Apple iPod - Digital player - HDD 15 GB - AAC, MP3 - display: 2"
By: Apple Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 200
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 On: 2008-01-07
The ipod has become an almost necessity. With endless master classes, repertoire collection and rehearsals, the ipod comes in handy to the musical pro. I record live piano accompaniments, upload the ipod to my iMAC and create sound files with ease.
Heres what doesnt work.
1) APPLE does not manufacture microphones for their i-POD.
2) You have to by peripherals made and designed by other companies.So I bought a GRIFFIN i-talk which is not so good either. I have to connect yet another microphone into the top of the i-talk to get rid of static and clicking.
3) The GENIUS bar in the APPLE store runs away with an allergy when stuff doesnt work and then parrots the beloved phrase.."APPLE doesnt support other products"
4) APPLE doesnt support other products but doesnt mind selling them in their stores to make the APPLE product more practical and functional.
5) The APPLE battery racket is shameful. SONY and OLYMPUS etc. mp3 players can have a battery replacement in a flash.
6) APPLE forces you to send in the iPOD for a battery, and wait for its return by mail
7) WORSE than that, APPLE has the slimy gaul to offer you 10% off your dead iPOD on a new one in the store so you dont have to wait for a battery.
8) APPLE gets away with a lot of stuff because its name recognition is remarkably placed but its heart isnt in the right place.....SOOOO
9) I am soon to change computers and mp3 players and not deal with the SAFARI browser either which is a total drag.
 On: 2007-06-01
The hard drive i-pod I purchased for almost $400 died in 17 months. The drive as well as the battery. I was told to go with a Flash drive. I was so disgusted with the Apple merchandizing mentality, I researched and now own an i-River Clix and I love it. Check it out before becoming chained to i-pod and i-music.
 On: 2007-05-24
I bought this IPOD three years ago in August of 2004. Its been with me from Hawaii to the mainland and even to Korea. I mostly use it in my car through my auxilary jack. Although now outdated, its proved tough as nails. Its been accidentally dropped on solid asphalt from four feet and still works. I havent had to replace the battery or anything. Its pretty banged up, but keep chugging along. It even outlived my wifes IPOD Mini!
On: 2006-05-05
The iPods pretty decent when its working correctly. It play mp3s fine and by my ear the sound is as good as any other portable device. The included software, iTunes, however, leaves a lot to be desired. My major complaint is that you cant take your music off your iPod with iTunes. The remainder of the problems I have with it are largely that the program tries to do a bit too much automatically, which can be irritating.
The big weakness, and the reason not to buy it, is because the iPod itself is rather poorly designed. Despite being hard drive based, there is little protection for the hard drive in the event the iPod is dropped. The protection consists of a small, blue, rubber enclosure internal to the iPod. While this provides some protection, it does not afford nearly enough for a portable device that will, eventually, be dropped on accident. This typically results in physical damage to the hard drive from even a small drop, meaning you either have to replace the hard drive itself, now a $60, or buy a new iPod if youre not mechanically inclined. Another big weakness is the headphone jack and its connection to the iPods motherboard. The connection between the headphone jack and the motherboard itself consists only of a small jack which is secured to the motherboard with only a few solder joints. The connector on the motherboard often will develop failures of these solder joints, leaving you with again a non-functional iPod unless you can manage to resolder the joints. The actual headphone jack itself also wears out quickly. Over time, the small metal pieces that are within the jack that provide the electrical connection to the headphones and also hold the mini-plug in the jack wear out and loosen. This only took a couple years for me, meaning the entire headphone jack had to be replaced, which is not a cheap repair since the jack itself is proprietary.
The biggest weakness, however, is the (as-designed) unreplaceable lithium ion battery. Like any battery, lifetime decays with continued use, and with a device intended for daily use that will see frequent charging, the battery only lasts a year or two before the length of time the battery will run the iPod diminishes significantly. This would have been no problem, had Apple designed the iPod to have a user-replacable battery. However, they did not. So, you can either run the risk of a do-it-yourself battery change, send it back to apple to have the battery replaced (a costly repair at $99), or deal with the significantly diminished time. Either way, its an annoyance that could have been avoided had Apple designed the iPod intelligently, but, unfortunately they did not.
The case and screen are also extremely susceptible to scratching, which, while it may not affect function of the device, detract significantly from the iPods appearance and harms resale value of the iPod should you ever decide you want to rid yourself of the poorly designed contraption. Again, the only solution here is to buy a third party sleeve to protect the screen and case - something that could have been avoided by proper design.
The iPod itself is nice, while it works. The bottom line is, other manufacturers provide hard drive based mp3 players that provide every feature that the iPod provides, but with a lot less of the problems from poor design. The iPod is little more than an expensive mp3 player designed in a manner you would expect a throw-away device to be designed. Youd be better off buying another product from a manufacturer thats designed to last, unlike the iPod.
On: 2005-12-25
Ive had a 3G for about 3 years. The battery life is poor, 4-5 hours (at this point), much worse in the cold weather (dont leave it in your car, or you should buy a car recharger).
But it is very versatile. I back up GBs of pictures on the Ipod using Windows "SyncToy" (free). I back up my Palm Desktop using another sync program. I still have GBs of memory for medical lectures and "Teaching Company" lectures.
One weakness of the design is that the touch wheels are very "touchy", a glancing movement of your finger can increase the volume or change the program you are listening to accidently.
The click wheel failed the other day. Forget about repairing one of these yourself. I wish Ipods just had a simple, analog on/off button and volume/tuning knob. They wouldnt be as stylish, but they would last longer. Without the click wheel, it is unusable and I sent it off for service.
 On: 2005-12-03
this is an absolutely wonderful device to listen to. the sound quality is great, the navigation is great, everythings good...when its plugged into a wall. this thing has the worst battery every. ive had it for 3 years and im on my 4th one. the battery lasts for 5 hours for 6 months. after that, maybe an hour. its terrible. dont buy this.
 On: 2005-11-12
I bought one a few years ago back before they got real big. I am an avid mac user, a music lover, and a real iPod fan. This one just doesnt cut it. It worked flawlessy with my imac, until a few days out of warrenty, when it totally died. It commit suicide. Seriously. Only 15 or so days out of warrenty! Apple wouldnt give me a new one online for free because it was out of warrenty. I decieded, screw apple, I will send it directly to them with a letter. I did. It worked! I got another 3rd generation. Well, I had a 3rd generation. About a month ago, it commit suicide again! Gosh Apple! You stink! I couldnt send it to them with their program because they did not renew my warrenty when they sent me a new one. So, I did my little sig. trick and sent it directly to them.
