Audio Reviews

This is a good value, but the screen is very difficult to read in less than perfect lighting conditions. Under bright flourescent lights in the office, it is fine. The rest of the time, though, I have a heck of a time with it. The internal memory also isn't really big enough to store MP3s. I decided to go back to paper and pen.

While color is nice, the price of a color iPAQ is not worth it when compared to this unsung model. Often overlooked the 3135 has all of the same features as it color siblings, Excel, Word, IE, Outlook, Calendar, Contacts, MS Money, but albeit with less RAM 16 compared to 32mb or 64mb for the color versions. However with the inclusion of the CF sleeve, which allows you to plug in CF cards from 8 to 256mb, the 3135 is the best PDA bang for the buck. And let's not forget the iPAQ comes with Windows Media Player, making it also an mp3, wma player, and it has the ability to record voice messages. With the CF sleeve and a few flash cards one can literally carry ones music libary with you where ever you go. Compared with the Palm Pilot, and Handspring Visor, this inexpensive jewel is perfect for the enthusiast, student or professional. After spending almost 6 months researching, playing with and talking with friends, neighbors and co-workers about which PDA to get I have yet to regret my decision.

The 3135, monochrome, 16 MB version of the Compaq iPaq (all of the other reviews here seem to be for the 3600 color, 32 MB versions) is still, all in all, a pretty impressive machine.

The 3135 still has the iPaq 206 MHz StrongARM CPU, it comes with the CF flash memory sleeve, for memory/storage/communications upgrades, very fast USB connection for updates (my previous PDA was a Palm III, with serial cable link - daily sync would take 5 min on average; with USB/iPaq, daily sync rarely takes more than 20 seconds), and with Compaq support, can even upgrade its operating system to Linux (Compaq support...). The 16 MB is very limiting, though, so if you get this, plan to also buy CF memory...along with it. The advantages of the 3135 are speed, power, and price. You get a 206 MHz handheld system for [a higher price], compare that to the fastest Palm platform handheld, the Palm OS/Handspring Visor Platinum, [for less] for an 8 MB, 33 MHz unit.

The Microsoft Pocket PC OS (really CE v3) comes with MS Media Player (for MP3s - better get at least 64 MB of flash memory, though, to take advantage of that!), pocket versions of MS Word, MS Excel, MS Outlook - maps VERY well to existing Outlook calendar functions, MS Internet Explorer (with AvantGo for offline web browsing), MS Money, MS eBook Reader, and MS Access. The conduits to convert from 'pocket' versions of files to desktop are built in and pretty transparent to the user. All you have to do to take information with you is to drag your existing files to a Pocket PC 'My Documents' folder which the install program creates on your PC desktop, and ActiveSync does the rest (by the way, if you install Linux, all you have to do is to FTP files into your handheld - same thing).

The killer app for this (for me, anyway) is the MS Reader utility. eBooks are relatively small, and with my iPaq, I can carry a veritable library with me in a device the size of a pager. The monochrome screen of the 3135 is much more readable than its color (and ...more expensive) counterpart - or is this just cognative dissonance on my part? Many free books are available on the internet, from the public domain works available at...sites...I believe that even Amazon.com has an "eBooks & eDocuments" section.

This is a good value, but the screen is very difficult to read in less than perfect lighting conditions. Under bright flourescent lights in the office, it is fine. The rest of the time, though, I have a heck of a time with it. The internal memory also isn't really big enough to store MP3s. I decided to go back to paper and pen.

While color is nice, the price of a color iPAQ is not worth it when compared to this unsung model. Often overlooked the 3135 has all of the same features as it color siblings, Excel, Word, IE, Outlook, Calendar, Contacts, MS Money, but albeit with less RAM 16 compared to 32mb or 64mb for the color versions. However with the inclusion of the CF sleeve, which allows you to plug in CF cards from 8 to 256mb, the 3135 is the best PDA bang for the buck. And let's not forget the iPAQ comes with Windows Media Player, making it also an mp3, wma player, and it has the ability to record voice messages. With the CF sleeve and a few flash cards one can literally carry ones music libary with you where ever you go. Compared with the Palm Pilot, and Handspring Visor, this inexpensive jewel is perfect for the enthusiast, student or professional. After spending almost 6 months researching, playing with and talking with friends, neighbors and co-workers about which PDA to get I have yet to regret my decision.

