IPod or Zen Nomad

David,

I am pretty much convinced that the iPod is the way to go. I'm getting mine today (40GB).

I heard the battery problem was corrected with the latest firmware.

I am getting oddities from the battery meter, then again its been running quite well for some days on and off.

The battery is quoted at 8 hours maximum between charges. My understanding is that to achieve this figure you need to turn off back-lighting and the alarm clock and any function that actively draws power that you don't use.

I also read that if you store uncompressed music the hard drive has to do a lot more work (650MB of disc access per album) which completely screws battery life.

"Reliability problems"

Mine is used for between 2 and 8 hours daily without a single problem other than one lock up on boot where I had to do the paper clip reset thing.

"No Stop button"

Pause then it switches off after a few minutes. Or you can switch it off yourself.

"Crap Headphones"

Yes. But so are the iPod's AFAICT. Budget £30 for the little Sony in-ear jobbies or else £10 for the Sennheiser MX200s.

"Better Sound?"

Its got an allegedly better output stage with a significantly lower signal/noise ratio but I dare say compression and headphone choices make more actual difference.

"better Windows software"

iTunes looks pretty but essentially is functionally identical to all the other choices. ITs swings and roundabouts and in my experience most people prefer the one they've used the most.

There are some teething troubles with it as well.

See http://arstechnica.com/wankerdesk/03q2/i-tunes-1.html

"better bit crushing algorithms"

AAC is a resurrected MP3.5 cast off algorithm from the MPEG people. At best its as on a par with WMA9 and not as good as the forthcoming MP4. So although it does remove the iPod's one major weakness its playing catch-up rather than taking a lead.

"Better user interface"

The Nomad has a shitty little screen and its a bit fiddly to do anythign remotely complicated. Then again I rarely use it for anything other than selecting a playlist so it doesn't really bother me. Its buttons are all very similar as well so its difficult to use without looking unless you attach it to your belt the same way up every time so you can work out which is volume and which is next/prev without looking.

Not used an iPod in anger.

I think the Notmad still shaves it overall especially as its cheaper but the AAC removes the biggest problem the iPod had so there is much less in it now. WMA is widespread enough that I can send my rips to people, or make DVD compiations for my DVD player, etc. which is not really true with AAC which might be an issue I suppose.

But there isn't much in it overall and the iPod is undeniably a much nicer thing to own so it would be impossible to argue with buying one.

BTW The one thing I'd really kill for would be a remote control option with a remote LCD and volume and next/prev/pause like they have on MiniDiscs. Note sure why they don't all have this as it seems so obvious.

HTH,
Matthew

I have the iPOD 30GB with about 27GB of uncompressed audio, I get about 6 hours of battery life. It is also possible to buy a separate battery pack which clips to the iPOD, looks inelegant but provides another 15 hours of listening for those long flights ......

Throw away the supplied earphones & get a pair of Sony MDR EX71 SL, there is even a version with white cables to match the iPOD.

Mark

I really like the ipod earphones.

I recently left them behind somewhere and bought Senn mx500's - these suck big time IMHO.

I'll try the Sony's next time.

Paul.

iPod 30Gb experiences

Once I got over the fact that MP3 players don't handle mixed CDs very well (either you rip it as one track or you accept that there will be a small glitch between tracks) I have been very happy with my IPod. One of the first things I did was buy a second firwire cable so that I could charge it up at work using the mains adaptor. Battery life is now a non-issue because I spend most of my time listening to music on the bus or at my desk and I am never more than 8 hours from a charger. I also bought the extra battery pack which I used on holiday, but like all IPod accessories it was bloody expensive(£50).

In terms of choice of software, Musicmatch 8.1 and iTunes are very similar. If you want to use AAC then you need iTunes, if you want to rip faster use Musicmatch. Generally I think iTunes has got a marginally better interface so it will probably what I use in the coming months. Comparisons between AAC and MP3 are interesting. AAC seems to have more low level detail, but I am not convinced this is not a hifi trick achieved at the expense of dynamic range. I only listen via headphones and both formats are acceptable in this case. From my experiments with other headphones I have found that Apple have done a good job in tuning the supplied headphones to suit the characteristics of the iPod. Using my Sony MDR EX70s produced a darker, duller bass heavy sound which wasn't terribly appealing. Not doubt this could be fixed by tweaking the equaliser, but I can't really be bothered with this at the moment so I will stick with the stock item. A word of warning, never leave the headphones/remote control pugged into the iPod when you stick it in a bag. The socket sticks out a long way, easily catches on things and I have split my cable near the socket and it will no doubt fail soon.
John

Definitely an iPod

David

I've had my 15GB iPod now for 5 months and absolutely love it!

Played with the Nomad the other day and wasn't too impressed. The iPod is more intuitive to use and of course its size is an advantage.

Battery life not too bad - I listen pretty loud normally using the standard headphones when travelling and normally get about 4 hours worth of music. Backlight and alarms do eat battery life though.

I think the biggest advantage of having an iPod is that it's design protected to do so much more in future -- storing pictures, voice recorders etc. Mr Jobs has a lot in store for that thing so it represents better VFM IMO.

Afzal.

Perhaps neither?

David - I get the feeling that manufacturers are now beginning to get their act in order regarding these sorts of portable players. I think there will be some sexy bits of kit coming out over the next year so if you can wait...
I'll say no more about the ipod's battery life except that even if it regularly gives you 8 hours, that really is pathetic and way below what batteries are capable of.
Simon

A fair point on the battery simon, but if you pick up a 40gig ipod and consider the harddrive and electronics, there can't be a hell of a lot left to put a battery in!

The only bummer with all these machines is putting the bloody music on the computer! I am being selective, and have got to V in the CD collection, but there is at least 150 CDS I have not bothered with just yet. If only the import could be quicker!

I havn't got to Zappa yet...

How does uncompressed output from an iPod into a Naim system err... sistem sound???

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

I have some AIFF files on the pod, through the system it sounds good, but still 'muffled' like a radio broadcast, I don't see the ipod replacing the CDi anytime soon.

I have had an Ipod for about a year now. I think it is one of the best designed most user friendly pieces of technology out there.
In terms of sound quality I have found it to be the best of the mp3 devices I have heard. I also have an Archos which I use mainly for external file storage and I have to say the Ipod beats it hands down on sound quality. AT home I run it through a 52 and 135s to Ruark Solstice speakers for parties etc and had no complaints.