When to buy iPod

June 2, 2005 12:24 PM

I saved my pennies and am ready and excited to buy a 30G photo iPod. I can get a decent price through the education discount. But should I wait until the WWDC happens next week to see if a new version is coming out, or if the prices will drop?
posted by danny boy to shopping (13 comments total)

Also if anyone has any experience with the 30g, have you had any problems with the sound quality? I've heard rumors at ipodlounge.com but not enough to dissuade me from buying.
posted by danny boy at 12:25 PM on June 2, 2005

I think a week is worth waiting for. Much more than that and you get trapped never wanting to buy because chances are good there might be a price drop in a couple of months for x,y,z reason. But waiting just a week to potentially find out more about the future of the product line seems sensible enough to me. Of course, it's a subjective thing that depends on you and what's important to you.
posted by -harlequin- at 12:35 PM on June 2, 2005

Do you desperately need one in the next, erm, four days?
posted by cillit bang at 12:36 PM on June 2, 2005

I have a 30G, I've never had any other but I find the sound quality most limited by MP3 compression quality and provided headphones. Playing it through an Onkyo receiver with Canton speakers produces a "bright" sound with the treble -- which I believe has more to do with the receiver. If you're an audiophile you probably wouldn't be asking this -- so I'm going to rate it as "good for the medium".

You'd have to look at lead times for other Apple products after appearing at the WWDC. If I remember correctly, Apple pushes their products out rather quickly. Don't take my word for it I'm sure an enthusiast will answer that better than I would.
posted by geoff. at 12:39 PM on June 2, 2005

Apple almost never announces a major product that won't be commercially available in a month or less, so the WWDC-to-shelves wait would be negligible. I'd say wait for WWDC and take the plunge, though I myself am frequently stuck in this trap when it comes to Apple: I'd like to upgrade my iPod as well, but feel like an 80GB iPod (which, depressingly enough, I very nearly need when it comes to carrying my whole music collection; a 60 would do it, but with very little room to grow on) is likely before the end of the year. But yes, waiting like that is a fool's game -- if the 30GB iPod photo meets and exceeds your needs, then wait the safe week and then buy, buy, buy.
posted by logovisual at 12:42 PM on June 2, 2005

Do you desperately need one in the next, erm, four days?

I've got the fever, baby!
posted by danny boy at 12:45 PM on June 2, 2005

There are many rumors about iPod updates, so I think it's likely that there'll be something better or cheaper as of next week. Any new models will probably be available in stores within a couple weeks.
posted by Sibrax at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2005

This page keeps tabs on when the iPods were last updated, as well as Macs:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

But it's not so useful because they're lumping in the Shuffles.
posted by aneel at 12:53 PM on June 2, 2005

Waiting for MP3 player prices to drop is a hopeless task. No matter when you buy it, it'll get cheaper, bigger (hard drive), smaller (size) and better right after you buy it. If you think there will be a tangible price change in the next few days, wait it out, but don't put it off too long because you'll never get one that way.
posted by apple scruff at 1:25 PM on June 2, 2005

Wait for WWDC; there may be updates. It's only four days; show some restraint, man!
posted by keswick at 2:55 PM on June 2, 2005

What is WWDC?

(Why am I the only one who never knows the cool acronyms?)
posted by achmorrison at 7:55 PM on June 2, 2005

Worldwide Developer Conference (an Apple thing)
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 8:07 PM on June 2, 2005

Was it worth the wait? :)
posted by -harlequin- at 3:01 AM on June 7, 2005