I have some money to spend (around $450 cdn) and was thinking of getting an ipod. I think it would be neat to have, and I like listening to music. I have some questions though.

1) How much is a 20 gb ipod go for in canada?

2) My computer has only usb 1 connections. Can I use the ipod with this.

3)Is it worth it to pay extra for the ipod, or go for the mini (I have around 700 songs, adding more)

Thanks

1. $399CAD

2. Yes, but it will be very slow.

3. The 20GB iPod is well worth the extra cash IMO.

"Don't be a trend schmuck" -insanekiwi
pretty much sums up what ive got to say

anyways id go for creative, you'd be saving money and still be getting a damn decent player.

How slow are we talking, for example, to put a 3mb song on to it?

bulio... Let's say... VERY slow... I don't remember the rates right now, but to fill an iPod it would take a while.

As for you, ripgut... You called the creative player a "decent" player... I think that sums it.

(btw... what creative player are you talking about?)

usb 1.1 is 40 times slower than 2.0

so make your calculation

I really recommend you installing USB2 or FireWire on your computer, because USB1 will be too slow to transfer music.

I've transfered using 1 onto my mini disc player. It's slower than that?

If the average song you have is 3 MB and you have 700 songs then it means you have 2.1 GB of music.

USB 1.1 will transfer at 12 MegaBits per second meaning 1.5 MegaBytes per second.

So theoretically, it would take 1400 secs to transfer 2.1 GB of music. Which is about 23-24 minutes to transfer everything. However I would estimate it would something like 30-35 minutes.

it really depends of what u will do and what ull use ur mp3 player for... if you train while listening to music you better go with a flash player with no harddrive in the unit. if you wont shake it A LOT you can buy a hardrive player. then, it depends of how much YOU want and how much YOU need. that way, you can do a wiser buy than just buy whatever is "cool"...

i can suggest you a creative zen micro, i have one myself and i love it. it really suits my needs, the sound quality is good, the interface needs a little practice but its not a con, the battery life is so-so (10-12 hours) and its removable. it can store 5gb maximum. i think i put 20 albums in mp3 @ 192kbps and its using the half of my space so i think its really good. it also have a lot of "bonus" feature if you compare it to the ipod mini (fm radio-ecorder, voice recorder, calendar etcetc) and the programs are working really well.


check those links out:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Music/4520-7964_7-...html?tag=dir.bg
http://reviews.cnet.com/4521-6532_7-502143...html?tag=subnav

hope this helps

sim1

Do some research, see which DAP fits your requirements. The iPod should go for $370-400, depending if they take the levy off or not (dunno if it's in effect yet).

Other players offer more features for a more reasonable price. Unless you want the iPod as a fashion statement, prefer simplicity (to the extreme) or want to fit in with the crowd, I don't see why the iPod would be a better choice than other players.

I'll throw out some DAPs that might interest you. Toshiba Gigabeat F10 (you'll probably be one of 5 or 10 Canadians to own it... lol), iAudio M3, iRiver H300, iRiver H10, Rio Carbon, Rio Karma, Creative Zen Touch, Creative Zen Micro, Sony NW-HD3. All of these players have strengths and weaknesses, and they're all within your spending limit.

http://www.dapreview.net/comparisons/compared.html <-- A good comparison tool.

Are you the kind of person that would buy an Emachines from futureshop, rather than doing research and custom order/build a system? If yes, forget everything in this post and go for the iPod .

The levvy was in fact removed. Apple's site lists the iPod at 25 bucks less than it was before because the tax was lifted.

I won an iPod over Christmas from the Pepsi challenge in Canada and paid $150CAN to get it upgraded to the 40Gb.

Anyways, I'm not putting it down or anything, because I love it to death, but I seriously think it's overhyped. The thing that bugs me the most about my iPod is how the "directories" are setup and how you can't really turn it "off". Things I like: capacity and how it can run as a hard-drive so I can transfer stuff around. It is also very easy to operate. After a while, you can just operate it from your pocket without looking at it.

