iPods/MP3 Players

[nacho]

Okay, the last thing I owned like this was my Car Discman.  So if I want to upgrade the device attached to things I jam in my ears, what do I want?

I've dismissed iPods because I think Apple is gay, and the whole screwed up files thing is annoying... But does it really matter?  Should I get the stick out of my ass?  Are there competitive devices of equal or greater quality?

And if iPod is the way of things, then which one do I want?

This is primarily for business -- in this case, listening to Podcasts and shit like that.  Subscribing to literary snoot-snoot stuff.  So not a big music thing, though I imagine I'll immediately start transferring music over to it.

[Nubbins]

Yes, get the stick out of your ass.  iPod is the best thing on the market, hands down.  Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who desperately wants to hate Apple and their stupid, metrosexual company.

The proprietary format thing is not that big of a deal.  The only reason it's an issue for me is because I ripped most of my entire CD library (about 2,000 discs... took me almost 2 months) before I realized that iTunes was converting them to the proprietary format.  If you're savvy, then you just tell iTunes that you want it to convert to mp3 instead and bam... it's as easy as that.

I will go with Apple mp3 players for the forseeable future because they make players with the most capacity.  I currently have a 160gig, but they've discontinued that and now the largest they make is the 120gig iPod Classic.  I've only briefly seen the touch, but it's basically an iPhone that plays mp3's and whatnot.

It depends what you're going to be using it for though.  If it's just to listen to stuff at work and you're going to be loading the thing every other day, then you don't need something mega huge like mine.  I would stick with Apple, though... I absolutely love their media players. 

The Zune is supposed to be okay too, but I've never used one.  I have friends who have them and they seem happy enough with them.  I've heard that they're even bigger bitches about the proprietary shit than Apple is though, so take that as you will.  I do know that the Zune HD looks cool as shit, but I still probably won't buy one.

[nacho]

Yeah, it'll just be for podcasts, maybe a little music, mostly for the commute or while at work....

So the IPod shuffle is dead cheap...is that a good way to go? The Amazon reviews are dismal... I'm actually a bit overwhelmed at Amazon.  What's all this generation stuff?  The new generation doesn't make the old one obsolete?  And there are, what, half a dozen different models? 

[Nubbins]

The shuffle sucks.  I mean, it's great if you spend 45 minutes a day on a treadmill and just want some noise filtered into your head while you do it.  But, there is no screen and no way to play stuff in order... it's absolutely horrendous if you use it for audiobooks or podcasts.

Basically, as far as I understand it, you have the Shuffle, Nano, Touch and Classic.  The Shuffle, as mentioned above, sucks ass unless it's used in a certain way.  The Nano is a smaller version of the Classic both in hard drive size and physical dimensions.  The Touch is an iPhone without a mic or speaker... like, it is literally an iPhone.  It's got a slightly larger drive than the Nano as well. 

The Classic is my personal favorite, but that is only because it's got the largest hard drive.  It's just an updated version of the original iPod and is about the same size as the Touch... maybe a bit smaller.  It's a breeze to carry around, holds roughly 29,000 songs and I would be completely and utterly lost without mine.

If I were you, I would focus on the Nano.  It's really tiny and they have a decent enough sized drive in them to hold quite a bit of stuff.  It's also got a color screen for browsing and most if not all of the functionality of the Classic versions. 

[nacho]

Okay!  I have my roadmap, then.  Thanks.

[nacho]

This a good price?

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Black-Generation-NEWEST-MODEL/dp/B001FA1NCI

Or does Apple have a special storefront in a flying ship that goes door to door?

[Nubbins]

That looks pretty good... they're $149 at Best Buy.

[Nubbins]

I'd probably go with the 16gig version, though... just because it's twice the size and the bump in price isn't all that significant.

[Sirharles]

I agree with Nubbs, the shuffle is great for one or two types of use.  I use mine at the gym and it's great for that, but anything else forget it.  I also have the classic, and for your purposes either this or the nano would be the way to go.  I don't imagine you will be watching a lot of videos on it or anything so you don't need the bigger screen.

