Audio Reviews

As a music junkie, this is a must own. I've had the iHP-120 for about 2 months now, and I go everywhere with it. Record sounds/speech thru it's internal mic or plug in your own mic, the recorded sounds can be saved in mp3 or wav format at a quality level set by you. Playback files of ogg, mp3, wav, wma format. The internal firmware that controls the player is upgradeable from iRiver.com.

If you only need the basic features and like something sleak and stylish, the iPod is probably a good bet, though i have honestly scoured the net for reviews b4 i chose my player, and i have read a lot of complaints about the iPod malfunctioning or breaking down.

A huge plus of the iRiver is that you can just plug it straight into your computer and it'll read as an external hard drive, no hassle with installing dodgy music management software. This machine fully deserves to be called the iPod's leading competitor, and in my humble opinion, it should be considered the benchmark for all others.

What can I say about the IRiver, it's simply the best. The combination of features, storage size, and ease of use makes it hard to beat.

The player comes with a leather case, headset, headset extender, a/c charger, USB cable, and a terrific remote. The remote is very easy to operate, and costs $35 to buy seperately. But it's included with the player.

The FM tuner works great. There's upgradeable firmware, which is good to have. All the sorting and organizing features are easy to use, and the menu is simple and precise.

20GB storage size, you already know what that means. But what's great about this player is it's ability to act as a true storage device. Transferring songs to the player is so simple, no MusicMatch or any other software needed. It's a true drag and drop system, like any other hard drive or storage device. You can use your own folders and simply drag them onto the player. The transer speed through USB 2.0 is lightning quick. And you can use winamp to create up to 200 playlists, can't get any easier than that.

This is what a high capicity mp3 player should be. The design is convenient. It looks great. It has a multitude of useful, easy to use features. Buy it, and you won't regret it one bit.

I have had my iRiver for about three weeks and I absolutely love it. I have nearly 1000 songs and still have nearly 17GB left. I love that it can read OGG files which are good quality and space saving. From what I know of other mp3 player I have found that this is by far the best because it has an internal and external microphone and a FM radio. The only things I don't like are that once you put a song in it you can't gain space back once it is deleted (kind of obvious but still disappointing) and (this is why you shouldn't buy this product) that iRiver is coming out with the H300 series in America soon (is already released in Japan and Europe) which is nicer looking, a color screen, same space and I think that it will be the same price. The other thing I wish it had was the ability to create a play list anywhere with no host computer but that doesn't bother me much. Overall this product is great and I love it, but once I can get the H320 I will buy that.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; calendar; notepad; contact database; clock; backlight with timer; alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive.

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; a calendar; a notepad; a contact database; a clock; backlight with timer; an alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create on-the-go playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive!

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

It's So awsome!!!!! I listen to it all the time and love the sound quality. It is so light and durable compared to the regular ipod. I have loaded 400 songs on it and my biggest problem is which song to pick. Loading cd's and downloading songs are also very easy and dont take very long. Overall it is awsome!

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; calendar; notepad; contact database; clock; backlight with timer; alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive.

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

The iPod mini is built from the ground up as a portable device for people with fast-paced lives. It's small and lightweight physical dimensions are perfectly suited to be being placed in a pants or shirt pocket without being a burden.

But don't let its light weight fool you into thinking the iPod mini is a pushover. The 4GB hard drive (3.7 GB actual) can hold about 1,000 songs - enough to last almost three full days. The installed software includes four games; a calendar; a notepad; a contact database; a clock; backlight with timer; an alarm clock; and the abilities to customize the main menu; create on-the-go playlists; and rate songs. All this is in addition to being able to be used as an external hard drive!

However, the most revolutionary aspect of the iPod mini (aside from it's size and weight) is its control interface. Incorporating the 'Menu', 'Pause/Play', 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons directly to the touch sensitive scroll wheel not only creates simplicity from a design standpoint, but form a user one as well. Accessing these controls is a breeze. Thankfully the touch wheel is designed well enough that accidental pressing of a control is unlikely to occur since you have to press down a bit to activate the button. I'd actually like to see the entire iPod line adopt this interface.