A week later, I got a small box from Apple. It had a typed up letter to me. Well, not to me, to "Customer." Yep, you guessed it, no new iPod. They said I hadnt filed for one online. I went online and they now want to charge me 250 for another 3rd gen!!!! AM I CRAZY?!?!?!?! Why the **** would I want another piece of **** equipment for $250!?!??! I really really want to but another music player, but I only need 15 gigs... THe vids are a min. of 30! WHo could have that much stuff, vids, and music that they actually need (and like)!?! Not I! So, I went looking for another brand that sells itunes (AAC) happy players. There are no ones that I can find that have enough space for a reasonable price... GOSH! So, Here I am with my REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY old CD player, listening to CDs that I DID NOT buy on the iTunes Music Store. Unlike some other people who HATE APPLE because of the new vids without the second headphone jack, I love apple. Well, except for their ipods, which I have been in a love-hate relationship with for quite some time. Before you buy a new-old-or really-old iPod, please read this to see some background info. from a Aple lover. And to all of you guys who are tech wizzes** who think I could have fixed my iPod myslef, you are wrong! I even tried to re-load the iPod firmware through Terminal but no, it didnt work.
**heh heh heh, dillion, wizzes... heh.
~Jake
On: 2005-09-13
This item was shipped very quickly which was nice but it was extremely scratched up I would of been better off spending another 50-75 dollars and getting a new one that was never used for how bad this item was scratched up and the amount of money that was spent.
On: 2005-07-23
Granted that the color iPods have now become the gold standard, I still went out and bought a refurbished 3rd gen iPod not only because it was cheaper, but in my opinion it was the best generation iPod ever released.
The 3rd gen is what really got Apple and iPod into fame through its sleek looks. When I first saw the design I just fell in love with it. This is the downfall of the 4th generation/Color iPods; its definately more geared for function over form hence the ugly click wheel.
The major downfall with the 3rd generation is the terrible battery life, but for me its not as big of a deal. I use my iPod while walking to work (10 minutes) or taking the bus to campus and walking between classes. Because I do use my computer often, charging isnt that big of a chore. And now you can get iPod batteries on the internet for 25-30 bucks that even offer improved performance over the stock battery.
I really enjoy using my now "old school" iPod for its functionality AND form. Someday yes I will upgrade to a future iPod, but as of now I dont need U2 or a color screen to simply listen to music.
On: 2005-04-26
My job reassigned me to overnights and all I had to hear while I worked was horrible Musak! I thought, disc-mans are way too bulky and my musical tastes span many variaties. So I thought of MP3 players. I found the 15GB iPod and thought, "Holy crap! This thing has 3 quarters the capacity of my PCs hard drive!" So, I shelled out out the $235. I have about 300 songs on it now and thats only 1.41 out of 15 GB of space used at 19.1 hours! (One song being the 26 minute live "Dazed and Confused" from Led Zeppelins "Song Remains the Same" soundtrack.) People bitch and moan about not enough space? I dont think I could ever come close to filling it unless I wanted every CD I own to be on it.
I just shuffle the songs while I work and I get all my favorite one hit 80s wonders to No Doubt to Van Halen (with Diamond Dave) to soundclips from Pulp Fiction to the opening theme from Chico and the Man! Now thats my OWN private Musak with style!
My only problem with it would be with the software. They have to develope a way to link certain pairs of songs so they play in sequence even when you have it set on shuffle. Ex: I hate hearing Led Zeppelins "Heartbreaker" without "Living Loving Maid" coming right after it. The same holds true with "The Song Remains the Same" and "Rain Song" or the Beatles "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "A Little Help from My Friends" or No Doubts "Sixteen" and "Sunday Morning." The biggest pet pieve is Van Halens "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" not running into "One Foot Out the Door..." Its an abrupt end to the 1st song and a tear-off start for the 2nd.
The iPod only crashed on me once in the 8 months that Ive owned it. I simply let the battery die (which reset it)and then recharged it and hadnt had a problem since. Great for your car too if you dont want to install a CD changer and play around with burning custom CD mixes of your favorite tunes. You will need an FM Transmitter to do this though. I recommend the Kensington, because theres rarely any static and it recharges while you drive (hell, I havent used my original recharger since owning it, but I gues this is another review LOL).
If you have an issue with the compressed mp3s not being as good sound-wise to uncompressed wav files? It holds wav files too. BUY a case for it! So you dont scratch the crome backing. If you own a PC youll need a USB adapter.
Happy Listening!
On: 2005-03-02
Ive had this item for 6 mos and it crashed 2x. Now, it cant find the hard drive. I have to send it back. Its been very disappointing. Apple does have a 1 yr. warranty - so, Ill see what that process looks like next. Also, its lame that Apple sends the Firewire port and then, consumers have to go out and purchase the USB.
On: 2005-02-23
if you are at all smart.. then you will buy one of these. The new ipods are only different in one main way, there is a click wheel instead of a touch weel. When it comes to spending 300 dollars and 200 dollars, ill buy the one with the touch wheel anyday. Its a great gadget!
