New $499 Macintosh and flash based iPod introduced at Macworld today...

[Kakaze]

http://www.apple.com/macmini
http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle

[skyhawk223]

Still overpriced for what you are getting. There are so many cheaper mp3 players out there that do the same thing.

[Kakaze]

There are many flash based MP3 players out there that start at 149 for only 256 megs of memory. This gives you a gig for 149.

[skyhawk223]

The flash based is a good deal although too small for me. I was talking more about the hard drive based units.

[Kakaze]

Well as far as the HD players go when you buy an iPod you're buying the best. No one has been able to make a player as attractive and as simple as the iPod. You're paying for the Apple brand, the slick industrial design, and the quality of the product.

[Ryoken3D]

The iPods are a hell of a lot better than any other MP3 player I've seen, in terms of qualitly and simplicity.. Ones like the Creative Jukebox are just scary to use..


Ryoken

[skyhawk223]

I bought a Rio Riot a few years ago. 20GB for $135. It was quite a steal. You still cannot find a new 20GB MP3 player for that price. It was easy to use and did it's job well. It's main drawback was the size. It was a bit large for a typical pocket. To me, the iPod is all about design. I'm more about function which is why the iPod doesn't impress me. The Creatives are ok, but the one I saw didn't have an easy way to display the song info like the Riot does.

[Ryoken3D]

I would dispute that, the iPods do place design high up on their list, but if you've ever used one, you would see function is at the top too..
You can seek out songs based on most ID3 Tag information from the Music Menu, in additon to the playlists, you can make a playlist as you go, give the songs rating as you go ( Which will carry over back to iTunes ).. Also you can put all your contacts in your pod, aswell as text documents, audio books, etc..

Last time I looked at the Rio's, you got a lot of space, but not half the function ..


Ryoken3D

[skyhawk223]

I can list songs based on ID3 tag, but am not sure if that equates to the search function you mentioned. I cannot make a playlist as I go. I have to build it beforehand, but that is not that important to me as I don't use playlists at all.
Song ratings I don't care about since I know if I like a song or not and do not use music download services. The Riot does keep track of how many times you played songs and can generate a "favorites" list.
Contact information is useful, although I use my PDA for that.
It all depends on what you are looking for. I have an Archos AV420 but prefer the Riot for audio since it shows me what the next 5 songs are.

It sounds like it depends on what you are looking for. The iPods have a lot of features I don't need or don't want to pay that much extra for, but that's just me. Obviously others do feel it is worth it, given the amount of money they are willing to dish out.