iPod questions

[ed29]

I am going to be buying an iPod soon so I can have tunes on my travels. I have decided to go with the iPod over the less expensive brands on good advice about warranty support, and after market accessory availability. My options seem to be down to choosing between the 3rd gen Nano and the 6th gen classic.

My first question is about capacity. the Nano has 8gig while for 50 bucks more the Classic has 80 gig. How much music do you have loaded today on your iPod? Is 8 gig enough long term? My first inclination is to go with the 80 gig, but it seems like over kill. I mean, my laptop has 80 gig of disk to use for Winblows, all apps, pictures etc, and it is only half full.

Is the smaller size of the Nano and advantage or disadvantage, and how so?

If either unit is in the map window of my tank bag can the controls be used through the clear plastic?

[NX2000]

I've had a 3rd Gen Ipod, (still works but battery won't hold a charge overnight anymore), a 30gig 5th gen, and I now have a 16g touch. I've never used more than 3gig for music, and thats a lot of music. On the last 2 I've used more space for videos, but never more than 8gig. One of my daughters has the new smaller nano and I kinda wish I had that for trips and the gym.
I have a armband case for my touch that has plastic over the screen. The touch screen works through the plastic on that.

[DFW_Warrior]

I have the 80G classic and would recommend it over the Nano. Don't worry about not having very many MP3s right now. Come over to my place and you will soon have enough to fill your entire hard drive twice over. Then not to mention that you can load movies, TV shows, and more on it so when you're on the road you can bring a little bit of home with you if you so desire.

Right now, my Ipod has a little over 30gig of just music loaded on it.

And yes, I can work the controls through the plastic, it just takes getting used to getting the right "feel" for it.

[tomf16]

Ed, you'll probably get lots of answers and opinions on this. I would personally recommend spending a little more and getting the 8Gb iPod Touch. With it, you can listen to music, surf the internet at wifi hotspots, play games, use almost any iPhone app, and you can even make voip calls off of it (with the addition of a microphone and software already available). Apple is getting ready to make an announcement of some new hot product in the next couple of months (supposedly a newly designed touch) if you can hold out. BTW, I have an 80Gb classic, 1 Gb shuffle, and 512mb shuffle currently. I'm holding out to see what Apple comes out with.

[D'artagnan]

Ed, you'll probably get lots of answers and opinions on this. I would personally recommend spending a little more and getting the 8Gb iPod Touch. With it, you can listen to music, surf the internet at wifi hotspots, play games, use almost any iPhone app, and you can even make voip calls off of it (with the addition of a microphone and software already available). Apple is getting ready to make an announcement of some new hot product in the next couple of months (supposedly a newly designed touch) if you can hold out. BTW, I have an 80Gb classic, 1 Gb shuffle, and 512mb shuffle currently. I'm holding out to see what Apple comes out with.

+1 on the touch, but I would go for the 16G or even the 32G. You may be thinking all you want is to listen to music. I was thinking the same thing when I was looking at them. I decided, since I was going to have this for a while, to spend a few extra $$ and get touch. Have not regretted it one second. I have really come to like all the extras the Touch includes.

8G holds all the audio I could listen to in at least a week. The 16G and 32G models provide the memeory for all the other features I have come to use.

Podcasts. I probably listen to poscasts more than music now. Name your subject, and someone is podcasting about it. There are a lot of crappy ones out there, but there are some real jewels as well. Side Stand up is a pretty good motorcycle show, and they are available as a podcast.

Movies - I've got movies I shot with my camcorder on my iPod, and one or two I got from iTunes. I'll probably copy some from my DVD collection in the near future. The touch has a great screen for watching video.

Picture - I have tons of pictures on there. The software puts on all the music, podcasts, etc. you want on there. If there is any space left, it loads what pictures it can. Now I don't have to trick friends into coming to my house so that I can torture them with photos from my latest adventures.