On: 2005-02-02
This iPod isnt as good as the fourth generation. The first and second generations were really bad because they were really thick and couldnt hold too many songs. But without those generation iPods we wouldnt have the new ones we see today. The 3rd Generation in my opinion is the worst normal iPod in the 4 generation package. The battery life is only 8 hours long which is even less than the 1st and 2nd generations 10 hour battery life. This 15 GB cant even hold that much songs either. The top four buttons on the iPod are really stupid and now the four are integrated onto the click-wheel on the new iPod. Here are the specs of this generation iPod verses the 4th Generation iPod
APPLE iPOD 3RD GENERATION:
General
Product type Hard drive
PC interface(s) supported FireWire, Hi-Speed USB
Total output power 60 mW
Flash memory installed 15 GB
Digital storage Built-in 15 GB Hard disk drive
Weight 5.6 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.4 in x 0.6 in x 4.1 in
Body material Metal, Plastic
Color White
Included accessories Docking station
Software type Apple iTunes, MusicMatch Jukebox Plus
Carrying Case
Case type Case
Material Nylon
Strap Belt clip
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital formats supported AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible
Digital player (recorder) playback modes Random play, Program play, One track repeat, All tracks repeat
Digital player (recorder) response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Supported bit rates 16 - 320Kbps
Shockproof memory 1500 seconds
ID3 tags support Yes
External hard drive function Yes
Additional features Variable bit-rate compatible
Built-in Display
Built-in display LCD
Diagonal size 2"
Resolution 160 x 128
Display illumination color White
Display menu language Dutch, Danish, French, German, Korean, English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional)
Features Adjustable contrast
Audio Features
Sound output mode Stereo
Timer Wake, Sleep
Built-in clock Timer, Digital clock
Additional features Hold button, Upgradeable firmware, Rechargeable capability, Battery level indication
CD System
CD system type None
Digital audio standards supported MP3, WAV, AAC
Equalizer
Factory preset qty 20
Radio
Tuner type None
Remote Control
Remote control Player remote control - Cable
Headphones
Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
Sound output mode Stereo
Response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Sensitivity 104 dB
Impedance 32 Ohm
Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
Cable(s) included 1 x IEEE 1394 cable - External, 1 x IEEE 1394 adapter - External
Connector type 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Docking station, 1 x Remote control
Battery / Power
Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
Mfr estimated battery life 8 hour(s)
Battery capacity 630 mAh
Recharge time 3 hour(s)
Power device type Power adapter
System Requirements
Interface devices IEEE 1394 FireWire port
OS required Microsoft Windows 2000, Apple MacOS X 10.1.5 or later, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Warranty
Service & support type 1 year warranty
APPLE iPOD 4TH GENERATION:
General
Product type Digital player
PC interface(s) supported FireWire, Hi-Speed USB
Flash memory installed No built-in memory
Digital storage Built-in 20 GB Hard disk drive
Weight 5.6 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.4 in x .57 in x 4.1 in
Color White
Available body colors Silver
Included accessories Earbud headphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, USB 2.0 cable
Carrying Case
Case type Optional
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital formats supported AAC, AIFF, MP3, WAV
Digital player (recorder) playback modes Random play, One track repeat, All tracks repeat
Edit functions Erase
Digital player (recorder) response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Supported bit rates 32 - 320Kbps
Shockproof memory 1500 seconds
ID3 tags support Yes
External hard drive function Yes
Additional features Variable bit-rate compatible
Built-in Display
Built-in display LCD
Diagonal size 2"
Resolution 160 x 128
Backlight display Yes
Display illumination color White
Display menu language Dutch, Danish, French, German, Korean, English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, Norwegian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional)
Features Adjustable contrast
Audio Features
Sound output mode Stereo
Timer Wake, Sleep
Built-in clock Timer, Digital clock
Additional features Calendar, Phone book, Hold button, Upgradeable firmware, Playback speed control, Rechargeable capability, Battery level indication
CD System
CD system type None
Playback modes Skip playback, Random play, Repeat one/all
Digital audio standards supported MP3, AAC, MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, WAV
Equalizer
Factory preset qty 20
Radio
Tuner type None
Remote Control
Remote control None
Microphone
Microphone type None
Headphones
Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
Sound output mode Stereo
Response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Impedance 32 Ohm
Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
Cable(s) included 1 x, IEEE 1394 cable - External, USB cable - External
Connector type 1 x Headphones / remote control Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Docking station
Battery / Power
Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryBuilt-in
Mfr estimated battery life 12 hour(s)
Recharge time 4 hour(s)
Power device type Power adapter
System Requirements
Interface devices USB port, IEEE 1394 FireWire port
OS required Apple MacOS X 10.1.5 or later, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Warranty
Service & support type 1 year warranty
Information: CNET.com
On: 2005-02-01
I own three iPods, including this 3rd generation model. I specifically use it on a trashy PC... that is I got the machine out of someones trash. Its an old machine (circa 1999) running 600 mhz with Win XP Professional. My iPod was recognized right away, without the need to load any drivers. Best of all is that if you set up your iPod on a PC, then you can plug it into either a Mac or Windows machine and access all of your files. Awesome!
Having owned 3 generations of iPods, Id say this one is the best designed model. Its lighter than the classic iPod, and its "touch wheel" navigates through the menu with much more control than the "click wheel" currently used in the current, 4th generation iPods and iPod Minis. I often use the wheel to assign ratings to my MP3s, so it can tell iTunes which are my favorites. The click wheel is far too sensitive, and it can take many tries to assign a song a rating of one star. Conversely, these touch wheel iPods are very precise, making for a very pleasurable experience.
On: 2005-01-06
attention if u own a even remotely semi old pc never get the i-pod, ive bin through 2 weeks of non-stop computer work to get this i-pod running and my comp is only a year old! i got it running for a day, it was the day after x-mas, then the next day i plug it into my computer and it just doesnt read. so i bought a USB 2.0 card wich in no way helped then i tried all the following instructions that MAC instructed me to and i got nothing. worst 2 weeks of my life, got so frustrated i serously wanted to have someone pitch it to me and me hit it with a bat then take a axe and chop up the rest. never ever ever ever ever buy this product with a pc at home. you have bin warned, dont waste ur money
On: 2005-01-05
Just got it as a gift and already cant be without it!
I take it too the gym, the office or out running.
I am a fanatic for hi-tech stuff but this is really great for anyone.
On: 2004-11-29
I use my ipod very regularly. Its usually my companion in any car ride thats longer than 10 minutes, at work, at home with my speakers and during workouts. I have a bunch of songs on it, but am not even close to filling up the 15GB hard disk that mine has. Using the iPod with iTunes is simple, smooth and problem free. Very happy with my user experience. I have had the iPod crash a couple of times on me, but its very easy to reboot. And it usually happens on the same song, so it might just be something corrupt in the mp3 file.
If I was to suggest improvements it would be as follows :
- make it a little smaller. Its not quite a pant pocket sized item yet. Alternatively you can go for the iPod Mini which is pant pocket sized, but you are giving up a bunch of storage space.
- make the battery last longer. The battery is rated at 8 hours or so. I usually get 6 or a little more. This is fine most of the time, but it would nicer to be around 12 atleast. I think the newer G4 models do get 12 hours. Also one can get replacement batteries for the iPod that have a longer life.
I would highly recommend the iPod.
On: 2004-11-10
I purchased this item about 2 months ago to use w/ Windows XP. I have to say, I am extremely happy w/ the iPod. Along w/ its Sleek Appearance, and its ease of use, the iPod is THE one to own! I did a lot of shopping before deciding on the iPod, and even though there are some minuses, I am more than glad I went w/ the iPod. Yes, sometimes you will have to reset your iPod, but no damage is done, and you dont lose music. It consists of holding two buttons down simultaneously for 5 seconds. No Big Deal. When purchasing the iPod, I suggest you get the additional accessories such as the carrying case, dock connector etc. Yes, more money on top of an already expensive item, but If you are going top of the line (as you are w/ the iPod) you might as well have all the bells and whistles!
