Camera Labs

Which begs the question - why buy an ipod?

Zorro

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Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Because iPods can display photos?

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Nikon D90 + MB-D80 + SB-600 + AF-S VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 + AF-S 35mm f/1.8 + AF 85mm f/1.8 | My photos on Flickr.

Not exactly a USP though, is it? It's interesting to see how so many people are caught up by the hype and don't bother doing the research themselves. Never mind, I'm sure you'll both be very happy together

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Everyone likes a joke this time of year, cheers mate. "Best hardwarwe spec", excellent. Research isn't your thing then I guess, lol.

Happy New Year mate, hope you're happy.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Zorro...is there a higher spec'd MP3 player out there? (Not including the iPhone which has 600MHz ARM cpu in it.

I can't seem to find one any faster, not including Phones or PDA's. Zune isn't any faster, and soon enough the iPod will be hacked to send files to other iPods via wifi, I can already SSH with my PC and send files back and forward

1.1.3 firmware gets rid of the exploit, so I'm not chuffed, I'll just stay on 1.1.1 till I can be bothered to update and re-jailbreak 1.1.2.

But in all seriousness what player has a better hardware spec? (And allows all the things I can do with mine to be done?)

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

I'm not too sure what you mean by "faster" I'm afraid but Cowon players are the best sounding players by a country mile. I've tried just about all of the main brands out there and nothing even comes close. The Samsungs are pretty good I've heard too. The big deal with Cowon players is their multi codec compatibility. FLAC files sound absolutely superb. Video on my D" also rocks, although conversion can be a pain in the a**e. Besides, video's not really my thing. Here's a few links if you want to do further research -

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/

http://www.dapreview.net/news.php

http://iaudiophile.net/forums/index.php

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/

If you feel after doing the research that you still want an ipod then by all means, it's your money. It seems to me though that too many people are buying blindly and just following the herd.

I try to apply the same subjectivity to all products, like I do with cameras & lenses.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

I'm not to fussed about sound quality most of the time, I don't want dreadful sound like a lot of cheaper audio players, but the sound the new iPods give out is actually a step up from the Video ones, sound is much more crisp and clear, although there is less bass...and I like bass...a lot

Faster as in Raw Processing Power. I think of everything in Computer Hardware Terms. I want my iPod to be crunching some serious numbers here lol!

Conversion of files shouldn't take to long, I can convert movies from AVI to MPEG2 in under 30 min. So leaving it converting files overnight should be fine, but if its a MP3 in the first place, it is only going to degrade the quality if anything converting it again surely...


AHHH WINDOWS CE!!! God no. I hate CE...it is a pain in the proverbial backside! As is Windows mobile >_<.

On the other hand I found a Cowen one with a 600MHz CPU, but its has a 7inch screen...a little bigger than I would like to carry around in my pocket.

I've not looked through all of their players yet (obviously, they have quite a selection on offer).

The one reason I would still buy the iPod, even without the 3rd party applications, is the wifi and ability to browse the Internet, something I do quite a bit. 3rd Party apps just sweeten the deal, TapTapRevolution is possibly the most fun I've had on a portable device period! That Plus the interface seems to work great, and I've customized it a little as well

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

if you want "Raw Processing Power" Why dont you just buy a laptop... its only an ipod i dont see what all the fuss it about.

I'm afraid I don't get it either. Surely it's about the sound quality first, then the video quality (if needed). Maybe you'd be better off looking at a laptop or one of those mobile gadget thingies (the correct nomenclature escapes me) for processing power.

Zorro

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Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

I would buy a UMPC if they were a tad cheaper

400Mhz for £200 - not exactly the best performance to price ratio (especially since its an ARM CPU no X86) but still, for its size, it packs a pretty big punch.

PDA's that i've had in the past had dreadful battery life, music players were horrid, and Microsoft don't help with their woeful OS (CE, Mobile etc.)



As for buying a Laptop, sold my Macbook (& xbox360) to get money for my camera in August, and my IBM T43 serves me well enough for most things, but I don't plan on taking it with me on the bus to listen to music on.

It's an iPod Touch ... thats what the fuss is about. Now I'm actually not an Apple fan, I prefer using XP over OS, I prefer using any player but iTunes on my computer - but if they do one thing good, it is the style and user interface of those iPods!!!

