Ineedhelp000000
New member
Alright, I now officially own both of these fine pieces of mp3 goodness. I purchased the DJ when Dell had that deal going on, and I got my IPod from that one website.
To preface, I use these in both my car and while doing general tasks. (working out, at work, etc) I won't get into every waking detail as this will more than likely be long as fucking hell to begin with.
I'll seperate this review into two parts; Initial impression and presentation of a new product, and setup and use.
Initial Impressions:
The 20gb Dell DJ came in an oversized plain brown box that had a lot of extra space inside of it. It was wrapped tightly so as to not move around. Once unpacked, it was fairly uncerimonious and very business-like. Inside housed the DJ itself, ear phones, setup CD including Music Match, miscellaneous warranty documents, black holder with belt clip, and power/usb corRAB. Nothing fancy as far as the initial presentation of a new product. Looking at the DJ itself, it is pretty workmanlike. The sides and top are a soft type of rubber that could take some abuse, while the unit itself has a definite weight to it. It is definitely bigger than the IPod. It has the volume buttons and power button on the left side; data attachment, headphone jack, and hold button on top, and charge adapter on the right. The buttons on the front used to navigate are a bit on the small side, but still completely usable without much difficulty. The display is clear and bright.
The 4G 20gb IPod came in a square brown box leaving no room unused. Once opened, a very colorful, perfectly square box was revealed. The colorful outer part of the box slid off like a sleeve leaving a box that split in half while being hinged in the middle. Inside was the IPod and charger on the right side, and all the usb/firewire corRAB and documents including setup CD with Itunes on the left. Very impressive opening this up compared to the DJ. The IPod has a chrome-reflective backing while the front is pearl white casing. There are no buttons on the sides of the IPod except for the hold button on top. The data attachment is on the bottom and the headphone/remote jack is on top. There is a clickwheel on the front and the screen is impeccable.
Setup and Use:
The DJ was very straightforward in setting up once unpacked. Put the cd in, let it go, and plugged it in to the USB 2.0 port on my PC. It recognized immediately and was ready to transfer files to within a couple minutes. I prefer the Dell DJ Explorer to Music Match as the Explorer allows drag and drop using a Windows interface instead of relying on a third party program which I think, quite honestly, fucking sucks. As I already mentioned, putting music on the DJ was as easy as dragging and dropping your mp3's into the DJ Explorer window which can be accessed through windows explorer. It is listed under the physical drives and impossible to miss. After you get music transferred to the DJ, firing it up and listening is quite easy. The firmware is pretty easy to navigate through, and doesn't take very long to figure out. The sound from the DJ is outstanding. It doesn't have a seperate line-out, but you can choose a custom EQ setting to better suit using it in the car via FM Modulator. The remote is very nice, and the optional FM tuner that I got with it is almost never used, but still nice to have. The sound is very, very impressive and never distorts via ear phones. It doesn't get as loud as I thought it would, but it is still plenty loud for every situation that I've been in thus far. I think the only area I can see it being insufficient is in a club-like scene. Headphones would help.
The IPod was also very easy to set up. Typical, being that you load the cd and plug the unit in via usb 2.0. Like the DJ, Firewire is available but I don't have that computer running so I can't rate it. I use ephPod to transfer songs to the IPod as the Itunes interface really bothers me. It's not as easy as the DJ in dragging and dropping, but it's still very, very easy and if you can't figure it out you should be shot. Again, like the DJ the IPod is listed in the drives section of your Windows explorer and is very easy to navigate to. The area that the IPod really shines in compared to the DJ is the onboard software. In addition to playing music, the IPod has a calendar, notes section, contacts section, games, and clock/alarm clock. The screen also seems to be of better resolution and it definitely looks a ton better. The IPod is a lot lighter and smaller than the DJ. It is easier to carry around in a shirt pocket without looking like you have a grotesque tumor popping out of you akin to Alien. It has no in-line remote, but I personally don't miss it. The earphones that are supplied with the IPod are certainly superior to those that come with the DJ. They sound better at higher volumes. Speaking of higher volumes, the IPod goes noticably louder than the DJ. It also has a seperate EQ that you can adjust to suit your current neeRAB.
Overall, I would have to give the edge to the IPod. It's looks, functionability, and size make it the better choice if money is not an option.
CliRAB:
Overall: Ipod > DJ
Bang For Buck: Ipod < DJ
Sound: Ipod > DJ
Screen: Ipod > DJ
Buttons: Ipod > DJ
Unit Software: Ipod > DJ
I've always been a die-hard PC guy, so take this for what it's worth.