The 3135, monochrome, 16 MB version of the Compaq iPaq (all of the other reviews here seem to be for the 3600 color, 32 MB versions) is still, all in all, a pretty impressive machine.

The 3135 still has the iPaq 206 MHz StrongARM CPU, it comes with the CF flash memory sleeve, for memory/storage/communications upgrades, very fast USB connection for updates (my previous PDA was a Palm III, with serial cable link - daily sync would take 5 min on average; with USB/iPaq, daily sync rarely takes more than 20 seconds), and with Compaq support, can even upgrade its operating system to Linux (Compaq support...). The 16 MB is very limiting, though, so if you get this, plan to also buy CF memory...along with it. The advantages of the 3135 are speed, power, and price. You get a 206 MHz handheld system for [a higher price], compare that to the fastest Palm platform handheld, the Palm OS/Handspring Visor Platinum, [for less] for an 8 MB, 33 MHz unit.

The Microsoft Pocket PC OS (really CE v3) comes with MS Media Player (for MP3s - better get at least 64 MB of flash memory, though, to take advantage of that!), pocket versions of MS Word, MS Excel, MS Outlook - maps VERY well to existing Outlook calendar functions, MS Internet Explorer (with AvantGo for offline web browsing), MS Money, MS eBook Reader, and MS Access. The conduits to convert from 'pocket' versions of files to desktop are built in and pretty transparent to the user. All you have to do to take information with you is to drag your existing files to a Pocket PC 'My Documents' folder which the install program creates on your PC desktop, and ActiveSync does the rest (by the way, if you install Linux, all you have to do is to FTP files into your handheld - same thing).

The killer app for this (for me, anyway) is the MS Reader utility. eBooks are relatively small, and with my iPaq, I can carry a veritable library with me in a device the size of a pager. The monochrome screen of the 3135 is much more readable than its color (and ...more expensive) counterpart - or is this just cognative dissonance on my part? Many free books are available on the internet, from the public domain works available at...sites...I believe that even Amazon.com has an "eBooks & eDocuments" section.

This MP3 player is all that other reviewers claim. I looked here in Australia for a CD player and found that I could order the IMP-150 for the same price i could buy a mediocre CD only player in the shops....no contest!
Frustration however when I tried to upgrade the firmware. There are apparently TYPE 1 and TYPE 2 players. That's not in the manual (nor is anything about updating firmware). Much time spent trying to flash the wrong firmware b4 I did some more research and found the difference between the two. (if your model starts up with ""1.03c" then it's TYPE 2).
If you switch off the player before the firmware update is complete the unit is dead...finished. Read the forums for evidence of that. Thankfully the IMP-150 will recognise if u try and flash the wrong firmware (simply doesn't recognise the disk) - but I don't know how reliable that is. There's no going back if you corrupt something.
I mention this only because no-one else has. The ability to update the unit is great - but there is a risk.
**** 4 stars
- the earphones are uncomfortable and don't fit well...buy some padded foam covers or keep them as spares.
- manual is good but needs to cover firmware upgrades.
- build quality is good, features (for price) are excellent.
- In Australia came with charger and 2 Duracell batteries. Nice touch!!

I've just received the ChromeX, and I love it! The sounds from this machine are crystal clear and well-balanced; I hear details I haven't heard from other systems.

The anti-shock protection is very good - I've tried jiggling and shaking the player and it doesn't miss a beat.

The 'remote' is light and has all the functions you could want. Navigating the menus on the CD player and with the remote were easy after looking at the manual, and relatively intuitive.

I haven't had the CD player long enough to know how well the batteries last on average, or to run across any problems (not that I think that I will).

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of the ChromeX from what I've seen so far:

Pros:
* Excellent sound quality
* Easy-to-use
* Plays MP3 / WMA / ASF / regular CDs (including CD-R and CD-RW)
* Stylish design
* Upgradeable firmware
* Handy little remote
* Stylish design
* Head
* Inexpensive, especially for this quality!

