Alternative to an ipod

[artea]

alternatives? not yet...maybe in the distant future

Personally, I will never buy music from the iTunes music stores. A lot of my music are soundtrack music and most come from Japan. Japanese cds = $$$$ But, I'm not interested in buying music by the truckload anyway. With iTunes, I make use of Lame encoder for mp3s or use the custom mp3 encoder ...someone said it was made by Fraunhofer or some guy in Germany. Don't remember the exact spelling. I encode my music with Lame a preset of extreme or use the custom setting at max 320 kbps. No lock-in for me.

And best of all, I can still enjoy listening to music arranged as a cd collection
and have the originals as backups. God-forbid your collection is lost if your hard drive or ipod hard drive dies. There goes the music collection.

I'm in the same boat with a lot of people who care about quality. Because you probably bought your Mac not because it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. But, because you care about aesthetics and quality. Some of us can't give up on the cd format even though we burn our entire cd collection into the hard drive.

Ipod for now is a nice-to-have until they make a phone/a player/digital
camera device that has 12+ hour battery life (24 hours would be ideal)
and yes, I'm dreaming. Sony and Apple should work together on this
dream device because do make great Sony Ericsson cell phones and
a digital cameras that are 5 megapixels or better. Sony, Apple, or Nokia
can come up with something does this in the next 5 years. No sweat!
a player that can play file formats the user wants -- AAC, OGG, WMP,
MP3, AVI, ATRAC, and whatever major file format that you want.

But of course, the audiophiles would never buy this device because
it doesn't and can't play CD nor vinyl albums. I suppose we may have
to settle with the CD/MP3 player hybrid that's at least half-decent.
What a dilemma! Whatever happened to SACD or DVD-Audio -- the
market refused them because of DRM or some other reason that I
can't remember. Then again, I'll probably wrong and some of you
do have music in that format with your high end audiophile system
and probably demanding more of your collection be released in that
format.

And I noticed that retail prices of CDs are inching upward -- inflation
or is it just me? Well, that's for music in the U.S. Japanese CDs really
hurts my pocketbook. Right now I don't see any alternatives that are a must-have.

 

[J-Low]

Iaudio X5

I think that this is a strong alternative to the iPod, should you want one.

(I don't own either.)

 

[weg]

Reasons to buy an iPod:
1. The 'cool' factor
2. Good 2nd hand value
3. Apple support
4. Obviously works with iTunes
5. Good design and engineering

Reasons not to:
1. ermmmm...........(oh well, maybe the file format restriction, but its not that much of a restriction is it?).

2.) Built in battery that cannot be replaced by user
3.) Only 12 hours on a battery charge
4.) Does not support MP3 encoding
5.) Everyone has an iPod, so it's not SO cool anymore
6.) There are players with higher sound quality.

I have an iPod 20GB clickwheel and an iRiver FP899. The iPod is cool, but i LOVE the iRiver (MP3 encoding, battery lasts twice as long as iPod battery AND can be replaced by user, plays Ogg Vorbis).
Though, it's really nasty to transfer music bought on iTunes to the iRiver

 

[mad jew]

4.) Does not support MP3 encoding

Huh?

 

[AP_piano295]

its not really....

The 50 hours battery life is a gross exageration fiffty hours with lights off playing no music maybe but my friend who has the sony gets about 19 which is better than the ipod.

 

[AlBDamned]

Owing to the strength of the iPod brand it would have to be not just a direct competitor, but a vastly superior product. Right now there just isn't that around.

The true alternative to using something other than an iPod is Hell and Eternal Damnation and, worst than that, social humiliation.

OK so why isn't there a superior product (regardless of brand). Sony can do 20GB in a much smaller. lighter package than the iPod - in fact, it's more on par with the mini. All they need to do is make it Mac compatible, work perfectly with iTunes and bang - a superior product the the regular (non-photo) range and for substantially less rrp. Mind you, in terms of photo pods versus Sony that 40GB Vaio thing is horrible. Sony have kind of stuffed up there IMO and it's way off Apple's range.

 

[J-Low]

OK so why isn't there a superior product (regardless of brand). Sony can do 20GB in a much smaller. lighter package than the iPod - in fact, it's more on par with the mini. All they need to do is make it Mac compatible, work perfectly with iTunes and bang - a superior product the the regular (non-photo) range and for substantially less rrp. Mind you, in terms of photo pods versus Sony that 40GB Vaio thing is horrible. Sony have kind of stuffed up there IMO and it's way off Apple's range.

ahem...

