Is There Any Other Player That Can Beat The iPod Touch?

[trevpimp]

Me and my friend were just argueing about the ipod touch "not" being the best player, I keep saying for him to tell me any other player that has more features than the touch, he didnt know. Im asking you guys if you can tell me if there is any other player that is better than the ipod touch as in more features.

If youre gonna say something negative then dont comment :D

[Fedorov]

Personally speaking I don't think there is a better gadget on the market, especially the new 2nd gen that I just got tonight, the external volume and the external speaker I find very useful already.

[kornchild2002]

Now you can't limit us to not saying something negative. We can say that device X has more features and that can be conceived as being negative. If you are going to make that comment then you might as well go back and erase your whole thread.

Anyway, there are some players out there that actually have more features (including better audio quality) than the iPod touch. Archos's Internet Media Tablets have about the same amount of features as the iPod touch yet they come in capacities of 30GB, 60GB, 160GB, 250GB, and even 320GB. So their players not only have the same amount of features but they have capacities greater than that of the iPod classic. Creative's Zen X-Fi also has about the same amount of features, maybe a little more. Keep in mind that these players I am listing don't have the same types of features as the iPod touch but still, features are features. Not everyone is going to use the e-mail feature of the iPod touch just like not everyone is going to use the library streaming feature of the Zen X-Fi. Anyway, the X-Fi is available in 16GB and 32GB capacities and each one comes in at $199 and $279 respectively.

Lastly, other devices such as pocket PCs, the iPhone, Sony PSP, thousands of other smartphones, etc. all have more features (or about the same) as the iPod touch. Don't think that the iPod touch is the most feature packed portable audio player out there, it isn't. It isn't even the best portable on the market. The device is slick, really easy to use, and is the most feature packed iPod (minus the iPhone). That and Apple has shown some dedication to their mobile Mac OS X platform by allowing older iPod touch models to run the same OS and have 99% of the 2G iPod touch's features.

[drew64]

The archos 5 I think beats the Touch hands down. Plays more video and audio formats. Can be used as a DVR with dock. Bigger screen. I was going to buy the new touch but saw these and did some research on them. Seem better for the price.

[trevpimp]

Now you can't limit us to not saying something negative. We can say that device X has more features and that can be conceived as being negative. If you are going to make that comment then you might as well go back and erase your whole thread.

When I said that I meant negative as in "Who cares, Youre dumb if you dont know whats better, and dont you have anything better to do than ask these questions?"

I could care less if you like this and that because its your opinion, just dont diss other people. ;)

[Dewaine]

There is no device that is truly pocketable that beats it. On this very portable device you have music, photos, video, applications (eReaders, business tools....etc), games, internet. I have owned many palms and pocket pc and none comes close to this.... Some would do many of the same things, but in a limited way. I like the Archos, but try carrying it around in your pocket all day, and try buying accessory's for it. With the Touch you also get the support and help that comes from a huge user base, an Archos forum is a pretty lonely place.....

An average laptop will do all the things a touch can do, but again it is the tiny form factor that makes it what it is.......

[kornchild2002]

When I said that I meant negative as in "Who cares, Youre dumb if you dont know whats better, and dont you have anything better to do than ask these questions?"

I could care less if you like this and that because its your opinion, just dont diss other people. ;)

Ok, that is understandable. I don't think you would have received any replies like that though and, if you did, those users would have their comments removed.

[trevpimp]

Ok, that is understandable. I don't think you would have received any replies like that though and, if you did, those users would have their comments removed.

oh, then this place rocks, Ive been in lots of forums and mostly all of them are rude people who just hate everything.

[Touchmyipod]

The iPhone is way better than the touch, the iPhone is the best media player, come on, it has a phone too.....

[MAD M5]

I think the selling point for me on the touch is....... it is touch screen. Yet it can be awkward with large fingers, but if you use it for a while you get use to it. Some complaints like audio quality and storage size are legit, but if you already have a larger Ipod the smaller touch is nice for other things. It is thin and very light and very durable. I would have probably waited to get an iphone, but I have a few friends that aren't completely happy with it and that is the new 3g version too.
The Zen X-FI looks nice, maybe it sounds better, but it still isn't touch screen and has all those buttons on the outside. One feature of the touch that came in handy for me was converting powerpoint study guides to jpeg and viewing them anywhere and being able to enlarge and scroll them just by sliding my finger across the screen. My wife has a Zen W which is nice, has a big screen, has an external speaker, and it is easy to transfer songs and stuff with. But it too has it's limitations. Cant flip photos from widescreen to portrait, can't enlarge the picture. The videos have to fit a certain format too.
It goes without saying the ipod revolutionized mp3 players, the touch/ iphone has made companies retool and try to compete. Just like many things in life, no matter how good you are there is always someone/thing better. What you need and how you use it is what makes you like or dislike something.

[kornchild2002]

It goes without saying the ipod revolutionized mp3 players, the touch/ iphone has made companies retool and try to compete. Just like many things in life, no matter how good you are there is always someone/thing better. What you need and how you use it is what makes you like or dislike something.

The iPod didn't revolutionize the mp3 player industry, it changed things. You see, before Apple companies were releasing their 64MB players and relied on their own crappy software, Windows Media Player, or MusicMatch. Some companies had released hard drive based players before the iPod but they would only last about 4 hours on a single charge or use crappy hard drives that weren't meant for portable use. Apple came along and released the iPod which was smaller than those other hard drive players, a little bigger than the solid state players, and they released iTunes. The problem was that this was still closed to the Apple universe and it wasn't until the 2G iPod when Apple released it for Windows. Apple relied on MusicMatch for syncing though so they still failed to make a punch. It wasn't until the 3G iPod that Apple shook the industry by offering a Windows/Mac compatible player, fixed their iTunes software to run on both OS's as well, and they launched their iTunes Store. So it took Apple three generations and three iPods before they fully understood the market and made a splash. After that everyone was offering their small hard drive players. Dell, Archos, Creative, everyone had their own players. The only problem was that these players didn't have iTunes.