My iPod changes menus fast, its touch screen is responsive, and one of the hotter points of debate - the touch screen QWERTY keyboard - is, at least for me, very easy to operate and I can type faster with it than I can any type of buttoned QWERTY on phones I've used (blackberry my mate has) and a LOT faster than the standard phone keyboards.

The music that is kicks out, through standard Apple headphones, is to me anyway, clear and I am able to pick out all the instruments, the highs and lows and the midtones are exceptionally clear compared to the Video iPod and the 2G iPod Nano)

Now most of my music is 128kbps or 192kbps MP3 format, so its not perfect but still they sound good.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

As much as it can be argued that the quality of photos is more dependant on the lens than on the sensor, one could also make a case for the quality of mp3 music on a portable device depending more on the bit ratio and headphones than on the device itself.

For example, if you use 320 bps encoding and a set of Sennheiser CX300 headphones, just about any device will give you great sound.

It's when you degrade the encoding ratio (because the device has to do more interpolation) or use cheap headphones (hurting the quality of certain frequencies) that things start to sound fishy.

You can't just look at the device itself.

An iPod with the supplied headphones, playing 320 bps encoded music, is a great option.

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Nikon D90 + MB-D80 + SB-600 + AF-S VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 + AF-S 35mm f/1.8 + AF 85mm f/1.8 | My photos on Flickr.

Um No.

Go and actually listen to one and then decide. I have been using sony mp3 players and minidisc since i stopped using a cd player, and if you listen to an ipod you will see what I mean. The sound is flat and not much to it. I now have a Cowon A2 media player, which i think is a much better deal than an ipod video. You can get the A3 which is newer and just released now days. I think it might just have a higher res screen. Mine has a 30gb hdd and has about 40 films on it in divx. The A2 plays just about every format. Just my two cents.

What has a better spec? Well as a media player the Cowon does and there are others out there. How many video formats does the ipod play? How many audio formats? What photo formats? Can you sync photos from a digital camera without the use of a camera? Can you record from a tv with an ipod? Well i know the cowon wont win any prizes for slimness, and
its looks may not appeal to everyone but specs wise, its great.

why i dont care about wifi? Who REALLY surfs the internet on a pmp or otherwise? I mean REALLY? lol. I've got a psp, and i find while its a nifty feature, and i suppose the question 'why shouldn't i have it if i can' pops into your average persons head, but to be honest I don't exactly run to my local starbucks on my lunch break 'to check my stocks' using my psp's nifty wireless. Get what i mean>?

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Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro

I bought my iPod Shuffle for one reason - the size. I like an mp3 player i can wear everywere, even when running or stuff like that. Only thing missing is that it would be nice if it was waterproof.

I have a 3rd gen iPod nano and with the earbud headphones that it comes with the sound is decent. I have also listened to the same device with high quality headphones in an apple store and the quality was much better.

Its not just down to the device, its also the quality of the track you are playing and the output device (headphones) used. Can I just say MP3's are stripped down codecs of the original track as frequencies the human ear does not notice are taken out to reduce the size of the audio file.

I try my very best to only listen to FLAC files on my Cowon D2 and they mostly sound fabulous. Of course I'm using Sennheiser HD595's (c£150) but these are particularly analytical cans and often can show up weaknesses in partnering equipment. What I didn't expect when I bought the Cowon was that the sound would actually improve upon the sound from my main PC setup (Foobar2000, ASIO, M-Audio 2496 Audiophile stereo sound card, Rotel RA-01 amp).

Fair play though, if you're happy with the sound of the Apple stuff then go for it. Just don't listen to a Cowon afterwards, you'll only get depressed.

As to the mp3 bitrate, well it's certainly true that they're all lossy, to one degree or another. For that matter though, so is CD sound. I have all my CD's (some 400-ish) ripped to FLAC and the one down-side is the sheer amount of space required to store the files on the hard drive. FLAC files are on average some 5 times larger than an average mp3, but it's worth it. To me at least. Daniel's right in one thing though, there's certainly no point in re-ripping mp3 files to FLAC. The sound won't be improved. No matter, most good albums are findable around the net in lossless formats, you just need to know where to look.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head