If I were given a choice to choose again, I'd probably go try out the iRiver H340. It's got a color screen, great included accessories and functions.

Are you in Canada? Go to Futureshop or Best Buy and go try out all the different ones (Try not to talk to the sales rep as they don't give a sh!t, only making as much commission as possible, and will try to sell you the most expensive product). Do some homework too!

Good luck with your purchase! I'm sure you'll be satisfied with whatever product you choose.

700 songs should take about a minute or two to transfer over.

On USB 1.1? You must be joking! It takes about 5/10 minutes for 700 songs on firewire.

For 700 songs I would say an hour.

it takes me 2 secs or so on USB 1.0

really?

I GOT A 20GB IPOD AND ITS BRILL. I GOT AN ITRIP WITH IT AND CAN USE IT IN THE CAR AS WELL THROUGH THE SPEAKERS. I WAS ALSO IN UR SITUATION WITH THE USB PORT AND I JUST GOT A FIREWIRE CARD. IT IS CHEAP AND VERY QUICK.

Uhhh dude, lay off the caps lock and make ur sig smaller.

Are you an audophile? If you are you will need really expensive headphones or a nce cmoy headphone amplifier for that extra awesome boost of sound quality. I have a 20 gig 4G, its great in all but I kinda wish i saved some cash and bought like a creative micro or something from irive.

Either:

A. You are talking about 2 secs for each song (still not possible)
B. You infact have USB2
C. You have no concept of time

well i have a 20 gig U2 and i think it was worth every cent. I havent had any issues and its just a wonderful simple and easy to use player. Its really a matter of opinion though, i would go and try different players. Dont listen to the fools who say that the rechargable battery goes dead after a year cause they dont know what they are talking bout. U prob will wnat new headphones if u do get one, even though i like them for some reason, lol. But yea, if u decide against it, then go with the iRiver or a creative, i prefer the iPod but its all a matter of personal preference and opinion and really u should just try stuff out.

Get one if you like to:
Pay too much
For less features and compatibility
but

Have to have one cuz they are so cute and all.

Really, there are much better deals on players that support more music formats with less hassles, for much less.

well bwizzel i said i think it was meaning it is my opinion, i guess where u are from people cant have formulated opinions. i love my iPod, not cause its cute and all, but because i like the simplicity and design of it. and 300 dollars isnt a lot, i have a theory u are a stereotypical anti apple person and that if the iPod was a different brand you wouldnt open your mouth to waste any air.

Get one if u like:
Simplicity
Design
Functionality
Quality


The iPod supports plenty of music file formats, i havent had to hassle with mine at all cause its so easy to use that my grandma could use it, and the thing is that of quality, nothing that feels cheap in your hand. But thats my opinion, 300 dollars is too much for some people, i dont think its that bad for what u are getting, so again go with what u try out and like.

Who in the right mind would choose iPod for 'functionality'??

I own iPod myself, and I like its look and simplicity, but it's still lacking in many parts.

No matter how many unpopular formats iPod supports, you can't play many of popular formats such as WMA or OGG on iPod.

But then again, if your music collection is all in MP3, and you don't need voice recording and FM radio, and you can bear with relatively short battery life, go for iPod.

the thing I really hate is battery life, my sony MD goes a solid 60 hours on a single AA battery. I'd hate to be recharging batteries everyday.

I don't really care about the battery life much, I only use it for about 3 hours a day at the most and the rest of the time its charging.

A) Not Impossible, but Inevitable.. hahaha j/ks and yes it takes me 2 secs or so to put it on my ipod.. why would I be lying?
B) No I do not have USB2 .. my computer is 5 years old and I haven't changed any USB ports
C) " Hey c'mon, I had to change, you think I'm going back in that, that zoot suit? The old man really came through, it worked!..He laid out Biff in one punch! I never knew he had it in him! He never stood up to Biff in his life!!! "

no

NO! i just got a dell dj 15 gig for $100! and i love it! better than my friends ipod! and $250 less!

you did?
my complaint was it was about the same price as the ipod.
if its 100$ .. im sold. thats better than the 512meg shuffle (which i was gonna get the 1gig)

what exactly does the ishuffle do?

