Ok, so everyone gave me such great advice on the camera thing, I have another techie question. My Ipod Mini just bit the dust only after 2 years. I sent it to a 3rd party repair place and it would be about a $100 to repair.

I can get a Nano for $150. But I must say that I am disenchanted by the whole Apple thing now. If I buy another brand, say Creative Zen or Zune, etc., I assume these will not work with Itunes? Would I just have to burn the music to discs and then upload them to my new program? And, what alternatives to the Ipod do you recommend? My Mini only had about 200 songs on it. I like to think that I would put movies, etc. on it if it had the capacity, but I'm thinking that level of "techieness" is not needed. Thanks! I will also check cnet.

Sony do a great range of MP3 players and they have 50 hours battery life.

Sony NW-E505 and its series are just one example of many. Granted the memory size is not the same as ipod, which has a hard disk drive (a mechanical part destined to go wrong) it has flash memory instead.
But 1Gb with ATRAC formatting and you can get 400 tracks on it.

I have bought 3 and the battery life alone makes it well worth the purchase. Its a rechargable battery, the unit plugs into the USB port on any computer and 3 mins charge gives 3 hours.
Sound quality is as good as anything.
Muck

I am a diehard Apple/iPod fan and I would bite the bullet and upgrade to a newer version. With good care an iPod should last a few years (though not a lifetime). I haven't heard good reviews about Zune, and would prefer not to jump brands at this time. I have my entire music collection on my iPods.

Creative Zen or Zune will not work w/iTunes. Though, if you only have about 200 songs, you could start over with another brand. Did you download your iTunes songs off their website? You can burn those to a CD, but cannot transer them to another format/music player--it just doesn't work that way.

If you're into your music, iPods have several kinds that can go from 1 GB (about 1000 songs) to 80 GB, that hold songs, videos or movies.

Another alternative is using an XM or Sirrius type service. While it has a monthly fee, some of their units are portable and can "download" music from their stations. This is a good format for someone who likes to listen to a lot of different types of music, but doesn't have the CDs or money to purchase them.

Video pods are nice to have, but honestly I only watch them when I travel. If this describes you, you may opt to spend less money on the expensive iPod movie versions and stick with a nano.

"And, what alternatives to the Ipod do you recommend?"

iPAQ - the HP/Compaq brand of Pocket PC. These things pack astounding functionality in an iPOD-size form factor.

Mine has a GSM quad-band phone, GPS for built-in navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, hot-swappable battery, SD and Mini-SD memory slots for programs, data, music, and movies.

Some of the models being subsidized by cell phone carriers have a full keyboard and horizontal (&quot;landscape mode&quot screen. If you go this route, I recommend T-Mobile over Cingular for reasons of price and Customer Service. These two carriers supply the only US phones that work in Europe. Cingular charges $5.99 per month <u>or portion</u> and T-Mobile doesn't.

AP6380: What, in particular, has caused you to be disenchanted with the iPod? Is it the company or the product?

I've just had many little glitches with my Ipod over the brief 2 years or so that I have had it. I'm very computer literate, so I'm pretty sure it's not me. I used to have to reset it quite often.

I also had bought a friend of mine a Nano, and he would have many little issues with it as well. I guess I need to decide whether I want or need the option to store movies, pictures, etc. or if I just want sometthing simple.

What issues do your friend has with the nano? I have one since it came out, and have zero issues. My original 1st generation iPod does have battery problems, and sometimes require a reset. No such issue with the nano.

Why are you posting your questions on a travel site instead of one that actually has to do with hi-tech gadgets?

Because I've contributed on this site for years and know that the people here are generally helpful on many topics, not strictly travel.

Creative Zen is waaaaaaaaaay better than Ipod. It just isn't as &quot;sexy&quot;. Much better sound quality, higher quality screen, twice the battery life and much more durable. I should know: my kids have Ipods and I've had to replace them numerous times. My students continually complain about problems with their Ipods.

I've never had one single problem. It is very simple to transfer anything you might already have on CD or on your computer to the Zen. I've even &quot;borrowed&quot; son of my daughter's stuff through iTunes. It's bigger than the Ipod but fits nicely in a backpack or in the cupholder of a rental car.

The Zune will one day surpass them all, but right now it's suffering early development problems. Microsoft is acting a lot like Sony used to with their Betamax format - they won't share the technology with third party companies. You can only load stuff you bought through Microsoft's website. The Zune is supposed to have an excellent viewing screen and great sound quality, but I'm gonna wait until Microsoft sees the light and allows other methods of installing media.

&quot;The Zune will one day surpass them all.&quot; What do you know that we don't? Apple and Creative Zen have nothing new to bring to the world of portable music players?

&quot;[The Zune] is suffering early development problems.&quot; If it were an automobile, we'd call it a lemon.

Apple continues to lead in this area and I suspect they have some special little toys up their sleave. I wonder if the iPhone gives us a glimpse of what is going to become of the iPod video?

Zeus, I'm not trying to start a fight but I sense something other than quantified objectivity in your response.

iPod vs Creative review:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,11...1/article.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6280547-1.html

Go for the Zune since you have a bad taste in your mouth regarding iPods. I still love my 'Pod!

The OP should understand that the nano is not in the same category as the Zen or Zune.

The nano is much smaller, use flash memory (not hard drive), and the small screen is not for watching movies.

rkkwan
Thank you, I stand corrected, the latest ipods are indeed flash memory and not HDD. Now that's progress !!

Muck

The regular larger capacity iPods are HD-based and can play video, etc.

The smaller nano and shuffle are flash-memory based that are smaller with a tiny or no screen.

Mr. Shepherd - I base my opinion that Microsoft will eventually produce a superior product due to numerous reviews such as those at Cnet.com, Extremetech.com, computerworld.com, pcmagazine.com and some of the electronic geek forums I frequent. Add in the fact that Microsoft has some mighty deep pockets and senses a potential goldmine, I don't doubt that they will learn from their mistakes. Like they often do, they will probably steal a few ideas here and there then undersell Ipod's prices.

And no, I don't work for Microsoft nor do I even own stock. I simply see them as the dominant force in computer-based electronics and development. Toyota wasn't the first to come out with an SUV, but they borrowed from everyone else and now dominate the market.

My friend had to reset his Nano a lot, and when he would update it at another computer besides his main one, his music would disappear. The only music that would be left is, for ex., what was on the currnt computer he was using. Maybe that's normal or there is something that he didn't get about itunes.

I just want something that lasts longer than 2 years! But I do need to decide on a relatively simple one like a Nano or a more complex one like the Creative Zen M. Thanks everyone!

Please do not take this the wrong way... it's a Mini. 2 years old. means one of the first versions.

You bought a first generation luxury car without any of the luxury items...

Get the real thing, a real iPod with all the bells and whistles. I have an iPod, a friend has the mini and same thing., She has problems, hates it, borrows my iPod. That thing has more frequent flyer miles than I do!

But if hell-bent against it, for reasons you have not clarified, you can burn the songs to CD and convert them.

Than post here in a month about the problems you have with the new mp3 flavore of the month.

Wow... Didnt realize I was such an iPod zealot until I wrote this!!

<b>Whatever You Buy, It Will Be Obsolete Long Before It Wears Out.</b>

Buy the cheapest thing that does the job.

Is the above an odd form of advertising???