ipod vs. others--what's your favorite?

[illinitailgater]

I want to get my husband, Tim, an ipod for his birthday, but I am open to comparable alternatives. Who uses what, and why do you like it?

Thanks for the help!

[apollo]

i hear ipod is the best one

dells equivelant to it is horrible

cd-r compatible portables are OK , i use one , but an ipod holds tons more songs

go for the ipod

[NulloModo]

The iPod is pretty slick, but also really really expensive for what you get.

The Dell DJ is a great value, but not quite as user friendly. Anyone with half a brain can figure it out if they give it some time, they just have to want to take the effort.

Creative makes a unit called the Zen that is pretty good as well.

[Jake]

I've seen both the Dell DJ and the Ipod to me they are basically the same thing, the Ipod has a bit better interface. Some people just love to have the more popular "gadget" and will want to go with an Ipod, depends on your budget.

[apollo]

i actually HAD a dell jukebox , i addedd songs and the thing didnt even pick up 50% of them

ipods actually work so they get my vote

[illinitailgater]

Thank you all so much for your thoughts. I am leaning toward iPod, my husband actually had one, but left it on a plane last fall. I know there's other technology out there, though, just wasn't sure what it was. I hadn't heard of the Dell version, but I had heard of the Creative (?) version, and was intrigued by it.

Any further suggestions are most appreciated!

[Mary-chan]

If you get an ipod (which is an awesome product).. I suggest getting the protection plan with it (from compUSA or bestbuy or so on)... the downside to the product is that the battery may die within a year.. but if you get the protection plan, it should replace it for free (i've done this three times with mine, from compUSA).. but ask to make sure the plan covers that.

Another suggestion is to get your husband's name engraved on the back (free if you buy it from the apple website), in case he loses it again (and hoping a kind hearted soul turns it into a lost and found instead of keeping it for themself).

Since I love using my digital camera, my bf got me a "photo ipod", which stores music and photos.. so now I can bore people with my slide shows whereever I go

[illinitailgater]

Thanks, Mary-Chan, for the great suggestions.

I went with I-pod, got it from Costco. It's a 40MB one, got it for about the same price I got his lost one for, and that one was only 10MB!! Losing it was a blessing in disguise, I think. I'll be labeling the back of that puppy with my husband's name & cell # tonight! I'm hoping we have good luck with the battery, as I don't think there was a warranty option at Costco.

[Drene]

I was not willing to spend $300 on an iPod for my son(to drop, lose, or forget), so I bought a Memorex brand MP3 player w/FM receiver and he loves it. It is only 512mb but it takes SD cards(which you can find pretty reasonably priced)but the base alone holds about 250 songs, so that's really a lot of music!