WWW - If you are in a WiFi hotspot, you can surf the web. No not as easily as with a laptop, but if you are out and about, and need some bit of info, it sure comes in handy. The new software update has added maps, mail, weather, and a few other goodies. Have not had a chance to play with these, though.

[BMWbabe]

The controls do work through the plastic even with gloves on. I like all the ipods but the smalller nano won't slide around so much (I stuff with tissue) and doesn't sling off the bike in case it takes a nap...hehe.

[drroccostein]

I would recommend a Creative Labs series over the iPod, just because they have FM radio's in most of them. Nice in the Morning on the way to work listening to you favorite talk station and traffic reports.

[BMWbabe]

It should be said that iPod touch screen won't work through the plastic and it won't work with gloves on. That would make a difference to me. The click wheels do work but not perfectly, not always. Still worth it.

[RedPill]

The advantage of the Nano is the size. It fits nicely in a shirt or jacket pocket without having the feeling of carrying around half a brick. That said, I have a 2GB Nano, and it's not big enough. Maybe an 8GB would be, maybe not. Nature abhors a vacuum.

[Hemibee]

I've got the 80g classic and wouldn't have anything else. I looked at the others but selected the 80g. Right now I've got 19g of music on it but that was after I removed a bunch of duplicates. I'll be adding more in the next few days when I charge it again.

[Chirpy]

If you have the space, buy bigger. You'll discover Handbrake and VisualHub and all your excess capacity will disappear...

[Squeaky]

...but that was after I removed a bunch of duplicates.

Good point - I have an off-brand 2G MP3 player, but found that when I started creating my own playlists, many had duplicated songs that gobbled up more space. I don't like listening to one artist, one genre, or a shuffle of everything - I make compilations of songs that fit a mood or a scenario and for that, I need more space than if I just loaded all of my songs once.

YMMV. ;-)

[DFW_Warrior]

Good point - I have an off-brand 2G MP3 player, but found that when I started creating my own playlists, many had duplicated songs that gobbled up more space. I don't like listening to one artist, one genre, or a shuffle of everything - I make compilations of songs that fit a mood or a scenario and for that, I need more space than if I just loaded all of my songs once.

YMMV. ;-)

And what's great about the Ipod and Itunes is you can have multiple playlists using the same song and it won't create duplicates of that song on the device. It just links up the song already on file and puts it into the playlist for ya.

[aharbi]

Older eyes like the larger screens.

[Squeaky]

Great job guys. Now y'all have me wanting an iPod. :giveup:

[Jbay]

Ipods are great for music, but ...

Itunes is the spawn of the Diablo, you will be cursing Jobs under the same breath as Gates shortly

what started out as a simple music player has morphed into movies, TV shows, Pod casts, ring tones, etc, anything to make money, with lousy Windows support

want a single library for all users? might as well search for the holy grail; sure you can now set a path to a library (external drive), but be warned you will be editing XML files or consolidating libraries and losing all your album covers and metadata, song gaps, etc

what I can't download a song until I upgrade to the latest version :hack:

protected files wont play on my zumo :shooter:

I can upgrade (some) of my files to DRM free and higher bit rates :argh:

you will lose a bunch (10%?) to formating and album covers (one for each song); but you dont need your entire library on the Ipod

unless you are downloading Desperate Houswives

[DFW_Warrior]

James we do agree on that at least... Itunes is truly a love/HATE relationship.

It does some really awesome things, but other things have me beating my head against the computer screen.

[ndmiller]

I have a 60GB IPod with video and have about 55GB of music in my entire collection. It's pretty cool to be able to take all my CD's with me anywhere I go. I use it:
-in my alarm clock to wake up to well anything I own.
-on my rides to listen to well anything I own.
-on vacation and during back and forth travel to listen to anything I own.
-etc you get the point.

It's not that it's an IPod per say as any large capacity player would offer the same advantage. Go on Apple or another manufacturers website and buy from their refurb outlet...doesn't matter but go LARGE you won't regret it.:zen: :zen:

Noah

[budzrex]

I like to download Podcasts, there are some good show out there
several are moto related. I usually listen to music on the bike
on long rides but during the workday its nice to listen to a good
show about bikes to let the miles roll away

[whoa]

Ipods are great for music, but ...

