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Underground > Radio & Music >

MP3s: CD Players vs. Ipods

Foust is SO authentic

19:27 / 22.10.04

Where "ipod" is shortform for "generic mp3 jukebox".

Being a cashstrapped student, I must carefully consider how to spend my money. Come Christmas time, with the assistance of family, I'm going to buy myself an MP3 player.

I can count on about $200 (Canadian) in Christmas gift money.

I'm trying to decide between an mp3 CD player, or an ipod. They both have their many pros and cons.

The CD player is much cheaper. In fact, if I go this route, I won't have to spend much if any of my own precious money. The cheapness has another plus - it wouldn't be so traumatic if it was stolen, lost or damaged.

Its also has its own type of flexibilty. I'm going to be traveling a great deal in the next few years; if I buy a CD on the road and don't have access to a computer, I wouldn't be able to listen to it with an ipod.

Battery life is also an issue. I've been on road trips where my friend's ipod battery has run out; keeping a handful of batteries around would give a CD player a great deal more longevity, no?

But the downsides. Oh, the downsides. It's bulky. Much larger than an ipod. And CDs will inevitably skip. I'd like to exercise with it - jogging, whatnot. Is there even any point to jogging with a CD player?

The upsides to the ipod. It won't skip, and will nicely fit into my pocket. I wouldn't have to carry a supply of CDs with me on the road, even if they are MP3 CDs and I could limit this collection to perhaps a dozen. Maybe more, I'm not sure. Of course with the ipod, I'd have more flexiblity in creating playlists.

While there is a danger of getting caught without battery power, the new 12 hour versions will last and last. I'd just have to be digilent about recharging it.

A 40 gig ipod will run about $429 (Ca). That's one hell of a chunk of money, and means I'd have to shell out about $300 of my own. Which means I'd have to spend November and December on an incredibly constrictive, possibly unrealistic budget. And if I lost it, I would throw myself from the nearest precipice.

So what say you? Who among you owns either of these devices, and is willing to fight to the death in defense of their honour?

Keith, like a scientist

20:50 / 22.10.04

I don't have an iPod, but a few more advantages to the iPod are:

1. It's an actual hard drive, so you can actually use it to take your computer files with you, back up and carry useful files. Word files, reports, projects, design, art, etc.

2. it functions fairly close to a palm pilot as well, with built-in software for calenders and address book. that's rockin.

3. you can get a mic for it, and use it to record live sounds if you are inclined.

21:55 / 22.10.04

In terms of functionality the iPod wins hands down. As far as I'm concered the only question is cost.

If I was going travelling I sure as fuck wouldn't want to carry around a trunk of CDs.

22:06 / 22.10.04

yes, do yourself a favor get a ipod.

07:33 / 23.10.04

I'll throw in my two cents here. I'm in a similar position to you and trying to decide which of the two formats to go for. The MP3 capable CD player is (most definitely) bulkier and has less techno-joy about it, but they are considerably cheaper and that is a big bonus.
On the iPod side, I personally (and I will probably be shouted down here) would tend to look at a generic MP3 player rather than an actual iPod. You pay a big premium to get an Ipod and a lot of that premium seems to be for the image, plus there is the whole battery issue with iPods.
I think personally I would look at a generic MP3 player, something like this as they are cheaper, and also available with less memory for less money. I believe you can also buy multiple batteries to extend time between recharging.

uncle retrospective

09:53 / 24.10.04

I've the 60GB version of that and it's a good player, if a little quiet. Geep away from ipods, you'll be paying for the name.

07:59 / 25.10.04

If I was going travelling I sure as fuck wouldn't want to carry around a trunk of CDs.

Well I recently hit the road, and rather obscenely ended up taking about 150 CDs with me.. (in one of those huge carrying cases).

Pretty stoopid really, but it worked out ok.

Portable CD player lowdown on the off-chance you've never owned one before: a cheap one will skip like shit all the time unless you keep it flat and motionless, which rather buggers the idea of portable-ness. With a more expensive one you can get away with carrying it 'round in yer pocket, running etc., but it'll still skip sometimes, especially with CDRs and other such homemade things.

I'd definitely go for an ipod I think. I don't own one cos my computer isn't anywhere near big or powerful enough to make it worthwhile, but if yours is, go for it.

12:13 / 25.10.04

You pay a big premium to get an Ipod and a lot of that premium seems to be for the image, plus there is the whole battery issue with iPods.

Well, the image is nice. I'm certainly not above paying a little extra for something that looks a bit nicer, but...

