Fourth Generation iPod?

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

I am planning on buying an iPod (15GB). Recently I've heared roumors of a 4th generation ipod coming out in like september? Can anyone confirm? And if so should I wait?

 

[Jigglelicious]

There is always something new on the horizon. With that said, there are no specific rumors for an updated iPod anytime soon.

 

[SickBeast]

Apple has been very hush-hush about the 4G iPod. I've heard it may come out before September (this summer). There have been rumours that it will play movies, and that it will have bluetooth/wifi. Knowing apple it will have bleeding-edge industrial design.

Have you seen the Sony PSP? That's what I'm going to be buying next. Sure it doesn't have the capacity of the iPod. but 1.8GB discs I can live with. That's something like 35 albums or so...not too shabby. Add the movie and gaming abilities and it looks to be the hands-down winner over both Apple and Nintendo for that matter. The design of the thing is damn sexy too...basically the entire unit is a screen save for the controls. Very impressive. Let's just hope it can last long enough to watch a movie or two on a single battery charge.

 

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

What do you make of this. I just found it. Generation 4

 

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

* http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=393

 

[Schadenfroh]

bump, because im thinking of buying an ipod and dont want to blow 300 bucks on obsolete in 2 months equipment

 

[tart666]

if you really need a color screen for showing off your digital photos, then wait. Looks like that will be the only new feature...

 

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

Does anyone know if the generation 4 iPod will only be the 50GB hardrive version or will there be a 15-20GB version?

 

[SickBeast]

I would assume that Apple will release three iPod variations with different capacities. That is what they have done with the other ones, so I don't see why the 4G ones would be any different.

And it's apparently going to have a 60GB model, not a 50. I would guess they would go with a 20GB-40GB-60GB lineup. Only time will tell though. They may have 80GB drives by the time the 4G is out.

The only way I would upgrade is if it has more than double the battery life, and more storage for the price. I'm very happy with the 3G design and operation; it's incredible.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Even if the only thing they upgrade was the battery life, I'd be happy. The battery life of the 3rd generation iPod kept me from buying one. A rated 8 hours is not nearly good enough for me. With new mp3 players like the Creative Zen Touch (24 hours) and the iRiver HP120 (16 hours) , the 4th generation iPod should have at least 16 hour battery life....

 

[SickBeast]

You would be surprised actually. 8 hours of battery life is perfectly fine for the daily commute. Unless you're taking 10 hour flights every day it should be fine. The only annoyance is you have to charge almost every day if you use it heavily.

The Zen is a behemoth compared the iPod, so it should obviously have more room for a bigger battery.

The 40GB iRiver player is 0.9" thick compared to the 0.62" of the 20GB iPod; that's almost 50% thicker! Even the 40GB iPod is only 0.7" thick. So that's why they have better battery life; they're bigger. Look at the AnandTech review of the iPod. He opened it up. There's not a single micron of wasted space in there. If it were even marginally thicker, it would have much better battery life.

 

[LuDaCriS66]

It wouldn't for me cuz I like to skip songs a lot and that kills the battery life... I know people who only get 3-4 hours on their iPods. I used to have an original Nomad Zen that's rated at 12 hours and it still wasn't too great. That's just it.. I don't want to have to charge it everyday. Not for something that costs $500 CND.

I was referring to the new Zen Touch which is still slightly bigger than the iPod but not nearly the size of the original. The Zen is so much bigger because it uses bigger hard drives. Not because it uses a bigger battery.
This is it http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=3&subcategory=21&product=10274&nav=features

The 40GB iRiver is 0.9.. but the 40Gb iPod is 0.73. If you look at the 20GB iRiver player, its at 0.7 compared to the iPod's 0.62. The difference isn't big enough for half the battery life.
All I'm saying is, stick a better battery in there and I'm sold on the iPod.

 

[WackyDan]

The largest new capacity should be 60gig... Apple is supposed to be getting the new 1.8" hard drives in that size from Toshiba, though Hitachi makes both 20gig and 40gig in a 1.8" so maybe Hitachi will be offering a 60gig 1.8" drive as well. The 1.8" drives are 20% more durable than a standard 2.5" laptop drive... of course, the 1.8" hitachi drive is already in the THinkPad X-40.

I bought the iRiver 20 gig. Sounds better than an iPod, battery life is incredible, and I have both analog AND DIGITAL input and output... meaning, I can use an optical TOSlink cable to connect the iRiver to my Stereo receiver. IPod is only analog....

Also, I like the remote far better on my iRiver and I can drag and drop Music files into my iRiver by simply using my file manager in Windows....With the iPod, you HAVE to use iTunes in order to get the music files into the hidden "player" directory. Some third party apps are out there for the same purpose... but again, you still need an app.

iRiver is a better value/bang for your buck vs iPod.

That's my 2cents.... iRiver kicks iPod butt. Both are great products.

