Ipod or not Ipod - that is the question

[Paul Shields]

I need a portable 'mp3' player for a holiday I'm taking next month. I'll be up in the frozen north of the country and thought how great it would be to go for long peaceful walks in the beautiful countryside while listening to wild zappa guitar solos. The new Ipods look quite nice, and I get a bit of a discount due to some corporate affiliation, but I'm slightly wary of Apple and the direction they're going - e.g. how they lock you in to iTunes and ram their store down your throats.

Looking around though, there doesn't seem to be much competition out there (at UK prices). Anyone have any favourite mp3 players that would recommend? I would be looking at minimum 4GB flash, or 30GB HD.

Also - does anyone use AllofMP3.com? It seems a fantastic site for downloading mp3's. As an example, an album I was thinking of buying White Bread, Black Beer by Scritti Politti. I can download this at 192kbps quality for $2.21. The iTunes store has the same album for £7.99 (around $15 ). The iTunes version is also at 128kbps and is protected AAC so can't be played on anything but an ipod. Seems like a no-brainer to use allofmp3 - who are a legitimate site (though there are some arguments around that area), hosted in the Russia, rather than the extortionate (in the UK at least) and locked down service called iTunes.

[cyclohexane]

You can turn the iTunes store off by setting the preferences, if it bugs you, but occasionally they'll actually have quality free stuff for download. On the eMacs where we had no net access last year, I disabled the store to streamline the interface.

Personally, while we have a pair of 40 GB iPods (black/white and first generation Photo), I haven't been able to justify upgrading, even though both are worn dead and one hardly holds a battery charge. Those new aluminium Nanos are tempting, but they're just too darned small.

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by PaulS

I need a portable 'mp3' player for a holiday I'm taking next month. I'll be up in the frozen north of the country and thought how great it would be to go for long peaceful walks in the beautiful countryside while listening to wild zappa guitar solos.* The new Ipods look quite nice, and I get a bit of a discount due to some corporate affiliation, but I'm slightly wary of Apple and the direction they're going - e.g. how they lock you in to iTunes and ram their store down your throats. [...]

Yep, that's understandable. Same here. But there are ways to deal with that, as most iPod owners do: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5350258.stm

Also, if you're handy with Unix: I recently saw news reports that the iTunes DRM could be circumvented/disabled. Soon after (last week) Apple repaired that with the iTunes 7 upgrade/-date. But I understand the grey hats immediately responded with a new hack.
I'll look around for that bit.

Finally, iPods are not only MP3 players. They can also be your portable harddisk, portable photo (and video) storage, and video player. Four gadgets for one price!

The one serious gripe I have with iPods is their limited battery capacity. It drains in 2/3 hours use!

[Paul Shields]

Hey, what about this? Amazon link

Seems like a great deal with other UK stores still selling them at almost twice the price. Probably a bit of a brick, but it can act as a USB host so you can connect your DSLR straight to it to offload storage - no more buying CF cards when I'm off on long trips . I doubt if I'd use the video playback much (though it does sound fun...), and it seems they are very easy to hack and upgrade the HD if I fancy 80GB or more in the future . The new 30GB iPods cost more than this so it seems like a nice deal. I'll have to have a sleep on it...

[Rokcet Scientist]

There you go:

Mere hours after iTunes 7's release, QTFairUse6 has received an update which enables it to continue stripping iTunes songs of their 'FairPlay' DRM. Some features are experimental but at least it's proof that the concept still works.

http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewt...beca501de741ae

[grsphoto]

I have the 60gig ipod photo.

I use it as a hard disk to carry images to the lab, as well as listening to tunes.

I have had 9 hours of continuos play from the unit ( a loooong drive) and the battery indicators was still in the green.

Never used the Itunes store, usually just rip from my own cd collection, other peoples pods, or from file sharing services on the net ( which isn't illegal in Canada)

Glenn

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Hey, what about this? Amazon link
[...] Probably a bit of a brick

Probably.

but it can act as a USB host so you can connect your DSLR straight to it to offload storage - no more buying CF cards when I'm off on long trips .

iPods can do that.
Better: iPods handle RAW. Archos Gmini doesn't!

[...] and it seems they are very easy to hack and upgrade the HD if I fancy 80GB or more in the future .*

Sounds like a good argument. But when that Archos doesn't hack it anymore for you, isn't it much more likely you'll buy the latest and greatest than 'modding' the 'old' gadget...?

The new 30GB iPods cost more than this so it seems like a nice deal. I'll have to have a sleep on it...

iPods are also regular harddisks. That Archos Gmini isn't.

[Paul Shields]

Lots of food for thought, though I didn't realise the ipod can act as a regular HD and handle RAW straight from the DSLR and the gmini can not. Does that mean the ipod can display CR2 or ORF images? I believe that the gmini does act as a regular HD (according to the manual I've just downloaded). The thing I like about it is that there aren't any accessories needed to do what I'd want, whereas the ipod seems lacking in certain areas (e.g. doesn't seem to come with a power adapter, and does it have a mini USB interface to connect directly to the camera?). That 4" screen playing divx files seems quite attractive too - I already have lots of divx movies that I could use...