Some people complain that the iPod mini is only slightly cheaper than the 20 GB iPod and offers a lot less storage space. But what you loose in storage space you gain in portability. It is also important to consider that compared to other players of its size and weight, the iPod mini offers much more storage space, many more features, and a better music jukebox in iTunes 4.0.

I want to carry the most music I can in the smallest possible device that offers the best interface and features. For me, that device is unquestionably the iPod mini. If you have similar demands of a portable music device, the iPod mini is sure to become a permanent accessory to your lifestyle.

It's So awsome!!!!! I listen to it all the time and love the sound quality. It is so light and durable compared to the regular ipod. I have loaded 400 songs on it and my biggest problem is which song to pick. Loading cd's and downloading songs are also very easy and dont take very long. Overall it is awsome!

I had this player for a couple of months (4) when the headphone jack went out on me. Intel gladly returned it. One year later, the exact same thing happened. Even tho the warranty had expired, I felt this was a major "flaw" and they should help me out. I called customer support and because they no longer make these, there is no support. I LOVED the thing while it worked...

I am comparing my experiences to my use of the Rio 500 mp3 player, which I recently replaced with the Intel Pocket Concert due to storage constraints.

1) Look/handling: I'm not one for flashy looking things, but the Intel unit is a good size and easy to handle. The belt clip is handy (Rio did not have one) but I do miss having a case for it, which I understand I have to purchase separately from Intel.

2) Plug and Play Ability: The set-up and installation of the unit was flawless. I was listening to the unit as soon as I pulled it out of the box (it comes pre-installed with a few mp3s and a walking tour of the unit). The Intel file transfer software is several thousand times easier to use than Rio's. My one complaint is that you cannot reorder the songs once they are on the unit. I haven't used MusicMatch Jukebox, which came packaged with the player, to upload files to the unit, but for now the Intel software is more than adequate.

3) Sound quality and usage: The volume on the Pocket Concert is incredible. I had problems with the Rio in that I couldn't get it loud enough to hear well over a train or city traffic noise, which is a problem, since I use it to commute to work. The Bass/Treble controls are adequate, although I miss having pre-sets, which the Rio had. The bookmark, random and repeat features are fine. The volume control is at the top of the unit, and separate from the scroll wheel which controls settings; I appreciate having it set up this way. It is much more functional than combining them all on the side of the unit, which Rio did.

4) Storage: I am getting 23-30 songs on the 128 meg internal storage. This is pretty much what I expected, since I was getting 9-13 on the Rio with mp3s encoded at the same rate (128 or 160). This is more than adequate for my commuting and exercising needs.

5) FM Tuner: I'm not getting tremendous reception on the Pocket Concert, even in and around downtown Boston where the signal is the strongest on any other walkman type unit. But I didn't buy this for the radio!

6) Battery life: This is the one downfall to this unit. It is eating batteries like crazy. I think that if the scrolling info on the face of the unit could be controlled, it would cut down on the battery drain. The Rio upgraded its firmware to be able to cut down on scrolling and the amount of data shown, and even on the amount of time the backlight was lit, and I found I could extend battery life quite a bit if I cut down these settings. I think this is definitely one area Intel needs to look at. I get on average about 6-7 hours on a battery, whereas on the Rio, it was over 10 and close to 12 or 13 hours on a regular basis.

7) That annoying hiss: Yes, I do notice it, but only between tracks and in a quiet room. If you're using this to work out, jog or commute (which I do) then you'll never know it's there. I would assume that it's fixable with a firmware upgrade, since several people on the internet have complained about and returned the product without a noticeable improvement.

I look forward to firmware upgrades which I would assume are coming. As an Intel shareholder, I'm proud of this product, and haven't gone anywhere without it for the last 10 days!

