Best Alternative to the iPod?
Okay, I love the design and ease-of-use of the iPod, but Apple's lack of quality control is downright insulting. My brother is on his second iPod; his first suffered screen problems, was repaired, broke again, and was replaced under warranty. My THIRD iPod (10 gb 3G) has just died; the first had an unresponsive scroll wheel, the second had a bad screen, and now the hard drive in my third iPod appears to have failed - just a few months out of warranty, no less. My iPods have always been babied; there is simply no excuse for these failures.
I don't know what to do. I still believe that the iPod blows its competitors out of the water in terms of design and seamless integration with my PC, but I find it difficult to give Apple any more money when they have missed THREE opportunities to provide me with a quality product. I suppose that I could just go out and get a 30 gb iPod photo (I have been thinking about upgrading anyways), but I really don't want to get screwed again. I could go with an extended Applecare warranty, but I'd really rather the stupid thing not break in the first place.
What is currently the best alternative to the iPod? A couple of my friends have Dell Jukeboxes, and they seem like quality devices (my Dell PDA has endured nearly two years of daily use and still looks like new and works perfectly). Any recommendations?
[1392 byte] By [
ibPoding] at [2007-11-10 15:37:35]
# 2 Re: Best Alternative to the iPod?
iRiver H320, iAudio X5, iRiver H10 [20GB], Dell DJ 20GB/30GB, Creative Zen Touch. Any of those will work.
However, what do you really want in your DAP? Line in recording? FM Tuner? Or do you simply want excellent audio playback? The more info you give on what you want, the more I can help.
# 4 Re: Best Alternative to the iPod?
Having only tested the H320 and the iPod, and since everybody has different opinions, I can't say definitively, but I'd say that the X5L would be the best DAP for both excellent audio quality, and battery life.
# 5 Re: Best Alternative to the iPod?
My wife currently owns a Pocket DJ (5GB drive), and I OWNED a DJ20 (second generation), which just went back to Dell for the final time. I had two of the DJ20's to fail, and by the time I got player #3 I was just so fed up that I had to demand (somewhat nastily) a refund, which Dell finally granted me.
Dell players are nothing but Creative players in sheep's clothing. Thus, I would look at Creative-branded players before considering the Dell-rebranded models. Pocket DJ's use a Seagate internal hard drive, which based on my research of message boards specializing in those players, is more reliable than the drives used in the bigger DJ players (those drives are made by Hitachi).
The big thing Dell players have going for them is price. You can get a 30GB player for around $200 when you hit the regular price with their frequently-offered promotions and coupons. But they're short on bells and whistles. My wife loves her Pocket DJ and it has been relatively problem-free, I think largely due to its superior hard drive. Personally, I won't own another hard-drive-based player--I currently have an iPod shuffle, and now don't have to worry about the occasional drop or impact ruining it forever.
