All i know is that I love my Archos Jukebox recorder and i wouldnt buy anything over it, ever. I t has ruber shock absorbers on the corners, can record from analog and digital sources, and has a built in mic. Also the rechargable batteries are just 4 double A batts so if they start losin life, BAM newones and no hassle. $10 outta pocket. Hell of alot better than $100 that Apple charges.

Well I got it in about june 2002, that's just over two years, which is more than one year and thus justifies the use of the plural, years. Another way of putting it is :p :p :flipbird: :repuke: :smashfrea :joint:

How long do your 4AAs last?

You could use nimh rechargeables and save on getting new batteries at all.

How much is a decent set of those and a decent charger?

The best place I've found for these batteries, at least US, is www.thomasdistributing.com

A set of 4 AAs that will outlast standard alkalines by about half is $8, the fancy 2300 mAh that go twice as long as standard alkalines are $14. The charger is $30 but they have a fancy international one is $45 WITH 4 batteries and a mandatory battery holder. I say mandatory because you would not want these batteries to short out on change in your pocket. :worried:

The down side to these batteries is that they don't hold a charge very long, and so if you have a set around for a month you really have to charge them (for an hour) before using. But they are really ideal for digital cams that use AAs, where you can charge up a couple sets for a week and have them at the ready.

15 hours straight play. :)

I use them for my camera. They do lose their charge sitting around, but they recharge very quickly even in a charger that drains them before charging. I have 2 sets of batteries to rotate and in a pinch just hit the nearest store for Duracells. :)

Wish I could use the frigging huge/heavy ones in the canon pro DSLRs in other things, they just don't die, even after over 1000 shots.

These are exactly the batteries and charger I have, and I've been singing their praises to everyone whenever the topic comes up. One of my favorite things about the charger is that there is a separate circuit for each battery. So if they have different charges on them, they each get a custom charge, instead of some average charge for all of them.

They really are the best batteries and charger.

I only have a MH-C204F. :(
But it works great! :D

OK. I did it. I got the latest 40GB ipod. I'm currently ripping CDs with iTunes.

I have one complain so far: Maybe it's just me. But I hate fingerprints. And polished metal back of the iPod is like a fingerprint magnet!! I'd have preferred a rougher surface that wouldn't hold prints. (Yeah, I know I can wipe them off.)

Oh, yeah, it does play music too. I'd love a smaller font (classical music has long titles). But the scroll wheel is beyond coolness.

"So, Steve, how do you like your iPod?"
 

I'm glad you asked! :D

The good:

Well you can see why it is so popular. The click wheel is great. Sound quality seems just fine (though I'm far from an audiophile). The large disk size is certainly good--I've traditionally taken forever to figure out what CDs etc. I want to take along. At this point I have... I forget.. how many CDs on it, maybe 75 or 80, and am not even up to the 25% mark. It's nice to be able to access music by album, artist, or track title. The handling of multi-disc CD sets (once they've been properly entered, see below) is very nice. All in all, it's great. Which is not to say I wouldn't like to see some changes....

The bad:

The width of the screen means that most titles get cut off. Could we have an option for a smaller font size? Or some clever use of scrolling? (When you're playing, the track title scrolls, but not the album or artist.) Perhaps this is only problematic for the classical listener... all those albums starting with "Symphony" or "Symphonies", you know.

Not iPod per se, but iTunes... the GraceNote database is unbelievably lame. How the hell can you have a 4-CD set and have information for discs 1, 2, and 4, but NOT for 3? And then there is little consistency between the discs. Some albums have Artist and Track Title information swapped. Etc. Etc. Doesn't anybody check this stuff? These inconsistencies and inaccuracies were acceptable for CDDB when it was a free, cooperative effort. Now that companies have to pay to license it, they ought to have more accurate information.

For what Apple charges, I can't believe they didn't include at least a cheap case and/or belt clip.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I hate the earbuds. They are, literally, painful. Maybe my ear canals are just small. (Besides, the little covers NEVER stay on.)

There really needs to be a good way to get two tracks to play sequentially with no pause in between.

And a way to shuffle the songs on an album while you're playing the album, without having to bop back up 3 or 4 menu levels to the settings menu, change the setting, and then go back and change it again before you play the next album that you don't want shuffled.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I hate the earbuds. They are, literally, painful. Maybe my ear canals are just small. (Besides, the little covers NEVER stay on.)

Amen to that. I've never found any brand of earbud headphones to be even close to tolerable.

I like those earbud hybrids that curl around the top of the ear and down the back.

www.etymotics.com

In-ear earphones, the only way to go.