I have been looking into a compact, portable mp3 player and was first pretty dazzled by the iPod systems. The problem now is I am curious, what is the lifespan of those things? I am hearing pretty single sided stories right now; ie. iPod sucks. Everyone I’ve spoken to seems to believe that solid, installed memory is not the way to go. Portable memory sticks are going to remain mainstream. iPod systems sure look pretty, but is that dressing on the outside worth the investment for a potentially short lifespanned unit? Since the iPod runs on a harddrive, the disk runs the risk of deteriorating over time.
Lately I’ve been looking into some of the Sony MP3 players, but they are pretty darn expensive for a toy of such a rather minor calibre. Up here Sony units like this cost a good $300+ USD.
But damn, it is so cool…
I wish Fujitsu made MP3 players too, because they would definitely take the standards set by Sony, and enhance them with a -30% price reduction packed in! 8)
Ah well… so should I opt for a cheaper, possibly poor-durability poor-lifespan iPod, or a rugged and expensive Sony toy?