The apple iPod is great, FEH! whatever! we all know the iPod is the greatest thing mac has ever made, but how does it size up to the competition?

i was thinking of getting a 20-40Gb iPod, but those things are EXPENSIVE!!!! so i decided to go el cheapo and get a nice CD player with built in MP3 decoder by sony. it's nice, although i would have gotten a model with radio tuning if i saw it in the radio shack i happened to be in.

anyways, i now want a hard drive based MP3 player because my friend uses his iPod as an external hard drive to transfer files to any capable computer system easily, something simply burning a CD, making a floppy, or using a solid state usb key cannot compare with when giving your friend your 20GB music collection...not that anyone NEEDs that much music, but still, IT"S COOL!!!

so anyhow, i was thumbing through a maximum Pc magazine when i saw the creative nomad jukebox plus, that comes in a 60GB model, and still costs less than the damn iPod.

i could care less about where the buttons are (my Cd player has the worst set up!)

all i care about are just a few things:
1) can whatever you recomend be recognized by windows Xp to be an external hard disk drive?
2) is it relatively easy to transfer songs to this device?
3) does it cost less then 300-400 dollars? (i aint breaking the bank beeeyotch!)

Check out the new Ipod mini, only 4gb but a lot smaller than anything else. I myself have a 20gb zen original and just bought 2 x 60gb zen originals (not NX) for my kids xmas and was only £30 more each bought direct from creative. Softwares ok and there is plenty of third party stuff also creative have a good forum for support.

http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/

nal

You may also want to check what formats are supported. iPod supports AAC.

Let's continue discussing this in CoOp.

I-pod = naff .
I say this because it is seriously over priced for what you get .
At the end of the day most folk will use it for music , unless you are 13 years old and play the games............
On top of that , after a year (maybe a little longer) you have to take it to a dealer to get the battery replaced at the cost of £100 .
You can't buy the battery yourself , and the battery change is so difficult that , even if you could buy a battery , you would end up sha**ing the thing in the process of battery changing.
Keep your eyes peeled , a well known company are soon to release a portable unit with a 30 gig h/d , a battery that you CAN change by yourself , all for £220 -£240 ish .
It dont have the games on it , but who gives a toss ?

the mini ipod isnt worth it its half the size of the normal one and only $50 cheaper

Iriver is the best HD mp3 player IMHO Support for MP3Pro WMF and Ogg Vorbis Built in radio can record voice via mic and has optical in that will record MP3 on the fly at whatever bitrate you want. The inline remote is the best you will see on ANY player period. Sound qual is superb as is the battery life. I've owned em all folks 2x Ipod 1x Zen and other card based players. The Iriver knocks every last one of them into a cocked hat. Buy and be happy :-)