gaming system. I'm setting up my PDA to play the talkie versions of Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle with ScummVM.
CCT: NEXT STAGE IS 20
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| Undead Fred 1984th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(7):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 16:45
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Seems like a short estimate. I've had my 20GB for 2 years now and the battery's still fine, and it's had a hell of a lot of use. Go figure. I expect it to crap out sooner or later, but that's the nature of rechargable batteries. It is user-replacable, but not easily... and that's the problem. They really should fix that.
Yeah, I'm sure the battery time varies from person to person, but that's the number I've heard. I remember seeing some video of these guys going around and spraypainting "The iPod's non-replaceable battery only lasts 180 hours" or something like that on all of those obnoxious iPod ads in whichever large city they lived in. There was audio with an Apple customer support call at the beginning where the guy basically told him it couldn't be replaced, and it's "cheaper to just buy a new iPod." I've heard the battery is technically replaceable, but it involves taking the whole thing apart, which a majority of the users probably won't be able to do.
Anyway, I'm sure people will buy the iPod McShuffle or whatever, but it just comes across like Nintendo re-selling ancient 8 bit games for $20 apiece on the GBA.
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| Grave 877th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(8):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 16:51
quote:
problem. They really should fix that.
Yeah, I'm sure the battery time varies from person to person, but that's the number I've heard. I remember seeing some video of these guys going around and spraypainting "The iPod's non-replaceable battery only lasts 180 hours" or something like that on all of those obnoxious iPod ads in whichever large city they lived in. There was audio with an Apple customer support call at the beginning where the guy basically told him it couldn't be replaced, and it's "cheaper to just buy a new iPod." I've heard the battery is technically replaceable, but it involves taking the whole thing apart, which a majority of the users probably won't be able to do.
When you cite that video as a source, I just kind of get irritated. The guys did that for publicity and not much else, yeah, Apple's policy for new batteries wasn't so good then, but the user-replacing really isn't that hard, it's just a matter of poking around online for the battery and opening your iPod. It's not like soldering a mod switch into a GameCube or Saturn or something.
I think iPod shuffle will reach a different market, but there'll also be a lot of repeat buyers. Just like people who bought an iPod mini while they already own a full-size iPod. I didn't need to buy a GBA SP when I owned a normal GBA... well, I did, if I wanted to keep my eyesight. I like the design and I'm going to look at other flash players to see if there's another USB drive/mp3 player combo that's cheaper and still suitable for what I want, and if not, then I'll be grabbing the $99 model and taking it running. I don't think it's a bad deal considering.
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| Undead Fred 1985th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(9):Mac mini" , posted Wed 12 Jan 17:31
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When you cite that video as a source, I just kind of get irritated. The guys did that for publicity and not much else, yeah, Apple's policy for new batteries wasn't so good then, but the user-replacing really isn't that hard, it's just a matter of poking around online for the battery and opening your iPod. It's not like soldering a mod switch into a GameCube or Saturn or something.
Well, yeah... I meant that more like "this is what I've heard about it" and all that. I don't actually own an iPod, but I would still probably go with something that plays MP3's and not AIFF's anyway (again, this is something I've heard about it, but not totally sure if it's right).
quote:
I think iPod shuffle will reach a different market, but there'll also be a lot of repeat buyers. Just like people who bought an iPod mini while they already own a full-size iPod. I didn't need to buy a GBA SP when I owned a normal GBA... well, I did, if I wanted to keep my eyesight. I like the design and I'm going to look at other flash players to see if there's another USB drive/mp3 player combo that's cheaper and still suitable for what I want, and if not, then I'll be grabbing the $99 model and taking it running. I don't think it's a bad deal considering.
$99 isn't totally bad for regular MP3 player as far as I know, but I guess I just thought the lack of a screen was a little bit... eh, I don't know. I figured they would sort of owe their customers a screen, especially since "shuffle" is one of the oldest features on digital music and CD's. I guess I'm just saying that it sounds about like a car company bragging that their new car comes with air conditioning. And the car's windows don't roll down.
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| click 529th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(2):Re(10):Mac mini" , posted Thu 13 Jan 01:44:
quote:
iPods play MP3s just right. What they also play are AAC (MP4), not AIFF.
They can handle AIFF too, as well as WAV.
The shuffle feature isn't the selling point for the iPod Shuffle, really. It's the small size and low cost... it's the budget iPod for those who don't want to lay down multiple hundreds of dollars for an MP3 player. I think that's obvious. A screen would only jack up the price, completely defeating the purpose of this model. I think it's smart, and will get their name out there even more than it has been in the past year. They are just covering all possible bases.
[I think it would be useful for even those who already own an iPod.. there are plenty of times when you don't want to risk damaging your player by bringing it somewhere in particular, but this thing is so small that there is almost nothing to worry about.]
The Mac Mini is smart, too. Like B_H said... It's not going to blow anyone away with the specs, but for those looking to get away from their problem-laden Windows machines, this thing closes the deal. It's hardly an investment at $500, and has enough features for normal computer users. [Get a 1GB stick of some Crucial RAM, though.]
[this message was edited by click on Thu 13 Jan 01:46] |
| Kaepora 405th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(5):Re(10):iPod Shuffle" , posted Thu 13 Jan 10:44
From the time I leave my house in the morning to when I get back in the evening, I spend about an hour driving in the car five days a week. I don't listen to the radio (nothing that suits my interests). My car has a CD player, but it's old and doesn't play CD-RW or MP3 discs. Even if I put in an 80 minute CD, it gets old after a week, especially since I hear the majority of it each day.
I could burn a new CD every week or whatever, but that seems like a waste really, mainly because I'd need to use a new CD-R each time. It seems that the iPod Shuffle would suit my specific needs perfectly.
The $99 model holds about 3 hours (low-ball figure) of music at a time, which works fine because I would only use it in the car mainly (with a cassette adapter). That gives me my hour of drive time plus enough extra music that I can skip songs I don't want to hear and still not loop. I don't need a screen because I'll be driving when its in use most of the time. The device would change its contents around when I sync it each evening, giving me new stuff for the drive the next day. It's small enough that I can keep it in my pocket when I'm at work (because there's no way in hell I'm leaving it in the car). And it's cheap enough to make it a reasonable option to buying a new car stereo.
As much as I agree with the sentiments about overpriced saturation and such, I can't deny that this particular one is tempting.
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"Re(8):Re(10):iPod Shuffle" , posted Fri 14 Jan 13:44