What Ipod to buy ?

nicensleazy

To be honest, I don't know the first thing about Ipods etc, however, I now realise I must get one of these devices. I have been looking at the Nano. Would anyone know if thats a good one to go for ? I only want it for music! Thanks folks.

pedylan

We've accumulated three of these things (2 nano and one classic) in my household in the past few years.

The fact that all three still work after more than 2 years use is some sort of record - their reliability used to be chronic. I'd still definitely buy with an extended warranty - best you'll find is an extra year for free or pay for 2 extra.

All models share good playback software, good album/artist/song searching functions and good syncing with your computer of choice. The playlisting works from your computer and "on the go" from the player.

The nano is a good compact player and if you've got only limited total music then their 8 or 16gb capacity is fine. Or you can just sync the music you want and update from your total collection as you need.

I went for the classic because I wanted all my music on my ipod. It's more bulky than the nano but everything else in function terms is much the same. I never watch videos although either model will do this.

As its flash memory the nano should be safer in the gym or on the bike but I use the classic in both activities and haven't had a problem - including a couple of over the bars offs!

Don't know about the touch - seemed too pricey to consider for the job of playing music.

There are other makes (unbelievably!) but they all seem to struggle by not being an ipod. I had an iRiver device for while and that was good. Depends how much research you want to do for the simple job of playing and managing digital music.

Anonymous

Got my sosn an 8gb nano, its really good, easy to use. I changed the earphones on it though, got the earbud type phones as they sit in the ear easier.

skyd0g

There is also the iPod alternatives to consider. I have a Creative Zen that has been going strong for many years. Cheaper than the iPod, better sound quality and you're not tied-in to iTunes. 8)

Aggieboy

NnS, do you want an ipod or a music player? If the latter this is new and fantastic, the 4gb is £20 cheaper. I know you only want it for music but for the price it's superb. I got an older model for music but it's nice to carry pics around as well. 30 hr battery life and drag and drop loading. Highly recommended. The above isn't a joke btw

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/11566118/Sony-Walkman-E-Series-NWZ-E444-8GB-MP3-Player-Black/Product.html?&_$ja=tsid:11518%7Ccc:%7Cprd:11566118%7Ccat:MP3+Players#

Michelle_Sco

skyd0g wrote:

There is also the iPod alternatives to consider. I have a Creative Zen that has been going strong for many years. Cheaper than the iPod, better sound quality and you're not tied-in to iTunes. 8)

Agree with skyd0g, Creative Zen has far better sound quality than any iPod I have listened to. And not being tied to iTunes is a very big and important plus for me.

nicensleazy

Many thanks folls for all your tips and advice....much appreciated!

orbeaorca

Ipods are not tied to iTunes , there is alternative software

Brindy

2 things,

Why wouldnt you want to use Itunes with your ipod?

The would say nano is probs the best choice as the classic is 2 big and the shuffle has no screen so you dont know what you are listening to

iain_j

I've had an 8Gb Sansa Clip for a year, cost £50 from Amazon. Plays a good range of formats but not whatever the iPod plays so I don't use iTunes. Very basic interface, no album covers, but if all you want is something to play music (like I do) it's great.

hopper1

I have a Nano (excellent for the gym and cycling) and a Classic ( excellent for travelling and having more choice).
Day to day, I prefer the Nano, I have a few playlists which I select depending on what I'm doing.
Nothing wrong with the iTunes software, either...

stigofthedump

My wife has a touch (8Gb) which was only a bit more expensive than a nano. It is a joy to use and has lots of free apps availabe which you might find useful. It is amazing how much useful stuff you can find once you have one.

I use my son's shuffle when on the turbo which is ideal.

Personally i don't have an ipod of my own, but my birthday is coming up.

Itunes works great and it is easy to change playlists, so we did not worry about the amount of storage space on the ipod itself, that said you can store an enormous amount even on 8Gb.

fast as fupp

if youre taking it out and about get a nano the classic has a hard disk inside which can be easily damaged but the nano has solid state memory and is much more robust

i wouldnt buy an extended warranty either

tlw1

I missed the whole ipod thing & went straight to an iPhone - much better than the cheap versions I have bought over the years.

morstar

Clearly, some people on here like itunes whilst others don't.

Personally, I'm in the latter camp. It's a very cumbersomes and clumsy piece of software. Generally Ok for basic syncing of one pc to one device but multple pc's and devices and it becomes a nightmare. I know many It literate people have wiped their ipods through syncing mistakes and been pretty peeved about the whole buiness.
Whilst many users may get on happily with it, you could surely never argue it is a great piece of software. Could you?

Captain Fagor

Brindy wrote:

Why wouldnt you want to use Itunes with your ipod?

hopper1 wrote:

Nothing wrong with the iTunes software, either...

I don't like iTunes because of their DRM (digital rights management) applied to their shop. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

As I understand it, everything will work swimmingly until one day you decide you no longer want to listen to music via an apple product. Then the encryption applied to all the music you have bought from iTunes will prevent you playing these songs on another device. Not good. Not good at all.