 

[SickBeast]

WackyDan, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

The iRiver is NOT the better value. It is in fact more expensive than the iPod at the same HD size, especially if you consider the student discount that Apple offers. Sure, it has more features, but 90% of users don't require them. Yes, the iRiver is teh better player for geeks/power users, but most people would be much happier with the iPod. The sales confirm this.

Your arguement on iTunes works both ways. Your iRiver player does not have nice software to keep your music organized and synced on your player. Did you know that iTunes and the iPod allow you to rate each song, then it will create "smart playlists" based on what you like best? It also keeps track of how many times you've listened to each song, again to create smart playlists for you. You can also make playlists on the go with the iPod which I'm pretty sure you cannot do on the iRiver.

iTunes is very simple and I'm surprised you would bash it without actually having used it. You simply plug in your iPod, it syncs your music, then automatically dismounts the drive so you can unplug it instantly.

Your sound quality arguements are subjective, and I have not heard of anyone complaining about the quality of the iPod's sound. I linked an article to an audiophile website reviewing the iPod's sound quality earlier, just search the general hardware forum for "iPod". :beer:

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
The iRiver is NOT the better value. It is in fact more expensive than the iPod at the same HD size, especially if you consider the student discount that Apple offers. Sure, it has more features, but 90% of users don't require them. Yes, the iRiver is teh better player for geeks/power users, but most people would be much happier with the iPod. The sales confirm this.

Actually, I consider the iRiver to be quite the competitor to the iPod. The 20GB iRiver costs $330 USD while the iPod costs $400. To say such features aren't required isn't really a good argument. You could say the games and the ability to read text files are pretty useless on the iPod if you say an FM tuner, OGG support, and LCD remote aren't required.
Sales are higher with the iPod mostly because of marketing and exposure. How many ad's have you seen of the iRiver and how many have you seen of the iPod? 50 Cent uses one in his music videos for christ sakes. I guarantee a lot of people don't even know of the competition or simply buy the iPod because of it's size and how it's "pretty".

iTunes is pretty cool though and I actually would prefer an app to organize my mp3 player with instead of just dragging through windows explorer.

 

[Cawchy87]

I could never fill an i-pod up. I could see if you don't have access to a computer and you have to put every song you ever heard onto it. Otherwise, anything 2gigs and over is over kill IMO.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66

Originally posted by: SickBeast
The iRiver is NOT the better value. It is in fact more expensive than the iPod at the same HD size, especially if you consider the student discount that Apple offers. Sure, it has more features, but 90% of users don't require them. Yes, the iRiver is teh better player for geeks/power users, but most people would be much happier with the iPod. The sales confirm this.

Actually, I consider the iRiver to be quite the competitor to the iPod. The 20GB iRiver costs $330 USD while the iPod costs $400. To say such features aren't required isn't really a good argument. You could say the games and the ability to read text files are pretty useless on the iPod if you say an FM tuner, OGG support, and LCD remote aren't required.

Sales are higher with the iPod mostly because of marketing and exposure. How many ad's have you seen of the iRiver and how many have you seen of the iPod? 50 Cent uses one in his music videos for christ sakes. I guarantee a lot of people don't even know of the competition or simply buy the iPod because of it's size and how it's "pretty".

iTunes is pretty cool though and I actually would prefer an app to organize my mp3 player with instead of just dragging through windows explorer.

I didn't realize the price delta. I guess the iRiver is a pretty good deal in that case. The thing is though, and this may not be a fair comparison, the 15GB iPod is only $299, and you can get them for $250 or so with the student discount. Even at $299, most people would probably buy one instead of the iRiver based on price alone. Add to this what you said about everyone knowing what an iPod is, marketing, etc etc.

As for the features, you're right, I find the "notes" and "games" features of the iPod totally useless. The only feature I use is the contacts one because I find it extremely useful. I purchased it solely as a music player, and for it to do otherwise is useless for me.

The recording features are a novelty on the iRiver player and they don't even work properly based on what I've read on the internet. There isn't even a monitor function to tell you whether the sound is distorting or not. The FM tuner, while useful, would go totally unused in my case. Why would I listen to static, low-fi radio signals w/ commercials when I have 5000 songs in my pocket? I could go on and on, but I'm sure you can see that I find these things a waste.

