(no subject)

[hackthis_archive]

I am considering procuring a 20GB iPod in the immediate future, however, as someone who doesn't have a particular fast connection at home, and doesn't have an Apple interface at all, I am rather skittish about the entire business, and so I turn to you lot. Tell me everything you think I should know.*

[Poll #589083]

*I have also been told that once you set up one computer as your base, you can't use other computers to upload your music without losing all the contents of your iPod. I have also been told there is a way around this. Educate me kids, because my base will not be a consistent thing, like, ever.

ETA: Thank you, all of you, for your assistance!

Comments

[tazical.livejournal.com]

I have a 20GB Sony NWD3 player, which I chose after months of research. I was very quickly put off an iPod after talking to 2 dozen+ people and finding that well over three quarters of them were disatisfied with theirs. Main reasons included: very short battery life (8-12 hours on continuous play- much shorter if you skip tracks, change volume etc which, hell, everyone does- compared to 30 hours battery for the Sony), plenty of cracked screens, which seems to be a notorious fault, a tendency of crashing or freezing for no apparent reason, expensive replacement batteries that seem to need replacing on average every 1-2 years by a repair agent only. Since I wanted to use it for backpacking I wasn't prepared to risk any problems while on the road and far from a service centre.

I've been on the whole very impressed by the Sony, although they have a lesser name in the market, having only brought out a range this year. It's a metal case- much more durable, the sound quality is excellent, battery life good, has g-shock drop protection, nice features, plays wma, mp3 and ogg files, looks fantastic and is incy wincy cute. Downsides: the software is very difficult to use (I use iTunes and transfer files to Sonic Stage when updating only) and the random play has an annoying tendency to repeat some tracks often and ignore others. Also you can't create a playlist without importing the tracks again for each playlist, which doesn't bother me much as I usually keep it on random. That's about it.

I'd recommend getting as big a capacity as you can afford, though. I didn't think I'd ever fill up 20GB, but it took me a mere four months :o)