Anyway, Apple only changed the portable market. There is only one company who revolutionized it and that is Diamond Rio as they fought off the courts, pushed their small players out of the door (they weren't the first company to make a portable mp3 player but their first unit was much smaller, had better battery life, and was easier to use), and set the road for future companies such as Apple.

[trevpimp]

The iPod didn't revolutionize the mp3 player industry, it changed things. You see, before Apple companies were releasing their 64MB players and relied on their own crappy software, Windows Media Player, or MusicMatch. Some companies had released hard drive based players before the iPod but they would only last about 4 hours on a single charge or use crappy hard drives that weren't meant for portable use. Apple came along and released the iPod which was smaller than those other hard drive players, a little bigger than the solid state players, and they released iTunes. The problem was that this was still closed to the Apple universe and it wasn't until the 2G iPod when Apple released it for Windows. Apple relied on MusicMatch for syncing though so they still failed to make a punch. It wasn't until the 3G iPod that Apple shook the industry by offering a Windows/Mac compatible player, fixed their iTunes software to run on both OS's as well, and they launched their iTunes Store. So it took Apple three generations and three iPods before they fully understood the market and made a splash. After that everyone was offering their small hard drive players. Dell, Archos, Creative, everyone had their own players. The only problem was that these players didn't have iTunes.

Anyway, Apple only changed the portable market. There is only one company who revolutionized it and that is Diamond Rio as they fought off the courts, pushed their small players out of the door (they weren't the first company to make a portable mp3 player but their first unit was much smaller, had better battery life, and was easier to use), and set the road for future companies such as Apple.

Apple's been here for a long time yo, if it wasnt for apple what will be using? :eek:

[kornchild2002]

Apple didn't make a splash until 2003. The company that really revolutionized the industry was Rio as they fought off the courts and really formulated the modern portable mp3 player design. Rio was there back in 1995, 1996, and 1997. That was 6 years before Apple even introduced their very first iPod. Apple is NOT the first company to release a portable mp3 player. They are the first to introduce a closed ecosystem using their hardware, their software, and their music store. That changed the industry, Rio revolutionized it and paved the way for Apple. If it weren't for Apple we would probably still be using some Rio player. The 20GB Rio Karma was a much better player than Apple's 3G iPod and it was less expensive. The only problem was that many of the units were made with cheap Hitachi hard drives that broke. Still, their 20GB Karma was 1/2 the size of Apple's 10GB 3G iPod, was compatible with more audio formats including FLAC, had much better audio quality, and its battery would normally go for 15+ hours while the 3G iPod line was rated at 8 hours but the average user would get about 5.5-6 hours.

The main thing that made the iPod successful was iTunes as the software was extremely easy to use and so was the iPod's firmware. Apple took something that used to be kind of complex to use and made it idiot proof. That was back in the day when iPods handled only music and one could purchase about 1 million songs on the iTunes Store. So Apple took something and made it easy to use, that isn't very revolutionary but rather a natural progression. Now, had Apple introduced a video capable iPod or the iPod touch back in 2003 then they would have revolutionized the industry. It wasn't until 2005 when the iTunes Store became more and more successful. Apple's hardware has undergone natural progressions over the years.

[Inc]

yes, the Archos 5 gives the ipod touch a real run for its money. i think the one thing stopping me from completely jumping ship to archos is that the size looks like it might be just a bit to big to carry in a pocket. i dont know, i want to see one in person and havent been able to find a place that sells them in stores. that and its rumored low battery life.

Apple is always high on style, but very low on memory, compatabillity, and price value. but when it comes to just playing music, ipod may be the best on the scene, but overall media player i think ipod has more and more competition.

[Code Monkey]

Apple didn't make a splash until 2003...And a very small splash at that. It was the release of the mini in 2004 and the subsequent craze over it followed by the full sized 4G clickwheel iPods later that year that were 100% USB focused that made the iPod into a household name.

That's the problem with youth and/or short attention spanned westerners. Apple's so-called revolution, domination, whatever you want to call it, of the portable media player market has lasted only a bit longer than high school...

I remember high school, seemed big and important at the time. Then there was the roughly four years after college that turned out to be much bigger and much more important in effecting my life. Then there was that four years after college that bore no resemblance to either high school or college but found me married, which had an even bigger effect on the trajectory of my life. The point is, Apple's "lock" on this market is only potentially as big as most think. The real, lasting impact of Apple's role in this market still has many more years to be determined.

[kornchild2002]

Yep, the iPod mini was Apple's most successful portable player ever followed by the 2G iPod mini, 1G iPod nano, 2G iPod nano, and so forth. The main area where Apple made a splash in 2003 was the integration of the iTunes Store right into their software and hardware. I believe that Apple was the first company to offer this closed ecosystem, I could be wrong but I think they were the first. That wasn't revolutionary though but rather a natural progression of the market. Verizon does this with a couple of their cellphones and Microsoft with their Zune line.

Either way, Apple didn't revolutionize the industry and the iPod touch is not the most feature packed portable player.

[kyussmondo]

Apple didn't revolutionise, they just made it huge and was the first to really bury other formats like MD and Portable CD Players. I think it was due to a lot of factors...ease of use, the whole experience, the coolness factor, celebrities using the iPod, iTunes on Windows, moving from FireWire to USB 2...I can't explain it lol.