And as far as hardware is concerned, the headphones on all iPods are absolutely woeful, and I'm no sound quality connoisseur!

acidstrato

Brindy wrote:

2 things,

Why wouldnt you want to use Itunes with your ipod?

The would say nano is probs the best choice as the classic is 2 big and the shuffle has no screen so you dont know what you are listening to

surely you know since you put it on the device?

the only downside to my shuffle is that prior to purchasing one i've had a 20gb classic that i never filled and plenty of phones with gb's of space. so thinking i'd be alright with 2gb. however these days i find myself listening to the same songs over and over every few days because i'm on the bike. so if i got another i'd get something with atleast 4gb but rather 8gb.

but it seems the latest shuffle has a bigger downside in the control ridden headphones so its not compatiable with many aftermarket pairs

Speed_King

I have a shuffle 2gb And it is perfect depending on what type of riding im doing wether its a training run or a lesuirely ride on a sunny day, i alter the order of songs on my I Tunes playlists so i have alternatives all the time, OH and btw you should always know whats on there as your the one who adds the songs in the first place!! Or is tht stating the obvious? Plus you tend to know the order songs are in and what comes next, if you never change it and listen to the same order every time...

redvee

I use iTunes and have no probs with DRM issues as most of my recent 'downloads' weren't from the store. Looked there for some free apps for my Touch but sod paying for them.

Jez mon

In your position I would get the Nano. Other mp3 players are OK, but I truly feel apple are the market leader for a reason. The iPod interface is easy to navigate, and itunes easy to use. Other manufacturers I have used (Sony and Creative) just haven't been quite as good.

BUT get rid of those stupid apple headphones straight away, in fact, whatever mp3 player you get, buy some decent headphones to go with it.

balthazar

Captain Fagor wrote:

I don't like iTunes because of their DRM (digital rights management) applied to their shop. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

As I understand it, everything will work swimmingly until one day you decide you no longer want to listen to music via an apple product. Then the encryption applied to all the music you have bought from iTunes will prevent you playing these songs on another device. Not good. Not good at all.

And as far as hardware is concerned, the headphones on all iPods are absolutely woeful, and I'm no sound quality connoisseur!

That's changed: all music bought from the iTunes store has been DRM free for a year or so. The codec Apple use is AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), a non-Apple standard which is license free and supported by most modern audio players and programs. I still prefer to buy CD's and rip them, however, simply for the hard copy backup.

To the OP: get the iPod Nano. You'll love it, it does everything beautifully – the best refinement of the iPod yet. I've never minded the supplied earphones but obviously you can get whatever ones you prefer.

nicensleazy

Thanks again folks!!

Captain Fagor

balthazar wrote:

That's changed: all music bought from the iTunes store has been DRM free for a year or so. The codec Apple use is AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), a non-Apple standard which is license free and supported by most modern audio players and programs. I still prefer to buy CD's and rip them, however, simply for the hard copy backup.

Thanks for the update, balhazar. I was too busy huffing and puffing and digging my heels in about apple, I didn't realise they had climbed down from applying DRM. :oops: :roll:

balthazar

Captain Fagor wrote:

balthazar wrote:

That's changed: all music bought from the iTunes store has been DRM free for a year or so. The codec Apple use is AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), a non-Apple standard which is license free and supported by most modern audio players and programs. I still prefer to buy CD's and rip them, however, simply for the hard copy backup.

Thanks for the update, balhazar. I was too busy huffing and puffing and digging my heels in about apple, I didn't realise they had climbed down from applying DRM. :oops: :roll:

No problem Captain F. You were right to huff and puff, it was probably the huffing and puffing that got them to change it!

timb64

iain_j wrote:

I've had an 8Gb Sansa Clip for a year, cost £50 from Amazon. Plays a good range of formats but not whatever the iPod plays so I don't use iTunes. Very basic interface, no album covers, but if all you want is something to play music (like I do) it's great.

+1

I've got the more recent model-Clip+ 8Gb expandable by micro sd card under £50, good sound etc

DonDaddyD

Just buy the iPod you can afford that also meets your space requirement. They are all as good as each other.

Accept no other substitute. "It's like a Golf, but it ain't"

alan_sherman

Just use your phone. Most phones these days have an MP3 built in, buy a suitable size memory card and you are done. I've been doing this for the last 5 years so never bothered with a specific MP3 player.

ride_whenever

i thought the issue with the i(device) was not so much the headphones, but that the device itself discards about 40% of the audio-range before it is sent to the crappy headphones.

Although, i'm not an audiophile, and i cannot remember where i heard this from.

timb64

DonDaddyD wrote:

Just buy the iPod you can afford that also meets your space requirement. They are all as good as each other.

Accept no other substitute. "It's like a Golf, but it ain't"

You're an ad man's dream ,mate











Or in the words of a better man-"Don't believe the hype!!"

eh

I've no idea why people buy ipods when the likes of Creative make players that are better and cheaper.

prawny

Go for the one with right capacity. I'd like a nano but I want all of of my music with me when I take an iPod, so I've got a classic.

I've got a 4gb Nokia phone for day to day use but I need my iPod for long journeys and holidays.

Nothing wrong with and of the alternatives either, I used to have a creative zen but only 20GB so i had to trade it in.