Reasons not to buy an ipod

MiCr0

as a follow on to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=316631

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Why shouldn't i buy an ipod?

Oriel

No FM radio.
No microphone/dictaphone.
No line-in recording.
You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod.
You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod.

niall mc

iTunes

jum4

sinecurea wrote:

You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod.

Wrong! Whole variety of programs out there to substitute itunes.

sinecurea wrote:

You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod.

Wrong! You can access your iPod just like an external hard drive and copy/cut files directly from your device.

Question is what's wrong with using apple software?

rubadub

Simple ignorance that other players even exist. Many people see my mp3 player and are looking at it oddly, saying "is that an ipod". The expensive marketing resulted in an overpriced product (which should be dirt cheap due to economies of scale) which has costed them (& owners) a fortune. The amount they blew on advertising is evident in the fact that many people thing that ipod is the actual term for a mp3 player. Like a hoover

rubadub

jum4 wrote:

You can access your iPod just like an external hard drive and copy/cut files directly from your device.

Is this true? you simply connect via USB and it appear like a removeable drive that you can drag and drop music files onto, and then listen to them (just like a USB pendrive or iriver). If so then why are all my mates always moaning about not being able to swop songs?

Other reasons.
Pathetic battery life
Insistance on using lithium ion rather than polymer so it will pack in after a few years. (price of a polymer would be a few cent more to apple)
Overpriced, due to the massive cost of marketing. If there was little marketing and they worked at the same profit margin of others it would be dirt cheap. They shift millions of units so there R&D and initial process setup costs were recouped very early.

No gapless
No wma, ogg etc
Crap earphones (many suffer this, I would prefer the option of no earphones)
Relatively poor sound quality

cgarvey

Nope, it's not true. iPod stores the music in a proprietory format, so you can't drag'n'drop music files to be played by the iPod. You can use it as a drive, and store music on that drive, but the iPod won't be able to play them.

Oriel

Also, the white colour gets dirty easily.
jum4, you're wrong on all counts above.

jum4

How am I wrong! you can drag mp3s off your ipod directly, and you can use other sofware to put mp3s on your ipod!

Karoma

"No line-in recording" -> Unless you wanna change the OS on the pod (And this is only an option with some of the iPODs) :rolleyes:
"You need Apple software to copy music to the iPod" - you can get third party apps...but i've yet to find one as "good" (!) as iTunes.
"You need 3rd party software to copy music from the iPod" - you can use file browsers but it's a balls... (Akward,DRM,etc)
I find the constant need to reset my iPod mini annoying (It just refuses to switch on sometimes)
The battery life is not as marketed (Not suprising..but as pointed out that the cost of the massive amounts of marketing has been passed on to the consumer..)

rubadub

jum4 wrote:

you can drag mp3s off your ipod directly, and you can use other sofware to put mp3s on your ipod!

WOW that is fantastic, why dont all the others force you to do this, thats a really good feature, wish I had to do all that....

Does it connect to any PC like a USB pen drive, or do you have to load on software to have it work?

sobberandclean

just dont think there all that good.
il wait till i see somthing that got video on it
psp looks good but the memory sticks are firce pricy.
and just 2gig max i think.

Edwardius

Reasons for not buying one:

iaudio x5, iriver h120/320, iaudio a2 (coming soon), most of the creative zen series...
These have: better features, cheaper (in most cases), (apparently) better sound quality (haven't tested this rigourously so I can't comment. This is based on the observations of others), the fact that your ****ing MUSIC PLAYER isn't referred to as a Gucci bloody handbag. Jeez

the only reasons I can think of buying one:
You like the look of the thing
You are a Slave to advertising
You Feel left out
The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive (this is part of getting to know the damn device and takes all of ten minutes to master)

rubadub

Dead Ed wrote:

The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive

This is partly due to the lack of features on the ipod. The irivers buttons have many different functions assigned to them. I would prefer to be able to "dumb down" my iriver by turning off functions I do not want.

monkeyfudge

Dead Ed wrote:

I can think of buying one:
You like the look of the thing
You are a Slave to advertising
You Feel left out
The user interfaces on the other devices are less intuitive (this is part of getting to know the damn device and takes all of ten minutes to master)

And the person might be a mac user?