Cons:
* No AC adapter included (can be purchased direct from iRiver)
* No rechargeable batteries included (despite what the amazon site is included)

For this price it would be hard to find another player with all of the features and quality of this one!

I purchased this player wanting the most features for a reasonable price (of course, that's relative). When I read the specs on this particular player I felt confident that it would meet my needs - an mp3/cd player w/ navigation, decent-size lcd, random play, fast forward and rewind on both mp3 and audio cd, upgradeable firmware, and decent battery life. When I read through the user manual - it did all that plus MORE! The lcd is backlit, it displays text from cd text audio cds, and when shuffling songs, you can set random play w/in folders or even ALL folders. It supports up to 250 folders, 999 songs, and you can save winamp playlists onto your cdr and use it w/ the player. It scrolls the entire tag name on your mp3s too. A sweet player at a sweet price. I'm very satisfied w/ this purchase. Can you tell? hehe

Much and enough has been said about this unit. Was very happy with it for the 18 months I used it. Suddenly, without warning, (as with others) the on/off button ceased to function. Iriver responds with, "oh well, out of warranty and we do no repairs." Do their newer products still have this issue? Who knows, so I am moving on to iAUDIO CW300.

Just got this player last week. First thing I did was download the UMS firmware update so I could use it as a USB hard drive and not bother with the propietary transfer software. What I like:
1) small and light
2) sound is good, default setting of 20 is loud enough
3) uses cheap, easy to replace aa batteries
4) 256 MB holds 5-6 cd's at 128kbit/sec
5) can be used with linux or any OS after firmware update
6) fm reception is surprisingly good
7) battery life is pretty good (20 hour rating)

8) firmware can be updated, hope for Ogg Vorbis support
9) no restrictions on file transfer after UMS update

However, apparently iRiver just released a 700 series of players, which has the following advantages over this model (similar price point):
1) 40 hour battery life rather than 20 on 1 aa
2) built-in Ogg Vorbis support (higher quality sound, no patent issues)
3) USB 2 interface rather than 1 (MUCH faster)

If you want a player for the subway or the gym, don't need to carry your entire music collection with you at all times, this is a very good choice.

I researched MP3 players for weeks before buying one. I read professional reviews, and customer reviews like those on Target, and Circuit City websites. I found MP3 players break down into two basic types:large-storage, and small-storage. If you are one of those people who wants to store 10,000 songs on a player, your gonna spend around $500...i suggest the ipod. If you're like me, and you come home at least once a week, you probably don't need 700 cd's at your fingertips at once. A few cds, and a radio will do you well at the gym or during your commute. Then your looking for a quality MP3 player with the following:

1. Good sound quality
2. Good Radio Reception
3. Intuitive buttons
4. Ample Storage (128MB - 512MB)
5. Reasonably long Battery Life
6. Durrable

This is the ONLY MP3 player on the market that has all those at a reasonable price. It is exceptional in design, and has FM Radio, Recording of voice or radio, plays MP3s, WMA, and WAV files, and can double as a mass storage device.

Tips: If you are not technically savvy, call a friend who is to help you get set-up on your computer. If you download UMS firmware it will convert your player into a mass-storage-device...you 'll never have to use the iRiver software again. You can download it at www.iRiver.com. Go to Firmware updates.
Convert all your MP3s from 128kbps to WMA 64kbps. You will not notice a difference in the quality, and you can fit twice as many songs. I suggest JetAudio to do this. It's free, and easy to use. I have the 128MB player, and I fit 3 CDs + 25 Favorites (total of 60 songs), and I have 10MB free for radio recording.

Lastly, when reading reviews. Be scheptical of those who say "it works great, but the battery life sucks"...and like phrases. I don't know who grows these people, but we can't defy the laws of physics. The battery will run out, and a device can only use so-little-power. It's like buying a car and being dissapointed because you have to buy gas once a week. Go to Costco, buy a 100 batterys for 20 bucks, keep a spare in your pocket (like change) whenever you take out your mp3 player, and you'll never curse the player for needing energy to run. Go to ZDnet.com for professional MP3 reviews. This IS the best small-storage player on the market for the money.