The Intel Pocket Concert was my third MP3 player in a week. Yes, you read that right. The problems I had with the Rio 600 and the Kazoo made me very leery of low-end MP3 players, so I decided to hit the big time and pony up for the Intel Pocket Concert (aka IPC).

I'm very glad I did. The IPC is a superior product, delivering excellent sound quality and portability with fewer hassles than any piece of electronic equipment I've ever owned. I especially like these features:

* full-bodied, rich tone

* wide range of sound levels, from barely-there to ear-blasting

* comfortable, high-quality headphones that don't leak sound

* large built-in memory

* tiny enough to fit into a purse pocket

* supplied Musicmaker software easy to use

* aluminum case sturdier than cheap plastic

The only real quibble I have about the IPC is that its FM reception is abysmal. Purchasers in desperate need of a good FM receiver should look elsewhere.

It's also not easy to find the accessory pack in Canada (even at shops selling the IPC) - and retailers who sell the accessory pack online (including amazon.com, oddly) won't ship it to Canada. Outback.com will ship the accessory pack along with the IPC, but not separately! Lord knows why this is the case, but fill yer boots, there it is. Canadians should either buy the accessory pack separately at Amazon and have it shipped to a US address, or buy the IPC bundled with the pack from an online retailer like outback.com. (The accessory pack includes rechargable batteries and a dock/recharger, as well as a car converter and a carrying case.)

But these are quibbles. The Intel Pocket Concert delivers superior sound (superior to most home stereo units, in my opinion) and a large memory with small size and durability. I highly recommend it.

Don't get me wrong, I think that it is a cool device. There's just so many things that they could have done to make it better.

(1)It is a very fragile product. Two of my friends have broken there iPods by dropping them no more than 2 feet. After that the hardisk gets ruined and 300 dollars have gone down the drain.

(2)Warrenty is not all it's cracked up to be. I bet a lot of you that just read #1 said "Well just go to a Apple Strore with your warrenty and they'll fix it right up."....WRONG. The Warrenty is pretty much just for a mistake made in the factory. If you take in your broken iPod with as so much as a tiny tiny dent the employees will call it a customer abuse code and they will definently not repair your iPod.

(3)To put it simple, iTunes could be a lot better in the way you upload your songs to your iPod. A lot of you will argue with that but it is, and admit it, frustrating.

(4)The battery time. I'm not just talking in life span but I'm talking in just plane daily use. The daily use is just about 4 hours long. That is pretty bad if you ask me. Maby I just got a defective battery, but I don't dare go down to the Apple Store to honor my useless warenty.

(5)The iPod DID NOT revolutiuonalize music. There were MP3 players long before the iPod. Not to mention they played cds and were pretty indestructible if you ask me.

Well that's all I have to say about the iPod. Don't just take my word for it, there are a great number of Apple Lovers on this topic to prove me wrong.

-HELPFUL PIECES OF ADVICE-

(1)Battery Time: My only suggestion to you is to not charge your iPod more than 4 hours. If you do the battery life will ware down a lot, and I mean A LOT, quiker. Also, don't charge your iPod untill it has completely lost charge, this will also increase battery life span. If your battery does stop working there is a store online that I came across one day that does actually teach you how to take apart your ipod and install a new battery, the cost is around $150. To find the web site click in "New iPod batteries" in your key word search.

(2)Warrenty: If you feel that you aren't careful enough and that you need a little insurance, you can buy an extended warrenty that will cover SOME damages you might put on to your iPod, the price is about $50. Another good way to keep your iPod safe is to buy a jacket/cover for it.

(3)Easy Scratches and Marks: If your that obsessed to keep it good looking than buy a cover for it, the average cost for a cover is about $20.

(4)No Fire-Wire Port: You can't get around this problem if you have a computer like, for example, a Dell that requires a USB port connecter. There are only two solutions to this problem. {a}Buy a fire-wire card: this solution will cost you about $40 dollars and it takes a little time to install. I wouldn't suggest this solution unless you have other products that require a fire-wire port as well. Or you can {b} buy a 20 dollar chord that connects to your iPod and then splits into a USB chord and a fire-wire chord.

