Mossberg: Attack of the iPod Clones

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Mossberg: Attack of the iPod Clones

“Now, however, a new generation of would-be iPod killers is hitting the market. And, after two years of studying Apple’s work, the makers of these new players are finally giving the iPod a run for its money. These products are nearly as small as the iPod, and have aped its widely admired user interface. Some have more features, and are less expensive. But are they as good as, or better, than the iPod?”

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Comments

1

I’ve read the review, and while these new “clones” sound promising, it sounds to me like the iPod still wins hands-down. If cost is the biggest issue for someone, then the Dell may be a better choice since you can save $100 or more. Personally, I wouldn’t trade my 3G iPod for either of these clones.

The Dell is too large, for one thing. Sure it has more battery, but the iPod’s 8 hrs of battery has never been a problem for me. I don’t walk around for 8 hrs a day with my headphones on. I keep the charger with me at work. Plus I listen in my truck where the power adapter keeps the battery topped off. Sure I’d like more battery, but it’s not worth the size trade-off to me. The iPod’s compact size and solid construciton is a key selling point to me.

And no random play feature on the Dell? WTF is that about? They really screwed up there. To me, that’s like selling a car without headlights. I expected better out of Dell.

The Samsung sounds clumsy and cheap. It’s probably not any better than the Zens currently on the market.

Call me biased, but the iPod is a thing of beauty. Every last feature and detail was carefully thoguht out. Competing with it will be really, really difficult.

Posted by bslenter on October 29, 2003 at 8:42 AM (PST)

2

Mossberg doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He reviews two “me-too” slavish copies of the iPod that are yesterday’s technology, tomorrow. Aside from the 16-hour battery on the DellDJ, the only thing they have going for them is that they are cheaper than the iPod. Audio only players are *so* last year.

(Then again, I saw the new Rio 1.5GB that is the around 1” wide—that’s pretty amazing and makes an iPod look dinosaurlike by comparison).

I was waiting for a video iPod for the last year, but unfortunately it isn’t Apple that finally made it, but RCA. It’s called the Lyra and it’s simply fantastic.

I traded up from a 3G iPod to a Lyra and I am getting the same mad buzz from it that I got from my 1G iPod all those years ago.

My Lyra has 20GB. Full color, backlit. CF Type 1 slot. Records audio and video. The display quality is simply gorgeous. And it lasts a *long* time on a charge. Boots up within 5 seconds—much handier than a laptop when I want to transfer over images from my Canon’s CF cards.

Thanks to the crashing dollar I ordered mine from abroad for $350! I see it’s at Amazon now for $400.

The only thing I miss on the Lyra is a jogwheel for stepping frame by frame through video… that woould be awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008VFCU/
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008VFCU.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008VFCU.01.PT01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Posted by TradeUp on October 29, 2003 at 9:13 AM (PST)

3

Ipod needs a dedicated on/off switch. I hate it when it takes me forever to turn off my 3G Ipod when it lags playing a song.

Posted by tetro on October 29, 2003 at 9:13 AM (PST)

4

holding down the play button works just fine for me ...

Posted by me on October 29, 2003 at 11:36 AM (PST)

5

With what Apple is trying to do now, it appears that the iPod is still improving every day, thanks to third parties. First of all, Apple hints at the idea that they may open up some of the iPod’s platform so that it may run selective third party applications, and furthermore, more functionality can be gained through add-ons, which are probably going to be more than just the Belkin recorder and media reader.

And no, audio-only devices are definately not “a thing of the past.” Though the new video capable players are impressive, there will always be much larger market for audio only players.

Posted by Sraphim on October 29, 2003 at 8:59 PM (PST)

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