For me, this mp3 player is great for holding all of my music- I downloaded all my Cd's and still have room for more.

My problem is this: When I unplug it from teh wall to take it out running, it plays, then dies after one song. I replaced teh rechargeable batteries, but it keeps doing the same thing. It just freezes up and I can't press any buttons. Then I have to wait until it says "shutting off, not in use" before I can try turing it back on again.

Just some additional notes after using the player some more, to add to my previous review.

First, I was incorrect when I said you could not delete songs and playlists on the player itself. You can, it's just buried on a totally different menu, so that you have to jump back and forth from your active playlist. I guess this is for safety's sake, but it sure makes deleting a pain to do. But you can, that's the good news!

Second, Creative has just released a firmware upgrade that does address a number of issues, and really makes this player rock! The firmware not only lets you use WMA files, it adds the fast forward and rewind feature, louder sound, and gapless playback. This upgrade is a must-have if you get this player!

Still can't bump my review rating up to 5 stars, since battery life still stinks. But this definitely strengthens my recommendation that this is an MP3 player well worth having.

I've been waiting for something like this for forever. I've gone through my share of MP3 players, minidisc players, walkmans and discmans, but so far nothing has had the versatility that the Nomad Jukebox has. My problem is that whenever I travel I insist that I can't survive without bringing my entire CD collection, and it's annoying (and risky) to lug around that many CDs. Minidiscs provided a solution for a while, but it was to much hassle to spend so much time recording & editing the minidiscs manually without the help of a computer program. MP3 players like the Rio 500 & Nomad II are great for day use & jogging, but most of the time 1 hour just doesn't cut it. MP3-CD players don't seem worth it to me because you still have to buy a CD burner & carry around CDs. The Nomad Jukebox is for people who want a MASSIVE amount of music (6 GIGs, 100+ hours, which is 100x more than most Mp3 players, at around the same price) for use over a long period of time or at home.

The Jukebox comes bundled with software for PlayCenter 2 (for the PC) or SoundJam (for Macs) to use for ripping CDs & Mp3s from your computer to the Jukebox. It also comes with decent headphones (loudness is NOT a problem) & a carrying case, plus all the necessary equipment for setting it up. Setup is pretty easy, and using the software is a lot more intuitive than I though it would be. It takes me around 5 minutes to rip a CD from my computer the the Nomad. The best feature by far is the OMD description searcher-- if you're online while your ripping CDs, the OMD finds the album name, year released, genre, artist, & ALL the track names, so you don't have to type anything in. You can also rip Mp3s from the Nomad back to your computer. The songs in the Nomad can be categorized under Albums, Artists, Genres or Play Lists to make it easier to navigate. It supports data, mp3, wma, and wav files (plus many others). You can download updates [from the web] for better software or firmware for the player, so even if something isn't perfect now, in the future improvements will be available. The player also has an infrared port on the front for future additions (like a remote control). It comes with 2 hours of free music (mostly classical) and some Audio Books. It includes jacks for line-in recording from radios, microphones or stereos, and line-out hookup to stereos or speakers.

Of course, the Nomad Jukebox is a very new kind of Mp3 player, so it has a few MAJOR flaws:

1) BATTERY POWER- Hard Drives tend to suck up an endless amount of power, and that's exactly what the Jukebox is-- a Hard Drive disguised as an Mp3 player. You can ONLY use the 4 rechargeable batteries that Nomad gives you (AA size) to run it without the AC adapter, and those only last around 2 hours by themselves. Nomad includes an extra set of 4 to replace them, but you always have to make sure they are fully charged. Maybe in the future there will be more options (battery pack?)

2) WEIGHT - It's around the size of a first-generation CD player, and it weighs around 2 lbs with batteries. This isn't really a problem for me, but it depends what you want to use it for. It's not meant for use while jogging or biking, etc-- it's more for use over a long period of time away from home, on the bus/plane/dorm/in the car, or at home, plugged into the AC adapter and a pair of speakers. Besides the weight, in my opinion, it looks VERY nice- it has unique, smooth design, coloring and shape (and the LCD screen is easy to read).

