Considering buying my first IPod...

[Grunberg]

After years of using my Sony Walkman 8GP MP3 player (for FM radio and playlists), I'm considering buying an IPod.

My Walkman has aged visibly, and Sony has messed up the E38x series. Other MP3 players have vanished from the shelves in favor of Sony, Apple and Eclipse.

I've never owned an Apple product because I feel like ITunes is just a middleman of getting my music copied to my device. I prefer drag-and-drop. Then it occurred to me that I use MediaMonkey to catalog my music collection.

If I cannot find a Sony Walkman from a previous series, I'm looking at the IPod Nano. Nothing big and I don't require a large capacity. I prefer black and touch screen. The mandatory installation of ITunes is the only thing that bothers me.

Please let me know of your opinions. Thanks in advance!

 

[ssddx]

i'll be the first to state that i am not an apple fan and that quite a few of the products and practices they have i do not agree with. however, i've used ipods for years because they are a solid product. i first owned an ipod nano and now i own an ipod classic.

the ipod classic has greatly impressed me. i can play music five days straight for most of a 9 hour work day without a recharge and as long as you put it in a protective case it will last you for years. mine is easily over five years old now and still going strong. the ipod nano i had was not bad however since its so thin it was a bit fragile and i ended up cracking the screen accidentally. the nano is good for strapping to your arm for running or other such activities but if you dont need the light weight such as listening at work, on the bus or in the car then i suggest the classic for durability.

as far as itunes is concerned, i agree that it does have some major downfalls such as not letting you pull music off your ipod in a straightforward manner however it does a really good job at keeping songs (bought from itunes and also added from other sources) in order with the correct artwork. the itunes store is also unrivaled in the sheer amount of artists and albumns available for purchase. they even have some indies, youtube songs and foreign works.

one nice thing is that you dont have to buy through itunes. you can add songs you purchased elsewhere fairly easy and it will automatically organize and tag them for you.

i've used walkmans in the past and while not bad i consider the ipods to be a little better. to tell you the truth though i dont use my ipod as much now as i used to. i'm rather addicted to internet radio so i end up using my phone as a player most of the time but my fallback device is the ipod which still works great.