[lug] iPod or MP3?

[David Morris]

On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 15:24, Scott Mann <sunix13 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I'm starting to look into getting an iPod or MP3 player and I'd hope to benefit from your collective experience with these things ;-)
>
> Most of my music is now digitized (from vinyl and tape, or ripped from cd) in either WAV or MP3 files. I don't have any iTunes, yet, but I will likely start buying music by the song in the future. In part, I suspect, that where I purchase those songs from depends on what player I end up getting.
>
> I often listen to music on my desktop (running Fedora 10). Now, I'd like to be able to put that on to some device to carry around with me and to hook up into the stereo system in my car (I know that the car stereo has a port for an iPod, but I'll have to dig into what else it might support).
>
> My only restriction is that I do not use Microsoft software either at home or work (not really a religious thing, mostly just the way it is).
>
> Anyway, given all that, does anyone have any recommendations about:
>
> 1) A music player (iPod or MP3)
> 2) Synchronization software on Linux (I've gotten as far as installing Banshee, although I don't know much about it or any other similar tools)
> 3) Anything else, including "go read <blah> and stop using our bandwidth!"

I had a chance to play with my sister's iPod at one point.  All I can
say is anyone who willingly uses one of those things *must* have
masochistic tendencies.  One of the most obnoxious, stubborn,
bug-ridden, and difficult to use devices I've ever encountered.  Note
that this was a relatively new iPod.  They look good and if you can
get songs on it the functionality is almost (but not quite)
acceptable.  But overall, other than looks I would put the iPod in the
"flashy but mostly useless toy" category.

I use a "Cowon D2" MP3 player.  I like it for four reasons:  (1) It
can be accessed like a USB drive, (2) it has a 50+ hour battery if
playing audio only, (3) it will play almost any audio format, and (4)
it is flash-based with SD card expansion.  The only annoying part is
it has a touch screen and limited functionality via buttons, however
that is relatively minor compared to its other benefits.

Two web sites to help you out in making a decision:

http://anythingbutipod.com
http://dapreview.com

Both provide reviews of non-iPod MP3/Media players, but frequently
have a different selection of devices they review.

--David