The Nomad Jukebox is the best in its category of high-capacity Mp3 players-- It holds 100 times more music than a normal Mp3 player, and its price has been drastically reduced, making it a lot more affordable than it was before. Overall, I am very satisfied with it. It is the best option for anyone who's ever wished they could bring all their CDs with them without actually having to CARRY them... and I think that I will be using it for a long, long time from now.

I just recently got an ipod with my 2003 Beetle. I must agree with one of my fellow reviewers that it is a bit of a nightmare for windows users. I have to take my ipod to work with me just to put music on the thing. As far as playing music the ipod does an excellent job, everything that the ipod promises it performs. Not to mention how CUTE it is. An ipod is a great investment if you are a music lover.

Just got it about a week ago. Took me a few minutes to get it set up on WinXP (but already had a firewire card). Now it works great! My main gripe are the blank spaces between continuously mixed or live CD's. I get around it by ripping the CD as one huge mp3. You lose the ability to skip songs, but you can use the wheel and navigate through by time... That works ok... Hope Apple fixes this. The headphones sound great, but I don't think they're well suited for sweaty environments (gym, etc.). Bought some different ones. Not a big fan of Music Match, but it gets the job done. Didn't like Ephpod, and may try XPlay. It's my first Apple product, and I like it a lot. May buy more, who knows? But minor gripes aside, I love it. I already have tons of music on it (with 11.5GB remaining!). Wow... Glad I bought it!

Spending [the money] on an iPod was perhaps one of the smartest investments I have ever made. Yes, I've succumbed to buying into the Jobsian music revolution. For those that aren't like me, a veteran member of the Apple cult, the iPod is essentially a digital music player, with serious space for the serious music aficionado.
Getting the device to be recognized by my iBook was a breeze. To do so, I merely had to connect the dock with my laptop, and drop the iPod into its dock. iTunes, Apple's digital jukebox software, immediately took over, and proceeded to transfer my entire library to the iPod - a seamless process.
With 15 gigabytes of hard drive space, the tiny mp3 player managed to hold my 100-album CD collection. I filled the remaining space with my many Dave Matthews Band bootlegs, which calculated at a whopping 700 megabytes apiece.
Like many other Apple products, the iPod is very intuitive, and very user friendly. The face of the device includes a touch sensitive scroll wheel, and four buttons used to maneuver through menus, pause and play music, and switch from one track to the next. In addition, the interface of the iPod is neatly setup in a folder format, sorted by album, artist, genre, and song title. Like navigating through a hard drive on a computer, finding music on the iPod is a simple process.
Many music enthusiasts proclaim that the death of the compact disc is near, and that digital music is the future. If this is the case, I have seen the future, and Steve Jobs has taken me there.

I was so excited by this product - conceptually it's all I wanted. However, it's a case of great idea, bad implementation.

1) It's not loud enough. If I can't hear normal volume music when walking my dog on city streets, then it doesn't cut it. I couldn't hear music in a store either with volume full blast. My panasonic cd player has no problem with this - I'm not deaf or anything - it simply seems designed for use in quiet rooms. Forget using it at a gym where they might be playing their own dance music or something.

2) It doesn't scan through songs - you can only skip from one song to another. This is contrary to what the box says (although the manual confirms that it doesn't scan). In this day and age, how can you do without this feature???

3) It doesn't recognize regular wav files - only mp3s.

4) Sound quality is inferior (if you care about this sort of thing - I do) to the DACs in most modern portable audio devices (again, my Panasonic portable CD is wonderful).

If they fixed all this, I'd reconsider, but for now, I took mine back and received a full refund. Not yet ready for prime time.