(5)iTunes Frustration: OK I have been determined to find way to get around the frustrating style of iTunes and find a way to be able to load new songs into my iPod without keeping the enormous amount of songs on there as well. I saw on an earlier review that you can use "deauthorizing" to fix this problem, however he/she didn't explain what that means, so untill someone clarifies on that method here's mine. There is another program for iPod handling that is pretty much for Windows users called Ephod. It is free and easy to download from the internet. This system allows you to take songs from the iTunes library and synchronize them with your iPod. So it basically loads one song at a time and doesn't require you to have every song on your hardrive as you do on your iPod. WARNING: Make sure that you make the iTunes-iPod options to manuel or when you plug in your iPod your memory will be erased.

Well that's about all I have to say. I hope it was helpful.

Apple has really done it this time, with their iPods that are getting more and more popular every day, especially with the iPod minis, available in 5 different colors. This 15 GB iPod is so user-friendly, any non-computer genius can use it. The fact that iTunes automatically updates your iPod when you plug it in is even cooler. The only reason I give the iPod four stars, is because the iPod itself, especially the metal back, scratches very easily. This can be easily solved with the use of a case that can be purchased at any Best Buy or other electronics store in your area.

I have purchased a few mp3 players and jukeboxes before, but none of them come close to the user friendliness and quality that the iPod brings. I purchased a RCA Lyra Jukebox and a Rio 20GB Jukebox, and returned both within 2 weeks. Why? The two were jsut not quality products. The fact that this iPod is such a good quality buy is making me consider purchasing a Mac computer!

Another note: if your computer does not have a firewire port, then you need to purchase an iPod USB Dock Connector, which can be purchased at Target, Circuit City, or any other electronics store.

(This is a review I wrote for the 40GB iPod. Most of it applies to this model as well.)

What I like best about Amazon reviews is that, unlike Consumer Reports or other technical reviewers, they come from people who own the product and use it every day. Hence a disclaimer - I got my iPod a week ago.

That being said - it is awesome. My iPod is connected to my PowerBook, where I have almost 5,000 songs stored in iTunes. All I have to do is put the iPod in the cradle and it automatically syncs. The first time took about 30 minutes or so - after that it hasn't taken more than a minute or so. It's much easier than other MP3 players. (For Christmas last year, I bought my dad a Rio MP3 player. Teaching him how to load songs onto it was a huge pain.)

The sound quality is as good as it gets for an MP3. I bring my iPod everywhere and am listening to songs I forgot I have. It's also forced me to go through my music library and make sure everything is labeled properly (if it's not, it's going to be hard to find on an iPod, as it doesn't have a search function).

The games it comes with are mindless timewasters, which is what they were intended to be. The music quiz is pretty cool though. The address book and calendar functions are useful, although a bit of a pain to update if you don't use Mac's Address Book and iCal, as you can't use iSync.

The only complaints I have are minor:

-When attached to the remote control, the earphone cord is too long. While it can be tucked in a pocket if you are wearing normal clothes, it's a pain when you go to the gym or for a run.
-There's a slight pause between songs, which is annoying when listening to a complete concert.
-Like many newer cars, mine doesn't have a tape deck. Hence, the only way to play my iPod through the car stereo is through an FM transmitter - most of which have lousy reputations.
-The functionality of the calendar and address book could be improved, although I'm sure that will come in time and iPods will be fully functioning PDAs as well.