Itunes is the spawn of the Diablo, you will be cursing Jobs under the same breath as Gates shortly

I agree. You can flash the ipod for additional formats like OGG, plus free yourself of itunes making a nice player without the baggage.

[kurt]

I like my nano, but seldom use it other than for bicycle rides. iTunes is the cause of that. Now I just buy my music in MP3 format from Amazon and play them over my zumo. As an added bonus, I can add them to my nano, but it sure doesn't work the other way around without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

[DFW_Warrior]

Now I just buy my music in MP3 format from Amazon and play them over my zumo.

What is this "buy" you speak of?:giveup: :rofl: :rofl:

[bluedogok]

I have an older 40gb iPod and newer 160gb iPod Classic, they are the only Apple products that I own. I really wanted a Creative Zen before I got the 40gb iPod, every display that I looked at had the metal front popping off and most had the headphone jack broken. The main reason that I went with the iPod was the available accessories, power cords, remotes and cases are easy to find due to the aftermarket. The best thing is the available RF remotes, I can have the control on the handlebar and it works with the iPod in the tankbag or in a jacket.

I don't have much of a problem with iTunes, in fact I have grown to prefer it as a music player over the others. I rarely buy digital music, I still prefer to buy the CD and rip my own in the bitrate that I want and without DRM. That way I also ALWAYS have a backup in case anything happened. I scour the used CD stores and have found many for a good price and it is just one more to go into a 600 disc collection.

[ed29]

See now that makes sense. I loaded iTunes on my laptop and already ripped all of my CDs to MP3 instead of the Apple proprietary format. As I understand it the MP3 will work in the iPod, as well as any other device I may choose later.

A slight hitch in my cash flow this week keeps me from running down right now today and getting one. After considering the advice here it looks like the 80 gig classic is going to get the nod. I checked the refurb site, and the savings is significant, but the reduced warranty is concerning. 90 days on a refurb, one year on a new one. The longer warranty along with the knowledge that the refurb has already broken once while in service take the shine off of the lower price for me.

Maybe if my garage sale Saturday is a huge success I can go and get one that evening. Anybody need a 7.5 horse outboard motor?

[DFW_Warrior]

As I understand it the MP3 will work in the iPod, as well as any other device I may choose later.

You would be correct.

[X1Glider]

If you want and are satisfied with the MP3 format, an IPod seems the way to go. MP3 is also a more universal format used by a lot of other devices out there. If you like another format such as WMA, as I do, the IPod is not the player to get. The WMA format is superior in a lot of ways. Better frequency response, better dynamic range, better channel separation, better signal to noise ratio and doesn't sound "compressed."

As for capacity, get as much as you can afford. You'll fill it up before you know it. I like to rip my CDs at the highest bitrate available for the best sound quality which will eat up your capacity quickly. Some will say "such and such" a bit rate is acceptable. As a musician, I have spectacular ears. I hear flaws in full fledged CD recordings. Then there are those who only listen though ear buds and it doesn't make a difference then. If you have a component like an A/V receiver or car stereo that has an input for a "MP3" player, you will notice a sound quality difference. So a high bit rate is necessary for my satisfaction.

It actually saddens me to see so much fantastic music being massacred by garbage sound quality these days. It seems there are so few people left who appreciate awesome sound quality. Plus, there are bands that go to great lengths to program the absolute perfect sounds for their instruments, compose intricate, layered passages and then record it using the best equipment with the best engineers. It's actually an insult to the band that created the music. Of course if the music sux to begin with, then I could care less. :rofl: These MP3 players will be the death of good recordings. Not much incentive to go to those lengths if the majority of the population is "ok" with low quality, compressed file formats.

