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MP3 Player Shoppers Guide
An anonymous reader writes "Says this three-part rundown of the latest DAPs "When Sony execs crowed a few weeks ago that their latest MP3 players were THE iPod Killers one thing was obvious. They were oblivious to the fact that the term "iPod Killer" had already gone from clever market-speak to running joke." Still, quite a few neat players here and I bet most don't scratch up as bad as iPods do."
"Sony execs crowed a few weeks ago that their latest MP3 players were THE iPod Killers"
What we didn't know, is that the Sony MP3 player actually DOES kill you if you copy non-DRM music to it. Look it up, it's in their EULA.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/PortablePlayers
They won't put a dent in the iPod sales, either.
This issue is user experience. You can add all the gadgetry you want, but it becomes a complex tool. People want their music device simple, easy to navigate and elegant. They don't want the kitchen sink thrown into the tool.
after the two stories - one about the rootkit and two about Sony's EULA i think i will not buy a Sony product when it comes to an mp3 player...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Looks like sony wants to have their cake and eat it too. If its not legal to rip their music. Then how is their MP3 player supposed to be filled? I guess its ok to rip OTHER peoples music.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
- Winston Churchill
rename iPod $sys$ipod
I briefly looked at the list, and I didn't see any player supporting AAC format (Of course, I guess that apple don't license their format for other players). All my music collection is managed by iTunes, and most of my files are AAC. If I wanted to buy a portable player, what choices I have other than iPod?
The iPod Killer must come with an iTunes Killer!
perception is reality
Is it seen as a USB mass storage device ? If not, you have failed. I do not want to see any kind of your proprietary software on my PC to get access to your device.
I noticed that iRiver's line of MP3 players is (mostly) absent from this listing.
I recently got an iRiver IFP-899 and absolutely love it. I don't have any particularly overwhelming urge to store my entire music collection on a portable MP3 player, so a very expensive iPod or any of its very expensive clones are pretty much overkill for me.
Simply put, the iRiver is a great middle-of-the-road MP3 player. Rather than copying and pasting the specs from the corporate web page, I'll just list a few things that I particularly like about it.
With prices on the unit dropping to almost $150, even Apple would have a hard time beating that. At $50 more, the iPod nano has double the storage but still only half the features.
One main thing kept me from buying an iPod when I was MP3 player shopping.
The fact that you need to use an app (like iTunes) to load music onto it that you want to listen to.
To me, a hard-drive based digital audio player should be able to play music copied to it via Windows Explorer or Konqueror or whatever file manager you prefer to use, on whatever operating system you prefer to use.
Making it so that the iPod will ONLY play music loaded onto it via iTunes frustrates me and makes me feel restricted, like they want me to ONLY use it the way they want me to.
I don't like paying that kind of money for a device and feeling restricted.
Which was why I took my $300 and went with a different player. What I ended up with actually does more, as it turns out, than the iPod, and does it cheaper and it works the way I want it to.
Drag, drop, play. Simple. No annoying applications necessary, no annoying and unnecessary compulsory synchronization with my computer.
Personally, I think the iPods are pretty slick, but that one thing is enough to make me unwilling to shell out my bucks for it.
And the circle of life continues to spin, occasionally wobbling on its axis thanks to the weighty presence of dumb.
Also noteworthy, listening to ogg vorbis files on my iRiver H320 does chow up battery faster than listening to mp3 files.
Powerful is he who overpowers his temptations.