Fencers and IPODS?

[Artisan]

How many fencers have IPods? Here's a shirt to go along with the set...



http://www.cafeshops.com/fencing_art

[The0ne]

that's one of the better fencing shirts I've seen. . . i don't have an IPod becaue I'm not going to spend that much money on a music player. . . I look at is an Ipod, or a FIE BF blade!

[telkanuru]

I want that shirt.

But to quote Penny Arcade,
"Yeah, I was going to buy one of those, but then I came to my senses and bought a $30 discman."
"But the iPod dosn't skip."
"Neither does this. It's padded by $270 in CASH."

[AndrewH]

I've got one. In fact, it's my third. 20 GB dock-mount. And I have noticed at least 3 or 4 others with iPods at various competitions around here. Anyone remember the sabre fencer/jeep driver thread? Maybe it's one of those things.

[ArcherUK]

I have an I-River...much better

[Saber-Psycho]

I'm saving up for an Ipod, but is I-River better/cheaper?
Does anyone else have any thoughts on Ipods?
How long to the batteries last?
Are they worth the up front cost when you don't have to buy CDs constantly?

Please let me know......

[AndrewH]

Many HD-based players offer more capacity than the iPod, but you need to consider
a) will you need 100 GB on your mp3 player?
b) does that extra capacity make it too bulky/heavy?
c) how easy is it to navigate through all that music?

I prefer the iPod because, for me at least, 20 GB is more than enough. Of course, you can also get 10 GB if you know you'll never use 20 or 40 if you think 20 is too small. The player itself is small, pocket sized and thin. The screen is big enough to display a suitable amount of info at once, such as title, artist, album, and elapsed time with space left over.

The iPod also comes with some extra features, such as a calendar, a phone book, and games (solitare is surprisingly playable using the iPod's buttons). Optionally you can add a voice recorder.

The cost, imho, is painful when you buy it but it slowly makes itself more and more useful. If you're like me, you don't pay a penny for music. If you prefer the legal route, the iPod is fully compatible with the iTunes music store, where you'll pay .99 per song. But not having to buy/carry around removable media is like being freed from shackles

The one complaint that's heard commonly: the battery tends to lose its ability to hold a charge after a year or so. You can stil use the iPod after that, you just need to charge it whenever you're not using it. I would reccomend, however, that you buy a warranty on it (I got mine from Best Buy, warranty was $40 for 3 years i think). This way, they'll replace or repair it when your battery does die.

I wish you luck on your journey into handheld mp3 players!

[Saber-Psycho]

Thanks! That's really helpful.
I think I'm gonna get a mini Ipod, either blue or pink.
And I'll spring for the warranty too.

[AndrewH]

Noooo! No mini iPod! Bad!

Do the math. An iPod Mini 4 GB is $250, and a regular iPod 15 GB is $300. There's no way the mini could be a better value. If the only thing you like about the mini is the coloring, you can buy colored iPod skins from a multitude of 3rd party vendors.

Besides, I think that the mini's look kinda fruity.

[The0ne]

but they're small sleek and sexy. . .

[telkanuru]

.....

Is that an I-pod in your pocket or are you happy to see me

[Saber-Psycho]

but, but, but, they're so cute!!!!!!!
Besides, do I really need that many GBs?

[AndrewH]

Figure about 1 GB for every 250 songs. So if you have less than 1,000, the mini's capacity should suit you fine. BUT... you can also use the iPod as a portable hard drive, which I found very useful as backup for my important files/applications. I have several gig's of backed-up stuff on mine, and you can also use it to transfer large files between 2 computers. In fact, during post production of one of the LotR films, the entire movie in uncompressed form was loaded onto an iPod every day and carried through London to the editing studio.

And I'm not sure about this, never having played with a mini first hand, but I can't confirm whether or not they have the extra features such as calendar/phone book/games.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Are there any MP3 players that approach the IPod in functionality, but for less money?

Or is the IPod simply the best, so it's worth coughing up the extra money?

[fixxmyweapon]

I have an ipod mini that was given to me. Eh, it's alright. It's kute and little but I can't hold that many songs on it. I'm pretty sure that i'm going to put it up on teh ebay. I would much rather get a Dell Digital Jukebox. Those are pretty hot. There just isn't enough space on the ipod mini. But it wins the "oh so good lookin" award.

[Saber-Psycho]

Well, I thought that I'd do some research outside of, say, the fencing 101's water cooler, and I found this website.
http://portables.about.com/cs/mp3playerreviews/

What do you think???

[neevel]

Are there any MP3 players that approach the IPod in functionality, but for less money?

Or is the IPod simply the best, so it's worth coughing up the extra money?

I've got a 20 GB Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen (it was a birthday gift-- I probably would've sprung for the Ipod myself). They retail for about $200 less than an IPod of similar capacity, and are available with HDs of up to 60 gigs at the moment. The controls are smaller and more fidgety to use than the Ipods, and the display is also smaller. It's chunkier than the IPod, and doesn't fit as neatly into a pants- or shirt- pocket. But is does the basic job just fine, has a variety of options for organizing stored tracks and creating playlists, can be used for data file backup/transfer, and doesn't tie you to a single computer for the purposes of syncing like the IPod. Another plus for the current models is that use standard battery packs that are easily replaced when worn out. On the whole, not as polished a design as the IPod, but the price difference is significant.

One somewhat kludgey thing about how the Nomad organizes the tracks in an Album is that you need to have an order number at the start of the file name to get it to place the tracks in the right sequence (e.g., 01_Ten_Feet_Small.mp3, 02_Fearless.mp3, 03_Sleep.mp3, ...). I've got my ripping software set up to use that name format, but if you import music files you need to edit the names to a format similar to what I use.

The seamless compatibility with ITunes is another distinct plus for the IPod, although as other online music stores get themselves sorted out that advantage should diminish. I can't help wondering if that will become yet another example of Apple limiting themselves in the long-run by being too rigidly proprietary.

Regardless of what you get, it beats the h*ll out of brining along a bunch of CDs or tapes and having to fumble around with them while driving.

BTW, for anybody with an IPod, you can order replacement batteries from http://www.gethightech.com for about $40. Opening the unit to replace the battery voids the warranty, but the standard warranty expires after 1 year anyways, and if your choice is between voiding the warranty a little early or having a $400 paperweight...

-Dave