Ipod - Is It Worth The Money?

When people think of MP3 players most people think of the Ipod by Apple. But is it worth the money? My family began purchasing MP3 players about a year ago and the difference in price between one manufacturer and another can be substantial. The question you should ask yourself is: "How much am I willing to pay for the popularity of one MP3 player over another?" The answer of course is, you shouldn't pay a dime more than you need to. Most MP3 players regardless of price deliver outstanding sound quality and isn't that what you are looking for? Bells and whistles that you pay hundreds of dollars extra for are probably not necessary if you are just looking for a good quality MP3 player that won't break your budget. In fact, in our experience you can purchase an MP3 player which is superior to the Ipod in several areas for a fraction of the price.

My wife wanted an Ipod for her birthday and that's exactly what I bought her. She loved it at first... until I bought myself a Sony Walkman.

In this article we will compare the Ipod Nano ($200) with the Sony NW-E005 2 GB Flash Digital Music Player ($62)

The first glaring difference between the Ipod and the Sony is not only price but the software that operates the units. We took the exact same CD and downloaded it to the Ipod software called "Itunes" and it took 4 minutes and 40 seconds for the download to complete. The same CD downloaded to the Sony Walkman software called "Sonic Stage" took only 2 minutes and ten seconds. Less then half the time! If you are planning on downloading a large music library then it is going to take you more then twice the time to accomplish this with an Ipod.

Another difference my wife noticed with the Itunes software is that it is not as easy to use as the Sonic Stage software by Sony. Her comments were: "Every time I open the Itunes software to use it I have to re-teach myself what to do because nothing is obvious. The Sonic Stage software is very easy to use. When you open the software it has three big buttons at the top. Music Source, My Library and Transfer. From these three easy to understand buttons you can perform any task quickly."

One other disadvantage of the Ipod is that it has a special cable that has to be used in order for you to charge the battery and download music. My wife complains that if she is out of the house and her battery runs down she cannot recharge it without that darn cable. So be prepared to take that cable everywhere you take your Ipod or you will not be able to recharge the battery or download music.

This is not the case with a Sony Walkman MP3 player. The Sony MP3 player has a built in USB that plugs into any computer to charge the battery and download music. No extra cables to carry around like the Ipod.

Another difference between the Ipod Nano and a Sony Walkman is how many hours the MP3 player will work on one charge. You guessed it. My wife's Ipod runs down in less then 10 hours while the Sony Walkman's charge is good for over 20 hours!

You may think that this article is a long advertisement for Sony Walkmans but that was not our intention. We had the opportunity to compare the Apple Ipod MP3 player with the Sony Walkman MP3 player and we were shocked that not only was the Sony Walkman a fraction of the price of the Ipod Nano but it was easier to use, the software was faster and the charge lasted twice as long.

The one advantage we found with the Ipod was that it held more songs. BUT - I still have not filled the memory on my Sony Walkman so it's not a factor as far as we are concerned.

It's up to you to decide if the Ipod is worth the money. For my wife and I... we are hooked on the Sony series of MP3 players. Great price, great software and very easy to use.