I have one of the DJs (through inheritance, not by choice because the 20GB iRiver player is far, far sweeter) and really, it's not that bad. The loading interface annoys me, but so does the iPod's since they both force you to use programs I don't want to deal with (MusicMatch/iTunes). The bigger thing about the Dell DJ is that, it's just a rebranded Creative Zen with some DRM issues built in so Dell feels good about itself. It's got good quality, and a 20 hour battery, and the interface is pretty decent. The fact that they didn't design it probably has a lot to do with this though.
Oh yeah, the biggest point about this entire program is that they'll take dead iPods. For Windows users, there's not that much reason to stick with the iPod except that it looks better, so trading in a broken iPod that you can't really get fixed for a significantly cheaper Dell DJ is probably a good idea. In fact, not trading it in for something is probably indicitave of a bit too much Apple love.... though for a real Mac user, you can't really use this anyway so not doing this would be rather prudent.
Unless you bring Knoppix into the mix, in which case you're running a fully functional Linux distro, complete with KDE and OO.org, from a CD. I think it's sort of been done for Windows, but not nearly as completely. I agree with the main point though that they're rather different (to be understated.)
There are a few thing wrong with this post that really kind of irk me upon reflection. First, not buying a Dell music player because you don't like the full ATX style cases they use is illogical. Neither their laptops nor their slim towers would have this issue, and obviously a personal music player isn't going to block the headphone jack in such a way that you can't access it, because it's more or less the main feature. Secondly, tilting your Gateway to reach the back port while it's running is a recipe for harddrive failure. Additionally, I have a Dell with the door over the ports, and I do, depending on the location, run with the case on the floor. Really, I've never had that much of a problem just lifting the door to push in a small plug, but tilting my case to and hunting for a particular sound card port on the back is rather annoying. Then there's the issue that at least the Dell systems don't get fidgety with hardware that wasn't shipped with the system, but I digress.
But, what do we do if our home PC is moved to Gentoo already? Say, "Well that and updating the portage tree for my Gentoo PC?" It just seems to lack something like... meaning.
Well, it's still a plug for the small quick Penguin OS, so I guess it works, even if it doesn't have as much substance as doing the build.
According to the Yahoo article, it'll ship at about $400, undercutting Apple's 40GB iPod which retails for $499. Am I the only one here who noticed that it's not really undercutting? I mean.. I'm no Apple junkie, but $99 more for double the capacity, are we really fair saying Sony is undercutting?
Unless you could do it by distributing it over a new wireless network supported by thousands of regular people, then no.
Actually, that'd be kind of interesting, being able to defecate via wireless ethernet. Bosses would love it a bit too much though since they wouldn't have to pay for our bathroom breaks. Of course, if we somehow get around to the point that we could do such things, at least maybe P2P would stop being such a sticking point with the government, since they'd have bigger things to worry about, like regulation of bathroom dropoff locations, making sure they aren't, banks and such. Or making sure we don't wirelessly transfer ourselves into bank vaults or....
What?
While this is true, it's always possible that we'll come up with something a bit better in the file size/quality ratio. I mean, look at XviD vs DivX.
But, that doesn't mean we all have to jump every time a new codec hits, but considering the success of the Vorbis codec for audio, it's a bit sad to see another ogg bite it.
Bah. Don't yell at us for whining. We are poor geeks for crying out loud. There are so many nerdy things in the world, and we don't have enough money to buy them all, so this $10 hike is significant.
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Well I for one welcome our new far off, freshly discovered, alien overlords. Well, that and moving my home PC to Gentoo.
Oh yeah, the biggest point about this entire program is that they'll take dead iPods. For Windows users, there's not that much reason to stick with the iPod except that it looks better, so trading in a broken iPod that you can't really get fixed for a significantly cheaper Dell DJ is probably a good idea. In fact, not trading it in for something is probably indicitave of a bit too much Apple love.... though for a real Mac user, you can't really use this anyway so not doing this would be rather prudent.
Unless you bring Knoppix into the mix, in which case you're running a fully functional Linux distro, complete with KDE and OO.org, from a CD. I think it's sort of been done for Windows, but not nearly as completely. I agree with the main point though that they're rather different (to be understated.)
There are a few thing wrong with this post that really kind of irk me upon reflection. First, not buying a Dell music player because you don't like the full ATX style cases they use is illogical. Neither their laptops nor their slim towers would have this issue, and obviously a personal music player isn't going to block the headphone jack in such a way that you can't access it, because it's more or less the main feature. Secondly, tilting your Gateway to reach the back port while it's running is a recipe for harddrive failure. Additionally, I have a Dell with the door over the ports, and I do, depending on the location, run with the case on the floor. Really, I've never had that much of a problem just lifting the door to push in a small plug, but tilting my case to and hunting for a particular sound card port on the back is rather annoying. Then there's the issue that at least the Dell systems don't get fidgety with hardware that wasn't shipped with the system, but I digress.
Well, it's still a plug for the small quick Penguin OS, so I guess it works, even if it doesn't have as much substance as doing the build.
According to the Yahoo article, it'll ship at about $400, undercutting Apple's 40GB iPod which retails for $499. Am I the only one here who noticed that it's not really undercutting? I mean.. I'm no Apple junkie, but $99 more for double the capacity, are we really fair saying Sony is undercutting?
Unless you could do it by distributing it over a new wireless network supported by thousands of regular people, then no.
Actually, that'd be kind of interesting, being able to defecate via wireless ethernet. Bosses would love it a bit too much though since they wouldn't have to pay for our bathroom breaks. Of course, if we somehow get around to the point that we could do such things, at least maybe P2P would stop being such a sticking point with the government, since they'd have bigger things to worry about, like regulation of bathroom dropoff locations, making sure they aren't, banks and such. Or making sure we don't wirelessly transfer ourselves into bank vaults or.... What?
In Soviet Russia, P2P uses you. I had to.
Wow, combined the obligitory Beowulf cluster joke with the obligitory Family Guy reference. Good job.
Isn't it obvious? The more you come back, the more he can shaft you for at the inevitable gift shop.
While this is true, it's always possible that we'll come up with something a bit better in the file size/quality ratio. I mean, look at XviD vs DivX. But, that doesn't mean we all have to jump every time a new codec hits, but considering the success of the Vorbis codec for audio, it's a bit sad to see another ogg bite it.
Bah. Don't yell at us for whining. We are poor geeks for crying out loud. There are so many nerdy things in the world, and we don't have enough money to buy them all, so this $10 hike is significant.