MP3 players forum: iPoll: Why did you get your first iPod?

i received a 4th gen 20gb ipod as a gift three christmases ago. before i got it i used my boyfriend's 2nd gen 20gb ipod. about six months ago my ipod broke and my cousin gave me his orange 2nd gen ipod shuffle. then i bought the silver 160gb ipod classic. and two days ago my now ex-boyfriend bought the black 160gb ipod classic which i have to load music on because his emac gave up on him.

I got my first iPod because an audio book website offered a $100 credit toward the purchase of a portable audio device if you subscribed for a year. As a long distance commuter, I really liked how easily I could purchase and download audio books to my iPod so I could listen to them in my car while I sat in traffic.

I got my 1st iPod (Photo) when the government was sending me to a hotel in Atlanta for 4 weeks, I was sick and didn't want to go, and certainly not without my music and photos. The "techie" at the office recommended that I get the extended warranty (which neither he nor I usually recommend), because "there are still a lot of battery issues with iPods"..thank you Bob, Apple has replaced my iPod twice and when it dies this time (warranty has totally expired) I will get something with fewer "issues."

I bought my only iPod, 8 gig, after my iTunes library got too big to back up on cds.

My first iPod was the second generation iPod. I was sooo cool. It wasn't really all the rage quite yet. You had to be a mac user to even use one. Everyone at school had a cd player with esp (hahahahahaha.. losers). I loved showing how simple and how useful it was to people, especially my parents. I bought it because I had at the time some 3 or 4 thousand mp3's in my iTunes and simply grew tired of reburning cdrw's when I wanted some new trax to listen to on the tram to school. I think it was 10gb and that was amazing at the time. Of course that would hold less than a sixth of my music today (and none of my videos, movies, notes or podcasts). I soon found out why people don't just walk around with harddrives in their pocket -headcrash! I killed my first iPod in a drop at the market and the third in a drop at the gap. Hard drives just weren't meant for jostling. The third iPod (a 3rd gen) lasted the longest. The iPhone is on ATT, but I'm on Verizon soooo -yeah no iPhone. I wouldn't buy a competitor though because I doubt iTunes or isync will ever support a Voyager. I was considering an iPod touch because they can't have headcrashes (flashmemory), but right now I am working with a little Coby 1gb mp3 player that doubles as a flash drive. I can run with it and I can drop it as if it were hot.

Well, I shouldnt have said I'd never own one, but I like to have a FM radio. I am very pleased with the choices I have made. My first MP3 was by ScanDisk and the latest one is a COWON.

First, I needed an audio player that would work with my new MacBook Pro. Second, I needed storage capacity that neither Creative or Microsoft offered on their players. For those two reasons, I obtained an iPod Classic 80GB. I have already found several uses for this player, including the Disk Use Mode, where I can use this as an external HDD, the iQuiz Game which helps me do more research into my music, and, of course, iTunes integration (which works very well in a "dual-platform" college campus).

In my area, there are very few stores that carry any accessories for portable players other than iPod, and those are just as overpriced as iPod's accessories. In particular, I found silicone sleeves for $10, compared to $30 for a Sandisk Sansa e250 I already owned.

Overall, I really like my iPod. I almost wouldn't want anything else, now that I own one.

I had one (80GB) video as a gift, and after hearing the output sound from Cowon...I never looked back. I use Shure SE530 molded ear canals...and the problem with most MP3 players jave which Cowom does not is...well, the audio is would fall under, -Crap. The audio coming out of them simply can't be tweaked enough to suit me. Cowon is the only playes (iRiver comes very close...Very, VERY close) to suiting my personal needs. I love iTunes, but not the iPod. I can't have both, so I went with sound rather than playlists from iTunes. I now have the Cowon 16GB iAudio 7 ...the A2 and the 60GB touchscreen Q5. Nothing...and i truly mean NOTHING iPod has to offer can replace the ease, support for files, Visuals of 720P output, 800x600 screen, and sound that Cowon has to offer. Archos is a close second, and Clix is up there too. Thank you apple for getting the ball rolling, but I'm just choosing a different path.
-Tommy Long
Myrtle Beach SC.
ww05002@yahoo.com

