Completely OT: iPods

My son bought me an Ipod shuffle for Mother's Day. I love it! I use it at work for 8 hours and I can usually go 2 or 3 days before charging again. I don't have it full and I can't get through the playlist in 8 hours. He also bought me an arm band that it fits on.

I love both of mine, I've got an original iPod from when they first came out... Later bought a Nano. While the old iPod's battery won't hold a charge anymore, it still works when plugged into a power source (it's my travel pod now). The Nano is still plugging along after a couple of years of use despite a few 'suicide' attempts.

In all honesty, my family has only ever had luck with the iPod brand. My dad has bought a few cheap ones, and they never lasted longer than two months. Finally, mom and I broke down and got him a Shuffle, because he doesn't want a large one. That Shuffle is two years old and survived a trip through the washer with little side effects. Dad still bought a new generation one, because the price went down. He loves it and it works well for him. I've had the original video iPod for nearly three years, and it still works great. The battery is starting to slow down, but I can still get 5 plus hours of continuous play with it. I'm upgrading soon, probably to an iPhone, if the new upgrade comes out this month. I don't think I'd ever switch brands, though.

We have Ipods here. I use mine everyday at work to block out the extra sounds. If I don't have any video running, I can easily listen to it all day without recharging. We also have a shuffle for travel, walks and when you don't want to lug a larger one around with you. Video drains a LOT of the battery quickly. Ipods have ITunes (there are others like Rhapsody) so unless you own the CDs yourself to upload, you'll have to utilize Itunes. We haven't had any problems with any of our Ipods (Nano-nextG, Video and shuffle)

I'm leaning towards a Shuffle because I don't really plan to use the screen for viewing anything. I spend about 2 hours in the car daily and do not get many radio stations most of the time. I'd like satellite radio but it's a company car and I don't feel like paying $742 to put the system in a car I may not keep at the end of 3 years. Do I have to subscribe to iTunes for the Shuffle or will it support other services?

iTunes the program is free, song downloads are usually $0.99 each. No subscription, just pay as you go. You can import other MP3s into iTunes, then load it onto your shuffle later. I'm not sure how to explain how to do it though, I've done it in the past. A bit of a pain, but do-able.

I own the Zune Stone (same maker as the Zen, but at a significant reduction in cost). I LOVE it! I haven't baught a song yet, because I "ripped" my own cds. I can even plug it into the stereo in my car. We travel in the car. Its so nice not to have to search for radio stations.

I have a Sansa e250R and I LOVE it. I've never had any problems with it, and I'd highly recommend it. I've also heard good things about the Sansa View, but I've never used one.

I've been hearing really good things about the Zunes lately. You get a Zune and pay a monthly subscription to download as many songs as you like. We only have one iPod, but I'm considering getting one for myself, too. Back in '04 I bought the 4th generation (?not sure...can't keep up), monochrome, click-wheel, 20GB iPod for my husband bc he can't live without music and he was starting to travel a lot for work. It still works great. He uses it everywhere. You can hook it up to anything it seems. He hooks it up to my old mini-stereo in the garage. He hooks it up to the stereo speakers in the living room, the computer, the car, headphones. Of course you can buy all kinds of listening devices to use with iPods, but I love that it will work with what you already have.

My daughter has a Sansa and loves it! She has "Ella Enchanted" downloaded on it. She has it all blinged up with sparkles, of course. We've never had any problem with it.

Which Sansa is it? I don't NEED the bells and whistles, which is why I liked the Sansa Clip...but I'm just bummed in general right now.

we love the shuffle for the get up & go of it but the minor cons are: 1) holds less songs, 2) you can't view your song list -- you have to "shuffle" thru them if you don't like the current song as there is not a viewing screen. In the Ipods, I'd personally go for the smallest Nano. I know that once I started using the shuffle, I found my "I wish I could" list more than I thought.. and the Nano/Video satisfy those wishes. I think the Ipod vs non-Ipod is a matter of personal choice and price for the features you get.

I love my iPod nano. Its the right size for me and it's small enough to just show the titles of the songs I am listening to. Battery life is great!

I have an iPod Mini and Nano. I enjoy both of them. If you are ever on the market for earphones or an iPod dock, I recommend buying the Klipsch brand. The earbuds that come with the iPod are so uncomfortable!!!

I have a Sansa M230. It's only a 512 GB but I can fit at least 4 12hr books on it. I had a Sansa M240 which has a 1MB, but it was hot pink and my neice begged me to trade with her...hers was blue like her brothers'. Anyway, I am in my car at least an hour a day plus I listen to it at work for at least 6 hrs of my day. I don't listen to music, but do listen to audio books and I LOVE my Sansa. I use rechargeable batteries and they usually last 2-3 days before I need to recharge them. The thing I really liked about my Sansa is that it only cost $30. (I'm cheap....)

I've got both an original iPod shuffle (the one that looks like a white pack of chewing gum) and the new iPod Touch. The shuffle is great and I regularly get about 12-14 hours of playback on it even after about 3 years of daily use. It's simple, sturdy and just works. My iPod Touch is more mini-computer than just music player. I've got over 2,000 songs, 5 movies, along with numerous other programs and applications including wireless Internet access. It's absolutely amazing and I don't leave home without it. If you want more feedback on the iPods and answers to questions, you can visit www.ilounge.com for tons of reviews, accessories, etc.

JVC makes an earbud called the "Marshmellow" that has a form fitting pad that goes around the speaker. I love mine... I can run sprints and they won't fall out of my ears (unlike all the other earbuds out there).