apple ipod replacement.
Written: Sep 06 '04
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Pros: price!
Cons: ios, usb interface not powered by battery.
The Bottom Line: much better value than the apple ipod.
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| zteknofreak's Full Review: Dell DJ (15 GB) MP3 Player |
preface:
i bought the dell jukebox after having a *minor* problem with my apple ipod which apple would not look at unless i forked over $250. [yes, folks, for another $50 i could get a new ipod.]
dell was offering the dj and a $100 rebate for turning in your old ipod. after a little review searching, it looked like a pretty good deal.
the dilemna, is that the ipod is phenominal in all aspects, unfortunately including price. apple is for people who have money lying around to spare. i, like many, do not have this luxury. [maybe someday.]
first, i agree with all reviews that recommend the scrapping of musicmatch. it's bloated and unnecessary. i'm running mine right now with the dell dj explorer. i use winamp to play my mp3's [i also think that medaplayer is a waste of space.] so i only need a small, lightweight program to transfer files to the jukebox.
the musicmatch ios leaves a few things to be desired. next to the apple ios, i find myself having to look for things instead of finding them where i expect. the home and back buttons are definitley very handy. next to apple's wheel navigation thing, the scroll button is a little weak. you can't continuously scroll as you can on the apple by drawing your finger in a circle. you have to keep stopping and moving your thumb back to the top and then starting again. after having used the apple ipod, i'm not certain that the power button is necessary. it seems to take forever to shut the thing down, which is very annoying.
if you have a usb keyboard with a hub, as i do, you're going to be very dissapointed to find that it won't work due to a lack of power. this is a very sore spot for me, as i have a number of digital cameras that work fine with this usb hub. anything that has a battery usually works, as it provides its own power. what the dell engineers were thinking when they left this out, i have no idea. hooking it up to one of the non hub ports on the back of your computer isn't all that easy either, as the cable they give you is too short to reach anywhere helpful. that being said, i only just discovered this as i had been using my laptop to hook it up with, and that worked flawlessly.
it is a little bigger and heavier than the apple ipod, but not enough that this should make any difference in your consideration.
it's not white, a big plus in my book. in addition to not really liking the color white, my ipod always looked dirty, as i always have dirt, ink, toner, food, or whatever, somewhere on my fingers. i spent half my life wiping it off. the front was also painfully easy to scratch. the dell dj does not have these problems. it's dark coloured, so dirt doesn't show up. it also has a sort of stainless steel colored rim around the front, which dirt doesn't like enough to hang on to. the material of the screen is hard enough not to be scratched easily. [i do not have a case and i keep my dj in my pocket and it's still looking good. my ipod screen had some fairly heavy scratches in it from the exact same use.]
the sound quality is pretty good. i'm a self proclaimed audiophile and have to say that there is virtually no discernable difference between the ipod and the dj output. definitely lose the crappy earbud headphones that they throw in with these. [if you're upgrading from an ipod, keep the apple earbuds as they sound pretty good.]
conclusion:
the dell dj lacks a few things which makes the apple ipod dominate. the bottom line for me however, is that the apple ipod is not worth the extra money. apple is for people with excess money to spend. for those of us that live in the real world, where our budgets are managed, the dell dj is a much better value.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $100
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
zteknofreak
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Reviews written: 1
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