Headlines - Dell reported to be testing a new MP3 player

[HEXUS]

Could this be the next stage in a Dell strategy to take on Apple on its home turf?

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[Gordy]

Hmm why don't they rename themselves Apple 2 and be done with it.

First they copy a lot of the macbook pro features in the xps range. Then they copy the iMac with the xps one. Yesterday it was the mac mini being copied.

Now its the iPod. Which is even sillier as microsoft have proved.

[Biscuit]

Dells main sales will always be to big corps i reckon same as HP so i agree kind of...

Always good to have competition and a lot of people dnt like OSX tho

[Parm]

Personally I welcome the competition in the MP3 player market. I don't own an iPod as I simply don't like using iTunes, and the two pretty much go hand in hand.

Once Amazon's MP3 store comes to the UK, I'll probably buy an MP3 player and the current choice doesn't really appeal. I wouldn't mind a Zune perhaps, but there's no sign of that coming to the UK. I wouldn't mind seeing what Dell can come up with.

[Zhaoman]

Yes we do need more competition in the mp3 market, the only alternative to the iPod seems to be Creative's range and they're very uninspiring (I own a Creative Zen lol). The new X-Fi Zen looks very interesting though.

[Scott B]

I've got a Sandisk Sansa and it's nice and usable. The future of these things, as Sandisk tried with its apparently now discontinued Sansa Connect, is in acquiring music online wirelessly whenever you want.

Microsoft's plodding away down that avenue with Zune and this Dell thing, if it happens, looks like wireless will be a big part of it. The main issue, as ever, is with DRM and payment systems.

[Biscuit]

Personally I welcome the competition in the MP3 player market. I don't own an iPod as I simply don't like using iTunes, and the two pretty much go hand in hand.

Used to be pretty similar over here which is why i got a Creative Zen Vision:M but i got a MBP now and Itunes works properly on a mac so an ipod is slightly tempting.

Another issue with MP3 players is phones. Flash storage is getting cheaper and cheaper meaning that its becoming more and more phesable to use your phone as a media device. With the addition of HSDPA/3G means that tracks can be downloaded on the go.... i think devices such as the Iphone3G may be the way things go and media devices will become more focussed at video playback for long range travelling.

[Hicks12]

why does the majority think ipod is the only main mp3/mp4 player?(apart from creative ofc) because there are better products avalible like iriver, such a great company in terms of quality and price(ipod was out after iriver ) but they lack the damn advertising and so ipod is ontop in terms of sales, it also seems they withdrew from store sales, did i miss something or are they still going?.

This could be the way to end apple's crappy prices for a product that is just average, dell is big and so everyone will know about it. Surely it will be MP4 though? would be a bit late for mp3 to compete against ipod. I think the best mp3 player is the creative zen(its zen right?) the one with a really small display and is like a peble, its roughly the size of a shuffle and cheaper and yet has a screen lol.

[Kerotan]

iriver here, they are absolutley awesome, my H10 is a little bulky now but the feature set it came with for the price a few years back was astounding. I'm definatley gonna get another iriver when this one eventually konks out on me. I think competition is good- i just hope it isnt like their PCs lol.

[Biscuit]

why does the majority think ipod is the only main mp3/mp4 player

because they have such a huge monopoly of the MP3 player market... so much so most people refer to ipod type mp3 players as ipods regardless of their actual brand.

[Agent]

Hmm why don't they rename themselves Apple 2 and be done with it.

First they copy a lot of the macbook pro features in the xps range. Then they copy the iMac with the xps one. Yesterday it was the mac mini being copied.

Now its the iPod. Which is even sillier as microsoft have proved.

Apple are hardly the most innovative company themselves.

I've lost count how many times they have took something, done the Apple marketing thing and made everyone think it was their idea.

If this had been any other company bringing a new MP3 player to the market, it would have been just another player. How does this differ to the degree that you think they should rename their self?

There are also no shortage of the 'smaller' laptops doing the rounds in the past year, now because its Dell, why is this different?