I use a mac and I wouldn't dream of using any other kind of MP3 player with it... it just wouldn't be as well supported.

skywalker_208

reasons not to buy one...

you can buy a Zen or an Iriver instead...
every IPod ive ever seen is scratched on the front...
crap battery life
cant replace battery without sending to the US

honru

Biggest gripe with the iPod is that the battery life could be better.

If you're a new iPod buyer then another gripe is that it no longer comes with a dock and charger (although previous iPod owners should have these already).

Also, to play video the file must be formated to play on the machine.

However, I find many of the touted features that have been excluded are very easy to overlook. You'll know yerself.

Gapless is now in the 5G iPod and the sound quality has reportedly been improved. The price is also more or less in league with its competitors.

Honestly, people seem to have massive grudges against Apple's iPod for the tinniest or most insignificant details.

Slave to advertising? Gucci handbag? C'mon...

Edwardius

Honestly, people seem to have massive grudges against Apple's iPod for the tinniest or most insignificant details.

Slave to advertising? Gucci handbag? C'mon...

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics?? It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions. Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

Random

You can get one that's far superior with a radio for less .....

Scubadevils

The X5 and many others walk all over the iPod, all you need do to be honest is even listen to the sound quality of the X5 and then the iPod, you will be sold straight away - I have both (due to the nature of my work) and I couldnt believe the difference in sound quality, and this was using the supplied headphones with both. I do think the iPod is a good player, purely though as a simple to use and fashionable player, but if you want something that performs and has endless features, the X5 is the one...or iRiver I'm sure, just never used one to any great extent.

melekalikimaka

Dead Ed wrote:

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics?? It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions. Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

mmy girlfriend got one just cos it looks cool, she doesnt even really listen to much music!!! you notice also that more girls than guys have em, i think that proves a point

honru

Dead Ed wrote:

So nobody buys an ipod because of advertising/aesthetics??

I don't think I implied that at all.

I just think the majority of your reasons against it are pathetic.

Dead Ed wrote:

It has been referred to as some form of gucci product in the press on numerous occasions.

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

Dead Ed wrote:

Read the post, it was a reason FOR buying the thing (if one is fashionably inclined.)

...

Reasons for not buying one:

the fact that your ****ing MUSIC PLAYER isn't referred to as a Gucci bloody handbag. Jeez

Felixdhc wrote:

The X5 and many others walk all over the iPod, all you need do to be honest is even listen to the sound quality of the X5 and then the iPod, you will be sold straight away

I would be interested in checking out the sound quality, although there hasn't been much raving about differences in reviews. I just find the X5 useless since it doesn't read ID3 tags.

monkeyfudge

Why does everyone seem to think having a FM reciever built into an MP3 player is such a big deal?

One of the reasons I have an MP3 player is so I don't have to listen to the crappy radio.

whiskeyman

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

Quite simple really.
The iPod has gained a reputation of being a fashion accessory - similar to a top brand handbag.
Just look at the reviews and you'll see designers harping on about the sleek design of player and headphones. And just look at the range of colours.
There's also the uniqueness of having white cord / ear plugs. It is synonymous with the iPod.
People go around wearing the headphone outside their jackets / tops and try to have the iPod itself in full view to others.
It's a statement "hey, look at me! I'm cool because I got me an iPod".

MiCr0

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

some people wear football jerseys because they play football - others because they're "cool"

whiskeyman

MiCr0 wrote:

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

Sure it does.
If these "some" people are part of a peer group, the flock will follow.

monkeyfudge

MiCr0 wrote:

the reason that *some* people buy an ipod doesn't change the reason why someone else would buy one

some people wear football jerseys because they play football - others because they're "cool"

Actually that's a good point. I use an iPod because I have a Mac and I've always used iPods... I got one the first day it came out and I just upgraded to a nano there recently. It's always served me well... so I've never seen any point in changing to anything else.

It's popularity in recent years has amazed me... and as a Mac user that isn't something I'm used to.

I was at a student party recently.. all art students and the like.. and they all had the latest iPods... I still had my old 1G iPod at the time... they were all amazed by it and thought it looked 'retro'... the fact that an iPod can already be considered retro is a bit strange.

rubadub

monkeyfudge wrote:

Why does everyone seem to think having a FM reciever built into an MP3 player is such a big deal?

