Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful

I recently discovered an old 401K I had was still kicking around. After taxes it added up to just under $400. Well, I happen to work in a department store in the entertainment department and sometimes find myself helping out in electronics. One of our most popular products, especially around the holidays, is the iPod. When Apple released the 80 gig version I knew I had to have one, so shortly after I received my check I headed to my store to pick one out.

I already own a 20 gig Creative Zen Touch, which is a decent mp3 player for the money I paid, but I've been unhappy with a few features. My new iPod confirmed what I've been afraid of--the Creative just didn't measure up and Apple has a superior product. The first improvement was iTunes. The software that came with my Zen didn't work for ripping music at all and I had to turn to Microsoft MediaPlayer. With iTunes all of my music was easily converted to mp3 format and added to my iPod...almost too easily. After installing the program all of my photos and music already stored on my laptop made its way onto the iPod--even photographs I had no intention of showing anyone else. Alas, the only way to remove songs and photos is through iTunes.

The second way that I found the iPod to be superior was the click wheel. The sensitivity on the wheel is perfect and I rarely overshoot my selection thanks to the wheel being too sensitive. I also really love the color display and was pleasantly surprised at how clear videos looked.

The next test was the sound. I compared the iPod and the Zen using the earbuds that came with the iPod to make sure the test was fair. The sound quality from my iPod was superior--richer and deeper than on my Zen.

The unit itself is thin and feels a bit fragile but adding a good-quality case did the trick. I also decided to purchase a three-year service plan from the store I purchased the iPod from just in case something happened. I don't mind a few scratches on the casing of the iPod as long as I can still see through the screen and long as it still works. So far, so good. Plenty of cases have screen protectors built in and many department stores sell screen protectors that are not part of cases.

The battery life is around seven to eight hours. I purchased the Griffin iTrip for driving and although the iTrip runs off of the iPod's battery (Griffin sells a power adaptor to go with it to charge the iPod while using the iTrip but I haven't gotten it yet) I've found that the iTrip doesn't shorten the battery life significantly. I was also pleasantly surprised that charging the iPod using the USB connection only takes about an hour and a half. My Creative took four to eight hours to charge with a wall-charger.

As for the 80 gig of storage, well, even with tons of photos and songs I'm still only ten percent of the way through it, but I have to say that all that space is really pleasing. I have plans for all of it.

I really resisted buying an iPod because I felt they are overrated but the bottom line for me is that the iPod has the most user-friendly software, user-friendly controls, best sound and the most accessories (items such as the iTrip and docking stations and cases) than any other brand of mp3 player. My advice is that it's better to go with a trusted brand than fight the facts and for me, to get plenty of storage rather than being more conservative and finding out that I have to upgrade in the future.