[Tatertots]

http://store.apple.com

But that's MSRP. Amazon's the place to go for iPods, really.

[Cassander]

i had an iPod and i hated using it from day one.  you may not be surprised to hear me, an avid Apple hater, say this, but iTunes is the devil.  It's hard as hell to funnel all of your mp3s through iTunes into your iPod, especially if your library is constantly changing, like mine is.  and if you have a ton of random mp3s on your computer that you've illegally downloaded from a variety of sources, chances are they're missing tags and iTunes won't be able to make heads or tails of them.  synchronizing is a nightmare, as is the constant invasion itunes has to try to get you to buy shit from their store. 

what you really want is just a basic thing where you can drag and drop files onto the player.  it'll cost you way less and be a lot easier to deal with.  i have a phillips with 8gigs that cost me about 40 bucks.  another friend of mine swears by creative lab's stuff.  they're both just basic mp3 players...basically a USB thumbdrive with playback capability.  just find one that feels like it won't break and that doesn't have any software with it, and you'll be a lot happier, i promise.

[Tatertots]

I've had the opposite experience, I guess. I have all sorts of insane MP3s of various lineage and they sync great with my iPhone. Never a problem with keeping track of them. If you set iTunes to keep track of your library (so it copies everything into a single folder organized by artist/composer), it's even nicer because you never have to worry about . And I have no idea what Cass means by iTunes not being able to understand missing tags. Because, god, half my shit has almost no tags and the tags they do have were last updated in 1982.

I mean, sure, you could organize everything by hand and manually drag them over to some other MP3 player but, Jesus man, it's not 1998 anymore. I haven't had to think about "organizing" my library since I first used iTunes (when it was called SoundJam).

[Nubbins]

I had a Creative Labs Jukebox back when mp3 players were first hitting the scene and it was great.  Creative Labs definitely makes good stuff too.

I love my iPod to itty bitty pieces, but I have never tried any other kind of player, so it's possible that I'd like something else just as much.

One thing I've ALWAYS hated about Apple is their crusade against piracy.  I'm sure all the other companies are guilty of it, but my original Creative Labs player was literally a 20gig hard drive with buttons on it.  You could take files and move them around freely, as you should be able to.  But Apple gives you this iPod with no instruction manual and then you spend a week fucking around with it before you realize you're NOT ALLOWED to move files off your iPod... you have to just delete them if you want them off.  It's all an attempt to prevent pirating music.  Noble, I guess, but it pisses me off to no end.  When I pay $300 for something, I expect to be able to use it exactly the way I want to... I hate it that I own this piece of electronics that is capable of doing the things I want it to but I have to hack into it in order to be able to.

Also, yes... iTunes does suck ass when you get right down to it.  It's a beast of a program and it can be really invasive.  I feel like there's a new version update every other week almost.  Plus it just bogs down your system if you're on a computer that is more than 2 years old.  Its library management is kind of annoying, but I've learned to work around it.  I am, however, a fan of how iTunes will filter things into folders organized by artist and album like Tyson mentioned.  There are probably other programs that do the same thing, I'm not sure.

My last big complaint about iTunes is the whole synching thing.  It will automatically synch iPods and obliterate entire collections of stuff on them if you're not careful.  I spent about 4 hours loading my Dad's iPod with music from my external drive only to have it all erased when he plugged the thing back into his computer a few weeks later.  I had set his iTunes to synch manually so it wouldn't erase, but I guess he updated the version or hit some button that put it back to synch automatically and it fucked everything up.   

[nacho]

How's this "subscribe" option work?

For example -- http://transom.org/

Under the Peabody Awards thing is an itunes icon and the RSS icon.

So, if I go iPod, then I can tell iTunes to automatically download stuff and have it waiting for me the next time I plug in, yes?

Otherwise, with a non-Apple product, I have to save the file to the computer and transfer manually to the MP3 player.

Right?

[Tatertots]

Yup. Podcast management with iTunes is a dream. I just subscribe through iTunes' interface in their podcast directory and, bam, I get new podcasts on my iPhone every morning. HOT SHIT, WHITE BREAD.