The only downfall that I have encountered is that if you do not have the iPod plugged in while loading music, the power drains pretty quickly. However, w/ the AC adaptor, that problem is solved easily enough. The iPod is very simple to use. Whether w/ MMJB or iTunes. I have been using MMJB - yes, I am sure it would be a little smoother w/ iTunes now that Apple no longer supports MMJB - However, I like the tagging / super tagging available on MMJB. It seems to be a little better. (imo) As for those people who talk about how fragile it is - I would not only expect, but also assume anything to break if it is dropped. As for sound - UNBELIEVEABLE! All in All, The Bottom Line - It Looks Great, It Sounds Great ... It doesnt get any better....Unless you go w/ a higher 20GB or 40GB. You will be impressed!
On: 2004-11-09
I purchased this item about 2 months ago to use w/ Windows XP. I have to say, I am extremely happy w/ the iPod. Along w/ its Sleek Appearance, and its ease of use, the iPod is THE one to own! I did a lot of shopping before deciding on the iPod, and even though there are some minuses, I am more than glad I went w/ the iPod. Yes, sometimes you will have to reset your iPod, but no damage is done, and you dont lose music. It consists of holding two buttons down simultaneously for 5 seconds. No Big Deal. When purchasing the iPod, I suggest you get the additional accessories such as the carrying case, dock connector etc. Yes, more money on top of an already expensive item, but If you are going top of the line (as you are w/ the iPod) you might as well have all the bells and whistles!
The only downfall that I have encountered is that if you do not have the iPod plugged in while loading music, the power drains pretty quickly. However, w/ the AC adaptor, that problem is solved easily enough. The iPod is very simple to use. Whether w/ MMJB or iTunes. I have been using MMJB - yes, I am sure it would be a little smoother w/ iTunes now that Apple no longer supports MMJB - However, I like the tagging / super tagging available on MMJB. It seems to be a little better. (imo) As for those people who talk about how fragile it is - I would not only expect, but also assume anything to break if it is dropped. As for sound - UNBELIEVEABLE! All in All, The Bottom Line - It Looks Great, It Sounds Great ... It doesnt get any better....Unless you go w/ a higher 20GB or 40GB. You will be impressed!
On: 2004-10-30
This iPod was the bet item I have ever purchased.
It was a little expensive, and scratches easily, but its still great.
I use it every day, and I never get tired of it.
The music capacity at 15gb is amazing. I have over 3,000 songs all at 192kbps+ and I still have more room.
The contrast of the screen is amazing, and so is the overall design.
The user interface with windows via USB and Firewwire is very fast, and very smooth.
Overall I have never had any probelms, and would instantly buy it again.
On: 2004-10-03
Bought IPOD 15GB for my daughter. After 2 months the LCD cracked without any accidental injury to the unit. Apple refuses to provide service under warranty claiming the damage could not possibly be due to defect. They will repair it for $250 which coincidentally is the price of a new unit. Based on this "superior" customer support, I would advise against buying any Apple product.
On: 2004-10-02
Bought IPOD 15GB for my daughter. After 2 months the LCD cracked without any accidental injury to the unit. Apple refuses to provide service under warranty claiming the damage could not possibly be due to defect. They will repair it for $250 which coincidentally is the price of a new unit. Based on this "superior" customer support, I would advise against buying any Apple product.
On: 2004-09-27
I brought an Ipod for a friends birthday and to my horror, when they opened the box and tried to use it, it had no USB cable. That is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. It says its compatible with PCs and it doesnt come with a USB cable? What percentage of PCs have firewire cables, 1%? I think this is a real sleazy way of trying to save a buck for a company I use to respect. At least when you buy a toy for a kid, it tells you Batteries not included, so you can buy batteries ahead of time to avoid the disappointment of not being able to play with it right away.
On: 2004-09-18
The ipod is great until something goes wrong. I used to own one 20gigs and then the hd went bad. $250 went to the garbage. The worse part is I hardly used it. I used it about 4 times. So, dontt buy one.
On: 2004-09-16
Ordered on the 10th, and got it on the 15th. IT DOESNT COME WITH A USB CABLE....
On: 2004-09-15
Ordered on the 10th, and got it on the 15th. IT DOESNT COME WITH A USB CABLE....
On: 2004-09-14
I was very pleased with my ipod for five months, until the screen developed a rip in it, with the rip in the screen you can not see where you want to go. I sent it in for the repair. They said that only happens with a blow to the ipod. I baby my player. So they basically called me a liar and refused to fix my ipod. So if you get one, I think you will enjoy the quality until something goes wrong with it. Good luck getting it fixed!
On: 2004-09-13
I was very pleased with my ipod for five months, until the screen developed a rip in it, with the rip in the screen you can not see where you want to go. I sent it in for the repair. They said that only happens with a blow to the ipod. I baby my player. So they basically called me a liar and refused to fix my ipod. So if you get one, I think you will enjoy the quality until something goes wrong with it. Good luck getting it fixed!
On: 2004-09-07
Ive never owned an Apple product. After purchasing the 15G iPod, I am truly amazed with the quality and attention to detail. For the price, I would have been very disappointed with a poorly made product. I have absolutely no regrets. I expect to enjoy the iPod for a long, long time. The unit works perfectly, the iTunes software is very quick and easy, and some Apple accessories I purchased are of the same quality.
On: 2004-09-06
Ive never owned an Apple product. After purchasing the 15G iPod, I am truly amazed with the quality and attention to detail. For the price, I would have been very disappointed with a poorly made product. I have absolutely no regrets. I expect to enjoy the iPod for a long, long time. The unit works perfectly, the iTunes software is very quick and easy, and some Apple accessories I purchased are of the same quality.
On: 2004-09-02
When i first heard about the Ipod a year back I was not so sure about it. Mostly because it was made by Apple, and Im not exactly the biggest fan of Apple. However after some friends showed me it in person and I did some research, I decided to give it a try.
I love my Ipod, it can hold all the music I could ever need and has very nice features along with it. I especially love the Ipods touch wheel, its not too sensitive or anything. I like how its in the shape of a circle because that makes it even easier, after youve put your finger down when browsing you dont have to lift it back up [ideal for the lazy people like me :)]. No problems for me with the features.