One of the reasons I have an MP3 player is so I don't have to listen to the crappy radio.

In the 80's they were able to squeeze a radio onto a wrist watch and it was so cheap they gave them away in texaco with a few petrol tokens, at this time mobile phones were the size of a small car. 20 years on they could probably fit the radio techonology on a match head.
I use the radio when my battery is low since the HD is inactive, with the ipods pathetic battery I am sure many would like the option.
I use it to listen to the news, I know others who listen to the few decent radio programs out there, tom dunne or whatever.

It would cost them pence to put it on (just like a polymer battery). It would make there UI more complicated though, it is easy in the first place due to the lack of features most others have.

The post above says it all about art students, I know a few post art students with them. One is graphic designer, he was looking for a monitor a few years back, I told him of an amazing deal my friend could get him, thing was about 25% of the retail price. I was quoting all the specs, 19", 100hz etc. he replies "is it black?", ehh I dunno "only want it if it is black". like women with their "its a blue car", so the ipods are attractive to the arty students and women, who do not give a damn about functionality, extra features, battery life- as long as it looks good. I have no problem with that as long as they are aware of better things out there.

I have said before I couldnt give a damn if my MP3 player had a picture of eamon dunphy in the raw on it, I use it to listen to music....

monkeyfudge

rubadub wrote:

In the 80's they were able to squeeze a radio onto a wrist watch and it was so cheap they gave them away in texaco with a few petrol tokens,

I think that's your answer right there. Sticking FM radios into things looks cheap and tacky because of years of free giveaways and sticking them into pens and such.

Edwardius

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

I was comparing the ipod to a generic fashion accessory, a comparison (I believe I stated previously) made on numerous occasions by numerous sections of the press.

I don't think I implied that at all.

I just think the majority of your reasons against it are pathetic.

Personally I think stating the names of numerous players that are both superior in features, sound quality and, in some cases, price, is quite a good reason thank you very much.

...

I think the key point was made in a subsequent post, which you were kind enough to bring up following your little dots. This can be seen as a good thing or bad depending on which way you lean in terms of the aesthetics of the thing. Personally, I care more about sound quality, features, and battery life.

I'd also like to state that these are MY reasons for not buying one and couldn't give a flying axe what any non-me people spend their cash on.

rubadub

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think that's your answer right there. Sticking FM radios into things looks cheap and tacky because of years of free giveaways and sticking them into pens and such.

radio on a coffee machine, yes. Radio on a device for listening to music, yeah thats just a crazy idea, who in their right mind would want that....

The General

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

How the hell can a handbag be a suitable analogy for a music player? Wha, where are the handles? Can I put my purse in there!?

He means the ipod is like a fashion excessory to most people who buy them

The General

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think that's your answer right there. Sticking FM radios into things looks cheap and tacky because of years of free giveaways and sticking them into pens and such.

Well thats just stupid, go back to sleep

monkeyfudge

The General wrote:

Well thats just stupid, go back to sleep

What can I say... I just don't see the point in putting a cheap and outdated peice of technology into a modern peice of equipment. I'd have absolutely no need for a radio in a portable music player.

I use podcasting to download some interesting radio conent and listen to it when I want, and I'd much rather read a newspaper or use the web than get my news off a radio station.

And I work with a radio station...

TheStrandRoads

The iRiver is more functional for me as it has a remote control, so I don't need to take the player out everytime I want to change a song.

That would simply annoy me.

I purchased the iRiver H120 over the iPod because;

* It was cheaper
* It was a multi-codec player (including wma's)
* It had a Remote Control
* I didn't need any software whatsoever to make it work (drag n' drop)

But I suppose the majority of us feel the iPods are slicker looking. It's just unfortunate that looks can sway people's decisions over functionality. It guess it goes to show how well marketed they are.

John

honru

whiskeyman wrote:

Quite simple really.
The iPod has gained a reputation of being a fashion accessory - similar to a top brand handbag.
Just look at the reviews and you'll see designers harping on about the sleek design of player and headphones. And just look at the range of colours.

Most MP3 players are pretty sleek in their own right, look at what Creative have been pushing out recently. Surely they're following Apple's lead and releasing "fashion accessories"?

