apple ipod's

Id say they are ok... Sound quality is among the worst on current MP3's though, or have been in practically every test i've seen and the Sony's seem to be near (or on top) for sound quality.

Best thing is to read reviews and see what you want from it.

i like mine i have the current style 80gb classic i got it for £90 brand new off the back of a lorry so that could be why i like mine

Just had to replace my 80Gb classic because the drive is fubar. It has been well used for the last 2 years. I use it all day at work, plug it into the car, and around the gym.

I looked around and the only players bigger than 32Gb I could find were iplop's. Unfortunately without buying a Touch, it means a step up to the ludicrous 160Gb version.

Since I want to carry all my ripped cd's I need a large capacity - but 160Gb is on the large side!


Sound wise its fine for using headphones, but in the car I use the headphone output jack so the sound isn't so good. I can tell the difference between the ipod and the same track on the cd player. A proper docking station might be better.


I think that itunes sucks. It doesn't always remember the album artwork and the info on Gracenote isn't always correct. I have resorted to using my own album images instead of letting itunes grab them for me.

Check out the Sony range of MP3/MP4 players. I got a 16GB one last year and it's ace. Sound quality far better than my kids' nanos. Largely down to the quality of the standard headphones, I suspect.

I don't have to bother with iTunes (thank goodness). The player synchs with Windows Media Player, so I just rip my CDs in MP3 format (320kbps) with that and then synch. Also plays BBCiPlayer downloads.

For downloads I use Amazon

Think I paid about £90 this time last year.

[SoulKiss]

There is no point on getting a huge capacity player, as has been said, why do you need your whole collection with you all the time.

I had a 60GB player and I very rarely had it filled with music, after a certain numer of tracks/albums it got annoying, I once had it on random play and spent my 45 minute journey to work hitting the next button, dont think I listened to a full track that morning.

Get a 16Gb or 32Gb player and just rotate the music as needed, you are going to have to have a backup of all thats on the player even if you go for the huge size one, because what happens if it gets damaged, or nicked?

As for music formats, mp3 may not be the best quality, but its the most portable, as in more things play it than dont, so get something that uses mp3 natively.

I personally rate the Cowon range of players, I got a 16GB S9 last year at Christmas, its got an OLED screen so looks great when you watch films on it, and has a 55 hour mp3 playback life on a single charge, the Anythingbutipod site has lots of details on it.

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Id say they are ok... Sound quality is among the worst on current MP3's though, or have been in practically every test i've seen and the Sony's seem to be near (or on top) for sound quality.

Best thing is to read reviews and see what you want from it.

i'd be the first to go for a sony if they did a big capacity player i know their stuff kick's ass but i can't be arsed to keep faffing with taking thing's off putting them on all the time i'd rather just get it all on there and sorted.

I have an iPod shuffle and love it. I don't use iTunes as I find it shockingly bad. I use mediamonkey instead which is awesome and simple, just like me.

I think its only Apple using the HDD's now, they are a dying breed, even in PC's, smaller Solid state Hard drives are coming along and they decimate the HDD's in practically every way! Over twice as fast at reading, no spin up time so instant access. Will more than half load times. Only thing with them is its £250 for 128GB drive

Sorry for digressing, just thought id give you a bit of current affairs

yeah most mp3 player's are flash memory hence the smaller sizes only the ipod does big hdd size's it seem's oh and i got a 160gb classic in the end we'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

I personally rate the Cowon range of players, I got a 16GB S9 last year at Christmas, its got an OLED screen so looks great when you watch films on it, and has a 55 hour mp3 playback life on a single charge, the Anythingbutipod site has lots of details on it.

I was just going to suggest these - I just ordered the 32GB as a Xmas present to myself after deliberating over lots of online reviews of Sony, Samsung etc players. Only downside it is doesn't seem to support AAC so if you have a massive collection in iTunes format it's probably not the player for you...

There's 10% off all Cowon stuff at the moment on the website I ordered from - www.advancedmp3players.co.uk so might be worth a look for anyone who fancies an alternative to Apple.