[bluedogok]

I pretty much only use the iPod for riding/traveling and have a hard drive at work with all of my digital music files loaded on it to listen there, mostly with the Etymotic ear speakers. For "true" audio listening at home I still listen to the CD (or SACD/DVD-Audio). I make CD copies for use in the car. On the bike or in the office where I can't turn it up too loud and listening through headphones/earbuds the MP3/AAC format (ripped around 192 kbps for space savings) it is fine for me. I like "big" music and can tell a difference in silence surroundings but I figure with all the other background noise while riding I can't hear much of a difference, if you can you probably have it louder than you should for riding.

I use the AAC format (192 kbps) on the iPod for space savings but still have a mix of AAC and MP3 file formats on it. File size was more of a concern when I had the 40gb but with the 160gb it isn't an issue now. I have re-ripped most everything in both formats since I have a mix of the iPod and a couple of MP3 type players.

[1TallTXn]

a +1 on getting a refurb model.
Apple offers the full 1yr warranty on refurbs, it just comes in a brown box instead of the pretty one. The 2yr extended warranty is still available.

I like having all of my music with me. Not such a big deal on local trips, but when out on the road, its nice to be able to jump to a genre thats totally different then what I was wanting when I left.

[D'artagnan]

I like to rip my CDs at the highest bitrate available for the best sound quality which will eat up your capacity quickly. Some will say "such and such" a bit rate is acceptable. As a musician, I have spectacular ears. I hear flaws in full fledged CD recordings. Then there are those who only listen though ear buds and it doesn't make a difference then. If you have a component like an A/V receiver or car stereo that has an input for a "MP3" player, you will notice a sound quality difference. So a high bit rate is necessary for my satisfaction.

I'm not a musician, so my ears are not trained to pick up on the things you hear, I'm sure. But when I am listening to my iPod, I am traveling, either on the bike or in the car. When on the bike, I am using foam earplugs, and there is wind noise in the background. Add to this I am listening through a couple of 1" (or smaller) helmet speakers, and it seems to me a lot of the things you appreciate in the higher bitrate formats would be lost.

[ed29]

Hmmm.... The Apple web site was my source of information on the 90 day warranty for the refurb iPod. Cost savings through the Apple web site on the model I am zeroing in on is all of forty dollars going refurb verses new. Shopping around I can get new from Amazon for ten bucks more than Apple refurb.

I appreciate all of the advice and information given here. Thanks everyone.

[X1Glider]

I'm not a musician, so my ears are not trained to pick up on the things you hear, I'm sure. But when I am listening to my iPod, I am traveling, either on the bike or in the car. When on the bike, I am using foam earplugs, and there is wind noise in the background. Add to this I am listening through a couple of 1" (or smaller) helmet speakers, and it seems to me a lot of the things you appreciate in the higher bitrate formats would be lost.
Actually, I was kind of just complaining in my post. I just have a problem with inferior audio quality and it's unfortunate that MP3 formats are more popular and prevalent than higher quality recordings. There's a whole generation that will never know and appreciate excellent sound quality. It's completely lost on them because they ONLY listen to music through iPods with cheap earbuds and cellphones. Perhaps excellent sound quality will one day become extinct because the masses don't want it and the people who do will be such a small percentage that the good stuff will no longer be offered.

Surprisingly, I was able to take a high quality set of over the ear, cup style Sennheiser studio headphones with the padded surrounds and place them in my helmet. They have 1.75" drivers and a thin ribbon tweeter. I just removed the headband. The whole cup fits into the helmet with just a little bit of whittling away of the styrofoam and was set in place with a liquid polyurethane that cures with the presence of air. Was I ever happy with being able to do that! I'll never get them out again though. I don't wear my foam plugs with that helmet because those padded surround cups keep out all the wind noise. Added bene is I don't get the "earritation":rofl: of the foam in my canals. I hear traffic just as well as I do with my other helmet and foam plugs but I get excellent sound quality even a low volumes. The weak link is actually the Dell DJ20 player. How good can those little player's amplifier sections really be? Not that great.

