Øyvind,
It completely depends on what you want the mp3 player for. I had an old Nomad II & currently use a 5gb Ipod (which, as you might be able to tell from my incessant posting to this forum, was released far before apple announced they were going to make a PC formatted ipod).
In both cases, I wanted portable music. I use my player as something small that I can slip into a pocket or clip onto my belt when I am traveling, exercising, etc. The IPod is incredibly small, and it is impossible to get through even 5 gb of music with any ‘normal traveling’ – with recording rates b/t 128 and 320, you’re still looking at 70|PLS| hours of music. The battery life has never lasted less than 9 or 10 hours, and both the ipod and its AC adaptor are extremely portable.
This being said, I am not sure what the functions of the PC ipod will be. I’ve had a bit of difficulty with my ipod (though the latest iteration of ephpod (free ipod organizational software) is substantially improved).
When I want to record music, I use my computer’s line in…
If you want to record on the go, however (and I have certainly felt the urge at concerts, etc.), the Ipod doesn’t have the capability. And the DSP settings of the nomad sound quite impressive.
Both are at the top of the pack for their respective uses – The Ipod is for people on the go who need something small and portable with great battery life, the Nomad is for audiophiles who want a mini digital recording studio in their (large) jacket pocket. Figure out what you want to do with your mp3 player and then purchase the one that fits your lifestyle.
Cheers,
Ted