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ipod/music player decision problems.(lengthy)

Thorsoundcore

Thorsoundcore

Supporting Member
Jan 22, 2009
2,125
500
Schenectady
#1
so, my 7 year old cd walkman gave out the other night.. and naturally i've been thinking of buying another ipod/mp3 device since i listen to music ALOT.(oh yeah, and i used to have an ipod before but washed it 2 years ago :hiding:) anyways, turns out apple is the only company that makes any music playing devices that i find desirable at the moment. this is mainly because i want one with a decent amount of gigabites and the zune brand is now defunct as of this month.

basically i'm just looking for any input on two of the apple products as i'm getting mixed reviews everywhere else. i used to have a 30Gb ipod from about 2006, so initially my first choice was the ipod classic. this is where the reviews were the worst;

-several people oddly complained their ipods had just completely died after about the one year point. and pretty much it just seemed at random cause they would claim they never dropped it, etc.

-this is a more hard drive based unit so all in all it is quite delicate in comparison with older generation models and is way more prone to breaking if dropped. also it's a dis advantage towards people who use it when exorcising apparently.

-something has been altered with the head phone amp and several have said the sound can be thin and sterile in comparison with older models and current variations.

it just seemed like a good fraction of people had all kinds of problems with the software; click wheel issues, problems with itunes and ipods themselves when used on windows. and just other technical things, some complained it would stop working completely in months, weeks, even days! songs cutting out, loud failing hard drives, screen issues. you name it..

then i discovered the ipod touch which i had completely ignored since it's incarnation. i liked that they had models that could hold alot of music. but even though it's an "ipod" they market it as almost more of a game oriented thing and has all these bells and whistles i'm positive i do not need. pretty much like a smart phone device but isn't really a phone..

i could probably use a calender, occasionally. and also somehow text people occasionally as well. i could definatly use the internet for youtube. but people say it's truly not as much as an mp3 player type device. idk why that is, and i don't feel i would use it for much more than a music playing device. it's just hard for my to justify cause that is really all i wanted was a simple music player, don't really need all the extra crap it has...

so i figured i could get good input from good people. here. on talkbass. :):ninja: any suggestions, input and experience is greatly appreciated.. because i seriously am so unfamiliar with this generation of ipods and need as much info i can get before i go and blow $250+ on one of these things. thank you.
 
#2
do you have a smartphone? if so what type? if not, just do an upgrade to an android smartphone. not only do you get comparable storage with a typical ipod touch, (mine came with 8 gigs onboard memory, and a 32 gig flash card) but you get so much more along with it.
 
#3
my phone is a 4 year old RAZR.. :D

i have absolutly no desire to buy a smart phone/a new phone i just thought that maybe the fact that you could apparently text with an ipod touch would help some since my phone can't. but i could do perfectly without it; i'm basically looking for an mp3 device that holds 32+ Gb. which, apple is the only company at the moment making devices of that capacity.. :help:
 
#4
I'd say go with the iPod classic. I have an 80g version that's been going strong for about 5 years. It's used daily. Plus, Apple is cranking those things out by the hundreds of thousands. I wouldn't worry about a couple negative internet reviews.
I also own an iPhone and love. The Touch is a similar device. The music player suits me just fine. Sound quality is fine to my ears. There are free apps for the touch that will let it do text messaging, but you may have to be connected to wifi to do so. Not sure.
Either way, I don't think you can go wrong.

D
 
#5
+1 to the iPod Classic 80GB. I've had one for a few years now without any issues. Click wheel works great, and it's never locked up on me. The preamp on it sounds a LOT better than the one in my iPhone, I can tell you that. As DRafalske said, a couple of negative reviews shouldn't deter you.
 
#6
Does it have to be an iPod? I have a 16gb Creative Zen XiFi I bought about 4 years ago and it's still going strong. I have a ton of music and several movies on it and still have a lot of room left for more. Drag and drop capability as opposed to being tied to iTunes software. Having said that, I do have 2 iPod Shuffles (current versions) that I keep different band stuff on. They sound good, can take a beating and the battery lasts forever.
 
#8
I had an ipod classic 120 gig unit that died after about a year. I work in a woodshop though and was wearing it in my pocket 40 - 50 hours a week while I worked around dust. It was within warranty and replaced and I've had no further trouble. I love it because I can carry a comprehensive music library wherever I go. You might find a used one for less if the new cost is too high for comfort. Sound wise I think it sounds very good.
 
#10
DWBass said:
Does it have to be an iPod? I have a 16gb Creative Zen XiFi I bought about 4 years ago and it's still going strong. I have a ton of music and several movies on it and still have a lot of room left for more. Drag and drop capability as opposed to being tied to iTunes software. Having said that, I do have 2 iPod Shuffles (current versions) that I keep different band stuff on. They sound good, can take a beating and the battery lasts forever.
Click to expand...

no, it really doesn't. but as i said before i wanted something at least over 30gb. and sadly, the most any other company aside from apple makes are 16gbers. don't get me wrong, i was considering one at that capacity for a bit there. but it came to me that they would hold about 4000 tracks, and my old ipod had around 3500 on it before i failed. and my taste plus my cd collection has done nothing but grow immensely over the past 2 years..
 