As for the high bit rate. It's a plan ahead thing. If I go across the country and take tunes with me, I can plug into a friend's home system and get good sound quality. The lower bit rate would be noticeable. Also, at work, I can bring the files in and enjoy the quality with my headphones. And if I get a car stereo with an input jack, I can be assured of good quality sound as well. So, I don't don't treat my files as if I'm only going to be listening to them in a harsh, noisy environment where the quality won't be noticed.

The sad part is I don't listen to music much on the bike. I get on and listen to the exhaust note 99% of the time.

[Tchuck]

Ed,

I started out with the 60 gig Classic. In three years here is what I have. I have 145 gig of music on a USB hard drive, 27 gig loaded on the Classic...the heart cut of the music I really like. I have a stereo that has a Ipod classic docking station...no more loading CDs. I have the JBL and the Bose speaker docking stations one in the garage on one in the bedroom. I travel extensively on planes, so I bought a 1 gig shuffle for travel. It holds 300 songs and will last 18 hours. When you have a lot of music, I have found that the Classic is easier to manipulate when it only has the music I like. 27 gigs is 51 days of music. Plan on buying replacement earphones, the ear buds supplied are uncomfortable after an hour or so. I have Westone ear canal ear phones. There are other very good earphones that are comfortable. Shure and Etymotic are also good brands.

[1TallTXn]

Hmmm.... The Apple web site was my source of information on the 90 day warranty for the refurb iPod. Cost savings through the Apple web site on the model I am zeroing in on is all of forty dollars going refurb verses new. Shopping around I can get new from Amazon for ten bucks more than Apple refurb.

I appreciate all of the advice and information given here. Thanks everyone.
they may have changed it, but when I got mine (2yrs ago now) I got the full 1yr warranty (90 days phone support, 1yr parts/labor) extendable with their AppleCare plan to 2yrs of both.

[bigboy292000]

I guess I'll throw a wrench in is harmony by a different opinion:

I have had iPods. I am sorry, but the iTunes and related junk that Apple has a tendency to slip on your machines is unacceptable.

When 2nd gen Zune came out, I now have an 8 and 80 GB Zunes. I too do not like MP3 format and prefer higher bitrate WMAs. Definitely owns MP3 in sound quality. Plus the screen is bigger than on the Classic.

Plus having a radio is just cool. Especially when at the gym for example. You can tune into the TV sound. Yay for watching TV with no sound!

I will also say that the Zune Pass experience blows away anything that iTunes has. But this is only if you do not care to "own" the music. Paying a small monthly fee and being able to download almost anything you want is actually quite cool and encourage one to explore music landscape a lot more than you would do otherwise!

So if it is between iPod Classic and Zune 80GB - IMO Zune is a clear winner at this time.

[DFW_Warrior]

You can tune into the TV sound. Yay for watching TV with no sound!

Never knew that. I don't know if I'd use it, but that's still a really cool feature.:trust:

[Rcdd]

I guess I'll throw a wrench in is harmony by a different opinion:

I have had iPods. I am sorry, but the iTunes and related junk that Apple has a tendency to slip on your machines is unacceptable.

When 2nd gen Zune came out, I now have an 8 and 80 GB Zunes. I too do not like MP3 format and prefer higher bitrate WMAs. Definitely owns MP3 in sound quality. Plus the screen is bigger than on the Classic.

Plus having a radio is just cool. Especially when at the gym for example. You can tune into the TV sound. Yay for watching TV with no sound!

I will also say that the Zune Pass experience blows away anything that iTunes has. But this is only if you do not care to "own" the music. Paying a small monthly fee and being able to download almost anything you want is actually quite cool and encourage one to explore music landscape a lot more than you would do otherwise!

So if it is between iPod Classic and Zune 80GB - IMO Zune is a clear winner at this time.


+1 on the Zune...First Gen 30Gb here......FM radio built in.....no piracy BS built in (oh sorry, we all pay for all of our music, I forgot)....Only down-side if the quirky Zune software......

