Gadgets and crap to waste money on

[mistasparkle*]

A guy I work with got the new 15 gig iPod, and I had a chance to put it side to side with my 2nd gen 10gig iPod. The new one is dooooope. It's about 75% the thickness, and significantly lighter. I think they were able to make it thinner with the absence of a standard size firewire socket (It now uses a thin wide port at the bottom). The backlit screen is much better and the scroll wheel is smaller, and easier to use. The hold switch is smaller and much more sturdy than the one on mine, which occasionally gets switched on/off from being moved around in my bag. I didn't get a chance to really mess around with the new software features, but based on the improvements physically, its worth an upgrade.

Anyone wanna buy a 2nd gen 10 gigger?

[Goemon]

Good timing, Mr.S, 'cause I was just thinking about getting one of them there thangs. I don't want your crapped out older version though...

I asked a friend about the new ones and he seemed to think that 30 gigs is not enough? How has your 10 gig handled for ya? About how many CDs worth of tunes do you think that holds?

[enderzero]

My 20GB is not enough...but the 30GB I am scoping out will have to do. I like the fact that it is smaller, and a bit cooler, but there is one feature on the new bad boy I cannot live without...

...On the fly playlist!!

[enderzero]

Yes!! I sold my 20GB for $370 (got it warranty replaced for a brand new one first) and bought the new 30GB for $450. 50% more space, plus the new design, plus ON THE FLY PLAYLIST for a mere $80. I am happy.

[mistasparkle*]

G: We were just talking about that iPod clone this weekend, I don't remember the maker (phillips?).... but I just discovered this today:

Another iPod competitor on the market... this one looks pretty sweet:

Toshiba Gigabeat G20

"The Gigabeat G20 will be available in Japan this October for around 50,000 Japanese yen."

looks like toshiba ripped-off the iPod interface as well...

[Goemon]

Yeah, we were talking about the Philips HDD100:


I was particularly interested in the "Recording Audio Jukebox" because it has an analog port that I could hook up to my turntables (or anything else for that matter) to record MP3s or WMAs. Can the iPod do that shiznit too?

It's also got a "remote control" connected to the headphone wire, like a typical discman; one of the complaints I've heard from some iPodders is that you could only change the music from the iPod itself (meaning taking it out of your pocket, backpack, wherever). Maybe a minor complaint.

Philips only boasts 20GB, but I'd sacrifice space for the ability to record from any medium

[mistasparkle*]

The analog recording feature of the phillips is definitely a big plus, and I think the design is slicker as well. The toshiba is very standard japanese-gadget -design. As far as I know, the iPod doesn't do any kind of recording either.

..and yea the controller for the iPod is really lame. It's use is limited to forward, back, play, and pause. So yea, you need to pull out the pod to switch albums.... but it's just a small annoyance.

I'd definitely like to see the phillips in person to see what the design and quality is like.

[enderzero]

The design of the Toshiba is certainly not very exciting. Anyone seena picture of the Philips other than this:



I am shocked if you think this looks better than the iPod. It does definitely look better than the Toshiba though.

You may notice though that these guys are both so late to the game. Neither of these is even out yet. How long has the iPod been rockin?

There is a remote for the iPod. It isn't that great, but it does exist.

There are some other little problems. But all in all, with the addition of the on the go playlist, the iPod is quite possibly the best designed gadget on the market. It will be interesting to see what the competitors bring to the table (albeit 2 years late).

[Goemon]

You may notice though that these guys are both so late to the game. Neither of these is even out yet.

(sigh) What a provincial attitude. The Philips has been out in Europe and Asia for some time now. I was doing some more digging on the Philips last night and came across alot of this cult mentality from iPodders . They think the iPod walks on water or something. Granted, the iPod has been out long, but there are other players that have had devices out longer than iPod.

Back to the Philips: I checked some message boards with some owners' comments and so far I could find (in general):
Pros
- sound is better than the iPod
- equalizer feature is great
- recording feature is great (especially for people who record lectures and boring shit like that)
- user interface was simple and intuitive (as compared to the new iPod wheel)
- You don't need to use your computer as a jukebox too (I never liked the idea that I have to download all of my CDs to my computer in order to put the songs onto the iPod; this is one of the benefits of the analog input feed)

Cons
- there seemed to be some firmware problems on some of the releases which caused the Philips to either:
a. emit a white hiss until you "reboot" it
b. the file names randomly instead of alphabetically?
c. require some kind of "reboot" once a day (which was deemed a minor annoyance by the comments)
- Only holds 20GB now, but that's just an arms-race issue
- Customer Support was not considered to be very helpful

I think I need to play with one or find some Japanese owners to check one out before I commit to something like this. I foresee a trip to Akihabara in my future...

[enderzero]

Hey I am no apple-bot by any means. I am just really impressed by the iPod. For the most part it is flawless. It is just refreshing to see a product that does what it is supposed to do so well. I am totally into some competition though.

-Recording would be a very cool feature.

-How about a completely customizable interface.

-I don't like the way the Pod renames your mp3s when you copy them.

...any other wishlist features?

[mistasparkle*]

I am shocked if you think this looks better than the iPod. It does definitely look better than the Toshiba though.

I was just saying it looks better than the toshiba. Before seeing the phillips in person i'll say that the iPod takes the cake in terms of design.

G: The con's that you listed for the philips with the exception of customer service are all firmware repairable. Meaning, once you buy one, they'll most likely have a fix for any of the probs you listed.

I'm not a die hard apple fan either, although I am a huge fan of their industrial design, and interface design. I think apple as a company does some pretty stupid things like outdate every one of their products within a year, and then not give full support to previous generations. (e.g. The new pods supporting on the fly playlists + new software which could easily be added to the old pod, but probably wont be for marketing reasons.)

[enderzero]

The unfortunate truth is that even if a problem is software related, it is certainly no guarantee that it will be resolved in a timely update. This may seem obvious but I have seen people get really burned when they spend the big bucks to have the latest and greatest, just to have it severly handicapped for 6 months before it gets its needed software update. By this time the thing is considerably cheaper and something better is out.

[Beeeph]

i can't wait for the day when i can waste my money on one of these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNdY98GH7sQ