[treosensei]

the ipod is a hugely popular mp3 player with great features. but it doesnt have the full bundle of features the treo has to make it,, in my view. worth the same amount as the treo 600.

which brings me to the question....

do you think the treo's mp3 player is just as good or comparable to the ipod and its capabilities?

i have no experience with the ipod, but i am completely content with the treo as my mp3 player, really couldnt be happier and to my knowledge, dont see how getting an ipod would be in any way better.

what do you think?

[Jumbawamba]

I agree, the Ipod seems to be more style than substance. Also no matter how good the quality of the Ipod, it is still only as good as the quality of files being played on it - and MP3s just don't cut it with most discerning audiophiles - especially when listening to classical music.

Gabriel

[NateS]

Originally posted by treosensei
the ipod is a hugely popular mp3 player with great features. but it doesnt have the full bundle of features the treo has to make it,, in my view. worth the same amount as the treo 600.

which brings me to the question....

do you think the treo's mp3 player is just as good or comparable to the ipod and its capabilities?

i have no experience with the ipod, but i am completely content with the treo as my mp3 player, really couldnt be happier and to my knowledge, dont see how getting an ipod would be in any way better.

what do you think?

These are really not comparable products. They just have some overlapping features which you might call afterthoughts.

An iPod doesn't make and receive phone calls or use the Palm operating system to store and manipulate large amounts of data, like the Treo does. Although it can be used to store contacts, calendar events, record speech, etc. and even serve as an external computer disk drive, its principal purpose is to store massive amounts of music, so that you can carry around and play at will from a huge library of music of your choice. In the latter sense, there is nothing comparable to its capacity, diminutive and stylish design, etc. If you have or want to collect a large library of music and carry it with you to play, an iPod fulfills that purpose in spades.

A Treo is a converged cellphone and Palm operating system device to store and manipulate large amounts of data, in a very integrated way, and it probably performs that function better than any other product on the market today. Its ability to store and play mp3s is very nice but extremely limited compared to an iPod. But as a smartphone, a Treo is probably King of the Road at this time. If you want to make and receive phone calls, email, surf the web, have a very integrated and sophisticated method of keeping and tracking events and contacts, etc. a Treo fulfills that purpose magnificently.

Your choice depends on what you most want to do with the product. As an owner of both, I wouldn't consider either to be a substitute for the other, but unless or until your music collection exceeds your Treo's mp3 capacity, why not stick with it alone. If and when you reach the point where you need or want an iPod too, you'll know it.



Regards,

NateS

[treobk214]

thank you very much, nate, and to all who've responded. very helpful responses!!!

that's the best side by side of the two units I've seen.

and yes, I will be sticking with the treo 600. I agree that its the jack of all trades in my book right now.

[Jazzer]

iPods play more than MP3s.

Originally posted by Jumbawamba
I agree, the Ipod seems to be more style than substance. Also no matter how good the quality of the Ipod, it is still only as good as the quality of files being played on it - and MP3s just don't cut it with most discerning audiophiles - especially when listening to classical music.

Gabriel

[DaMan]

Also, the smallest capacity iPod is 10 GIGS. Try getting that on your Treo. Realistically though, the two are completely different entities. It's like comparing a Blackberry and a Treo. Some common features, but different strengths.

[SprintTreoUser]

Not the case for me, but there are those who like to carry around lots of music or even their entire library, as basically stated above already. SD cards are very expensive when you compare the price to the capacity of an Ipod. Let's see, a 10gb Ipod is about $300. 2 512mb cards to equal about 1gb would be about $300. Multiply that by 10 and it would cost you about $3000 in SD cards to let you carry around about the same amount of music as the 10gb Ipod. Not to mention, that it's not too much more for the 20gb or even 40gb unit.

Of course, I don't think anybody would buy that many cards, but when you think about it, the Ipod is a great deal compared to the price of SD cards.

[ajstribling]

This isn't even an apples vs. oranges comparison. It's more like fruitbats vs. Buicks.

If you only want a handful of tunes, then go with SD cards. If you want your entire CD collection (and then some), as well as a portable harddrive to back-up your computer, get the iPod. Second-hand 5-gig pods can be had for under $200.

At some point, phones may eventually have small harddrives in them, but that's a long ways off. I'm starting to think the whole convergence thing is getting out of hand, and we're about to see a combination television/microwave/toilet combo.

[vikrampant]

I use both daily, my Treo 600 and 30GB iPod.

I would never compare them, nor look at them as overlapping devices. Each has it's speciality.

For someone who just wants an occasional mp3, the Treo 600 is fine. But for someone like me who uses the iPod at home, in the car and at work, I would never use my Treo for music.

Likewise I pass over the iPods calendar, tasks, and contact features. The iPod can be used as a task mgmt, but why, I got the Treo or a palm device.

Just my two cents,
Vikram

[Ksilebo]

The Treo 600 is a piece of crap if you want to use it as an MP3 player.

