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
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
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
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.