I've seen the 30GB run under $100 several times over the last few months.....Much better bang for the buck than the IPood (yes the spelling mistake was on purpose)....:rider:

[jbh]

I just got the new Iphone. Very cool device, like having a fully functional computer in your hand that connects via cell network, 3G faster speed, or wireless network, the fastest.

I put it in my tank bag under the window and I can't get it to work with my gloves on, it is heat sensored. Also don't ride around for 2 hours with it in the tank bag when it is 100 degrees because that device gets real hot in the sun. I stopped at railhead to get some food and make a call and it said that it must cool down before it could make the call. It was very hot (its black so it absorbs the sun rays).

Doesn't the classic ipods use a hard drive, not flash memory? Would that be an issue on the bike?


I had used Sandisk cheap mp3 players before and they were fine as long as you don't have to hit many buttons while driving. They also sell in line volume controls you can plug in between your device and the earphones to adjust volume on the fly if you can't access the device while driving.

Once I get my new big ear in ear headphones I plan to go the Simmons route and put my portable XM player in the tankbag through the window (antenna included). We will see if I can get that to work properly.

Ed,
What are you using for speakers?

[bluedogok]

Doesn't the classic ipods use a hard drive, not flash memory? Would that be an issue on the bike?
It hasn't been for me, my old 40gb still works even after a 100 foot ride tumbling around in my topcase when I crashed.

I had used Sandisk cheap mp3 players before and they were fine as long as you don't have to hit many buttons while driving. They also sell in line volume controls you can plug in between your device and the earphones to adjust volume on the fly if you can't access the device while driving.
I have one of those as well, bought it to use as a radio at the F1 race in Indy last year, I use it for mowing for the most part now. Good little unit for the money. The accessories is why I chose the iPod, I have an RF remote on the handlebar so I can adjust volume, FF/RW or pause/play from the handlebar.

[Manfred]

It hasn't been for me, my old 40gb still works even after a 100 foot ride tumbling around in my topcase when I crashed.

The key to hard drive survival is being off or parked when it gets a shock. If it's spinning when the hits comes, it's trash.

[jbh]

The accessories is why I chose the iPod, I have an RF remote on the handlebar so I can adjust volume, FF/RW or pause/play from the handlebar.

That's a good solution. I did not know they existed.

[Ixta]

Ed, I prefer the tiny iPod shuffle for riding - the postage-stamp-sized clip-on model. I route the headphone wires down through my left sleeve and clip the shuffle on the top edge of my jacket sleeve. This places the controls within easy reach and the wires aren't in the way when getting on & off the bike. The tiny one is only $49 and holds a couple hundred songs. Battery life is very long (8+ hours) and my rear end fails long before the battery.

However, the Shuffle does not come with a stand-alone charger. It must be charged from a powered USB.

It probably goes without saying, but earphones are the most critical piece. I really like these: http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i.aspx Shop around (like Amazon) and get a much better price than retail. I fly quite a bit with my job and prefer the Etymotics over the Bose noise-canceling headphones.

Happy hunting,

Joel.

[bluedogok]

I bought my Etymotics at Buy.com (http://www.buy.com/retail/usersearchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=etymotic&qxt=home&display=col). I prefer the foam tips instead of the silicone ones, it is more like the foam earplugs.

My 40gb was in the topcase because the battery had died after a long day of riding the sisters, it rained almost all day so I didn't want to use the power cord to the cig. lighter on my Sprint on the way home. Most of the time I never am on the internal battery unless it is raining.

The remote that I use is the iJet with Bottom Dock (http://www.ijetwireless.com/iJetBottomDock.htm), they also have some that works on the Nano which is a flash memory based unit.

[1TallTXn]

I bought my Etymotics at Buy.com (http://www.buy.com/retail/usersearchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=etymotic&qxt=home&display=col). I prefer the foam tips instead of the silicone ones, it is more like the foam earplugs.