The whole stigma that the general public laud it for its looks rather than the actual player is something that I can wholeheartedly acknoledge, yet that doesn't automatically make it a bad machine. And it's a stupid reason to immeadiatly disqualify it.

whiskeyman wrote:

There's also the uniqueness of having white cord / ear plugs. It is synonymous with the iPod.
People go around wearing the headphone outside their jackets / tops and try to have the iPod itself in full view to others.
It's a statement "hey, look at me! I'm cool because I got me an iPod".

Who says everyone has to enter the iPod club?

Throw those earphones away, get a pair of decent ones.

Dead Ed wrote:

I was comparing the ipod to a generic fashion accessory, a comparison (I believe I stated previously) made on numerous occasions by numerous sections of the press.

Slave to the press.

Dead Ed wrote:

Personally I think stating the names of numerous players that are both superior in features, sound quality and, in some cases, price, is quite a good reason thank you very much.

I have no problem with you suggesting alternatives. Hey, we're all trying to help people out here. Yet negating the player for its looks and stigma is just irrevelent. I'm sure there's plenty of people reading this who own or are interested in getting an iPod that don't give a shít what other people think of them.

conzy

A friend of mine recently bought an ipod shuffle and i have to say it is ****e its a piece of white pvc with tiny controls on the front and a "button" (well its more of a handle) on the back to change between shuffle and standard modes, the battery lasts around 4 hours and you have to charge it with a pc this is crazy, what if you want to enjoy some music while on holiday you will have to find a pc every couple of hours to charge your player Plus it has no screen and if your on song number 1 its a long way to song number 250. It cost her €130.

I on the other hand bought a creative muvo n200 for €100 and i have
Wma, mp3, wav format support
Fm radio ( with fm radio recording to mp3 )
In-line recording
Drag and Drop
Built in Mic for use a dictiphone
Backlit screen
Graphic Eq
Protective Case
Armband
Warranty
And one AAA battery last around 15 hours ( and its alot easier caryy a few of these than a pc:D )

rubadub

conzymaher wrote:

Backlit screen

What can I say... I just don't see the point in putting a cheap and outdated peice of technology into a modern peice of equipment. Sure Thomas Edison invented that crap years back, you can pick them up for 30c in tescos. I'd have absolutely no need for a light in a portable music player. :rolleyes:

Edwardius

Slave to the press.

Nope, I quoted them. I believe the two aren't inextricably linked and any attempt to do so is idiotic. I don't really feel we're adding anything to the conversation at present. This is a discussion, and instead of discussing the topic at hand it's resorted to doing a fine tooth comb windup job.

have no problem with you suggesting alternatives. Hey, we're all trying to help people out here. Yet negating the player for its looks and stigma is just irrevelent. I'm sure there's plenty of people reading this who own or are interested in getting an iPod that don't give a shít what other people think of them.

I negated it for more reasons than that. would you please read the posts and stop wasting space? I STATED that it has become a fashion accessory and in my eyes that's not a reason to buy something (as opposed to a reason for not buying something. I thought I cleared it up earlier, obviously not enough for some). The other key reasons I mentioned were from an objective point of view based on numerous sources which poses the question; Are you wearing blinkers? Or are you just too lazy to bother reading anything other than that connected to your standard response?

fade

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

The whole stigma that the general public laud it for its looks rather than the actual player is something that I can wholeheartedly acknoledge, yet that doesn't automatically make it a bad machine. And it's a stupid reason to immeadiatly disqualify it.

no one was disqualifying it for looking good! but i think its perfectly safe to dismiss it when the looks are about the best thing going for it!just becasue it looks good doesnt automatically make it a good machine either, does it?

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

Slave to the press.

wtf does that mean? cmon, are you really trying to deny the fact that ipods are more famous for being a fashion accesory than because of their specifications. most people i know who actually know what they are talking about, who bought an ipod, has said that they wished they had waited for th iriver or another superior machine.

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

I have no problem with you suggesting alternatives. Hey, we're all trying to help people out here. Yet negating the player for its looks and stigma is just irrevelent. I'm sure there's plenty of people reading this who own or are interested in getting an iPod that don't give a shít what other people think of them.

he is not negating them because of its looks or its stigma, he is negating them becasue they are, techincally, not as superior as other mp3 players.

