Dell has announced their new US$99 Dell DJ Ditty which they hope against hope will be an iPod shuffle killer.
Dell DJ features include:
• 512MB of storage for up to 220 songs (Assumes audio format is 64kbps WMA encoding with average song length of 4 min. MP3 audio format at 128kbpS compression: 512Mb – up to 110 songs.)
• 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack
• Integrated FM tuner
• 26x11mm LCD screen
• USB 2.0
• 3.6 x 1.1 x .5 inches and weighing 1.29 ounces (vs. Apple iPod shuffle: 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33, .78 ounce)
• Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery with up to 14 hours of battery life
• Includes earbuds, lanyard, and black & blue USB Cap only
• Easy and affordable downloads via Musicmatch Jukebox by Y!Music
• Compatible with Napster to Go
• Compatible with Audible
More info here.
Advertisements: iPod shuffle. Starting at $99. Free shipping.
Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
Now we know what floats through Jonathan Ive’s nightmares. Why does Dell even bother? If you want a smaller-sized, equal-capacity, good-looking, cross-platform player, get an iPod shuffle 512MB for the same price, 1GB for $30 more. If you want a screen, then Apple’s iPod nano is a no-brainer starting at $199. Dell ought to just forget about the digital music player market and concentrate on assembling commodity Wintel boxes.
[UPDTE 2:51pm: changed $50 to $30 in “Take,” thanks “macnut222.”]
Related articles:
Dell plans expansion of Dell DJ portable music player line – September 14, 2005
Dell CEO: Apple can’t just have one product and then say they’re the innovative leader of the world – February 22, 2005
BusinessWeek: Rather than dismissing Apple products as fads, Dell should try starting a few – January 31, 2005
Dismissive Dell CEO not impressed with Apple Mac mini, calls iPod a ‘one-product wonder’ and a ‘fad’ – January 17, 2005
Mossberg: Dell, Rio, Creative ‘iPod mini killers’ lag badly behind Apple iPod mini – October 27, 2004
Dell offers $100 rebate for Dell DJ buyers who send in Apple iPods ‘for recycling’ – June 30, 2004
Dell vows ‘to chip away at Apple’s market-leading iPod and iTunes combo’ using Dell DJ, MusicMatch – June 14, 2004
Columnist: Dell DJ a junky knockoff of the superior Apple iPod – May 28, 2004
Dell preps its own ‘iPod’ hard drive portable music player – September 23, 2003
Dell re-signs Apple iPod retail contract – April 16, 2003
Dell to sell Apple’s iPod – October 29, 2002
I think PUFF DADDY might have a lawsuit here ….
oh wait, that’s spelled DIDDY – not DITTY…
Sounds the same though …
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Ho-hum. Another iPod killer. Competition is a good thing
dum ditty…..
iPod Shuffle Killer? Ha ha… I needed a good laugh today.
It should be spelled “shitty”.
Do the people at Dell even have eyes? I’ve seen Zippo lighters with more style and design acumen. Hell, I’ve seen things floating in toilets that looked better. Placing it next to the shuffle is a low blow, iPodDN, but I love it!
Actually, a 1 GB shuffle costs $30 more than their 512 MB model.
What’s the matter, Dell? Your name on it once is not enough? If that was my product, I’d be trying to hide the name of my company.
Let them keep trying, it consumes resources and lets people see them as failures in the marketplace.
mw = economic!
This ditty is heavy!
iPod shuffle: .78 oz
iPod nano: 1.5 oz
Dell ditty: 1.29 oz
The ditty is .2 oz lighter than a nano – a product with a REAL interface and 1.5″ color screen. Pathetic.
MW: distance
Not as ugly as their desktops. Wait, maybe it is. Oh I’m not sure. Hell, just bring back beige. I… uh…
MDN word: able (not ABLE to pass design school)
doesn’t ANYBODY other than Apple have a clue about design?? really, it can’t be _that_ hard. and I’m sure every teenager wants to flash around that cool DELL logo (yeah, right…). DELL = DULL
oh well look for this one in the Best Buy bargain bin in a couple months…
Are they kidding??! It’s nothing more than a repackaged MP3 player from some other company!!!
lol, i love some of the responses. haha
MacDailyNews Take: “Now we know what floats through Jonathan Ive’s nightmares.”
Ouch… Diet Coke laughed through my nose…
I am sure they will sell a couple of them … I am sure Michael Dell has some nieces or nephews.