My 40gb was in the topcase because the battery had died after a long day of riding the sisters, it rained almost all day so I didn't want to use the power cord to the cig. lighter on my Sprint on the way home. Most of the time I never am on the internal battery unless it is raining.

The remote that I use is the iJet with Bottom Dock (http://www.ijetwireless.com/iJetBottomDock.htm), they also have some that works on the Nano which is a flash memory based unit.
ER6i's and the iJet are a big :thumb: from me

[emsdaddy]

Going to put my vote in for the Zune with the zune subscription... for 14 a month (14 songs if you pay for them) you get all you can eat from a very impressive catalog of music. I put my eye patch away a few years ago and decided to pay for what I use (just a personal thing for me, not anyone else), so when I saw the sub I was pretty excited. Has allowed me to completely change out my music whenever I want (and have the patience to change 10 gigs of music. Regarding space, I have found that I can't listen to much more than that, I use the other space for pictures of the kids and movies... Also travel for work, so dropping movies on there is great for the plane, about a gig a movie with great quality using software from pqdvd.

Best part is with the original zune you also can have a poop brown (witha neat fungus green underneath) mp3 player that is rarely mistaken for anyone elses.

If you are friendly with other adventurous folks, you can put 3 zunes and 3 computers on one zune account (4 and change per folk, per month)

For headphones I use the bose QC2 headphones at work and on the plane (amazing!!!!!), on the bike I use a set of shure E3's. They make a foam tip like an earplug that lets you block sound and listen to the music at a much lower volume than other buds I have had or in helmet speakers.

Sorry for the novel, too much coffee and not enough to do this morning.

Eric

[Trinity]

A couple of things to add to the discussion:

(1) The size of your electronic music library is directly related to the sampling rate of your music as you encode it. Personally, I use a high sampling rate which compresses less and to my ear, sounds better/"fuller." (I also use higher end headphones.) The down side of this is that the higher sampling rate consumes more space on your drive.

(2) Like or dislike the iPod, it has such a large market share that there are FAR more aftermarket accessories, cases, remote controllers, speaker systems, etc. for it.

[Texfire]

One concern with the HD based MP3 players is vibration. Some people report early failure when directly mounting a HD based player to a motorcycle.

I use a radio remote which is mounted on the handlebars, and keep the ipod on my body. I'm hoping that I'm acting as a buffer on the bike.

I've heard the same problems with the iTouch and iPhone, which being flashbased would be ideal, but the screens are capacitance which requires bare skin to operate, and are not compatible with remotes for older ipods.

[1TallTXn]

One concern with the HD based MP3 players is vibration. Some people report early failure when directly mounting a HD based player to a motorcycle.

I use a radio remote which is mounted on the handlebars, and keep the ipod on my body. I'm hoping that I'm acting as a buffer on the bike.

I've heard the same problems with the iTouch and iPhone, which being flashbased would be ideal, but the screens are capacitance which requires bare skin to operate, and are not compatible with remotes for older ipods.
the Nano would be a far cheaper solution than the touch/iPhone. Plus you can get the previous gen 8gb for $100 as a refurb :deal:

[X1Glider]

I don't think I'll be considering a new one until the solid state (flash-type) hard drives are more commonplace and come down in price. No moving parts to suck down power like current motor-driven hard drives. That should also leave more room for a larger display.

[Texfire]

the Nano would be a far cheaper solution than the touch/iPhone. Plus you can get the previous gen 8gb for $100 as a refurb :deal:

Except I have over 80gb 5th gen ipod that's almost full as it is. The 32gb Touch and iPhone come closer to letting me have most of my music with me, but 64gb would be better. Going down to 8gb would force me to be pretty choosy on what I put on it. I've considered it, but at that point I might just as well get a bigger flash card for my Zumo instead.

My current setup works okay for now. I can change the volume, stop and start it, and change tracks. If it gets more involved than that, like changing playlists, then I'm going to pull over anyway.