Cake Fiend

Hunter S

I bought my ipod because generaly its lighter than its nearest competitors, and it has a grand battery life for me walking to and from college everyday up to three days without charging, its sound quality is just fine, i dont need studio perfection recording, the sound on Ipods sounds just fine to me and i assume most other people, if they thought the sound was bad they wouldnt buy them.

I understand that you think that people buy them cause its cool but you guys get caught up in specifications as well. Most people just want something to play music on and thats it, they dont need to have the most up to date modern sound specifiactions, they generaly wouldnt be able to tell the dfference.

And i love the anti female comments, very mature!!!

Bard

I bought my IAudio X5L because it's better than your MP3 player.

The end.

monkeyfudge

rubadub wrote:

What can I say... I just don't see the point in putting a cheap and outdated peice of technology into a modern peice of equipment. Sure Thomas Edison invented that crap years back, you can pick them up for 30c in tescos. I'd have absolutely no need for a light in a portable music player. :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure my iPod hasn't got lightbulb inside it.

It uses LEDs...

LEDs are a better way of producing Light for a digital display than light bulb.

FM radio is an inferior way of producing sound for an digital audio player.

Creamy Goodness

monkeyfudge wrote:

I'm pretty sure my iPod hasn't got lightbulb inside it.

It uses LEDs...

LEDs are a better way of producing Light for a digital display than light bulb.

FM radio is an inferior way of producing sound for an digital audio player.

it might use a light bulb to light the screen, maybe that's why the battery life is dire.

Sam Vimes

rubadub wrote:

What can I say... I just don't see the point in putting a cheap and outdated peice of technology into a modern peice of equipment. Sure Thomas Edison invented that crap years back, you can pick them up for 30c in tescos. I'd have absolutely no need for a light in a portable music player. :rolleyes:

you realise he's talking about the backlight on the display that allows you to see the screen in the dark right? ever try to look at the display on your phone without the backlight in a room with no lights on?

i want your eyes if you can see that

philologos

so you are saying that I shouldnt buy an iPod video then?

dudara

I think that you should buy whatever you like.

I really am surprised by the anti-iPod brigade. I own a 20Gb iPod, which I bought when working for apple, so I got 30% off. I love it. It's simple to use, has clean graphics on the screen. It's very slickly designed. And despite that, I keep it in a holster in my handbag the whole time.

It has disadvantages too. Short battery life, ability to only play certain codecs. But I accept them. They don't overly worry me just like they don't worry the millions of people who have bought one.

I won't knock your Zen, iRiver, Muvo etc, don't knock mine.

Edwardius

...all carry negative connotations that are just pathetic.

We've been over this already.

In your social circle/life maybe. But what about other people? It's hardly a reason not to buy something if a person wasn't so inclined to being fashionable.

Yet again, I stated that these were my reasons for not buying one. I don't see the point in covering this again.

If the iAudio/Creative series were moreso fashion accessories/popular than the iPod, would they automatically drop off the list of good mp3 players? It's just so irrelevent.

Nope, they deserve to be and are popular, possibly more through merit than hearsay/brand recognition..

Oh I can see. My CD player has a backlight.

Blinkers don't stop people seeing. They do, however, restrict your vision to a very small angle.

Creamy Goodness

the anti ipod brigade do serve a good purpose though.

now they shouldn't be like don't buy an ipod full stop.

they should be like look you have €300+ euros you should realise that, that amount of money is a lot and you should consider your options wisely before blowing that amount of cash.

the anti ipod brigade are just trying to make sure someone doesn't goes and buys an ipod without thinking that there may be (and in my opinion there is) a better - or more suited to their lifestyle - player out there.

so in short, don't buy an ipod until you check all your options.

Sangre

Oh my God the fanbois in here is just so head-wrecking...stop it all of you.
The anti-ipod brigade are so bad for it!

Have an Iriver h140 myself
Pros;
Drop n Drag
Price vs 40gb
Radio
Remote
Rockbox
Supports wma,oggs etc

Cons;
Headphone lead is too short
Scrolling is SOOO slow with id3 tags (hence rockbox)
I can hear my HD whir
Doesn't look as nice

Although you should really compare h340.