Why do they still bother? Once that comes regular dell costumers will be so repulsed they’ll just turn to apple (which they should have done long ago)
The shuffle pretty much – no never mind – it totally owns that hideous thing…
I forgot to mention … they display the company name on the screen to show what size of font would would need to see anything on it.
Dell, uses the Sony tactic of lying about capacity and quotes 220 songs at 64kbps WMA which, of course, will sound worse than the stupid FM tuner they’ve included in the world’s first silver and black bar of shit.
I want to meet the lobotomy victim (Andrew Kantor) who buys one of these.
Michael Dell woulda been better off if he kept selling
the iPods ….
But…. no one ever accused him of having brains !!
i just think its funny that by the time they get something to compete with the shuffle, apple unveils the nano…
they just don’t get a break, do they? =D
There it was just a sittin’ on the shelf singin’
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Beggin’ me to buy sayin’ gonna kill iPod singin’
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
It looked good (looked good) It looked fine (looked fine)
It looked good it looked fine, and I nearly lost my mind.
Before I knew it it was on my belt clip singin’
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Fillin’ my ear just as natural as can be singin’
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
I logged on (logged on) To Napster (Napster)
I logged on to Napster, #^%%#^@%^$#^&#!!!!!!
Oh, I knew I fell for the wrong player.
No this was not the player I was dreamin’ of.
I’m so unhappy nearly every single day singin’
Poo wah shi++y shi++y dum shi++y poo
I’m unhappy and that’s how I’m gonna stay
Poo wah shi++y shi++y dum shi++y poo
I need an iPod (iPod) And iTunes (iTunes)
I need an iPod with iTunes, foget Dell and Napster.
Oh, I knew I bought the bobo player.
Yes I did so I bought the iPod I’ve been dreamin’ of.
Now we’re together nearly every single day singin’,
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
We’re so happy and that’s how it’s gonna stay singin’,
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
Well I’m its (I’m its) And it’s mine (it’s mine)
Well I’m its and it’s mine, wmy music choice is oh so fine.
Oh…Oh yeah
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do (We’re singin)
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do
It’s ugly ass, just like their PCs. I remember back in the 90s when Acer came out with a cool-looking Aspire desktop with a case designed by Frog Design, Inc. It was a trend-setter. After that, everything got uglier and uglier. It’s as though PC makers don’t have a clue. The iPod Nano now blows everything away. Dell and its chief doughnut boy need to bow to the king–Apple!!!
i’m sorry, Tommy Boy, but it doesn’t even fit the rhythm…
Plus, there’s the obvious one.
The Ditty has a 90 day warranty–the iPod Shuffle has a one year warranty. “Upgrade” the warranty on the Ditty and it’s an extra $14.
The Dell also claims an extra 2 hours of battery life (14 vs. 12). I gotta admit, though, that I get curious. The Ditty gets 14 hours of battery life playing 128Kbit MP3s. Is this different for Windows Media Files? Apple doesn’t mention anything about where they got their 12 hour number from.
Even without seeing it, MDN was so right with their take for the article that the new Dell DJ’s were due:
You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
We’re telling you why:
Santa Claus could bring a Dell DJ.
MDN Magic Word: “ill.” (Now, that really is Magic!]
Let me get this straight:
costs the same, is a tad bigger, weighs almost twice as much, doesn’t work with iTunes or Macintosh.
butt ugly.
has built-in radio.
dude! how bad do you want that built-in radio?
woohoo nano coming in a week but what’s with the lanyard/heaphones 4-6 weeks? not like they didn’t know the nano was coming
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Dell made an MP3 player called Diddy
that wasn’t terribly pretty
they claimed, “It holds more!”
“WMAs at 64!”
but the quality was godawful sh*tty
I must have joined late – what does it mean when people put this at the end of their post?
MW =
My Magic Word says it all: atrocious
Someone should be able to get a viable Linux port going on that Ditty….what with it having a 26x11mm LCD screen and all, that makes all the difference.
You know Dell has been working on this for a while. They must have crapped their pants when they saw Steve introduce the nano. The ditty will be sold only to people that can’t bring themselves to buy anything from Apple. We know they are out there, so Dell will sell a few.
Oh I’m a Chinaman, making plastic crap, singin’
Do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do
Michael Dell is fat dumb ass, singin’
Do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do
I’m so untalented, I can’t even rhyme, singin’
Do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do
Got a million from Dell, so Sim Wong Hoo really cares, singin’
Do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do
The landfill, that’s where Ditty’s will end up, singin’
Do wah ditty ditty dum ditty do…
“I must have joined late – what does it mean when people put this at the end of their post? MW =”
It’s means the poster is a jackass.