I have had my Nomad for approximately 6 months. I'm nuts about it. I've filled up the 6 GB hard-drive and now have to delete something in order to add something. This has prompted me to want the 20 or 30 GB upgrade package available as a drop-in unit. I'm telling you, this is the best piece of home/portable stereo equipment I've ever had. I use this thing in my car, at the office (hooked up to some PC speakers), and at home (hooked up to my stereo system (via Radio Shack adapters). It allows me to keep my CD's in great shape, since they stay in the closet in their protective cases now. Designing Playlists is a snap using the Creative Labs software. The bad points: 3 - 4 hour battery life (A Radio Shack car-adapter can remedy that). Every now and then I'll hear a click or static type noise in the playback. I can live with that also. The plus' far outweigh the minus'. Thanks Creative for making a fine product.

While my Nomad Jukebox's structural integrity depends heavily upon duct tape, it still works like a charm. I've managed to break it a few times, and it was always pretty easy to repair just by ripping off the fuzzy things on the bottom and unscrewing those delightful miniscrews to reveal the magical guts of the player. Sometimes it gets fussy if I start and stop and start and stop like 3 different songs, but that's what the reset button is for. My only complaint is that USB 1.1 just seems so slow these days, I wish there was a magic wand that would all of a sudden give it some firewire capability.

I can't believe so many people love this product. I love electronic gismos and rarely need to use instructions to figure how to work things. It took me for ever to figure out and too load maps. Once I got it working, it worked ok, but not great. Besides being hard to set up, it had three major problems.
1) Poor user interface. Hard to figure out how to use. Can't use while driving.
2) Short battery life. I many times lost important data because battery ran out too quickly.
3)SD card slot doesn't hold card well. I loaded east and west coast maps into device. Went on vacation. When I came home, I used it as GPS and wondered why no detailed maps where there. My card fell out without my knowledge.

I decided to get the Garmin iQue 3600 since I needed a new Palm anyway and liked the idea of having a portable GPS for hiking and travel. Here is a brief summary of my two-week experience:
Price - very reasonable for such a bundle.
Convenience of use - very good.
Memory - an SD card is a must. The internal RAM will get you nowhere since it is all taken up. I bought a Panasonic 512 MB SD and I don't regret it. Now I have plenty of room for maps, MP3 music, third-party Palm products (including memory hogs such as dictionaries and e-books).
GPS performance - as good (or as mediocre) as you can expect from a hand-held GPS. Very good when holding horizontally outdoors, reception lost when putting in you pocket, lost when going indoors, reasonable on a car dashboard.
Software - well, you know Palm OS with all its quirks and inconviences, but this is Palm, nothing to do about it. Unfortunately, Garmin's device-specific software (Que) is no better. Worthless documentation, unhelpful Help, and some quirky procedures (most notably in Tracks and Audio).
Most troublesome point - absence of external battery pack. What is the use of a portable GPS if you can't take it on a decent half-a-day hike? Palm's own Power-to-Go is incompatible. I got Power Runner (look for it on the Web) and it is excellen t on all accounts, except for being a bit heavy.
In summary, iQue 3600 is the best of its kind, simply because it is the only device of its kind at the present (for this reason it is also the worst ...). Be prepared to spend $... on the unit,another $... on a SD card, then another handful of dollars on Power Runner, then perhaps another handful on a Car Kit, and you are ready to go.

Update 11/4/2003: Garmin Released a 2nd version of the system software on 10/24/03, which supposedly fixed the spontaneous hard reset, the MP3 caused crashes, voice guidance issues, among a slew of other problems. ..... I've used the unit since the upgrade for 10 days, and so far it's crashed once under heavy use. It's felt much more reliable as a navigation unit as well as a personal assistant. I'm tentatively upgrading the rating from 2 to 4 stars. Without its self-destructive behavior, the thoughtful tools and information available on the unit (albeit being outdated at times) are indispensible to a traveller, and they provide an invaluable sense of security. It's something that you may not want to be without once you have it. It's also better than most other guidance systems out there I've tried, including laptop units. Crashing issues aside, other "complaints" remain, though most of them are relatively minor, considering most other GPS units have their own set of compromises. I'm getting ready to recommend this unit to friends and family after trying it for few more weeks, and I hope it becomes more affordable.


