My kid is researching this and wants to buy one (birthday and Christmas $ saved up). I have been encouraging him to consider one of the less expensive alternatives (he's 13).
Read the WIRED report. If a Microsoft executive has to send out memos to stop them, if the MS managers trash their other players to go iPod, there's something there.
Personally, I wouldn't get anything else. My only suggestion would be that you get a carrying case, especially if you go for the traditional iPod and not the iPod Mini, since they are scratch magnets.
I think its more usable, My wife still uses her 3 year old iPod and we have no plans to replace it any time soon. I bought a neuros and it lasted me a year..
I bought one a couple of weeks ago (iPod photo-60Gb), and am very pleased with it.
I'd been using Archos players since 2001. The iPod is very light, the sound quality is good, and the user interface is really nice. Can't compare it to the others, since I've not owned them.
I wasn't very pleased at having to use iTunes to upload tunes to it, but once you learn its ins and outs, it's a decent way to keep your collection synchronised. Also, I do miss the open-source nature of the OS I used on the Archos. The user interface is extremely responsive (no boot-up time to speak of). I love having album art displayed on its screen as I play.
The battery life is decent, not spectacular (I can get 13-15 hours on mine). For long haul flights etc., there's a gadget addon that gives 50hrs playtime which I intend to buy. Other things that irritate me is that there was no remote included with it.
I reckon I'd be almost as happy with one of the others: iRiver for example. Actually, I think that the Cowon M3 seems like a great one (but I couldn't find one where I'm living). I think many buy the iPod for the fashion appeal thing (I'm not fashionable, and the reason I'm listening to music on the street is to escape society!). When I was 13, I'd have insisted on having the iPod....
Andrew
Maybe but do you want to have your entire music library locked into a proprietary system when MS and the other vendors relegate iPods to 3% of the market?
I wanted a player, but the iPods were $250+ and I didn't want to spend that much and didn't really need the amount of storage they offered.
I got an iRiver 795 instead. It's a 512MB MP3 player with an FM radio built-in. It can also be used as a recorder, to record off the radio or through its mic. They also have a 1GB version.
512MB is not a huge amount of space, but I don't have (or like) every song on earth, nor do I want to download every CD I have into it (and I don't have that many).
I will say that the little iRiver sounds great. The earbuds it comes with are very good (some players come with cheap buds that you toss right away and buy good ones).
I get most of my music from walmart.com at 0.88/song.
One difference between the iPods and the players like the iRiver are that the iPods have mini-hard drives installed (giving them much more storage), where the iRiver uses flash memory, which provides less storage, but is less fragile because there are no moving parts.
At 13, your son may not need a full 20-60 GB storage and could save a little bit by getting a mini or similar. The Creative Zen Micro (running around $235) is a pretty attractive player, IMO. Slick looks, more features than the iPod, and reputedly sounds better. Also won't lock him into iTunes as he expands his library.
If he's sure he wants a larger player, there's not much on the market right now to compete with the iPod.
>>Are iPods really that much better than the competitors?<<
I think they sound better, at least better than the ones I've used. I generally dislike Apple as a company for various reasons, but I like my iPod even though I probably overpaid for it. I'm not sure if the iPod is the only device that uses AAC files, but I've found that those rips are slightly better than MP3s, even at the highest bitrates. I have the 40 gig and have ripped all my CDs on there, and still have a bunch of room -- almost to double my collection. I've ripped them at the highest AAC bitrates.
I am not going to tell you whether or not it is wise for a thirteen year old to buy one, but I can tell you that the iPod is by FAR the best player on the market and for me well, well worth it.