BRAVO, Tommy Boy!
That made my day!
“• Includes earbuds, lanyard, and black & blue USB Cap only”
Bruised before it even hits the shelves!
At least until recently, when Dell’s DJ Ditty debuted, the iPod shuffle’s controls felt better that the competition’s. The competition has caught up, and there are some just-as-slick players out there. Get a Dell DJ Ditty and you can do the same things — download, play, pause, shuffle, etc. And the Dell DJ Ditty even includes an FM tuner and a tiny useless, er, useful screen. I didn’t go for an iPod when I bought an MP3 player. I wanted something larger, heavier, uglier, and more complicated, so I got a superior Dell DJ Ditty.
I must have joined late – what does it mean when people put this at the end of their post?
When you go to post a reply, you are required to enter the “MDN Magic Word” displayed below the reply window.
Very often, that MW just seems so right in regards to to reply that responders include it for the amusement of others.
And to bedevil jackasses like dennis.
MW = “ready”, Dennis are you ready to grow up and use proper English?
somebody hitting this forum has WAY too much time on-hand…
Geez, who do they think their fooling (besides Grandma) with the song capacity. Who would want to hear their music ripped at 64 kbps? Soon they’ll start saying that their next iPod-killer holds 100,000 songs and in the fine print it will say * when ripped at .01 kbps! Sheesh…
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
hell, that’s why I bought an iPod: so I wouldn’t have to listen to the goddamn radio.
“The Dell also claims an extra 2 hours of battery life (14 vs. 12). I gotta admit, though, that I get curious. The Ditty gets 14 hours of battery life playing 128Kbit MP3s. Is this different for Windows Media Files? Apple doesn’t mention anything about where they got their 12 hour number from.”
They probably got their figure by playing a bunch 128 kbps AAC at medium volume.
Botvinnik, I totally agree!
Dell should just close up shop, hold a garage sale to sell their assets, and send the proceeds to its shareholders.
[MW: cent, as that’s what Dell’s player is worth]
Kudos to Dell for having the balls to bring this to the market after the nano was announced. The guy that made that decision was probably given a pat on the back and told “you cant win them all” as he was given a map to the Unemployment Office.
Wow, that’s an amazingly horrible product. It really makes you wonder what institution for the insane Dell test-marketed this thing at?
“Everyone in the ‘Napoleon’ groups loves it, 86% of the ‘bed shitters’ prefer it and 75% of the ‘compulsive masturbaters’ can’t take their hands off of it…I think we have a winner!”
The thing is, it’s not like Dell made this thing overnight… they must’ve dreamed it up and decided to go forward with it six months to a year ago, at least… then went to design, testing, etc… and finally got everything wrapped up a few weeks ago ready to go into production… And I’m sure as they were sitting around all patting themselves on the back with their new tiny iPod killer with a little screen that’s finished up and ready to hit the market in a week or two, Apple announces the iPod Nano and offers it for sale on the same day… Ohmighod! I would’ve loved to have seen the looks on the faces of those Dell executives with their jaws on the floor. It had to be priceless.
why is it so important to “kill” the iPod? even those hapless persons still under the spell of redmond can use iTunes and their choice of iPod every bit as easily as those of use on the path of righteousness. why would anyone insist on encoding their music as mp3, when aac is superior in every way? what is little mikey smoking, to think that this ugly piece of dull crap could have even a chance of “killing” the iPod?
Where did they get that name?! Sounds like something made for my grandmother.
AFAIK iPods of all types have shorter battery charges because they pump out higher quality sound. Better signal processing + higher output=shorter charge?
Any experts verify?
Too bad, Apple will probably up the storage on the mini before Xmas, and the Ditty will be done.
(I meant shuffle, not mini)
God that thing is U G L Y! No sense of style at all. Let’s see now, what rhymes with ditty? Kitty…gritty…not itty bitty…no wait…sh****! That’s it!
Good thing too that Mikey Dell ain’t a sperm donor. What with that big tater-like and that dufus grin it would’nt be hard to spot the spawn of his loins!
Dell and his products are a good match. Gosh, doesn’t he even look at those designs before approvial? Maybe he does….
It looks like the handle from my umbrella.
someone has to make something for the people who decorate their houses with velvet paintings of big eyed kids and elvis
I agree with anon….how come everyone BUT Apple has the worst designers.