[WoodButcher]

You mean multiple cards for the Zumo. It's limited to 1000 songs. If you've got more you need to spread them over multiple cards and swap them.

[DFW_Warrior]

I don't think I'll be considering a new one until the solid state (flash-type) hard drives are more commonplace and come down in price. No moving parts to suck down power like current motor-driven hard drives. That should also leave more room for a larger display.

What's funny is that I've had three flash type MP3 players die out on me over the past two years and my Ipod is still going strong. And the battery life is very, very good IMO. On a full charge I can get around three full days (12 hr) of riding in and still have life left on it.

My buddy with an Ipod touch says he's lucky to get 12-16 hrs out of his before it is beyond dead.

[WoodButcher]

Helps if you disable wireless on the touch. Otherwise it is always looking for something to connect to.

[Chirpy]

Some people report early failure when directly mounting a HD based player to a motorcycle.

Huh? Maybe if it's on Buell handlebar, and you dump the bike :rofl:

Honestly, laptop hard drives are pretty doggone tough. I can see where a rigid mount on handlebars might be less than ideal, but I doubt that was the cause of death.

Helps if you disable wireless on the touch. Otherwise it is always looking for something to connect to.

Kinda like a teenage boy?

[DFW_Warrior]

Kinda like a teenage boy?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Texfire]

Well I record my MP3 files at losless 192k so they run about 1Mb/Min. Given an average length of 3+ minutes, I'm not worried about hitting that song limit until I fill up a 4Gb card.

[Texfire]

What's funny is that I've had three flash type MP3 players die out on me over the past two years and my Ipod is still going strong. And the battery life is very, very good IMO. On a full charge I can get around three full days (12 hr) of riding in and still have life left on it.

My buddy with an Ipod touch says he's lucky to get 12-16 hrs out of his before it is beyond dead.

I suspect that part of that is flash technology is still evolving, while HD technology is ancient in technological terms. I agree on the battery life though. I can run my iPod all day up to a week depending on usage.

[GTgirl]

I have the 80g classic and love it. I have around 3000 songs loaded as well as movies. And I am not even close to being full. The downfall wiith the Apple is that I am unable to load ebooks from my library at this time. Therefore I have a Microsoft Zune. I like them both equally. The Zune is a little easier to operate with gloves on. Whatever choice you make....I sure it will be the best one for you.

Delores

[Texfire]

So Ed. Which did you finally get?

[Texason]

I would also like to throw out there that the Classic only comes in 120G size now.

[ed29]

So Ed. Which did you finally get?

I got my dog's ear operated on to the tune of $600.00 since he needed that more than I needed an MP3 player. The toy/accessory fund got depleted, but I am making my usual semi-monthly contribution to myself, and will be getting the classic soon. It has all of the features that I want, along with aftermarket accessory support.

I am juggling whether I want to get this first, or a new digital camera. Both are on my list.

I was informed last night that Samsung has a new player that I should be evaluating too.....

[Loyd]

ohhh, cameras!!!! We've been oogling some of those too.

[Tx Rider]

Good point - I have an off-brand 2G MP3 player, but found that when I started creating my own playlists, many had duplicated songs that gobbled up more space. I don't like listening to one artist, one genre, or a shuffle of everything - I make compilations of songs that fit a mood or a scenario and for that, I need more space than if I just loaded all of my songs once.

YMMV. ;-)

That's why I use one that takes SD cards and fits in my pocket or clips to it with the belt clip.. I can have several SD cards in my pocket, and swap out 2g cards of different music any time, or listen to the built in radio. But they discontinued my model. Each little postage stamp sized SD card is like 3 CD's and only a few bucks.

I liked it so much I bought a second one for a spare. The first one is still going fine though, and I think I bought it in '04. Takes one AAA battery that lasts a whole day or so and I use rechargeables.

My three mp3 player requirements are...

1) it has to take memory cards
2) it has to use batteries so I don't have to recharge on long rides or camping
3) it has to have controls I can feel through my gloves and operate with gloves by feel so I don't have to look at it.