Dont even get me started with the size. It is so small and fits just about anywhere. It is the lightest MP3 player around in its Capacity Class. It holds so much, but it weighs so little. Also, its sound puts out quite a punch for such a small MP3 player. The sound quality is great, although the sound quality mostly depends on what your using to listen with. Its portability is simply amazing and it works great for the size.
I know many people say bad things about the Ipod but that is because they either bought one back in the 1G times or they have a different player and are jealous. There is nothing bad you could possibly say about the Ipod, it is too perfectly and beautifully made. Purely a work of art and genius!
~Andy
On: 2004-08-31
I love it. My only problem with the iPod is how delicate the touch on the buttons to skip tracks, etc. I have inadvertantly skipped and paused numerous times-- its good to get used to switching to the locked mode. Other than that, the iPod is that rare piece of technology that is almost perfect in every way. Worth every penny.
On: 2004-08-31
I bought an I Pod a few months ago and I have to say it is amazing!!! I wasnt sure whether I should buy it or not but I took a chance and Im VERY glad I bought it. I do have one problem though. Last week, my family computer broke down and we lost everything including the Library to my I Pod. This would not have been a problem except that all of my song files were lost too. So I needed to redownload everything I needed and then put it all back on my I Pod. This took me a very long time. There should definitely be a way to transfer your songs on your I Pod to your Library. If there is, someone please write it down on your review and tell me how to do it. But overall, you should definitely get this.
On: 2004-08-30
I bought an I Pod a few months ago and I have to say it is amazing!!! I wasnt sure whether I should buy it or not but I took a chance and Im VERY glad I bought it. I do have one problem though. Last week, my family computer broke down and we lost everything including the Library to my I Pod. This would not have been a problem except that all of my song files were lost too. So I needed to redownload everything I needed and then put it all back on my I Pod. This took me a very long time. There should definitely be a way to transfer your songs on your I Pod to your Library. If there is, someone please write it down on your review and tell me how to do it. But overall, you should definitely get this.
On: 2004-08-29
I got my iPod second-hand for a great price and still under guarantee!
Im a 19 year old music fanatic. I listen to it all day and Ive always been searching for the ultimate in portable audio. Now, with the Apple iPod, I have found it.
I went through 2 Sony Walkmans before stepping over to an MP3 player. It was 32MB device I got for my 17th birthday and I really digged it. I could upload a half-hour of my favorite tracks every day and that was cool because no one else had anything like it. However I soon got fed-up of having to upload new songs all the time and the half hour it could hold just wasnt enough for my lengty train rides to and from college.
So when I was 18 I got myself a Sony NetMD, the MP3 MiniDisc player. It seemed ideal because it was pocket sized, shock-proof and could hold quite a few MP3s per disc. However after a while I just couldnt keep up with charging batteries and making new MDs. Then along came the iPod.
I have over 1600 downloaded MP3 files. After I got the iPod I bought a FireWire PCI card for my PC and I was able to download them to my iPod in about 15 minutes. Compared to USB this is a blessing. I now have over 1600 tracks at my disposal and as the iPod updates itsself upon connection (and the compulsory activation of iTunes) it automatically downloads all the latest MP3s I downloaded off the net. This is so great because Ive always hated not being able to carry my entire music collection with me.
Now that isnt all. Ive also downloaded some 3rd party software and I can now have my iPod download RSS news feeds, local weather reports and even my horoscope, every day! The battery lasts for 8 hours wich actually is just right for me. The only thing I worry about it the battery replacement which I will one day have to face! But untill then Im sure Ill get more than enough pleasure from it. I cant really say much more about it, Im too excited about it!
If you have a lot of MP3s and want a slick, user-friendly and very handy portable audio system, look no further !!
On: 2004-08-29
I bought this IPod as a 70th birthday present for myself and I am enjoying every minute of it.
It is very easy to set up and I particularly enjoy the ability to make Smart Playlists sorted by artist, genre or several other categories I have not tried as yet.
I walk for 30 minutes twice a day and have transferred all my walking music from CDs to the IPod. {One caveat is to not have "shuffle" on when using walking music because most walking music CDs start slow and build up speed. "Shuffle" entirely destroyed this! The problem was solved by making a separate playlist for slow and fast walking. Then "shuffle " was an asset.}
Recently I have been downloading music from the Apple site I-Tunes. Again, the supplied software makes this very easy and I very much appreciate the ability to download one or two pieces of music from a particular artist or a whole CD.
This is one of the best birthday presents I have ever had.
On: 2004-08-28
I got my iPod second-hand for a great price and still under guarantee!
Im a 19 year old music fanatic. I listen to it all day and Ive always been searching for the ultimate in portable audio. Now, with the Apple iPod, I have found it.
I went through 2 Sony Walkmans before stepping over to an MP3 player. It was 32MB device I got for my 17th birthday and I really digged it. I could upload a half-hour of my favorite tracks every day and that was cool because no one else had anything like it. However I soon got fed-up of having to upload new songs all the time and the half hour it could hold just wasnt enough for my lengty train rides to and from college.
So when I was 18 I got myself a Sony NetMD, the MP3 MiniDisc player. It seemed ideal because it was pocket sized, shock-proof and could hold quite a few MP3s per disc. However after a while I just couldnt keep up with charging batteries and making new MDs. Then along came the iPod.
I have over 1600 downloaded MP3 files. After I got the iPod I bought a FireWire PCI card for my PC and I was able to download them to my iPod in about 15 minutes. Compared to USB this is a blessing. I now have over 1600 tracks at my disposal and as the iPod updates itsself upon connection (and the compulsory activation of iTunes) it automatically downloads all the latest MP3s I downloaded off the net. This is so great because Ive always hated not being able to carry my entire music collection with me.
Now that isnt all. Ive also downloaded some 3rd party software and I can now have my iPod download RSS news feeds, local weather reports and even my horoscope, every day! The battery lasts for 8 hours wich actually is just right for me. The only thing I worry about it the battery replacement which I will one day have to face! But untill then Im sure Ill get more than enough pleasure from it. I cant really say much more about it, Im too excited about it!
If you have a lot of MP3s and want a slick, user-friendly and very handy portable audio system, look no further !!
On: 2004-08-28
I bought this IPod as a 70th birthday present for myself and I am enjoying every minute of it.
It is very easy to set up and I particularly enjoy the ability to make Smart Playlists sorted by artist, genre or several other categories I have not tried as yet.