If they’re trying to create these “iPod Killers” why don’t they come up with some “killer” designs. Do they really think they can beat Apple by just having something that DOES the same thing, but doesn’t LOOK better?
Idiots
Chinese electronics junk dealer,
Thank you for the laughs!
DELL all over the thing is so tacky. Sounds like somebody is ego trippin’.
MW=happened (i.e., poop happened)
Coming soon as a competition prize near you – ‘And win a free crap MP3 player.
The more the competition wastes on this sort of crap (time and money) the stronger Apple gets.
How come nobodies trying to come up with a FUEL KILLER.
So between this, Rio and Creative we should be seeing some realy cheap mp3 players starting to flood the xmas market.
Jeez… look at it… is there anything different between?
Besides the fact that the DJ is butt ugly?
I know! Next time they’ll put a cigarette lighter and call it the “DJ shuffle”
dumbasses….
win apologists, begin expounding on the value of a 1 inch screen….
…………..NOW!
‘why do they even bother?’ ..
thats exactly what I thought.. go ahead.. release the damn thing.. whatever.. who cares..
After seeing that thing, I have to go take a Ditty. I mean a Doody.
Maybe these guys can help clean this mess up.
http://www.doggydoodyduty.com/
Is DJ Ditty a rapper?
I think Hugh Beaumont was chief designer on this thing.
Looks more like kitty litter.
I think it needs a few more DELL logos, don’t you?
I just feel for those poor kids whose parents/grandparents get lured into buying one of these things as christmas presents for their offspring. Imaging, going back to school after the holidays.
“What did you get?” – “A nano!” – “Cool, and you?” – “A, hrhm, a DJ Ditty…” – “Oh, man, that sucks! What did you do to piss off your dad that badly?”
Or that one:
“You are hereby sentenced to tour your hangouts for four consecutive weekends, wearing a DJ Ditty openly on your belt. And let that be a dire warning for you to change your ways!” – “Oh man, can’t I just do jailtime instead?” – “No, I am through with lenient sentencing!”
Don’t Dell know yet that the first thing they have to do to make a cool product is to remove ALL references to Dell?
It would be a start at least…
I vote that MW comments are silly and pointless.
What an embarrassment to Dell. Why are they even bothering?
Just before Christmas Dell will be giving away 100 free Dell DJ’s with every PC purchase because no one will want them.
its good when a companie like dell produces a piece of crap like this. it just makes me more smug about loving apple. mahahahahaa!!!! Michael Dell , Suffer in ya jocks!!!!
Their should be an awards systems given every year to the CEOs of the big computer makers. ie Award for the most visionary, creative inspiring CEO of 2005 goes to Steve jobs!! wahooooo!! now lets hold on, the award for being the most uninspiring, ignorant, and lets face it the biggest loser is a three way tie between steve´monkey boy´balmer, michael´Ive got nothing´Dell, and Bill´somebody help me, my companies going down the toilet´Gates.
hmmm u hearing this MDN?
ive heard u get a big ass 15ft dell sticker to put wrap around the side of your car as well.
mmmmmmmm that be sexy baby. ohhh yeaaa.
seems like even Dell is embarrassed about it!
read this amusing take on it, “Rhymes with Ditty” at Daring Fireball
http://daringfireball.net/2005/09/ditty
p.s. analysts are forecasting 31M iPods in 2005, 43M in 2006. I wonder what they forecast for the Ditty?
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… glad I have AAPL and not DELL
You funny, dennis.
MW-“donkey” as in dennis is a donkey.
A little FYI for you.
The Dell DJ is just a rebranded Creative FX120. Nothing new.
Dell dosen’t actually design there players, Creative does. They build them like they build there PCs, using the cheapest parts available. There HD series of Dell DJ’s are well known for HD failure. Many owners having had there units replaced 3-4 times under warrenty.
The Dell Ditty is the worst MP3 player ever!!!!! I bought one and it suck. Its always messing up and wont let me delete music, or add music, the screen turns into a black bar so you cant see what your doing, listening to, or even see how much battery it has left, and on top of that, i had to call Dell to find out how do fix the piece of crap and i couldn’t even understand the guy because he had an accent. I hate Dell and all of their cheap products, and for anybody planing on buying a Ditty i suggest you dont.
You guyz are gay the dell dj ditty is bad ass! and wayt better then the gay shuffle without a screen and I have both of them.