difference bewtween MP3 and ipod

[njcarita]

Hi all--
since mp3 players seem to be more less expensive than ipods--
can any one tell me the basic differences???

my 13 year old DOES NOT want an mp3 only wants an ipod

Can some one elighten this non hip MOM

 

[MyZoeJane]

MP3 players play MP3's. iPods are the only product that can interact with iPod software/downloading.

iPods are just geared differently, though they both serve the same purpose, iPods are, for hip kids anyway, the "cool" thing to have.


Method of downloading music is the main difference.

 

[Mom2Satan&Daisy]

MP3 players play MP3s...Ipods play MP4s.

I bought my kids MP3 players before. And what a waste. The hard drive on both of them died within a month of each other. And they weren't cheap either. It was the Creative Zen ones.

I now will only buy IPODs..they have a much better manufactorer's warranty.

 

[Jsme]

Apple Ipod is nothing more than excellent marketing. It is the "IN" thing.
Over all they both do the same thing but MP3's cannot readily accept Itune downloads.

When we bought our children's first Ipod we had to figure what to buy. Meaning an Ipod or MP3. We bought an MP3 for both then DH said you know all their friends have Ipods. We figured at that moment in time the Ipod was the best gift. We tracked down w Ipods and bought them and returned one of the MP3's and I kept the other for myself. Needless to say now my children have an Ipod Touch now and I have their old Ipod.

I would go with the Ipod.

 

[NotUrsula]

Actually, most "MP3" players can play several formats besides MP3, including WAV and WMA. We call them MP3 players as a generic name, but they are more rightly called digital media players.

Essentially, an iPod *is* a digital media player. iPod is a name brand from Apple Computer. However, Apple puts a lot of restrictions on the functionality of the iPod that limit where materials to play on it may be sourced. They ARE high quality devices with a good warranty, and they are very well-designed and easy to use. You have to weigh which factors are more important to you: "coolness"/ease of use/warranty, or, flexibility/cost.

The iTunes store may be used as a source only for Apple media players; the DRM software that the store uses prevents that material from playing on almost all non-Apple devices. (There are a couple of other brands that will work, but only when the media is imported via a Mac OS computer, and it's complicated.)

Personally I have issues with monopolies, no matter how well-built. I refuse to spend any money on iPods for this reason.

 

[sbell111]

My wife has an ipod while I still have my trusty iriver h320. She has to go through a bunch of drama to sync to itunes while I just drag and drop whatever songs or movies I want directly to my player's 20 gb hard drive.

Her player is 'cooler', but mine is better by far.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

This is all very interesting... I didn't know that there was any difference between an MP3 Player and an IPod I just thought I Pod was a brand name (from Apple). Hmm. We did have an MP 3 player but is was rather difficult to load music to and shuffle through songs and then it broke. After that we got Ipods.

 

[Experiment_626]

My wife has an ipod while I still have my trusty iriver h320. She has to go through a bunch of drama to sync to itunes while I just drag and drop whatever songs or movies I want directly to my player's 20 gb hard drive.

I drag and drop what I want on my iPod. There is an option in iTunes' iPod preferences to manage the iPod manually. Click that, and drag-and-drop works. I do this because my music collection is far too vast to fit on my 60GB iPod, so I pick and choose.

SSB

 

[Cruise]

Also I believe that any items purchased and downloaded from Itunes for your Ipod, will only ever work with Apple products. You won't ever be able to transfer them to any other brand of digital media player.

 

[PrincessDreams2]

I would spend the extra money if you can and get the iPod. I have seen too many people I know buy other mp3 players just to have headaches associated with them. (Zoon, Samsa, etc) I love my iPod, and like a PP said, you can drop and drag your music onto the iPod. It is really easy.

 

[kacaju]

We found that unless you are tech savy the ipods are much easier to down load music to then the mp3 players.My dh bought a *great* mp3 player for our dd about 2 years ago. The poor girl had such a hard time trying to download *her* music on it. DH would download *his* music on it and then she hated all his songs (still don't know why he thinks the kids should like his music)
I say go with the ipod!!!

 

[tasha99]

Our family has had several mp3 players and 3 ipods. They're equally easy to use, in my opinion, though different. The main difference I see other than price is durability. ALL of my mp3 players (going on about 5 now) have died for some reason or another. The ipods just keep going, so to me, they are well worth the extra money.

 

[jrasmom]

And don't forget you could get a refurbished Ipod one in the apple dot com store for a reasonable price.
I have mp3 players and my only complaint is that it's not easy to scroll through to the song I want if say I'm on #25 and I want #100, I've asked for a Ipod that I can see the songs & scroll through for Christmas. Then I'll upload Hannah, Jonas Bros. etc. on my MP3 player for my ds/dd to use.

