Which Portable Mp3 Player - Page 3

Or u coulda just gotten the Nomad Zen which lets u create playlists on it and is around $100 cheaper...

Well I'm in the market for an mp3 player (harddrive based) and so far it's come down to the following:

iriver IHP-120 (not available as of 10-9 as far as I can tell)
http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=iHP-120

or

Apple IPOD (40 gig)

As I see it here are some of the pros cons

iriver pros:
-better sound quality
-Ogg Vorbis capability
-EQ settings
-fm tuner
-mic
-line in
-and many more features
-remote control is top notch from what i can tell (all the features of the unit are available with the remote)
-16 hours of battery life

cons:
-16 sec or more startup time (some people have had startup times up to 45 secs)
-not the prettiest thing

ipod
-Very nice design and feel to it. I doubt any mp3 player can touch it in this respect.
-simple and very nice user interface
-40gig as opposed to 20 for the iriver

cons:
-lacks many features of the iriver
-windows compatability not as clean
-8 hour battery life (usually less) seems to be a major complaint for ipod users.

They both have virtually identical dimensions and weight so that's not an issue. All the features on the iriver are nice but I really don't think I'd use them all. From the in depth reviews I've read the sound quality on the iriver is exceptional in comparison to the ipod. Pricewise I think they'll be comparable...ipod~$500 and the iriver~$400-450

There are dozens of reviews of the ipod online and they all give it glowing reviews. This was the best iriver review I found. It's a comparison between the iriver (10 gig version) and the upcoming phillips but it has a nice in depth breakdown of the iriver.

http://www.austinv.com/hdd100_vs_iHP100_reviewol.htm

Anyone have any opinions on this comparison? I can't decide between the two.

Thanks for the feedback...I based battery life on the numerous posts on various ipod forums.

This informal post had only 25% of users reach 8 hours or more. Nearly 50% were under 6 hours.

http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthr...?threadid=3387

A search on this finds a large number of threads complaining about the same thing. Basically the compromise by going to a smaller 3gen ipod was a shorter battery life (which was not very long to begin with). 8 hours is probably fine for the most part but when some report battery life lasting 4 hours and even less that's very disappointing to hear.

As for the windows comment I guess the simplicity of how iriver manages files to and from a windows environment. You can simply use windows explorer to drag and drop since it's treated as another harddrive. There are some nice apps that make this easier on the ipod though so this is just a minor inconvenience.

I have to admit that the biggest attraction of the ipod for me is how it looks and feels in your hand.

i bought the 2nd gen windows ipod when it first came out (approx a year ago) and its still going strong. i get about 10 hours of battery life after regular charging/discharging cycles. the 3rd gens do sacrifice some battery life but it isn't that much. it only takes an hour to charge up to 80% and 3 hours to charge 100%. i use ephpod and it works great. jukebox is just crap...altho i do like its super tagging feature...but thats about it. if the build quality of the 3rd gens r like the 2nd...then ur in for a long happy life with an ipod.

also..the 8 hour battery life number is based on constant use without using the backlight and no audio boost/alarm features. it uses more battery power if u were to switch songs manually instead of a playlist and if u use the backlight a lot. if u want to test ur max battery life...just make a long playlist and see how long ur ipod lasts.