The iPod has tons more storage, an interface sprecifically for playing MP3s, and amplifier designed for high quality audio playback, and has a speedy firewire interface to put songs on.

Its as ajstribling put it, comparing fruitbats to Buicks. I too have both the iPod and the Treo, and wish the Treo didnt have the camera or the ability to play MP3s and instead had bluetooth or WiFi or GPS or something useful.

[consultingguy]

How many pockets do you people have??

I really look forward to the day of the 100 gig SD card for $100.

[NBP]

My household owns two iPods, one for me and one for my wife. This allows us to have one base always hooked up to our Mac and the other always hooked up to our stereo. In the case of the latter, it has allowed us to stow away hundreds of CDs but still have access to all of our music through our stereo system (via our iPod). The output jack on the iPod base is a huge difference for audiophiles when compared to a Treo 600 (or many other MP3 players). Most people are required to use the headphone jack as their output. However, doing so requires that your music gets amplified twice (once by the device and once by your A/V receiver), causing serious distortion. An output jack skips the device amplifier (just like any CD player or DVD player) and the music only gets amplified by your A/V - providing a much crisper sound (especially if your music is encoded in AAC format vs. MP3 or WMA). Obviously, any iPod owner can do this by purchasing an extra base.

Another huge difference between an iPod and a Treo - the iTunes interface. The list could really go on and on as has been mentioned above.

[NateS]

Originally posted by ajstribling
. . . and we're about to see a combination television/microwave/toilet combo.

Wow! Sounds great for those on the road a lot! And it can fit in your shirt pocket? Or do you have to clip it to your belt?



NateS

[Ksilebo]

Originally posted by NateS


Wow! Sounds great for those on the road a lot! And it can fit in your shirt pocket? Or do you have to clip it to your belt?



NateS

And will each function have use simultaneously?

[ajstribling]

Originally posted by NateS


Wow! Sounds great for those on the road a lot! And it can fit in your shirt pocket? Or do you have to clip it to your belt?



NateS

You know, the prototypes I've seen look like a very hot and stinky shirt that make an irritating running water noise. But it's very interesting to look at. A real chick magnet, once they get over the smell.

[Ksilebo]

Perhaps we should collaborate on a toaster oven/vaccum/pencil sharperner that I have in development.

[jennyfur]

I too have both the iPod and the Treo, and wish the Treo didnt have the camera or the ability to play MP3s and instead had bluetooth or WiFi or GPS or something useful.

People keep talking about the Treo's ability to play MP3's as if it's actually a hardware feature of the phone. It isn't, it's just software. There are other Palm based software programs out there besides Pocket Tunes that play MP3's (such as Aeroplayer). These programs were around prior to the existance of the Treo, and still would be around if the Treo never had been. One of these programs just happened to be bundled with it. Comparing it to stuff like bluetooth/WiFi/GPS is once again fruitbats to Buicks.

And I'd argue that plenty of people would consider playing MP3's useful if it meant they didn't have to carry another device (and I'm not talking iPods here, there are dozens of MP3 players out there... some of which are small flash drive sized and hold as many files as your average SD card would). It all comes down to personal opinion. Like I personally wouldn't consider bluetooth on a phone like this useful since it's already a wireless device and can do many of the same things. A bluetooth headset is about the only thing I'd consider, and most of them are so expensive still (or sound like crap) that I probably wouldn't even bother.

[Ksilebo]

I know the MP3 playback isn't hardware.

Reason I want bluetooth is I want to just have my Treo serve the connection to the internet, place/recieve calls, have the ability to use a bluetooth headset, and maybe some other stuff thrown in, THEN, use my iPaq with Bluetooth to connect to it, browse on its HIGH RES MUCH BIGGER SCREEN the internet, manage suspenses/contacts/to-do list etc, jot down notes, record voice, stream di.fm through Windows Media Player (I dont really like it, but it works very well on the iPaq) and read eBooks on its before mentioned beautiful hires screen.

I despise Palm OS, and thats why I got rid of my Clie, but I wanted an actual quality smartphone, which this is, and I can deal with that.

[Felipe]

I have an IPOD, haven't used it since I got the treo 600.

yes, 512 card doesn't hold the 20 gigs of my ipod, but it does a good job.

the only thing i miss is the ipod remote, but already have gotten used to it.

[tDot]

Originally posted by consultingguy
How many pockets do you people have??

I really look forward to the day of the 100 gig SD card for $100.

This is the key for me. Kudos to Apple for the iPod, it truely is a great and elegant device (and the argument about cost/MB of music stored is a good point). That said, I got the Treo 600 so I only had to carry around one device. I don't need my whole music collection, and having an album or two worth of music available on my phone is an awesome side benefit.

I only wish you didn't need an adapter for the headphones.

By the way, how come when I have the standard Treo 600 earphone plugged into the phone and go to play an MP3 using pTunes, the sound comes out the speaker at the back of the Treo. Normally plugging in earphones mutes the speakers....