10/20/03 I have anticipated this unit for months ahead of the release. It is difficult to say that it has been worth the wait. In fact, I don't think it's a very mature or stable product for a wonderful concept. I travelled extensively after getting this unit, and I found it unreliable at best. Here is what I think:

Likes:
-convenient QFind which lets me find just about anything I want within my current location, with decent accuracy.
-color hybrid screen that works under sunlight with the backlight off to conserve energy, also has an active write area that hids to enlarge display area.
-palm functionality
-integration with address book, and a find via address feature that worked better than the older (GPSV, eTrax Legend, emap) Garmin units that I've tried.
-repetitive voice prompt that ensures better guidance.
-SD flash memory expandibility

Dislikes (serious ones, skipping minor gripes here):
-crashes like mad. It resets several times daily, in various circumstances, and no clear pattern either. and yes, it does crash during navigation.
-loses data without warning. In fact I just lost all my data overnight, with power in the battery and no crashes last night, and I'm travelling. Now that's just a disaster, don't you think? I suppose it's designed to travel with a laptop and a cradle?
-GPS acquisition time is unusually long, much longer than what other Garmin units I tried. It usually takes at least one minute, even if I did not change location during the off time. I often find myself stopping the car waiting for it to acquire.
-the audio player is a sure bet for crash, so much so that it's unusable, unless you enjoy poking the unit with a pin.
-battery life is somewhat limited, but I think enough people has harped on this. I got a car cradle so it hasn't been as much a problem, but without the cradle it's very limited as a GPS guidance device. It will quit in less an hour, but it does have neat battery save feature in that it can guide with screen off, and come back on with voice prompt at turns.
-some inaccuracies in the map locations and directory listings. It could take a while before we find something that actually exists, but I guess it's better than not having any reference at all.
-Did I mention it crashes like crazy?

I would have wholeheartedly embraced the product. The Quefind feature is a fabulous tool for travellers. I could find restaurants, shops, car rentals, parks, etc. etc., and it is invaluable during travel. However, losing data and crashing while navigating is more than irritating: it's simply dangerous and potentially disasterous. There's no excuse for the kind of reliability issue it suffers now. It has to be fixed for it to be a real usable product, rather than an expensive, stillborn concept.

I received a new iPod 30GB for Father's day (Thanks Sweetie!). I've used about a dozen or so prior mp3 devices, and I have noted some issues that haven't been represented in any other review, which I wanted to point out to folks considering buying an iPod.

First off, it's a great device overall. 30 GB is a lot of space and fits my 500+ CD music collection fine. I think the battery life of 8-10 hours is great (my previous device, the Nomad Jukebox, had 40GB, but got 2 hours battery life if I was lucky!) and I like it's looks and size a lot. There are some mildly annoying UI issues but nothing I can't live with. The case, and most importantly the screen, scratch really easily, so you have to be careful how you handle it (it's small enough to put in your pocket--just don't keep anything else in that pocket!).

I'm a Windows user, and I'll add my report that the MusicMatch software that ships with the iPod is disgraceful. I loaded it on three different computers, (moving the firewire card around each time) and it never would transfer music to the device. Finally I downloaded an *older* version of MMJB and got music to transfer. Its own user interface is awful and I really hate that it makes you IMPORT all of your music into ITS library. It's clearly designed for the novice user, with no expert-mode features that accommodate folks like me.

But the biggest criticism I have of the iPod is something that Apple just plain got wrong. There is no support for building [persistent] playlists on the device. This really bothers me. It's apparent that iPod's designers had a built-in assumption that people wouldn't mind being tethered to their computers for playlist management and other things, but not everyone works this way. I tend to not hook my device up to a computer unless I have new music to download, which can be weeks. I really want the device to be usable indefinitely without a computer.

But there's one important thing you can't do very well on the iPod without a computer: Create playlists. Yes, you can add songs and albums to the "on the go" playlist, but there are some serious flaws with that feature's implementation:
a) there is only one on-the-go playlist
b) this playlist is temporary. It is blown away the instant you dock your device (why, WHY? This is such a brain-dead design choice it boggles the mind.)
c) when adding entire albums to this playlist, the album order is not respected. They seem to go in either alpha or random order, I haven't figured it out yet.