#11
jarrydee said:
My uncle has the classic and has had it fixed 5 times. My ipod touch on the other hand has taking a beating between me, my wife and our 4 kids and it is still going strong!
Click to expand...

no kidding? from what it seems the current ones are just as delicate as the current classics, if not more so cause of the glass. then again i am going by the negative reviews again. idk, you guys are probably right.. my personal experience always differs greatly from the reviews and what not, so i may actually give a classic a try cause it's more or less what i'm looking for.
 
#12
infamusblkdeath said:
no, it really doesn't. but as i said before i wanted something at least over 30gb. and sadly, the most any other company aside from apple makes are 16gbers. don't get me wrong, i was considering one at that capacity for a bit there. but it came to me that they would hold about 4000 tracks, and my old ipod had around 3500 on it before i failed. and my taste plus my cd collection has done nothing but grow immensely over the past 2 years..
Click to expand...
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30+gb memory plus a MicroSD slot so you can add another 32gb if needed.
 
#15
The iPod classics have a hard drive, and it's really easy to break them. I never had a problem with mine, but I'm not everyone and I don't have it anymore. The nanos are cool, and I'd just get an iPhone if you want the touch screen and games. Saves pocket space. I have an iPhone and it's holding up well. Cracking in multiple places, but hasn't given the ghost as of yet
 
#16
I had an 80 gig classic. It worked great, sounded fine (with good headphones) and never gave me trouble until the battery started to lose charge capacity. I bought a new battery on eBay for like $7, but never found out how well it worked. The day after I got the battery my iPod was stolen out of my truck. I guess there's no way to fix that, huh? I don't like any of the others because of the limited capacity. I love the classic and don't need the touch screen. I have an iPhone, but don't have music saved to it. I do use pandora a lot though.
 
#17
I own a lot of MP3 players. My go-to ones are a pair of Creative Zen's from the mid-90s. I think its the Zen Jukebox. 60GBs and I've never had an issue. I've replaced the batteries a few times which is pretty easy. They do sometimes freeze up in very cold weather when I leave them in my car. I think I got them used for about $15 each. They're a bit bulky and are about the size of the old Sony Walkman cassette players. Mine have been dropped, rain on, and worse and have never failed.

I own an older Sansa, 32GB. The name escapes me but it was a great alternative to iPods. It has another slot to add more memory. It was very cheap new! It was a pretty OK player. I lost it and then recently refound it.

I have a first generation iPod with the wheel. I think its 4GB. It still works. However I know A LOT of people who've had issues with iPods including dead batteries, dead displays, and just plain not working anymore. Apple has an easy return policy when their stuff is in warranty so not many people complain. A few of my friend's have tried to "bring it back" but all their new classics have already failed in the past year.

I currently use an iPod touch. It's like a gutted iPhone that costs too much money. I have the 32GB version with the camera. Pros include the (video) camera, voice recorder, games/apps, internet capability. Cons include a smallish screen which makes playing games difficult, mediocre camera, not so sensitive touch screen, iTunes and limited audio formats, and lousy internet. When I use the internet at either my house, my girlfriend's, or starbucks, the internet is a crawl. I don't even try to do it at school. It might as well not even have the internet due to the need for free wifi coverage.
This is basically a very expensive dumbed down iphone. I found the voice recorder useful for doing interviews and its small size was helpful for keeping it in my pocket. I don't own a smart phone and I basically use this as emergency internet.

I've tried the Cowon and it basically does everything the touch does but better and in a similar price bracket. It feels a lot sturdier too. It does lack a camera (or at least the one I tried did) but it supports all major audio formats including FLAC. The fact that you don't need iTunes should be reason enough to get this!
 
#18
The Classic was great. I had the really, really big one and it worked perfectly for like 5 years. I got an Ipod Touch for Christmas and never looked back though. The IPhone is superior to it though. You can text, call, email, play games, music, etc. I don't really like my Droid. I'm almost out of memory it says, and I have no clue how to fix it without buying a new memory card. I only have like 4 extra apps, too.
 
#20
DWBass said:
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30+gb memory plus a MicroSD slot so you can add another 32gb if needed.
Click to expand...

The 32gb ipod touch is in the same price range as these. I have the 8gb touch and it's my daily music player as well as thing for everything else. It's ideal on my wifi everywhere college campus to check email, calendar, texts with google voice,...
I keep about 2 gb worth of my library on the touch and usually just have it set to shuffle and that works fine for day to day listening when I'm usually only listening for about 10-15 minutes at a time.

I still have a 160gb ipod classic that now I only use for long car drives, plane rides and other moments when I know I will be listening to music for a significant length of time.

I would always be careful with rather unknown android devices as there is so much variety in the os versions and hardware specs.
 

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