I walk for 30 minutes twice a day and have transferred all my walking music from CDs to the IPod. {One caveat is to not have "shuffle" on when using walking music because most walking music CDs start slow and build up speed. "Shuffle" entirely destroyed this! The problem was solved by making a separate playlist for slow and fast walking. Then "shuffle " was an asset.}
Recently I have been downloading music from the Apple site I-Tunes. Again, the supplied software makes this very easy and I very much appreciate the ability to download one or two pieces of music from a particular artist or a whole CD.
This is one of the best birthday presents I have ever had.
On: 2004-08-27
HEY DUMB ARSE! Its an MP3 player....not a friggin Record player or cassette player or walkman...god I shudder to thing of the consequences that happened when you tried to put in a casette....IT PLAYS DIGITAL MUSIC! You download CDs to your computer and upload the songs to the iPod you idiot....god...BTW i give this 5 stars because even though people complain about the battery life and durability....im more upset about the inability to download wma files, which most of my CDs transfer too. While iTunes is incredibly cool, I dont want to have to end up paying a dollar for something i already have.
On: 2004-08-27
I have only had my Ipod for 3 days but I know that every other product on the market is a step backward. The most important qualities are the ease of operation in downloading music and audiobooks (why I bought it!), the compact size and sleek design (it feels good in your hand). Last but definitely not least, you have no idea how large 15 gb is!! I am so excited to have this product, which I will use constantly. Contary to what I may have thought before, this is one "gadget" that is definitely worth the price. I have many...I know! Try it. You wont regret the investment. AB, Springfield,Ma
On: 2004-08-27
Here is why the iPod is so great:
1 - It stores 100s of CDs (depending on model, but even the smallest one is enough)
2 - It _just works_. This is something that no other player does. my wife figured it out in 5 minutes, with no manual and without asking any questions. Its an amazing breaktrough in usability.
I have had an iPod since November 2001, when they first came out. I used it almost every single day, and it is, in fact, my stereo. I have had the battery replaced within warranty (within a year, actually) and the new battery has not had any problems since.
I am still using my 5G original iPod from way back when. I also purchased a brand new mini for my wife and its just delicious - it simply works.
this is one of the three things i will take with me to a deserted island - next to the power adapter and the solar panel...
On: 2004-08-26
HEY DUMB ARSE! Its an MP3 player....not a friggin Record player or cassette player or walkman...god I shudder to thing of the consequences that happened when you tried to put in a casette....IT PLAYS DIGITAL MUSIC! You download CDs to your computer and upload the songs to the iPod you idiot....god...BTW i give this 5 stars because even though people complain about the battery life and durability....im more upset about the inability to download wma files, which most of my CDs transfer too. While iTunes is incredibly cool, I dont want to have to end up paying a dollar for something i already have.
On: 2004-08-26
I have only had my Ipod for 3 days but I know that every other product on the market is a step backward. The most important qualities are the ease of operation in downloading music and audiobooks (why I bought it!), the compact size and sleek design (it feels good in your hand). Last but definitely not least, you have no idea how large 15 gb is!! I am so excited to have this product, which I will use constantly. Contary to what I may have thought before, this is one "gadget" that is definitely worth the price. I have many...I know! Try it. You wont regret the investment. AB, Springfield,Ma
On: 2004-08-24
At one point in the past I swore an oath to myself that I would never buy an Apple iPod. The small size, the nice capacity, the friendly software, and the option to buy songs one by one or whole albums online would NEVER sway me over to the iPod.
After finding out that Id be coming over here to Iraq, I reconsidered. The iPod is VERY well-sealed with almost no holes or cracks (not counting the headphone jack and the plug-in spot to transfer files) for sand and dust to get into, unlike most players. But therere two things that should be taken into account before buying it.
One, the battery life will hold less charge over time. But unless youre going to be listening to music for 12 hours straight, I wouldnt worry about it. Even here in Iraq I have time to listen to my songs and then charge the battery. And if you want to use it in your car you can always get an adaptor. I have a warranty on my iPod, so when the battery finally gives up, Ill get a brand new iPod for free. Ill have to transfer all of my songs again, but since theyre on my computer itll only take about 15 minutes at the most.
And two, the screen. Though nice and pretty, it scratches when you breathe hard on it. So I bought a carrying case for it. No scratches now.
Overall, the iPod is worth the price you pay for it. The software is user-friendly, you can fit LOTS of songs on it, the sound quality is outstanding, and its durable. Its lasted me quite awhile out here in Iraq so far, and I doubt anything short of a mortar attack could make it quit on me.
On: 2004-08-23
I was excited to buy the 15 GB iPod after Audible.com was able to take off $100.00 from the already amazing price offered at Amazon. But let me tell you, my Dell Insprion 8100 crashed each time I tried to config. the iPot. I had to purchased a USB 2.0 card and it also did not work for the iPod. Ultimately, after I tried to do everything as instructed for the iPod, not to mention buying the USB 2.0 card and the additional iPod dock connector to USB2.0 + FireWire, I am going to return the iPOd, and try something else. Very disapointing!!
On: 2004-08-22
I was excited to buy the 15 GB iPod after Audible.com was able to take off $100.00 from the already amazing price offered at Amazon. But let me tell you, my Dell Insprion 8100 crashed each time I tried to config. the iPot. I had to purchased a USB 2.0 card and it also did not work for the iPod. Ultimately, after I tried to do everything as instructed for the iPod, not to mention buying the USB 2.0 card and the additional iPod dock connector to USB2.0 + FireWire, I am going to return the iPOd, and try something else. Very disapointing!!
On: 2004-08-21
I just recently got an iPod and I love it. It is great. I use it all the time. The only drawback is if you have a PC, you either need to buy a firewire/USB 2.0 cable or already have a firewire card installed on your machine. Other than that, I find this to be utterly amazing product. The iTunes software is great and it rips CDs and lets you import them to your iPod. If you love music as much as I do, get this. Itll be the best investment yet.
On: 2004-08-21
PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION:
I just ordered the 15g from amazon and have not yet recieved it. I have been reading the other reviews and they have been saying it is a pain in the ass to hook up to a PC and that you have to buy a usb 2.0 adapter(doesnt this come in the box with the iPod?) If anyone could please reply to my question it would be great
On: 2004-08-20
I just recently got an iPod and I love it. It is great. I use it all the time. The only drawback is if you have a PC, you either need to buy a firewire/USB 2.0 cable or already have a firewire card installed on your machine. Other than that, I find this to be utterly amazing product. The iTunes software is great and it rips CDs and lets you import them to your iPod. If you love music as much as I do, get this. Itll be the best investment yet.