The only thing I find interesting about the iRiver players is the battery life. This is quickly counteracted by a few things, however:

-they're ugly
-they have a terrible interface, and navigating through large file lists is very difficult compared to the iPod
-they're physically 15-50% thicker than the iPod depending on the configurations compared
-no itunes
-lack of accessories in comparison to the iPod

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

-they're ugly
-they have a terrible interface, and navigating through large file lists is very difficult compared to the iPod
-they're physically 15-50% thicker than the iPod depending on the configurations compared
-no itunes
-lack of accessories in comparison to the iPod

I've even heard if you use tag information with the iRiver, it causes the bootup time to be increased dramatically.
However, I'm waiting until this 4th generation iPod comes out before I replace my Zen. If it doesn't fit my needs with whatever changes they're going to incorporate, hopefully the 3rd gen will go down in price and I'll just put up with the battery life and get that instead.... assuming there will be any left

 

[Schadenfroh]

so, how long untill the 4th gen comes out? esitmate please, i need an ipod soon and dont want to pay something that is going to come down 100 bux in about 2 months

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
I could never fill an i-pod up. I could see if you don't have access to a computer and you have to put every song you ever heard onto it. Otherwise, anything 2gigs and over is over kill IMO.

It all depends on what you want. I listen to music a lot so i always have a sleeve of CDs w/me. When I buy a mobile player it has to be big enough to carry my entire music collection and have room to grow. Having to chose what songs to take w/me and what songs to leave behind is the situation I want to escape.


Lethal

 

[LuDaCriS66]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
so, how long untill the 4th gen comes out? esitmate please, i need an ipod soon and dont want to pay something that is going to come down 100 bux in about 2 months

AFAIK, not for a few months. From what I've read at ipodlounge, its estimated to be around September or later.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
WackyDan, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

The iRiver is NOT the better value. It is in fact more expensive than the iPod at the same HD size, especially if you consider the student discount that Apple offers. Sure, it has more features, but 90% of users don't require them. Yes, the iRiver is teh better player for geeks/power users, but most people would be much happier with the iPod. The sales confirm this.

Your arguement on iTunes works both ways. Your iRiver player does not have nice software to keep your music organized and synced on your player. Did you know that iTunes and the iPod allow you to rate each song, then it will create "smart playlists" based on what you like best? It also keeps track of how many times you've listened to each song, again to create smart playlists for you. You can also make playlists on the go with the iPod which I'm pretty sure you cannot do on the iRiver.

iTunes is very simple and I'm surprised you would bash it without actually having used it. You simply plug in your iPod, it syncs your music, then automatically dismounts the drive so you can unplug it instantly.

Your sound quality arguements are subjective, and I have not heard of anyone complaining about the quality of the iPod's sound. I linked an article to an audiophile website reviewing the iPod's sound quality earlier, just search the general hardware forum for "iPod". :beer:

Returning late to the party but as someone else points out... iRiver is the better value especially considering you can now get the 20gig for 299 on Newegg. Keep in mind that a lot of us here are not students and don't have easy access to educational discounts.

The interface works just fine for me and I don't consider it clunky at all.

Believe me... The feature set of the iRiver meets my needs. I spent a considerable amount of time researching the various players, and soliciting feedback from owners. I think I made the best decsion for me based on the volumes of reviews on multiple players. As far as looks go, I think both players look great--beauty is in the eyes of the beholder however.

I've tried iTunes. Never said I didn't. But I don't want my device tied to a piece of software that I have no use for especially as my iRiver lives it's life between different machines. I can also unplug my iRiver instantly. I also don't buy my music online. I rip my CD's to 320 bit NO VBR. Until I can buy music online at a higher quality, iTunes, or any of the popular Music services won't see business from me. 320Bit is also why a 20 gig player has value to me vs a 1.5 or 4gig player.

As I said.. both are great devices. Only one was for me.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
I could never fill an i-pod up. I could see if you don't have access to a computer and you have to put every song you ever heard onto it. Otherwise, anything 2gigs and over is over kill IMO.

Well... That depends on the user certainly.....

But I rip at 320bit wth No VBR.... So each MP3 is 10+megs... a Full Cd varies from a little over 100meg to over 170meg.

So that space buys me much better sound quality from being at 320bit.... a difference that I can tell aprt from 128bit, and that matters to me.

Cheers

 

[Cobalt]

Originally posted by: LuDaCriS66
It wouldn't for me cuz I like to skip songs a lot and that kills the battery life... I know people who only get 3-4 hours on their iPods. I used to have an original Nomad Zen that's rated at 12 hours and it still wasn't too great. That's just it.. I don't want to have to charge it everyday. Not for something that costs $500 CND.

I was referring to the new Zen Touch which is still slightly bigger than the iPod but not nearly the size of the original. The Zen is so much bigger because it uses bigger hard drives. Not because it uses a bigger battery.
This is it http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=3&subcategory=21&product=10274&nav=features

The 40GB iRiver is 0.9.. but the 40Gb iPod is 0.73. If you look at the 20GB iRiver player, its at 0.7 compared to the iPod's 0.62. The difference isn't big enough for half the battery life.
All I'm saying is, stick a better battery in there and I'm sold on the iPod.

I love my 20GB iRiver The only thing that really drains the battery is upgrading the Firmware on this thing. But that's why you plug it in :|

 

[Wahsapa]

did u use itunes to rip? you should check out the quality on apples lossless compression(or another if you want)