On a more serious note, however, if you live in the UK and you're looking for a product with a portable hard drive it's worth bearing in mind that iPods are only marginally more expensive than their rivals.

14:12 / 25.10.04

I own an MP3-CD player (Rio's venerable RioVolt SP100), and overall I'm quite happy with it. The bulk takes some getting used to, and if you're going running you'll end up holding it in your hand because eventually it will start skipping, but if you're strapped for cash, they're a good solution.

If you're travelling, the battery issue is not to be overlooked. With an iPod device, you're going to be carrying around your AC-adapter and the required plug adapters. Depending on where you're going, this can result in a lot of adapters. As you point out, with an MP3-CD player you'll only need a fistful of batteries. My RioVolt lasts 30 hours on two good quality AA's. No iPod can beat that.

You can fit about 160 songs on a CD-R. That's nearly 25 hours of music (assuming an average song-length of 3.5 minutes). You are travelling to see and hear new things. OK, if you're stuck on the overland bus from Mumbai to Karachi, your own music will be essential, but once you're there you're hardly going to be wandering about with your headphones plugged in, are you?

The theft issue you've addressed is also not to be underestimated. If you're wandering about frantically clutching your backpack because it contains thousands of dollars of electronic gadjetry, you're probably not going to enjoy your trip as much as the bloke who'll lose some dirty laundry and a $30 walkman.

Style is nice. Style makes people go 'ooo' when they see it. Compact is nice too...it's fun to think that you're carrying around 3,000 songs in your trouser pocket. But if you can't afford an iPod device then it's hardly essential forking out the money for one simply because of those two factors. If you're totally honest with yourself, there are very few occasions where you're going to really, truly need 3,000 songs.

There's all sorts of things you can do with an iPod device...some work as external harddrives or let you record conversations and lectures*. If you don't need this functionality a MP3-CD player is enough.

* A most over-rated activity. Look at the size of the mike on the iPod, and consider your lecturer's going to be a fair distance away, and possibly moving around. Now look at the size of the mike a radio reporter uses to record interviews half a metre away. See the problem?

lonely as a cloud...

11:52 / 26.10.04

I recently upgraded from a Philips Xpanium MP3 CD player to an iRiver IHP120. The CD player did its job admirably, and I have to say that it didn't skip much at all. Most portable CD players come with ram buffering as skip-protection, so while it only had a few seconds skip-protection with an audio CD, it had nearly three minutes skip-protection for MP3s (at 128kb/s, AFAIR). Of couse, there is the issue of carrying the media around with you, but I got by on about a dozen CDs carrying over a hundred of my favourite albums. If you keep 'em all in CD pouch, as opposed to in seperate cases, it really isn't that much bulk.
I am seriously loving my iRiver, though. 20GB hard disk goodness. Only thing is the battery life is nowhere near as good. C'est la vie...

15:45 / 26.10.04

I have a 15gig Ipod and I love it - however

A) I didn't own a walkman/discman/portable radio before i invest in it.
B) I use it for more than just listening toi music - its also a great portable hard drive and place for backing up your important files.
C) I own a mac and thus have less need than most to use Microsoft DRM protected audio formats.

On batteries - current Ipod batteries are now touted as lasting for up to 12 hours on one charge and the is an adaptor available that allows you power it from standard pencil batteries should you so wish.

20:11 / 26.10.04

What about minidisc players? They're cheaper than iPods, but more functional than cd players (except for the niggling detail of being able to buy cd's on the road and be able to listen to them).

I think my housemate has one of these and he swears by it.

08:34 / 27.10.04

Or at least, has one of those until someone bids for it successfully...

10:04 / 27.10.04

Minidiscs are fine: smaller and cheaper, yes. And for portable recording a much better option - you're not as limited by microphone choice. But they're similarly useless if you buy a new CD whilst on the road and you'd still have to carry extra discs around with you (which is surely the whole point of an MP3 player). Until you can buy digitally from a shop and download it there and then, there's no ideal and ultimate portable solution.

I'm generally biased towards the iPod. I have a 3G 20GB one and very lovely it is too. Incredibly useful as a mobile hard drive (and an alarm clock and an address book etc etc). Thought I'd be content with it forever, then they went 4G and dropped the price. And then.....

13:44 / 27.10.04

Cynical little tyke

Actually, I think he mentioned the N707 or 710 as being pretty good, but I couldn't find any of them.

And just for the record, I have no connection with afformentioned ebay person, although I am too lazy to google.