I left my video iPod in the seat back pocket on a flight a while back. I lost all my music and the $350 player. I’ve been grumpy about the fact that my iPod didn’t allow me to do some of the things I wanted. Maybe it was Fruedian!?! I was bugged that I had to deal with iTunes because it was the best option I found to get the podcasts into the Podcast folder. I hate iTunes, but it still did the one thing that I wanted well, so I used it. The iPod was too closed for me. I felt claustrophobic.

After using my new Archos 605, I realize how limited the iPod really is. The form, the slim body and smooth lines, the simple click wheel. BAH! Smoke and mirrors…

Here are some reasons I like my Archos more than my video iPod.

• Open file structure - You put the folders you want where you want them. I have Music and Podcasts: never the twain shall meet. No more random podcast popping up in the _smart_ playlist. Audio books will have there own folder when I get some.
• Delete files in situ - You can nuke a file you don’t like right there and then. Like you’ll remember when you get back to your computer. Ha! How many times have I skipped passed Mother by the Police wishing I could just delete it? Not any more… its gone!
• Big screen - Sure its in a different league than the video iPod, but the iPod touch only comes with 16 GB, and still the screen is bigger. The bigger sized player doesn’t even come close to balancing out 10 times more storage and a bigger screen.
• No Proprietary Kludgey Interface - What’s wrong with using a usb hard drive like a usb hard drive?
• Dock doubles as a Tivo and video input recorder - Have a video feed you want to record? How about a TV show you just can’t miss? Record it onto your Archos. Then you can take it with you or use the same dock to play it through your TV. Oh yeah all the other features work through your TV too. Internet, audio, video, photos, etc.

Check it out. You won’t be sorry!

So now that I have my free iPod, I’ve been working on getting my music all ripped over to .mp3 format and getting it uploaded onto my player. I’ve got a pretty good system for ripping, equalizing the volume, uploading and managing songs, and finally dealing with a hard drive full of .mp3 files. I’m going to give an overview of how I have gone through the process so hopefully other folks can benefit. I will generally describe the steps and then as time goes on, and my creative juices flow, I’ll write other articles that fill in the details.
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I posted here about the offer for a free iPod. I talk about how finally I can admit that I “fell” for such a ruse. I talk as if it is a done deal and the iPod is practically in my hand. Well in the last 42 days since that post, I have been wondering if I really didn’t get burned. I even stopped checking to see each day if my order status had changed from the disappointing Sent to Vendor, Waiting on Product to the oh so exciting Shipped. Wouldn’t you know it, when I finally gave up, there it was on the front porch. The shadows from the street lights even played tricks with the front stoop as I approached and debated with myself whether or not to get too excited, but sure enough. Its here!