Appears to do much more than any iPod available, without the need for expensive add-ons, acoustic tech specs beat iPod's, comparable size, mac compatible.

Only thing is that it won't synch with iTunes; but apple won't allow any other player but iPod to do that. (correct me if I'm wrong) and if you don't need the photo video capability, then go for the sister product (the M3).

 

[AlBDamned]

ahem...

Appears to do much more than any iPod available, without the need for expensive add-ons, acoustic tech specs beat iPod's, comparable size, mac compatible.

Only thing is that it won't synch with iTunes; but apple won't allow any other player but iPod to do that. (correct me if I'm wrong) and if you don't need the photo video capability, then go for the sister product (the M3).

Any idea on price? If only $$ available, how much is the 30 GB photo in the US and how does it compare? Looks awesome though.

 

[AlBDamned]

P.S. I'd hope the X5 earphones would be better (the weakest link in the iPo package by a long long way).

 

[Sharewaredemon]

mmm itunes rules, ipod ui rules, battery can suck or not depending on the planets but basically it's ipod all the way.

I know I'm going to go with an ipod. Next issue will be whether to go mini or standard but why do I have this nagging feeling of being forced into a corner (though I'm sure it's a great corner) which was one of the reasons I moved to mac from wintel. I suppose in this instance at least the product is a good one

Good decision, you won't regret it!

 

[J-Low]

Here's a UK price comparison on the different models since you're in London.Try newegg for US pricing.

They come with Cresyn phones I believe.

 

[mad jew]

Here's a UK price comparison on the different models since you're in London.Try newegg for US pricing.

Picture didn't work.

 

[AlBDamned]

Prices are indentical to apple stuff across the range, at least in the US. I would assume this translates to the UK but checking now.

 

[AlBDamned]

£249 in the UK for the 20GB model. This is directly in line with the 30GB photo so UK-wise you're sacrificing 10GB at that price. Nothing to stop buying one in/from the States though!

I would agree with J-low, this is a strong competitor to the iPod, and has it beat in many places.

Downsides could be lower battery life (on paper) and, of course, it's not an Apple. Fewer people have one so problems may be harder to deal with, but it does look like a quality bit of kit.

Portable video in something that size has to be a future consideration for a sometime next G iPod.

 

[Applespider]

why do I have this nagging feeling of being forced into a corner (though I'm sure it's a great corner) which was one of the reasons I moved to mac from wintel. I suppose in this instance at least the product is a good one

It's a very crowded corner these days! But still very comfortable compared to the rest of the room!

Incidentally, I'd hang off buying an iPod at the moment. iTunes 5 is due out in the next few weeks and it's probably worth waiting in case the 5G iPod is announced at the same time (even if it's just so you can buy a 4G one cheaper)

 

[weg]

Huh?

It does of course support MP3s.. but MP3 players like the iRiver FPxxx support direct encoding of MP3, it can encode from line in or directly from the built in radio...

Oh.. I forgot! The iPod has no built in radio!

 

[BiggeeC]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeah, that iaudio x5 thingamabob looks pretty sweet. However, I've had a ipod since the 1st gen. I gave that one to my sister and bought a 3rd gen. As for the person who posted that ipods are no longer cool? How very right you are. Everybody has them now.

I think the problem here is the same issue with Apple in general. Sure, there are other products out there that perform better in various aspects, are cheaper, and may look cooler (not much, but the iaudio x5 looks darn cool), but would you rather have them or an Apple product? Unless they have a better protection plan than Apple, better support, and better applications, I'm sticking with Apple my ipod. I'd rather have an original than a knock-off, even if the knock-off has a better battery life.

--Chris

 

[geese]

It does of course support MP3s.. but MP3 players like the iRiver FPxxx support direct encoding of MP3, it can encode from line in or directly from the built in radio...

Why would anyone want direct mp3 encoding??? It wont name the tracks for you then. You'll end up with loads of mp3's called 'Track 01, Track 02 by Artist 01, Artist 02' and so on. Pointless feature, do it on your PC/Mac and it'll tag your mp3's then.

A DAB radio version would be triffic though.