Well, Ive had my ipod with me for a lil more than 10 months now and hence Ive got a real good idea abt what its worth compared with its competitors like the Microsoft Zune or the Creative Zen Vision:M. This is the 80Gb Video 5.5th Generation model Im talking about.
There is a difference between this one and the 6th Gen or the Ipod classic, physically as well as with the firmware and stuff. Now, lets put it this way, You’ve always wanted an Ipod havent you? Don’t lie to me, child. Everytime you walked passed the apple store or some electronics shop, you’ve wondered how it would be to have the player thats taking over the world by storm! Well, yes, I too fell for the same spell and ignored other better players such as the creatives and bought it.
But trust me, what you lose out by buying an ipod rather than a Zen, turns out to be nothing once you start using your ipod. The Ipod 80Gb and the Zen Vision 30Gb are similarly priced. The Ipod has a 65k colour screen while the Zen has a 256k colour screen(although the slick looks on the ipod makes it better), the zen has a radio while the ipod doesnt and a few more minor disses here and there. Ok, well, once u get used 2 the ipod interface, seriously, u dont wanna change or shift to any other player. The OS or UI or whatever its called feels so natural and so right. The way the transition of menus take place from one page to another is damn smooth and so right. Then after the initial ’ooh’ ’aaah’s, u start noticing its downsides.
It doesnt have a radio like ive said earlier, but if ur having it in ur cell phone, I see no point in griping about it. Then one day u take it to ur friends house coz he\she needed some music. Ahh, there come across a major problem. itunes lets u only put music into ur ipod, u cant take it out using it. Now u have the task of downloading some software like idump or whatever that u can use to take the tracks from the ipod. But getting the right ipod ripper here can be a problem as most arent free. Then comes the games and other applications. U have to shed out almost Rs2500 for a single game for ur ipod. ok, u may say that the ipod was meant for music primarily, but hey, arent we humans all greedy and want the best and most out of things. Now comes the interesting parts, u CAN change the basic ipod firmware and get some cool new ones where u can even play games such as the good ole Doom on ur ipod! The only problem is these changes voids ur warranty. So well, overall a real good player, like Ive said, once u get used to it, u really dont feel like using any other interfaced player. Battery lifes real good for music while not so good for videos and photos. Now the only other player you will be lusting for will be the next generation model(which is out now btw).