My experience is with Apple iPod 30GB Video.
What I like:
(1) Of course, MP3. Its very fast and I love the integrated album covers and lyrics (I have no idea how other player supports this bec ID3 still doesn't have a standard). So far it can read MS Media Center and iTunes album cover and lyrics
(2) Audio books with bookmark, manage to "read" Neil Gaiman American Gods and The Little prince and pretend its a phone earpiece when things are slow in the office.
(3) Integration with iTunes is very good and fast. If I wanna listen from PC, I just hook it in and at the same time it is charging.
(4) My MTVs and movies.... and .. my tammy trimmed to MP4.
(5) The photo viewer and transition is quite nice.
(6) The contact and calendar do come in handy if you know how to write vCalendar and vContact files (You can connect to Outlook but I hate sync and rendering me at the mercy of automated systems).
(7) Drag and drop a text file into your ipod and you can easilt read them (limited to only the 1st 30kb).
(8) And finally you can add photos/files as hard disk or sync photos to a directory for your viewing pleasure.
What I dislike:
(1) MP3s and Photos need to be sync because iPod needs to index them. It is a necessary evil because it makes ipod fast but then dragging files into your ipod doesn't make it available through the ipod, just the storage.
(2) My MP3 was wiped out twice bec I clicked something (once when I activated my smart playlist). Bugs.
(3) The audiobooks' bookmark sometimes reset and you have to manually fast-forward it (I encountered it onl with BIG books).
(4) Video drains the battery very fast (2hrs).
(5) I bought an ipod camera connector $50. For 1 GB CD card hooked on my D70, it took more than 30minutes and drained my full batt away.
(6) Again with ipod camera connector, I initially hooked it without the camera and my ipod showed "connecting" and hanged. I cannot turn the damn thing off and since its fully charged, it took until the next day before i can use my ipod again.
(7) And yet another grrr for ipod camera connector, it will download all photos from your camera to your ipod. So if your ipod ran out of battery or the download got disconnected, you have to re-do everything again. No selective download or continuation.
(8) Having said that, I do not recommend ipod camera connector.
(9) iPod comes in shiny black or white but they scratch easily so a "condom" is a must. White is the best color so when you wrap it with another skin, it will not "blend".
(10) Alternative to a buggy camera connector, when travelling its advisable to use a notebook or internet cafe and transfer the photos as a file.
Hope this pros n cons help