Have owned the Nomad IIc for a month and haven't dropped it yet, so I can't attest to its durability. Top rating from Consumer Reports (for the 64MB version) influenced my buying decision. The "quick setup guide" is not much help, so if you need detailed setup instructions, install the PDF manual from the CD like other users have suggested. Don't bother downloading the manual from the Nomadworld site - it's exactly the same as the one on the CD, only with some annotations. Setup was easy after reading the aforementioned manual - install the software, plug in the player, transfer the files. Have used both the PlayCenter 2 software and the MusicMatch Jukebox Nomad plug-in to transfer files; since I rip CDs using MusicMatch, I prefer using that program, but the two perform identically in terms of letting you know how much memory is left, etc. Be sure to pick up a 128MB SmartMedia card to expand memory capacity (256MB total will hold 50-plus 128 kbps MP3 files). Written documentation for inserting and removing the card is nowhere to be found, but just look at the two little pictures on the back side of the player (where the battery cover is) and the instructions are right there. Actually putting in and taking the card out is a little tricky, especially if you have RSI like me - you may need to take the battery out first! Would give this product five stars if it didn't come with a stingy 90-day warranty and those extremely uncomfortable, ear-pinching "backphones". Use your favorite pair of headphones or earbuds instead. Either way, the sound is awesome for such a small device - after all, Creative is a leader in sound cards - and the player is easy to use once you've gone through the menus and controls a few times. Have it set on a pretty low volume (around 2 or 3) and it's quite loud enough with the Sony earphones I use.
Overall, an excellent product. Just hope it doesn't conk out on the 91st day...

As an introduction to MP3 audio, I bought an earlier version of the Nomad IIC. (Nomad II) I got it as a refurbished model, no frills. I chose the Nomad II because 1) USB interface, 2) Smart Media expansion (I already use Smart Media in my camera) 3) re-programmable firmware and 4) the Nomad II has an FM tuner. (The Nomad II C doesn't have a radio.)

Others have suggested that these Nomads are a little fragile but based on the previous reviews; it looks like they hold up pretty well. At least mine works well even though I've dropped it a couple of times. It has decent sound quality for such a small economical unit. (Spelled CHEAP because it was ($$$) refurbished.) The included headphones were kind of uncomfortable to me so I use some Sony ear buds.

I like these Nomads but I must say that they are FAR from user friendly. The controls are NOT intuitive. Navigating the LCD screen takes some practice. I had to download the manual from nomadworld.com just to figure out how to turn it off and on. I'm having my share of fits with the included software (Music Match) as well. In a word, the unit comes with LOUSY documentation. Also, you can only do one thing at a time. In other words, you can only listen to your MP3 files (or listen to the radio) or check the time or scroll through your playlist one at a time. You can't do all things simultaneously.

Overall, I like the unit. It's a good value. Just shop around for a decent price. Be prepared to download information from different websites if you're intellectually challenged (like me).

Very nice little machine for the money. The software is SOOOOO easy to use, not sure why some folks have a problem with it. And I don't even know that much about computers, so the software to me was A+. Mp3 player itself is easy to operate. Easy to read display. Held about 35 of my favorite songs. Oh yeah, I even dropped it... and it's still working GREAT. Only drawback, wasnt crazy about the headphones.

The product was shipped quickly. But now I cannot get the Pocket PC to connect to any PC. I have emailed the seller numerous times about this and they will not respond to me. Amazon is abolutely no help either, they will not do anything to help me. If I ever do get the problem fixed, I will change the bad rating for the seller.

Having had extensive experience with both WinCE and Palm handheld devices, I have to say that in the past I continued to lean heavily toward Palm -- not because it offered anything particularly cooler or better, just that it met my requirements: 1) must be stable hardware & software; 2) battery had to last up to 8 hours at a time; 3) had to have applications that met my needs (now and in the future!); and 4) it had to be "sexy" (yes, I'll admit I'm shallow). To date, WinCE handhelds & palm-helds have had a hard time making inroads in my mind on several of these key requirements.