I have never owned an iPod but have liked some of the ones I've seen. At first it was the biggest factor because I could get less expensive players that did everything I wanted. I am still not interested in storing photos or watching videos on my music player. I finally realized that the cheap players that weren't lasting long were actually costing me more money so I decided to get something better. I didn't see anything in the features of the older iPods that made them stand out so I bought a Creative Zen Touch. It was, as far as I could tell, as good as an iPod and had a bonus: It played music in the WMA format (which is the second largest factor for not using an Ipod).
Over the past few years a very large part of my digital music has been ripped into the WMA format. Switching over to an iPod would cost me many hours of re-ripping CD's and converting music purchased in WMA format from retailers such as Wal-Mart. I am also concerned about quality loss during the conversion. That is why I bought a Zune when my Zen got smashed in November.
If I were given an iPod that has a significantly larger capacity than the Zune or had the opportunity to get one of the high end iPod's at an outstanding price I would consider switching but not until then.

i've got the music in me!

I never did get into the whole music-while-you-go thing. I listen to my music when I'm at home and don't feel the need to listen to it wherever I go. But I've not really been one for 'must-have' and trendy stuff.

Besides, if the day comes when I really must listen to something while on the go, my mobile phone is more than up to the task, as well as being able to do a hell of a lot more things.

There are so many comparable media players at much cheaper prices, more features and don't require apple format to run. Or will run any format. Apples proprietary attitude limits its uses and media played. Even Microsoft's Zune has a FM radio. And is about $100 less than an iPod.
Comon the truth is Apple spends so much on advertising their products it drives up the prices on their products just to be in the "cool crowd" It also costs parents hundreds more because their children will accept nothing less than iPod to keep up with the Jone's kids.

Apple also has a high rate of failure and returns, so grab those extended warranties because iPods come from where most media players do. CHINA

Says right on it. "Designed in California, built in China"
So your quality merchandise is all Chinese crap. The same stuff that goes into that multi billion dollar store we all know that starts with "W"
It probably costs Apple all of about $5 to make.

Nice profit margin huh?
Chinese workers make about $100 a month to make your iPod.
Hmm thats less than 1 iPod

Thank you Apple for your quality merchandise and integrity of hiring US workers to build them.

don't like proprietary gear with locked-in music format; didn't like lack of battery serviceability in first generation and never checked to see if they improved upon that; don't like high prices; have an iRiver H340 which has never missed a beat for 3+ years, and about to install new battery, inexpensive and even better than OEM battery

I would never spend that type of money on an ipod when I can get a good generic brand a lot cheaper and it is not hard to see why most people I know would not touch one with a barge pole either. Brand names like ipod and microsoft encourage people to spend more than they earn in an attempt to keep up with the Jones's. There are too many people going without decent food and clothes or not paying their bills just so they can own an ipod or some other status symbol that is shoved in their faces by inappropriate advertsing. The pressure to own these extrordinarily over over priced items is ridiculous when a lot of people cannot afford to pay their mortgage. Apple, go back to the drawing board and erase the elitist price tags and design some practical, economically affordable gadgets that will actually be of use to someone rather than just a status symbol.

Well, I received a Nano 3rd gen (4gig) as a gift. I had already owned a couple of "no-name" MP3 players and I wasn't really sure what the whole "iPod" buzz was about.

But, I was totally blown away by (in order of blown away ness):
1. The amazing sound quality
2. The great battery life
3. The great features (like cover browser)

My only complaint is getting iTunes working on my XP 64bit OS was a total PAIN IN THE BUTT (and I'm a computer tech!)! It took me over 6 hours to get it working properly. iTunes would "eject" my iPod after syncing it (with nothing), so I couldn't make any changes to the iPod sync settings. I was trying to get some music videos to sync, but low and behold, no go. I ended up having to totally remove iTunes and "format" the iPod back to factory settings. When re-installing iTunes I unchecked the box "Let iTunes Manage and Sync My iPod Automatically" and then everything works fine now, other then I have to manually click the sync and eject buttons, lol.

The only things I've bought for it (so far) is a sport arm band holder (I believe it was an actual Apple one) for when I am working out, and a set of "skullboy" headphones (they fit my strange shaped ears better).

-Jamie M.