[Rense]

I use an archos, that serves me well as a mp3 player, besides having a space to download my images.
For music: I get to my fav cd collection, use the cdex program to convert to mp3 and off I am ...
If i want to view raw: I use my epson P2000.

[cyclohexane]

I've never tried to display RAW files on my iPod, but I'd assume it does it if Rocket Scientist says it does.

The iPod does have a power adapter included in the box; there's a square AC adapter that fits to the firewire cable.

For connecting to the camera, the last time I checked, you'll need this little (I forget how much) accessory to allow USB connections from the camera, but it's fairly slow. *There're similar devices made by other manufacturers, including one that reads cards, and some of these (like the Belkin we have) require an extra power source (battery).

[Paul Shields]

I must have missed the power adapter - can't see it on the 'in the box' list which just says:

* iPod
* Earphones
* USB 2.0 cable
* Dock adapter for use with Universal Dock
* Case
* Quick Start guide


It would be cool if the ipod can display RAW, but I'd be very surprised if that was the case. I know it can display jpegs (as can pretty much any portable device of this type). I guess if I shoot 'RAW+JPEG' then that would be useful, but really I'm just thinking of a device to easily offload the RAW files to (as well as listen to my Zappa/Beatles/Elgar/XTC collection ). The LCD on the camera is enough to chimp/check RAW images. I also like how the gmini can take replacement batteries (around $25 on ebay). I don't think it's possible to easily swap out the batteries on the ipod?

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Lots of food for thought, though I didn't realise the ipod can act as a regular HD and handle RAW straight from the DSLR and the gmini can not. Does that mean the ipod can display CR2 or ORF images?

No. It's geared to store RAW+JPG combos and displays the JPGs.

I believe that the gmini does act as a regular HD (according to the manual I've just downloaded).

Can't argue with that.
The Amazon page lists a host of image and sound/video formats it supports, but not 'regular' PC formats, nor RAW. That's what I was going by. Seems funny they omitted that feature when they have it!

The thing I like about it is that there aren't any accessories needed to do what I'd want, whereas the ipod seems lacking in certain areas (e.g. doesn't seem to come with a power adapter, and does it have a mini USB interface to connect directly to the camera?). That 4" screen playing divx files seems quite attractive too - I already have lots of divx movies that I could use...

iPods are charged via the dock (FireWire-to-PC/Mac). Comes with the iPod. For photo upload you indeed need the 'camera connector', about the size of a dice I think, that your cam plugs into.

[Rokcet Scientist]

Paul, you may wanna peruse http://discussions.apple.com/categor...categoryID=146 about iPods.

[cyclohexane]

iPods are charged via the dock (FireWire-to-PC/Mac). Comes with the iPod.

So, are you saying they don't come with the AC adapter anymore?

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by cyclohexane

So, are you saying they don't come with the AC adapter anymore?

According to Paul's "in the box" list, that is indeed the conclusion...

[cyclohexane]

Sounds like cost-cutting then. It seems like such a basic item to include, but I guess something had to go.

[ukwanderer]

I use a Gmini 400 from Archos. Carry my back up file, photos, video, mp3, text files for camera setting, portable USB apps such as pdf veiwer for work computer.

http://www.gmini400.com/ for a user review
www.archos.com official site.

[brian.austin]

My iPod 5G Photo 60Gb has a battery life close to 20 hours. My wife has actually drained her battery after over a month of 4-5 hour/week use so I think that's fairly accurate.

I have 2200+ songs on my iPod, plus backup files (encrypted in case of theft) from my laptop, photos for showing (off), and one or two videos (can't remember what). I still have 40Gb free, too.

MP3's can be imported into iTunes without much trouble. Yes, it's a proprietary interface, etc., but what about Apple ISN'T proprietary? These guys are more locked down than M$ yet they are considered the "good guys" in the computer world for some reason.

I love my iPod and wouldn't consider anything different at this point. I run regularly with it strapped to my arm, work out at the gym, travel across country via my F250 (using a Belkin radio adapter hooked to the 12V adapter) or airplane (commercial I just use the iPod while the iPod plugs into a jack on my headset when I fly myself), and goes back and forth to work with me (mainly for backups since I'm too darn busy for listening to music).

Pricey but good quality from my experience.

[Mr. Pickles]

Maybe this will be worth reading for you considering something else, like a SanDisk Sansa e280...

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/cu...n_technology_3

[Rokcet Scientist]

Paul, if you dislike Apple's DRM scheme, you should certainly stay faaaar away from a Zune. It's hard to believe, but I just heard M$ has a put an even more restrictive DRM system on the Zune: using the WiFi feature, Zune owners can send their music to other Zunes. BUT those other Zune owners can listen just 3 times to that piece, or 3 days, whichever comes first.
Also, your Zune adds that DRM to all the music on it. Including your own ripped CD's (that you bought DRM free!), and music bought online from any of the music sales sites . . .

So Apple's DRM may be bad, but M$'s is much 'badder'!* * * >