My new HP Jornada 548 Pocket PC has changed everything for me. The color is sharp and clean (yes, even with the notorious 12-bit vs. the advertised 16-bit technology), the software seems to be extremely stable, and the look of it is way sexier than even the Palm V! But probably the biggest change is the software availability that comes with the Pocket PC and from 3rd party developers. Including Pocket Word, Excel, Money, AvantGo (can't live without it!), Pocket IE, Reader (I'm in the first half of "Timeline"), and support for POP3/IMAP4 email in addition to the included Outlook Inbox -- and still leaving me nearly all 32MB of memory I started with is AWESOME!

Notice my focus on applications? That's no coincidence ... a palm-held PC has become more and more important to me, and it MUST do more than just show my contacts and appointments (something I hear a bit too much from other Palm users). My Pocket PC has become an integral part of my computing day; and will continue to be even more important over the next few years. So having top-notch applications available that are fast, user-friendly (still getting used to the new spot for "Start"), and seamlessly integrated with my desktop PC counterparts is critically important for me.

My heartfelt congratulations & thanks to the teams at HP and Microsoft ... way to go!

I started with a Compaq CE 1.0 device some years ago. Shortly after I upgraded to a Palm III, then moved to the Visor Deluxe in March, 2000. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the Visor add-ons, but felt limited on the software side. The Jornada has been wonderful! Syncing capabilities are right there with the Visor, though the option settings aren't as clearly defined as they could be. Writing recognition is head & shoulders above the Visor, the word completion option is a tremendous time saver. The display doesn't hit the 16 bit category, but it is still impressive. Outside it is difficult to view without fiddling with the settings. The display catches a lot of attention from onlookers. Software is a huge advantage. Pocket Word & Pocket Streets have been a huge help(this critique was written in Pocket Word). Small display size makes the Excel version difficult to use. The inclusion of Outlook 2000 is an added bonus. I look forward to adding Pocket Powerpoint. I was very concerned about the lack of flexibility on the power system (the Visor uses AAA's), however the Lithium Ion battery holds it's own very well. I am getting well over six hours of operation time between charges. I installed a 56k modem and the results have been great. Setup was a snap & operation speeds have been impressive. Power adapter is pretty much required with modem use. There is a noticeable lag in program opening compared to the Palm OS, but nothing that's going to cause me heartburn. Though there are a few disadvantages with the HP and CE 3, they are far outweighed by the long list of advantages. It is a definite buy.

I've had my iPod for 2 weeks now, and I must say that I'm pleased with it. I used iTunes to rip my entire CD collection of 400 CDs with ease and now I have them on-demand.

The 40gb iPod comes with the iPod itself, a Firewire docking cradle, carrying case, remote, headphones and charger. If you're running a Windows PC, it's worth spending $20 to get an internal Firewire card for your PC.

Ergonomics:
The iPod has a nice feel to it - it's easy to use (10 minutes to truly play with and I was all set without reading the manual). It's very light and fits inside my breast pocket of a jacket or shirt.

Cables and remote:
I sort of gave up on the remote. If you're like me and like to skip around randomly without the benefit of a playlist, the remote is probably not for you. It's very cool looking and works well, but it's dependant on your music listening habits. This iPod only includes one Firewire to docking cradle cable, so if you wanted to charge your iPod on the road, you'd have to unplug the dock. This irritated me and I bought the USB 2.0 and Firewire to dock cradle cable (~$20) so I could keep that in my travel bag.

The headphones:
They're sufficient enough headphones. Nothing great, but they work well.

Battery:
The battery is the only downfall of the iPod. I'm consistently getting about 6 hours per full charge which requried me to purchase the Belkin external battery module for those Transpacific plane rides.

Extras:
There's a few games on the iPod (Solitaire is always a favorite) and the ability to hold contacts and notes (which is good - just in case my Palm Pilot's batteries die). It's a music device first, not a notebook.

iTunes:
It's not bad for cataloging your music. It's able to rip your CDs at any number of rates to MP3 or AAC. The only problem I had was Gracenote putting inconsistent information within the ID3 tags of your MP3s, so I had to go back and edit that information ("Beatles" vs "The Beatles", for instance). It was easy to create the playlists and those synced over with zero problem.

