The video iPod - Any Takers?

[jyl]

Anyone looking at these, or thinking about getting one?

My 1G iPod is getting kind of long in the tooth, so I'm tempted by the 5G. I'm not much interested in watching music videos or "Lost" myself, but am thinking about how to rip a DVD or transfer a TiVo recording, and downscale it to the iPod's screen. Might be nice to have several movies and episodes on tap, to watch on the subway etc. (Any tips on how to do this?)

P.S. I would be interested in watching video podcasts, if there are any good ones.

[StevoRocket]

Creative Zen Vision...... thats my choice... check it out.

[87coupe]

Here is the problems with the entire iPod line if you ask me:

1. No user replaceable battery.

2. No support for other audio formats that every other player supports, wma for example.

3. No FM tuner. Uh hello .. it would add like $0.50 to the BOM cost to add an FM tuner chip to the design, just stupid to not have it there.

4. Overpriced for the capacity (although they have gotten more competitive as of the last two gens).

Personally, I am more a fan of the iRiver products as well as the Creative offerings. I do however feel Apple has run circles around the competition when it comes to product design and fit / finish.

IMHO, iRiver is the company that is the pushing the technology the most. Features like the ID3 genre tag aware EQ (setup different settings for different genres and the player switches them to your preference for a given genre on the fly), and in-line MP3 encoding are awesome.

[techweenie]

The battery is user-replaceable. Lots of third party sources. In come cases, you need a tool they will lend you.

I have lots of MP3s on my iPod. They play fine. Not sure what other 'support' is necessary.

FM tuner? I think you can buy that from several sources, but I haven't looked into it. If you want FM, just buy a tiny FM receiver & leave the iPod at home.

Pricing: you drive a Porsche, when a Pontiac costs less...?

There's a reason Apple has 80% market share. It's really the only 'whole, balanced package.' Plus, nobody has matched the operability/interface advantages.

However, my personal opinion is that the video capability is one of those things people might think they want, but will rarely use. Music videos sell in small numbers at the store for a reason.

Having said that, iPods might ultimately provide the only real market for small independent films that otherwise have no marketplace.

[Ronbo]

Isn't the video part basically a "freebie"? If you want a large capacity (30 GB or more) iPod you get the video capability built-in. Not an option.

[87coupe]

Techweenie,

Ok, I should have said no user-replaceable battery that doesn't void warranty, and doesn't require a special tool. Happy? Bottom line, iPods suck in the battery department.

MP3 is great but is seriously dated. The Motion Pictures Expert Group received the patent for MP3 in 1989, and had been working on it since 1987; Dinosaur technology by hi-tech standards. Using wma for comparison; to get CD quality audio in an mp3 file you need to encode at a minimum of 128kbps, to get the same CD quality audio from wmv you only need to encode at 64kbps. This means you can effectively fit twice the music, of the same quality on your mp3 player.

Buying a stupid clip-on FM tuner ... gimme a break. The point is that it should be integrated.

"Who cares what it costs, wwweeeee!", yep sounds like a marketing guy. (Sorry couldn't resist).

"Whole balanced, package"? I think I have outlined why the iPod is not a "Whole balanced, package". I give Apple credit in many areas, including defining what a mp3 players interface should functionally be. However, they no longer are the only player w/ a proper interface for quickly perusing gigs of data. Have a look at the many number of players that have essentially duplicated the iPod interface (see the Creative offerings for example). And the ability of many other players to be mounted as an external storage device is the way data should be added or removed from an mp3 player, not through a proprietary interface (iTunes).

With the capacity of players today I can see the logic for adding video functionality, that and the fact that so many other players have already offered video on their players I'm not surprised that Apple has added it to theirs.

http://www.ifilm.com and the like seem to be where the ultra indy / budget filmakers will find their audience. Why would you download an entire movie, then transfer the monsterous file to your iPod w/ it's tiny screen when you could have just watched the stream while you were on your computer in the first place.

Is the iPod the only player you have used / owned?

[techweenie]

Brandon, voiding the warranty is irrelevant, since batteries don't fail until long after the warranty expires.

As for wma, I havent' used it, but I encode at 128 or higher since space is not at a premium on an iPod.

I don't need or want FM. If you do, go for it.

You arguments sound a lot like the occasional guy on Pelican who claims a Chevy V8 works better in a 911. It's like a religion to guys like that. Go ahead, embrace your religion of 'almost as good and costs less.'

[brittbolen]

I'll buy one, not that i want video but I like the form factor and UI of the white ipod, all other mp3 players just seem clunky. Also I'm an apple geek, and smooth integration is key for me. I plug it into my powerbook and everything syncs, and the ipod does play apple's newer more modern formats, and since I've got no reason to not buy another iPod i have no problem with their formats...

i suspect i'll put my own stupid imovies on it, cause everyone needs to see those!

Britt

[jyl]

I found this workflow for ripping commercial DVDs into the iPod.

http://diveintomark.org/howto/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide/

If I get a 5G iPod, I'll probably try automating this process to make it less tedious.

[brittbolen]

yeah, i should learn apple script for just this sorta stuff. but i've been saying i should learn lots of things, and i still seem to only know C. Ok i do know php too.

Britt

[87coupe]

Techweenie,

My 2nd gen iPod's battery failed before the warranty was up. I am not alone in this camp, when I worked at Adobe there were several other people, in my division alone that had the same problem. This is nothing new or unusual. Do some searches and see how many people have had this same problem. Under heavy use they will often fail before the warranty.

WMA ... so what your saying is that audio quality and capacity don't concern you? Why don't you just buy an old cassette based walkman, they can be had for around $20 in your local Walmart checkout line.

FM ... hey, it's your call, but I don't really see a valid argument for it to not be there. I have found that an FM tuner is a valuable addition to a portable music / media player. For instance, there was a fire on the BART here in NorCal last week, and my fiance' who commutes to work on the train was able to switch her player (Creative Zen Micro) to FM and see what was going on. She then knew before all the people who were without FM, that she needed to get off ASAP if she didn't want to be stuck w/ everyone who rode the train all the way to the last stop before the station that had the fire.

You arguments sound a lot like the occasional guy on Pelican who claims a Chevy V8 works better in a 911. It's like a religion to guys like that. Go ahead, embrace your religion of 'almost as good and costs less.'

Hardly, it's more like your arguments sound like the Ferrari guys trying to justify the cost of their cars and the cost of maintinence by spouting intangibles. I have made clear reasons why the iPod is not the "Whole balanced, package" you think it is, while you haven't really made any points that have a leg to stand on. "Almost as good, but cheaper" .. no more like "Just Better". If anyone is being religious about their player of choice it's you; I'm the one taking an objective approach to reviewing the iPod line.

[stomachmonkey]

Was trying to decide on a nice gift for my brother a few years back.

Figured an mp3 player would be a good choice.

Had a hard time justifying an iPod vs just about anything else.

Half the capacity and a higher price point.

Went back and forth for days.

Read reviews and most of the reviews for brand x were "it's nice, but it's not an iPod".

Went to the store to take a look in person. Picked up all the brand x's and then picked up the iPod.

Not even close, iPod won hands down.

I was so impressed I bought one for myself as well.

Just bought the wife a Nano 2 weeks ago.

Great piece of technology.

[jyl]

The non-iPod players look good on "specs" but they haven't been very successful. Rio has gone out of business, Creative and iRiver have been struggling. Apple's integration of hardware and software, player and store, style and function is hard to beat, for most people. Plus most of the accessories out there are for iPod.