Nila-san,
It's gonna come as a giant shock to those on the board here, but I think you should definitely get an iPod.
It's pricey, aye, but I believe the cost is offset by:
1. Transfer Speeds -- with the latest build of MC9 and the iPod plugin, I was pulling about 8MB per second while transferring music to the iPod. Go firewire, go!
2. Portability -- it's the size of a deck of cards and just slightly heavier. I have my entire music library in my front shirt pocket, and I have the 20GB model. The 5GB and 10GB models are even thinner!
3. Interface -- the thumb-wheel design of the iPod makes it possible to navigate through all 20GB of music with ease. I mean with
ease. On a long list of songs, the scrolling speed accelerates as you continue to turn the wheel (or trace the wheel, as is the case with the new "trackwheel" iPods). You can scroll through to the bottom of a 2400-song list in about 7 seconds. Plus, the iPod's screen is clearer, brighter, and bigger than any of the competition's screens.
4. Versatility -- unlike the Creative Zen, another 20GB firewire player, the iPod can double as a portable hard drive. It actually saved my data last week when I NEEDED to have some extra storage space fast. Other products will only allow music to be transferred to the device, and then only through their own software. (Note, I have never
owned another device, so I could be wrong here). The iPod mounts as a drive under My Computer and can be used just like any other hard drive.
5. PDA Features -- I never use the calendar on my iPod (it's not very well implemented), but the contacts list is fantastic. Just drop a .vcf file in, and it can be called up on your iPod's screen. Software exists that enables contact/calendar download to your iPod from Palm Desktop and MS Outlook, too.
No, I don't own stock, nor do I work for Apple. I just have had an outstanding experience with my pod, and I believe that anyone else would too. Plus, I agree, iPod folk are generally very nice folk. Come visit us at
www.ipodlounge.com if you have any questions at all... there's a great
FAQ and
forums there, too.