[fclensy]

Hello All --

I was wondering if anybody has replaced their iPod with their Curve or Pearl coupled with a big MicroSD card. I have an iPod touch and love it, but I'd rather not juggle 2 devices. I mostly just listen to music, not much video or anything, and I use it in the car a lot. Has anybody else done this and how has it worked? Is the Curve's music player interface easy to get used to?

[The Blackberry Veteran]

i got an 8gb card when i updated to 4.5 and have not missed my ipod. the music interface is of course, much different, but it's not impossible

[gtother]

Considering I have loads more music than the largest compatable sd card can hold on my OS version, my curve can never truly replace my ipod. However I can put a good portion of my favorite music on my curve. I always play music on my drive to school from my ipod but now I'm using my curve since it's always with me.

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[keyser.soze]

I don't know how many people are gonna admit they replaced their iPods with a BB, but there is some merit to the concept.

Personally, I like the iPod infrastructure and have both an iPod and a Storm. But I'll always have the iPod (the Touch is awesome).

So for me ... juggling will continue for a while.

[amazinglygraceless]

I don't have an IPod (32gb SansaView) and could not imagine
using the BB as a replacement for it.

Although the BB can handle multimedia it will never be as good
as a device dedicated to that purpose.

[rimbuk]

I have an iPod touch... Used to have a Curve, now I have a Storm.
I didnt want to carry 2 devices so I did exactly what you're suggesting: I replaced my iPod usage with my Curve. It worked, but wasnt the most elegant solution.

Now I use my Storm, and can't imagine to going back to using 2 devices.
As a bonus, since I got the Storm I have learned about Moodio.fm, which I now use to listen to my favorite morning show while riding my bike to work.

And to the person who says they have more music than will fit on a 8gb card (or is 16gb supported?), I have to laugh. Do you know how many HOURS of music that is? Unless you spend a week away from your computer and never want to hear a song repeat, you do not need that much storage for just music. I can *maybe* understand if you want to put 10 full length movies on your card and still have room for 500 songs, but even that would all fit on an 8gb card (depending on encoding).

And beyond that, your argument doesn't make any sense since the iPod is stuck with X amount of storage while the BB memory is removable, so you can basically have limitless storage for all of your video and music needs.
Yes, and 8GB card is $12 now on amazon.com, but really... how many are you going to fill up with music?

[nastyneon99]

I use my curve a lot more than my ipod the best thing is I don't have to use only one computer to load music

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[gtother]

And to the person who says they have more music than will fit on a 8gb card (or is 16gb supported?), I have to laugh. Do you know how many HOURS of music that is? Unless you spend a week away from your computer and never want to hear a song repeat, you do not need that much storage for just music. I can *maybe* understand if you want to put 10 full length movies on your card and still have room for 500 songs, but even that would all fit on an 8gb card (depending on encoding).

And beyond that, your argument doesn't make any sense since the iPod is stuck with X amount of storage while the BB memory is removable, so you can basically have limitless storage for all of your video and music needs.
Yes, and 8GB card is $12 now on amazon.com, but really... how many are you going to fill up with music?

Its actually days of music. I like too many styles of music. I've got classical piano to screamo. I do shuffle a lot but I also have to hear that certain song sometimes. If I limit myself to 8gb I might have to leave that song out (kind of ridiculous I know...surely someone out there can sympathize with me). It isn't very practical for me to carry around a couple micro sds since I'd have to go through battery removal and restart just to get to new music. I'll stick with my ipod for music and my BB for occaisional listening when I find myself away from the 'pod.

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[jcozzitorto]

I'm in the same situation. My 8820 doesn't have a full sized headphone jack so I carry around and iPod touch for music which has worked well so far. The interface on the touch is easy to navigate and syncing with my Mac couldn't be simpler. I do really use it in the car or at the gym, otherwise I'm playing on the BB. It does seem nice to have one device that can do it all, however.

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[amazinglygraceless]

It does seem nice to have one device that can do it all, however.

I agree and in a pinch the BB works. But honestly I really think the SansaView
or (IPod for that matter) will always handle multimedia better than any BB
currently on the market.

As far as carrying 2 devices, this does not bother me at all. As long as I have
the phone, the Sansa and my laptop, I'm good.

BB is a great platform but it is truly misguided to think it is an all in one solution
or replacement for devices that perform some of it's functions better IMO. (And
I am sure some d-head is going to come along and take offense to that despite
the fact that this is not an attack against the BB.)

[ashantiblack]

Wow ever since I got my Curve I threw my ipod in the garbage. No sense in carrying two devices out here in NYC. My Curve does a good job, as far as videos, music, pictures. Who needs Apple? ( and this is def not in reaction to the post above)

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[Kaylajoy21]

I think it depends on if you want ALL your music with you. And AG has a good point...the Ipod (or whichever mp3 player you use) will be better since it is dedicated to playing your music or video.

[rimbuk]

Lemme preface this by saying I don't care if the above poster is attacking BB or an apple supporter, I'm not a fanboy either way. This is just a 'common sense' issue for me, no flames intended.

Most (normal) people don't even have 8GB of music. And if they do, then they're limited to that music only on an iPod... no upgrade possible because of no removable storage. Oh, you have to remove the battery to replace the micro sd card? Compare that to dropping another few hundred dollars on another 8gb ipod touch. point to BB.

Back to the original topic. Yes, its very easy to get used to using the Curve as a music player and it will work fine.
You already said you don't really want to use 2 devices, so use the Curve for a while and test it out. Whats the worst that can happen? You hate it and start carrying two devices again... but honestly, you won't.

[rimbuk]

I think it depends on if you want ALL your music with you. And AG has a good point...the Ipod (or whichever mp3 player you use) will be better since it is dedicated to playing your music or video.