On: 2004-08-20
Im 15, just going into high school next week. I just won an iPod for taking some survey thing on the internet. (and then they entered me in a contest and I won and ya it was a pop up, crazy huh?). So now i have a lot of money for accessories. I was a little worried about the firewire part becuz i have a pc and most pcs dont have a firewire port. so i was searching for a cheap usb cord. but then i thought, why dont i just buy a fricken firewire port, and i did. it has saved me $20. i found one on ebay for .99, brand new. can u believe it, .99. insted of $30 or wutever for a fricken USB cord u get a firewire port for .99. its a steal. the only problem is the s/h is like $9, but wutever. i recommend that to any of you who r about to waste $30 or $40 on a USB cord, consider looking at ebay and see if they have more left for really really cheap. it wont last forever so hurry. frick
On: 2004-08-20
PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION:
I just ordered the 15g from amazon and have not yet recieved it. I have been reading the other reviews and they have been saying it is a pain in the ass to hook up to a PC and that you have to buy a usb 2.0 adapter(doesnt this come in the box with the iPod?) If anyone could please reply to my question it would be great
On: 2004-08-18
All I can say is, wow. Wow. Everything about this is great. Many people complain about the battery with this. Personally, I have had no problem with it. I have used it for about two hours (I just got this today), and only about a fifth of the battery is used. Plus, how often are you out of contact of an electrical outlet for 8-10 hours? People also complain about the durability of this product. Well, guess what? What happenes if you break a CD player? What happens if you drop a computer? What happens what you drop a delicate peice of pottery? Like everything else, IT BREAKS. But, if youre spending $250+ for an item, by all means, do yourself a favor and treat it with care. There are a ton of extra features with this. There are games, but, you dont spend $250+ for 4 black and white games. Thay are average at best. If you are a PC user (like me), connecting the iPod to the computer can be quite a challenge if you dont have a Firewire port. Fortunately, I do, and it works like a charm. Otherwise, but a Firewire/USB dock connector. Also for windows users, it will be difficult to use the calendar and notes features. Personally, I dont know how, but you dont spend $250+ for a notebook, you buy it for the music. And thats the great part. I already have 200 songs on it, with a surplus of empty space. Also, the music quality is astounding. I have never heard anything so clear and crisp. Many people say the included earphones are comfortable, others disagree. Let me clarify this: The are comfortable until you start moving; they can fall out. But, they are perfect for plane rides. Granite, they wont fit in everyones ears, but they will to the majority of us. If you are comptimplating whether or not to spend the money for it, look no further that the sleek, stylish, and slim, yet giant in features and capacity, iPod.
On: 2004-08-15
I purchased and apple iPod 15GB from my local best buy. i had it for about 15 minutes. I loaded iTunes. and it took quite a while to upload my music(not included in the 15 minutes). later, it said that iTunes could not convert 192 of my music files into MP3 files since they are protected WMA. makes sense to me. i burned all protected files to CDs and put them back on my computer. lo and behold, it will not support normal WMA files. I called apple and said the only other solution was to buy music, just so they can get a little more money. i dont know about the rest of you, but i refuse to fork over $192 just for some songs. Like I said in my title, if your music is files that will be converted into MP3s, this is your player. Its nice to look at, the touch sensitive features are a dream, files can be sorted, or all played at once, it has auto-sync, and iTunes is awesome. However, if youve ripped most of your music from legal CDs, Id recommend something else.
On: 2004-08-14
I purchased and apple iPod 15GB from my local best buy. i had it for about 15 minutes. I loaded iTunes. and it took quite a while to upload my music(not included in the 15 minutes). later, it said that iTunes could not convert 192 of my music files into MP3 files since they are protected WMA. makes sense to me. i burned all protected files to CDs and put them back on my computer. lo and behold, it will not support normal WMA files. I called apple and said the only other solution was to buy music, just so they can get a little more money. i dont know about the rest of you, but i refuse to fork over $192 just for some songs. Like I said in my title, if your music is files that will be converted into MP3s, this is your player. Its nice to look at, the touch sensitive features are a dream, files can be sorted, or all played at once, it has auto-sync, and iTunes is awesome. However, if youve ripped most of your music from legal CDs, Id recommend something else.
On: 2004-08-12
Im going into ninth grade this year, and I love my new ipod. I find its very user-friendly, I love the touch buttons, and dont think theyre TOO sensitive like Ive heard numerous people complain about. Its very good looking and you can help to diminish scratches just by putting it in a clear Jam Jacket. I havent dropped it yet, and Im trying not to as all of us have probably heard horror stories about that. Ive found that the battery WILL last 8 or 9 hours if you fully charge it and just listen to music without downloading music onto it or using the backlight. I really like Itunes, all you have to do is sign up an account, plug up your ipod, and download whatever songs or audiobooks you like, and you have them in a minute or two. I just hope Apple continues to expand the Itunes Music Store.
On: 2004-08-11
I go to highschool and one of the hardest choices i had to make when i got up in the morning was to choose what cd wanted to listen to at school. Now with the iPod i dont have to suffer any more.Its so small i dont even notice its my pocket.Just buy one and dont even think about buying any other than the iPod.It is worth every hard earned penny you buy it with.
On: 2004-08-05
I have had my iPod for 3 months and I love it! I got it from my parents for my 16th birthday. Its the best gift Ive ever been given. I am a huge music lover and I would always have to lug around cases of cds and my cd walkman, but now it is much easier with the iPod! For those who have a big music collection like I do, the iPod is definitely worth the money. I have over 350 cds and over 2000 mp3s, so it used to be a pain having to choose what I was going to take with me. Now that I have the iPod, I can take my whole collection with me!
I think the iPod works great and I have not had very many problems with it. When I got it, it was not compatible with Windows ME, so we had to get Windows XP, which was okay since Windows ME is a piece of crap anyway. And I did have to buy the cable to hook the iPod to my computer. After that, it worked great! I love how iTunes organizes my music. I have not bought any songs from iTunes, I just import my mp3s and my cds, which is very easy to do.
The only thing I dont like about iTunes is after you delete a song off of your hard drive, it wont let you move the song around to different playlists or change the information. I do not have the space on my computer to keep all my cds uploaded. And to those who want to delete songs off their hard drive but still keep them on your iPod, the only thing you have to do is select the option update only checked songs. As long as you keep the song in the iTunes library and keep it checked, it will remain on the iPod.
I have heard that the battery life isnt very good, but I havent had any problems so far. I listen to my iPod everyday, anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. I am constantly recharging it, and I hook it to my computer and add new songs 2-3 times a day. I think it has held up very well for all of my use. It is very good for long car rides, I make 13 hour trips often and the iPod does well and I am able to listen to it for most of the trip. I dont think its a pain to charge either, I just plug it in overnight and its fully charged by morning. You can also charge/run it in the car as long as you have the right adaptor.