Overall I give it a 4 out of 5. The battery thing is the only real drawback.

Apple's always at the top of their game - whatever game that is - and this top of the line iPod is no exception. Let's pause a moment for the analysis:

40 GB. That's roughly 40,000 megabytes. Using today's AAC or mp3 music encoding technology, a 72 minute album rarely consumes more than 80 megabytes - even at near-CD quality. What does that mean to you? Yeah, you did the math right - 500 albums. You could sit there and play music 24/7 for nearly a month without repeating. Or head down to your local club and be DJ for the night - just slip the iPod out of your pocket and plug into the sound system!

OK, so it'll hold all your music. But what the numbers don't tell you is that it holds your music in STYLE. About the size of a stack of 8 credit cards, and only a trifle heavier, this'll fit on your belt, in your sleeve, in your backpack's cellphone pocket, in your purse, or wherever else you want to put it with no hassle. The controls lock so jostling around doesn't accidently push buttons. And what cool buttons they are - the 'scrollwheel pad' and no-click touchbuttons make for an easy, fun and durable interface.

Also, the thing just looks darn cool - with its white front, silver back, and little backlit screen, it's got instant 'bling bling' credibility, day or night.

It comes with everything you need - belt clip, earbuds, dock to recharge the battery and transfer music over from your Firewire- or USB 2.0-equipped computer. But I'd recommend two additions: first, the optional FireWire cable makes this into a portable 40G hard drive, highly useful in today's information age. (I carry a copy of the human genome around on mine.) Second, ditch the included headphones and grab a pair of the Sony neodymium-magnet earbuds, model #MDR-EX70LP. They transform your iPod from merely great to INSANELY great.

Cool tunes to ya, my friend!

Apple, like any company, has issues. Their products break and they fix them...most of the time. Bottom line is that my iPod had gone through hell about 5 times, and they've replaced it quickly every time.
Now, this battery thing seems to be the biggest issue people are having. However, there is an easy $40 dollar solution if you don't want to buy the extended warranty: www.ipodbattery.com They sell replacement batteries and teach you how to install them. Easy as pie.
I doubt you'll get as good performance or ease of repair with any of the other MP3 players out there. I've tried a friend's DellPod and it's clunky, and each song plays at a different frequency. Soundcheck cuts away that problem alltogether. YOu can access the entire thing single-handedly, and it takes seconds to update your collection. 3rd party software also lets you transfer songs from the iPod, keep a calendar with events and even add new games on! Check out www.macupdate.com for all of these programs and more. The world of iTunes and the iPod is pretty fantastic and makes music really fun. I have about 7 GB of movies and 18 GB of music on my iPod, not to mention that you can even read Word documents RIGHT ON THE iPOD ITSELF! Another program allows an unlimited word limit, so you could read a 180 pg. document right on your iPod. Insanely easy to read scripts or notes or go over a draft when you're not at your computer. There are so many features that a $300-$500 investment is well worth...especially considering I've had my Pod for almost 2 years now.

I've also got a Creative Nomad, and the HipZip player [is better]. I've been eyeing [another product] for a while, but the price on the HipZip pretty much blew that out of the water ....

Pros: -The HipZip has fairly inexpensive media -The display is easy to read and shows everything you need at once -Well organized button placement -Ease of swapping media.... -Ease of transferring files of ANY type to media (does not store the OS on the media,... so you can fill it completely) -Full compatability with other Clik/PocketZip drives -Longer battery life.... -The software is minimal and painless (Iomega's sw is all-in-one) -It came with an AC adaptor (not a separate cradle) and you can get the car adaptor for only $10 from Iomega which is great for road trips

Cons/Wishlist: -I REALLY miss the radio from my Nomad -Since the display is so large, it should have a clock -It could probably be a little smaller -The 40mb size of each disk is a bit limiting, but I've read that the PocketZip disks will be available in 100mb some time this year (anyone else heard this?)