This makes it tougher to use the device the way I want. I'd like to be able to string together either a list of individual songs or, more often, entire albums and listen to them. But the albums go into the playlist with the song order wrecked, which is annoying. And having to abandon a list I've already created to be able to create a new one is truly annoying. And it's heartbreaking that, after I've put together a really good mix on the device, it will be summarily discarded the instant I dock. I truly can't understand the rationale behind this one.

So on the whole, it's a good device, the best out there for its combination of size, capacity, and battery life. There are some annoying problems that might detract from your enjoyment a bit if you, like me, find album order important and like to create custom playlists anywhere you are. But even with those flaws I'm glad to own mine.

Many portable MP3 players have hit the market in recent years but few have been so well executed as the Apple iPod. With sleek looks and a huge storage capacity for music files (MP3, AAC), Audible audio books, and other files, this player still beats all the other ones out there.

What I really liked:
- huge storage capacity
- nice looks, feels great in my hand or pocket
- absolutely LOVE the scroll pad so I can go through thousands of songs in an instant
- above average battery life (approx. 8 hrs)
- Firewire (a/k/a IEEE 1394, iLink) connectivity is FAST (noticably faster than USB 2.0 when transferring large amounts of data)
- can be used as a removable disk for data backup purposes

What I didn't like as much:
- pricey
- no color display, although this would probably come at the expense of battery life
- case and screen scratch easily (make sure to use a case!)
- no USB cord included for those without a Firewire port

If you received the MusicMatch software with your iPod, make sure to check out Apple iTunes (both for Windows and Mac), as it integrates much better with the iPod (both made by the same company, makes sense right?). iTunes also includes the iTunes Music Store where you can download songs for less than a buck each.

In short, iPod and iTunes is a combination that is truly hard to beat!

Have had my 30 GB iPod since November 2003, and am still loving it. Very few complaints - the sound quality is excellent, the user interface is easy to use, and the syncing with iTunes works flawlessly.

Probably the best feature of the iPod is the easy to use/navigate user interface - it's a snap to find the song you want quickly or build a playlist on the fly. It's also nice how the statistics from your iPod use such as number of times each song is played, date last played, and ratings (0 to 5 stars) carry over to iTunes and vice versa. The smart playlists from iTunes also work, so, for example, I have a playlist on my iPod of all songs rated between 3 and 5 stars which haven't been played in the last month. Pretty nifty.

Highly recommended - a little pricey, but you won't regret it - I get way more use out of my iPod than I did from my first MP3 player - a flash memory based one with a mediocre interface and small storage capacity.

PS: The iTunes Music Store is cool!

I own a Nomad II 64 MP3 player and it has broken for a second time - the warranty was only 60 days, and shortly thereafter, it stopped working, so I had to send it back and have it repaired for [$$$] (on the phone you can only talk to customer service reps, not technicians, and none of them could ever tell me what happend or how to prevent it from happening again in the future). The repair came with another generous 60 day warranty. The repair lasted about a year, and now it is broken again (in a similar but different way) - and I have always been very careful with it and it has never been physically harmed. Now that it is broken a second time I don't see the need to put more money into it, only to have it break again.

As an owner of the original Nomad player I am regretting the purchase of this product. It holds the same amount of music as the original player, the FM tuner reception is worse.. USB connection is better than the Nomad's but is still rather sluggish...and where the original Nomad included the rechargeable batteries and docking station in this version both are upgrades. The main difference between the players being upgraded LCD display/control with backlight, upgraded EQ control, more FM presets(If you can't get clear reception, who cares?), increased play volume, and the best new feature the wired remote control. My advice to anyone considering the purchase of an MP3 player would be to hold off for another level of technology, try out the original Nomad, or another manufacturer.

The unit broke a year after I bought it. I wouldn't buy another player from Creative Labs because it is too fragile. I only used the unit at the gym a few times a week. The first thing that broke was the wired remote, which I found to be very useful. The menu on the unit is easy enough to figure out, but rather slow to navigate. It takes several steps just to check the time. I liked the behind the head ear phones, they don't pinch my ears, but I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. The ear phone sound quality is just average. I'd have to say the quality of the product as a whole is just average.