Ipods

[samsonite]

bruce

get an ipod. everything apple makes is not jobbie. its generally very good. and if u send it back, it will actually get repaired and given back to you quickly, as ooposed to some of the others. you dont need an ipod photo, unless u want to view the pics on the ipod. if u just want to store them, u can get a normal ipod and the camera connector accessory. although they have stopped making normal ipods, but u might still get one in a shop somewhere. the battery on the new ones is good too.

i have had mine for over a year and have had no probs whatsoever. no messing about, just plug it in and it just works. there is a reason that ipods far outsell the rest put together, and it isnt just that they were "cool" for a while. its cos they are the best.

as for wma files, well they are just a pain in the ass arent they.by default they have all kinds of crap drm issues and also its a micro$oft proprietaary format, which surely means that its storing every keystroke u make so big bill gates can use it to con more money out of you

[rob f]

an i pod photo is probably best for your said thing bruce.
However i saw a Sony HD1 which you can patch to use mp3.
If your music is as a wma then the chances are its copy protected or lower quality (slightly) than MP3. Atrac has a great sound quality BUT its unusual and if you have MP3s converting the sound quality makes it really crap

[mharky]

looks like mhairis iPod is broken again. expert craftsmanship. but to be fair, if you pay only £200 for somthing its gonna be tat.

[graeme]

The battery in my iPod now has about 30mins lifetime, so I've given up on it. I've had the thing six months (got it as a gift from an Italian, orbably already rather old, and no UK warranty).

Also, I couldn't run iTunes on my Win98 machine, or connect to the iPod on Jane's XP which hasn't got a USB2, so uploading CDs is a pain. And if you aren't online it doesn't pick up track information either.

Of course, it might just be that I'm too old to understand all this modern stuff, but if anyone knows how to fix the battery, I'd be interested, cos it was quite nice while it worked.

Graeme

[Jene]

i had the same problem.. n was jus usin at home plugged in with speakers so seemed pointless so i jus rang up the i-pod ppl they asked for the serial number off the back n they can check the warranty n all that from there (mine wasnt a uk warranty i dont think as it was from the US).. n then send u a box n wehay... 5 weeks l8r its still in the netherlands lol

[Peter G]

The thing you have to understand about the ipod is that its a very average mp3 player with a shiny case and a following of brand blinded fans. There are other players out there that produce better sound, have longer battery life and better customer support. If you're prepared to spend an extra £50-100 on a fashionable accessory rather than an mp3 player then go for it. Just don't try to justify your spending my making it out to be something its not.

[rob f]

The thing you have to understand about the ipod is that its a very average mp3 player with a shiny case and a following of brand blinded fans. There are other players out there that produce better sound, have longer battery life and better customer support. If you're prepared to spend an extra £50-100 on a fashionable accessory rather than an mp3 player then go for it. Just don't try to justify your spending my making it out to be something its not.

where can we find these

[Mr. Furness]

i have a sony HD1, its really quite good. it has pro's and cons,

pros- 20GB and tiny. marginally bigger than an ipod mini. looks great. awesome battery life. can use as hard disk storage.

tiny cons- doesn't work at altitude above 2000m. (?) sound isn't the loudest on the market.

the newer sony's are apparantly as good, but they are pretty pricey. i got my HD1 when they had released the HD3 for only 180 quid.

my advice would be to look yourself on internet sites and find one that suits your needs and price. its what i did and i'm pretty happy with what i got.

[PeterG]

where can we find these

Well lets see. If you want sound quality and gapless playback then go for the now out of production and soon to be replaced Rio Karma. If huge storage is your thing then the 60GB Creative Zen Xtra is a good choice. For general features and good quality look at iRiver and if you want a huge ugly brick of an mp3 player then Archos are the company for you.

I've heard good things about the new Sony players as well, especially the HD5. Now that Sony has finally allowed formats other than ATRAC on their players they're looking very attractive. Now if only they'd ditch memory stick as well.

[rob f]

I need a 20gb storage and a long battery life, good sound quality and of course reliabilty!

[mharky]

you can get a solar powered iPod recharger...

wow!

[Ed]

you think that'll be useful in Scotland then?

maybe a midge-powered one would be better.

[Rockaldo]

Just found this mp3 player with photo it may be what your looking for. Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20 20Gb MP3 Player
http://play.com/play247.asp?page=title& ... source=996

[Babybel]

i-pods aren't great,but they are simple to navigate.I've had to send mine back,but that may be partly may fault (no-one told me u can't ru with them. . . )