 

[sbell111]

We found that unless you are tech savy the ipods are much easier to down load music to then the mp3 players.My dh bought a *great* mp3 player for our dd about 2 years ago. The poor girl had such a hard time trying to download *her* music on it. DH would download *his* music on it and then she hated all his songs (still don't know why he thinks the kids should like his music)
I say go with the ipod!!!

That hasn't been my experience.
1) plug player into computer.
2) open windows explorer
3) drop whatever songs/movies into the player, just like it was a hard drive in your computer.
4) unplug player
5) listen to music

 

[CarolA]

We found that unless you are tech savy the ipods are much easier to down load music to then the mp3 players.My dh bought a *great* mp3 player for our dd about 2 years ago. The poor girl had such a hard time trying to download *her* music on it. DH would download *his* music on it and then she hated all his songs (still don't know why he thinks the kids should like his music)
I say go with the ipod!!!

And this is why I changed to an IPOD.

I am challenged apparently... I could not get stuff on the MP3. This was really true of podcasts. ITunes makes getting them easy. I never could figure out exactly WHERE they downloaded on the other software LOL!

I gave up and bought an IPOD. Just easier for me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Although the "cool" factor makes a person want an ipod (though how cool can it be for a teen, if a 39 year old wants one too???), other players can be better.

Check out http://www.anythingbutipod.com . That's the site hubby recommends.

He got a Cowon D2 and is absolutely over the moon about it. He can get 99 cent downloads from amazon, he can watch movies on it.

But what really sold him on the Cowon is that it uses SD cards. What does that mean for the user? It means the memory is expandable. Unlike the ipod where you get what you get and mourn (or spend more money) when they come out with a bigger memory ipod, you can load your movies and music onto umpteen SD cards and just throw a different card in when you want something different.

My brother uses his Blackjack phone for a digital media player, and it uses SD cards too (though the mini ones, I think), and he sat for an hour or so putting episodes of one of his fave shows onto SD cards for a cross country flight. That's what hubby did, with movies though, for our recent trip, too.

I know people waaaaant ipods b/c they are so cuuuuute, but others players can be just as good and even better.

Since hubby got the Cowon, something like four of his tech-savvy co-workers have ordered them. One guy had JUST gotten an ipod and nearly cried when he found out about the SD cards, while he is tied to whatever memory his ipod has until he gets a new player.


There was something about the batteries with ipods, too, that's not pretty. Can't recall what it is, but hubby can use rechargeables in his and that was much better in his decision process than whatever it is about the ipod batteries!

 

[Dopey Rocks!]

We have a Sony Walkman. Absolutely LOVE it! We read a lot of the reviews on Amazon and talked to a lot of friends before getting the Sony. One of the biggest positives are the earbuds--amazing!!

We have been uploading all of our CDs onto our computer and we just choose the songs we want and drag them to the Walkman. I would love to research the Cowon mentioned above--I like the idea of rechargeable batteries. (What size does it take?)

Good luck with your decision.

 

[mana_liz]

I'm 26 and can't see spending the money for an IPOD. I have had the same MP3 player for about 6 years and it still works great. I download or rip CDs to Windows Media Player and then drag them to the MP3 playlist...this works great. I usually rip the songs I want from CDs for trips or working out, I can't see spending $100+ for and IPOD and then have to pay to download songs to it...seems like a waste of money.

The only issue I have is that because it's older it has a smaller memory then newer models...I did ask Mom for a new one for Christmas because of this...but I decided I could live without a new one if I don't get it.

 

[SarahK]

I love my iPod. I have shuffle, which is great for taking walks, etc, and a regular one that I listen to at work. My husband was very anti-iPod, so he bought a creative zen, but could never get it to work, so he now has an iPod as well and has no problems with it. I have a Mac & he has a PC and hasn't had any trouble with iTunes on the PC either.

 

[Goofy'slady]

I've had my Ipod Nano for 3yrs now and I love it. We just ordered our 10yr old an Ipod Shuffle and it came in the mail 2 days ago. She not understanding the differences between an Ipod and a MP3 player thought they were exactly the same. We tried to explain the differences but everything seem to just fly over her head but when we said that all of her friends probably had Ipods she totally understood that and so she decided she wanted an Ipod.

T.
By the way, (and I know I'll get flamed for this but...) my husband downloads all my music for me and he uses the software Limewire and I know for a fact he doen't pay not one singel cent of those .99 cents that you pay when using iTunes.