I must say. Our local creative fanboys do get more ignorant and idiotic everyday.

Can you not afford an iPod or something, because that fashion statement thing is overplayed, or were you never one of the cool kids?

I mean, if I really was bothered, and didn't think the creative fanboys made themselves sound like idiots anyway, i'd list quite alot of features the iPod has over (insert your favourite player).

dude, dont talk... everyone know that ipods are overpriced pieces of sh!t

Get the iPod. It's better than the competition. Easier to use, better looking, better interface, better controls. And who really needs 500000 functions on an MP3 Player anyways? I use mine for pure music. And the iPod is the absolute best in that.

Try me. iRiver H120. List away.

I find the excuse of "ipod can play games" used a lot when it comes to features... I think this can be related to Nintendo vs other console makers. Nintendo makes the gaming only console, while the others load in the extra features that some people would never use in their lives.

At this point in time, the only mp3 players that play music and nothing else, is the flash players. Most HD players have FM tuners, and the HD (which is fine) and then they add the microphone and in some cases text viewers, games, etc.

At least microphone is useful and still somewhat music related (it can be used for tons of things) and it wont waste batteries as long as its not in use. But games? come on who the heck plays games on their mp3 player. Wheres your gameboy?

Anyways my point is your post doesnt exactly make too much sense since in essence, ipod is not a music only player.

With that post, you're calling me an idiot?

I'm not a Creative fanboy. I do not defend products with bs or pointless arguments. I favour the DAPs that offers the most for a reasonable price. The iPod does not fall into that category.

And yes, please do list away. Take a shot at the IHP-120, M3, NW-HD3, Karma, Zen Touch etc.

glhf

i agree, obviously YOU dont understand the facts buddy

Uhhh.....

Except in the sound quality department, but that doesnt matter - right?


Lmao genius ending with glhf.

I must say this bloke seemed sold on getting an iPod when he started the thread. It's the reason I didn't bother replying to start with - I'd have gotten flamed for suggesting otherwise.

Let me qualify my statement:

"Easier to use, better looking, better interface, better controls, better sound quality, and better integration."

I always thought better sound quality was a given when talking about the iPod.

But thats wrong.

The sound quality on Creative & iRiver's products (not sure about, iAudio - can anyone clarify) is better than that of the iPod, which was my point.

iAudio has a 95db s-n ratio, although that doen't tell you a whole lot about general sound quality. It also has BBE, bass boost, 3D effects etc (equivalent to SRS and EAX... somewhat).

The whole sound quality issue can be argued until we reach thread page #99, it's too subjective.

However, the iPod is known for its flat sound (might be good for some genres, but not for most). With other players, you can at least EQ the hell out of it if you don't like it. You can't do that with the iPod (the presets sucks too, IMO).

From my trials with the iPod and observations on discussion forums, the iPod is IMO at the bottom when it comes to sound quality.

It's just a simple tradeoff:

Do you want:

The nicer looking, smaller, more popular player with more accessories.

Or:

The slightly larger player with better sound quality and tons of features. (Radio, Built in Mic, Video, etc.)

Yup, iPod simply lacks bass, and it's really noticable with any kinds of earphone.

I really want to listen to my iPod with EQ enabled, but then the battery would drain like crazy.

i have an ipod mini and am totally happy but if u crave extra crap that nobody needs get something from creative

**** MAN HAVE U MADE A DECISION YET???????????????????

Nobody needs? Phft. I watch Videos on my H320 all the time.

Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Futurama....

Typical ignorant answer I'm afraid Dayon, you'll get them - and now cue someone telling me I'm a troll and that I should be banned because I criticised their holy white box.

The amount of times the extra battery, recording facilities and direct plug and play has helped me where an iPod would not has proven to me its vastly superior. But base your decision on your needs - to be part of the gang or functionality.

You should try the iPod shuffle much better!

Hell, even PC Magazine praises the bass in the little sucka!!

I want to buy 2 of em