To preface, I use these in both my car and while doing general tasks. (working out, at work, etc) I won't get into every waking detail as this will more than likely be long as fucking hell to begin with.
I'll seperate this review into two parts; Initial impression and presentation of a new product, and setup and use.
Initial Impressions:
The 20gb Dell DJ came in an oversized plain brown box that had a lot of extra space inside of it. It was wrapped tightly so as to not move around. Once unpacked, it was fairly uncerimonious and very business-like. Inside housed the DJ itself, ear phones, setup CD including Music Match, miscellaneous warranty documents, black holder with belt clip, and power/usb corRAB. Nothing fancy as far as the initial presentation of a new product. Looking at the DJ itself, it is pretty workmanlike. The sides and top are a soft type of rubber that could take some abuse, while the unit itself has a definite weight to it. It is definitely bigger than the IPod. It has the volume buttons and power button on the left side; data attachment, headphone jack, and hold button on top, and charge adapter on the right. The buttons on the front used to navigate are a bit on the small side, but still completely usable without much difficulty. The display is clear and bright.
The 4G 20gb IPod came in a square brown box leaving no room unused. Once opened, a very colorful, perfectly square box was revealed. The colorful outer part of the box slid off like a sleeve leaving a box that split in half while being hinged in the middle. Inside was the IPod and charger on the right side, and all the usb/firewire corRAB and documents including setup CD with Itunes on the left. Very impressive opening this up compared to the DJ. The IPod has a chrome-reflective backing while the front is pearl white casing. There are no buttons on the sides of the IPod except for the hold button on top. The data attachment is on the bottom and the headphone/remote jack is on top. There is a clickwheel on the front and the screen is impeccable.
Setup and Use:
The DJ was very straightforward in setting up once unpacked. Put the cd in, let it go, and plugged it in to the USB 2.0 port on my PC. It recognized immediately and was ready to transfer files to within a couple minutes. I prefer the Dell DJ Explorer to Music Match as the Explorer allows drag and drop using a Windows interface instead of relying on a third party program which I think, quite honestly, fucking sucks. As I already mentioned, putting music on the DJ was as easy as dragging and dropping your mp3's into the DJ Explorer window which can be accessed through windows explorer. It is listed under the physical drives and impossible to miss. After you get music transferred to the DJ, firing it up and listening is quite easy. The firmware is pretty easy to navigate through, and doesn't take very long to figure out. The sound from the DJ is outstanding. It doesn't have a seperate line-out, but you can choose a custom EQ setting to better suit using it in the car via FM Modulator. The remote is very nice, and the optional FM tuner that I got with it is almost never used, but still nice to have. The sound is very, very impressive and never distorts via ear phones. It doesn't get as loud as I thought it would, but it is still plenty loud for every situation that I've been in thus far. I think the only area I can see it being insufficient is in a club-like scene. Headphones would help.
The IPod was also very easy to set up. Typical, being that you load the cd and plug the unit in via usb 2.0. Like the DJ, Firewire is available but I don't have that computer running so I can't rate it. I use ephPod to transfer songs to the IPod as the Itunes interface really bothers me. It's not as easy as the DJ in dragging and dropping, but it's still very, very easy and if you can't figure it out you should be shot. Again, like the DJ the IPod is listed in the drives section of your Windows explorer and is very easy to navigate to. The area that the IPod really shines in compared to the DJ is the onboard software. In addition to playing music, the IPod has a calendar, notes section, contacts section, games, and clock/alarm clock. The screen also seems to be of better resolution and it definitely looks a ton better. The IPod is a lot lighter and smaller than the DJ. It is easier to carry around in a shirt pocket without looking like you have a grotesque tumor popping out of you akin to Alien. It has no in-line remote, but I personally don't miss it. The earphones that are supplied with the IPod are certainly superior to those that come with the DJ. They sound better at higher volumes. Speaking of higher volumes, the IPod goes noticably louder than the DJ. It also has a seperate EQ that you can adjust to suit your current neeRAB.
Overall, I would have to give the edge to the IPod. It's looks, functionability, and size make it the better choice if money is not an option.
CliRAB:
Overall: Ipod > DJ
Bang For Buck: Ipod < DJ
Sound: Ipod > DJ
Screen: Ipod > DJ
Buttons: Ipod > DJ
Unit Software: Ipod > DJ
I've always been a die-hard PC guy, so take this for what it's worth.