Some people have complained of the noise... It makes the same whir-and-click noise that my old Zip drive made, but it's not nearly as loud. If you're listening to music with the headphones, you wouldn't really hear it unless you had the player right up to your ear. It also has some memory built in as a buffer. I haven't been able to find out how much, but it will read the disk and throw it into the buffer so it isn't constantly reading the disk.

It does exactly what I expected. I have had no problems with the device as of yet. I take it hiking and biking and it does the job.

However, now that I have it, it would be nice if the disks were double if not triple the storage space. It's kind of a drag to change the disk in such short intervals. But again, I knew how much data they would hold before I bought it. This also means I carry about 6 disks with me at a time to make sure I have plenty of music.

It's a trade off. I didn't really want one of the bigger jukeboxes and still don't see the need. I don't want to manage that much music when I'm trying to enjoy what I'm doing. With the hipzip it's like playing a mixed CD everytime you stick one in so music management is cake.

With the improved paylist and bookmark capabilities of the newer releases of the HipZip, not to mention the $50 rebate, it's just a great value. As a Clik drive and disk user for a couple years already, I found the HipZip a natural fit for me and rarely if ever use the USB port, but just copy the MP3 or WMA files directly to the Clik disk through the Clik drive in the PC card slot on my notebook computer. The other advantage is that I can use the USB port to connect the HipZip to my desktop at work to use a drive for transferring files between my notebook and desktop. Finally, something to use all of my Clik disks with.

I would throw out the Koss earphones, don't even use them. I just plugged in my earphones from my portable CD player. Great sound with decent earphones. Very happy with the unit overall. Great software, I have used both the Windows Media Player software and the MusicMatch Jukebox software and both are easy to use. I get about about 40 minutes of play time per 40 meg disk.

Great for running and skip free.

The quality and value of this unit seems nice, however, I was compelled to return it. I bought it to listen to mp3 recordings of old time radio shows I purchased on CD-Rs. Each track is typically 30 minutes in length. I found this player to suddenly stop and start over while playing a track. This annoyance became unbearable as you are unable to scan forward or backward in mp3 mode to get to where you were so rudely cut off. The CD-Rs are perfectly replayed without interruption on every computer that I tried to use them on.

Some other observations...
1. Display is very hard to read, even in a well-lit room.
2. Because the individual tracks are labeled only by a track number, I can't figure out how the unit determines what order the tracks are replayed. When looking at Windows Explorer and WinAMP and sorting the files in every imaginable order, the order as replayed on the unit does not make sense.
3. As stated above, in mp3 mode, you can't scan within tracks. The amazon.com technical info implies that it does. I was only able to scan when playing regular CDs.
4. Included accessories make it seem to be a great value, perhaps the 40 kBit/s tracks are the reason I had trouble.

now.. it plays first track and it wouldn't willing to play next song.(mp3 files) keep searching... and searching... have to stop and play it again.. and I get to listen to the first track over and over.. press FF? tried and I'm tired -_-;
don't waste your money.. get a better one

There are smaller MP3 players out there, but they use different memory cards that are limited in capacity and very expensive. With a CD/MP3 player, you really can get 10 hours of music on a single 50 cent CD. This one comes with a car adapter and an AC converter. All you need to add are your own (rechargable) batteries. It doesn't skip and the sound quality is very good. There are a few problems that keep me from rating this at 5 stars.

1. The sound volume is poor. I took this on an airplane, and could not hear it at all. I probably can go out and get better ear phones that will solve this problem, but it should come with decent ear phones. 2. The display. I don't usually want to look at the display to see the name of the song, but it would be nice to have that option. 3. I choose this player for the "resume" function. Unfortunately, it doesn't work when playing in "shuffle" mode. So if you like to hear your songs played randomly, you have to start over each time. With so many songs on a single CD, this isn't a huge problem, but it still would be an easy thing for the company to fix. 4. It does take a very long time to start up. I'm out the driveway and halfway down the block before the music starts playing.