Please provide proof of why a dedicated MP3 player will be better.
What part of "play this song" or "play this playlist" or "shuffle these songs" does a dedicated player do better than a phone that has a media player?
Are you saying the iPod Touch plays music/videos better than the iPhone? Because last I heard, they were basically the same device, only one of them has a phone app installed.

I dont know, does it sound better to you? Because it sounds the same to me.
Maybe I'm missing something with my iPod Touch that makes the heavens open up and rain down golden drops upon my head if I touch it just right... who knows.

[amazinglygraceless]

Wow ever since I got my Curve I threw my ipod in the garbage. No sense in carrying two devices out here in NYC. My Curve does a good job, as far as videos, music, pictures. Who needs Apple? ( and this is def not in reaction to the post above)

ashantiblack(how have you been since the NYC meetup). I know it wasn't a
reaction to my post. And honestly, you of all people I never would insult.

[Kaylajoy21]

Please provide proof of why a dedicated MP3 player will be better.
What part of "play this song" or "play this playlist" or "shuffle these songs" does a dedicated player do better than a phone that has a media player?
Are you saying the iPod Touch plays music/videos better than the iPhone? Because last I heard, they were basically the same device, only one of them has a phone app installed.

I dont know, does it sound better to you? Because it sounds the same to me.
Maybe I'm missing something with my iPod Touch that makes the heavens open up and rain down golden drops upon my head if I touch it just right... who knows.

I'm saying in my personal opinion...I would choose something dedicated strictly to music/video. I have over 3000 songs on my ipod, plus different episodes of television shows.

For me...I don't feel the need to keep all of that on my phone. I understand people choose to put songs and whatnot on their memory card. I just don't feel the need to use my BB as my primary mp3 player. I don't have an issue keeping them separate.

And we are talking about the blackberry, NOT the iphone. The iphone is clearly not the same as the blackberry, so I am not going to speak on its media experience.

[fclensy]

Absolutely *LOVE* all of the responses. This is my first post on crackberry, and from what I have seen above it will not be my last. All of you have really helped me out!

I think I am going to go with rimbuk's suggestion, let the iPod sit in my desk for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Thank you all!!!

[doctorlove316]

I'll never give up my iPod for the Curve's player. Don't get me wrong, I like the Curve's player and all. It's organzed neatly and it's not really that bad. It's just, the iPod's dock connector is what enables me to play it through my car audio system. And I need that. Also, I need to have the full 60 gigs of my iPod with me at all times. I never know what I'm tryin to hear at any time. I really don't mind carrying both the iPod and BB at the same time.

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[carnadi88]

I just use my Curve to play my music. It's much easier to just carry around one device. I use my blackberry daily to listen to music at work and in my car.

[luvitlo]

Use my pearl for music all the time I have several SD cards I also have a carrier case I keep in my wallet. Ofcourse the pearl has the sd slot outside so it is easier to switch cards.

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[Curve63049]

I cannot speak to iPod versus Curve because I've never owned an iPod.

But, I can see the Curve replacing my Sansa e260 mp3 player.

I preferred the e260 to the iPod because the e260 had a built-in FM receiver and I'm a big NPR buff; you could also do recordings of FM broadcasts and make yourself voice notes with the e260. The e260 was also (at the time) cheaper than any iPod and the e260 supported pics and video (albeit through a clunky "proprietary" converter process). I've also saved most of my music in (non-DRM) .wma format (the e260 doesn't support .aac - so using iTunes was a pain). Sure, the e260 had less storage (but was expandable), but I don't carry ALL of my tunes with me all the time.

Anyway, the Curve beats the e260 when it comes to adding pics and video. Using a video conversion application (CloneMobile2) creates good enough video files that can be dragged and dropped to the BB's media card - no more clunky (time consuming) Sansa converter program (which didn't want to play nice with Windows XP MCE anyway). Same with pictures on the BB, just drag and drop.

I'm a BB noob (two weeks approx.), so I'm still trying to figure out how to do playlists and syncing the BB with Windows Media Player.

And if I could get a streaming audio app like moodio.fm to work on my BB, I'm thinking the Sansa might just end up in the desk drawer . . . on the Island of Misfit Electronic Toys.

[rootbeersoup]

The iPod is too easy of a device to give up. You literally plug it in and it syncs everything you want it to.

Also, I believe battery life is an issue. I don't want to drain my phone listening to music when I can listen to my iPod touch for up to 40 hours

[hauptm]

Replaced my iPod Nano with my Curve having 8gb card.

Don't miss the iPod one bit.

BB Media Sync auto updates the Curve from my iTunes playlist (non DRM music only though).

[vomviersen]

One of the reasons I chose a BlackBerry was to get away from carrying both a PDA and a cell phone. In that same spirit, I'm using my Curve as a music player as well, rather than getting an iPod.

I'm not a huge music connoisseur and I don't really care to watch videos on a teeny-tiny screen, so the Curve more than meets my needs especially since my big goal was to be able to carry around just one device rather than three. For listening to music, I have the Motorola Rokr S-9 Bluetooth headphones, which have been working fine for me, including pausing music for incoming calls.

Not saying my way is "the right way", just that is what is right *for me*.

[mtnbiker0755]

I actually just posted a similar thread:

http://forums.crackberry.com/f52/830...e-ipod-123200/

Everyone in here pretty much summed up what was said in the above thread.
However, I didn't see anyone mention anything about battery life. My iPod has like 20 gigs of music on it, and the battery lasts anywhere from 15 to 25 hours. This, however, is dependent on how often I change the song, and my screen brightness (20%.) I think my Curve has like 4 hours of talk time (I haven't tested this: that is just what the box says.) So if you are a "heavy user" make sure you have a charger at home/work/car etc.