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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

I've finally come around

When it comes to technology, its pretty safe to say Im behind the times. Not so much so that I have no idea whats going on, but it takes me a while to incoprotate it into my lifestyle. Ive finally decided to buy an iPod.
So suffice it to say I need some advice. I dont want to waste 300some dollars on something thats just gonna be updated a week later. What should I get, is there something better than an iPod yet or is still #1? I had an MD back in the day, but I wasnt a huge fan. I dont wanna waste my (parents) money again.

posted by Manik @ 12:08 AM  

9 Comments:

  • At April 20, 2005 at 9:22 AM, Blogger Ryan said…

    Actually, in terms of quality, the iPod is not the best product on the market. It is probably the second now that Creative's products suck. The best HD based players on the market are coming from the company iRiver (www.iriveramerica.com). In terms of build quality they destroy iPods. Also, sound quality is so much better. This is probably the most shocking thing about the iPod: it really doesn't sound great compared to other products on the market. Apple really needs to put in a more powerful pre-amp with a bigger range. The reasons why the iPod is dominating the market is 1) They have become a status symbol, 2) They are the most stylish players on the market, 3) They are sold EVERYWHERE now, where as iRiver is a pretty damn small company, 4) They don't use the god-awful Windows DRM. That is to say, you can pretty much put any music you want onto an iPod. Players from pretty much everyone else use Windows Media Player 10 Digital Rights Management. This means don't even try to steal music or you won't be able to play it. I wish the iRiver H320 or H340 had an open-DRM like an iPod and were compatible with Mac's and didn't need to use useless WinMedia 10.

    That being said, if you want to use ephPod or iTunes for Windows and go through your music and polish your ID3 tags, then the iPod is probably the right way to go. In terms of new products being introduced, there isn't anything on the near horizon. I expect either the 20 gig to get an upgrade (new battery, maybe a better pre-amp and EQ if Apple is smart) sometime this summer. The next major update im predicting in the beginning of 2006 at MacWorld SanFran. The 4 gig mini will be gone and a 10 gig mini will be introduced. The drives exist, just need the price to drop. Also, I think the iPodAV might be introduced around the same time. It is coming. Apple has just entered into a contract with a chip maker that has developed a low-powered Audio/Visual chip. It isn't powerful enough to use in a computer, so it only makes sense that it is for iPods.

    Anyways, you want the best product but it will give you some hassle and not as much style, get an iRiver. You want less hassle and the status quo, get an iPod.

     

  • At April 20, 2005 at 10:01 AM, Blogger Ryan said…

    It's not that you CAN'T put stolen music on it, it's just that Windows DRM makes you convert some music a lot to get it put on your player. Then you have a check-in/check-out system that is retarded.

    My biggest problem with the iPod right now is that it has become so market dominant that it is now like Windows. Windows sucks because there is no competition for it. Do you think people are going to learn how to use Linix? Nope. Now Apple has realized they can take their sweet ass time with it and people are still going to buy them. They really have become a sub-par product in the market yet still dominate. I really want to see Apple get with the times and include a digital FM tuner, line-in recording, a better pre-amp, and a usable EQ.

     

  • At April 20, 2005 at 10:32 PM, Blogger Manik said…

    thanks guys for the advice. Like i told lauren today, I dont have much music at all really, since i dont put my cd's into my library, and I havent downloaded too many full albums yet. Im anticipating lots more this summer, now that I finally use limewire instead of crappy kazaa. And ya, the hassle of converting files is just that, a hassle...one which I dont want to have. So I think I shall go with a 4gig mini. Now that that is settled, there are so many iTrip type things out there to listen to it in my car...which is the best way to go?

     

  • At April 21, 2005 at 8:47 AM, Blogger Ryan said…

    It's a bit more expensive than the iTrip and can only be bought online, but hands down the AirPlay from Xtreme Mac is the best. My brother just bought one and brought it home with him and the thing is wicked.
    http://www.xtrememac.com/adapters/airplay.shtml

     

  • At April 21, 2005 at 10:57 AM, Blogger ed said…

    You need to get a friend to sit next to you in the car with headphones on connected to the iPod. Then get the friend to sing what he/she hears. The cheapest iTrip out there.

     

  • At April 21, 2005 at 6:59 PM, Blogger Manik said…

    how is the AirPlay for sound quality? I have zero tolerance for static. I heard iTrip is pretty sucky when it comes to sound quality. What do you know about the monster digital fm tranmitter/charger? It got better reviews than hte AirPlay, but is is it worth it?

    Btw, lauren what was the site that you download bittorents from?

     

  • At April 21, 2005 at 7:37 PM, Blogger Ryan said…

    I'm just about to leave for the weakerthans concert but i will help you out. The AirPlay, imho, is the best FM transmitter made specifically for iPod. As long as you can find a station that is reasonably quiet, which is easy in Edmonton, you will get 0 static. It will sound just as good as a radio station tuned in perfectly.

    I just looked at the Monster Cable one and it looks good too. Monster Cable puts out consistently amazing products. I use their A/V capables for my TV, components, and stereo. The monster is nice because it has a charger built in. Both the iTrip and the AirPlay drain from the iPod battery and, thus, reduce your charge a lot and reduce the lifetime of your battery as you will have to charge it more often.

    Also, good torrent sites are tvtorrents.tv and btefnet.com. Those are pretty much just for TV shows though. It's hard to find good torrents for music and movies anymore. Fucking RIAA and MPAA. Off to the show.

     

  • At April 21, 2005 at 8:31 PM, Blogger ed said…

    Monster stuff, is very good, but so very expensive. I was looking at some of their wiring kits for my car, and they looked top notch, but sooo expensive. The charger is super cool though, which would be excellent for a road trip. Which brings me to the question. How long do you plan to drive continuously with it. If you have any long drives planned in your future, I'd say get it. If not, then the charger will just be a pricy (but cool) feature. I'm thinking it'll be better quality (if you can hear it) too, because it goes straight from the dock. I don't know how it works exactly, but it could mean that it is one less digital to analog conversion, which theoretically would mean that it keeps its original signal better. That's just how I think of it.

     

  • At April 22, 2005 at 9:54 AM, Blogger ed said…

    One more thing. If it ONLY gets power from the car plug in, the Monster thing won't work if you want to play your tunes on your stereo at home.

     

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