It does come with games on it, I love music quiz. It takes a clip of any one of your songs and gives you about four song titles to choose from, you have to guess which song it is by the clip. You have a time limit and you get points. Its a very fun game for someone like me who has 3059 songs on their iPod, you have to know your music well!
The iPod has a very pretty design and I love all the white accessories. When I first used it, I was amazed at the sound quality. It was alot better than my cds on my cd walkman. I loved the white iPod headphones (very clear sound), but unfortunately, my sisters cat got ahold of them and chewed up the cord and ruined them. Luckily you can buy replacments from Apple.com. In the meantime, I am using my old headphones from my cd walkman, but the sound quality is not as clear.
The iPod does scratch easily, but its a fragile device and I sort of expected that. And to those of you that complain that the iPod breaks when you drop it, well, what do you expect? It is an expensive, fragile device and should be handled with care. Its not meant to be dropped!
The iPod is very simple to use. I love the buttons and was surprised at how sensitive they were, but as long as you put it on hold when you are not using it, you will be fine. I like how you can put your music into playlists and I like how you can browse by artist, album, song, genre, composer. That type of organization is a must for someone with alot of music. The five star rating system is also something I like. You can rate each song from 1 to 5 stars. The iPod also has an On-The-Go playlist where you can select any song you want while on your iPod and it adds it to the playlist. It also has 3 playlists: My Top Rated, Recently Played, and Top 25 Most Played.
It has the capability to record, keep a list of contacts, has a calendar, has notes and also keeps the time and date for you. The iPod has shuffle and repeat options, a backlight timer (the backlight is very nice), you can choose from several different languages, and it has 22 different equalizers you can choose from to make different genres of music sound better.
That is just a little bit of information about the iPod, there is alot to it and you will soon learn how to use it the best way and how to use all of its features. I love my iPod and Im very happy with it. I hope to get a bigger one in the future, such as the 40 GB, as I am running out of space on this one. The iPod is a great product and a must for anyone who is a music lover and has a large music collection. I highly reccommend it.
On: 2004-08-04
Wouldnt go anywhere without it! Absolutely great. Wish the battery lasted a little longer but it works pretty well...have to charge every few days.
On: 2004-08-04
I do not go anywhere without my iPod. I have had it for about a month, and I am totally in love. The design and functionality sets the bar for all other MP3 players. I love the ease of use so much, I have considered switching from my Dell laptop to a Powerbook. I have not had any issues with compatibilty with any of the music I had on my PC. All in all, one of the best purchases I have made in my life.
Battery life is a small issue, but only a minor concern. I am now thinking of getting the 40 Gig Ipod and and letting one of my friends have my 15 since she is constantly stealing it from me anyway.
Did I mention I am in love???
On: 2004-08-04
I have had my iPod for 3 months and I love it! I got it from my parents for my 16th birthday. Its the best gift Ive ever been given. I am a huge music lover and I would always have to lug around cases of cds and my cd walkman, but now it is much easier with the iPod! For those who have a big music collection like I do, the iPod is definitely worth the money. I have over 350 cds and over 2000 mp3s, so it used to be a pain having to choose what I was going to take with me. Now that I have the iPod, I can take my whole collection with me!
I think the iPod works great and I have not had very many problems with it. When I got it, it was not compatible with Windows ME, so we had to get Windows XP, which was okay since Windows ME is a piece of crap anyway. And I did have to buy the cable to hook the iPod to my computer. After that, it worked great! I love how iTunes organizes my music. I have not bought any songs from iTunes, I just import my mp3s and my cds, which is very easy to do.
The only thing I dont like about iTunes is after you delete a song off of your hard drive, it wont let you move the song around to different playlists or change the information. I do not have the space on my computer to keep all my cds uploaded. And to those who want to delete songs off their hard drive but still keep them on your iPod, the only thing you have to do is select the option update only checked songs. As long as you keep the song in the iTunes library and keep it checked, it will remain on the iPod.
I have heard that the battery life isnt very good, but I havent had any problems so far. I listen to my iPod everyday, anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. I am constantly recharging it, and I hook it to my computer and add new songs 2-3 times a day. I think it has held up very well for all of my use. It is very good for long car rides, I make 13 hour trips often and the iPod does well and I am able to listen to it for most of the trip. I dont think its a pain to charge either, I just plug it in overnight and its fully charged by morning. You can also charge/run it in the car as long as you have the right adaptor.
It does come with games on it, I love music quiz. It takes a clip of any one of your songs and gives you about four song titles to choose from, you have to guess which song it is by the clip. You have a time limit and you get points. Its a very fun game for someone like me who has 3059 songs on their iPod, you have to know your music well!
The iPod has a very pretty design and I love all the white accessories. When I first used it, I was amazed at the sound quality. It was alot better than my cds on my cd walkman. I loved the white iPod headphones (very clear sound), but unfortunately, my sisters cat got ahold of them and chewed up the cord and ruined them. Luckily you can buy replacments from Apple.com. In the meantime, I am using my old headphones from my cd walkman, but the sound quality is not as clear.
The iPod does scratch easily, but its a fragile device and I sort of expected that. And to those of you that complain that the iPod breaks when you drop it, well, what do you expect? It is an expensive, fragile device and should be handled with care. Its not meant to be dropped!
The iPod is very simple to use. I love the buttons and was surprised at how sensitive they were, but as long as you put it on hold when you are not using it, you will be fine. I like how you can put your music into playlists and I like how you can browse by artist, album, song, genre, composer. That type of organization is a must for someone with alot of music. The five star rating system is also something I like. You can rate each song from 1 to 5 stars. The iPod also has an On-The-Go playlist where you can select any song you want while on your iPod and it adds it to the playlist. It also has 3 playlists: My Top Rated, Recently Played, and Top 25 Most Played.
It has the capability to record, keep a list of contacts, has a calendar, has notes and also keeps the time and date for you. The iPod has shuffle and repeat options, a backlight timer (the backlight is very nice), you can choose from several different languages, and it has 22 different equalizers you can choose from to make different genres of music sound better.
That is just a little bit of information about the iPod, there is alot to it and you will soon learn how to use it the best way and how to use all of its features. I love my iPod and Im very happy with it. I hope to get a bigger one in the future, such as the 40 GB, as I am running out of space on this one. The iPod is a great product and a must for anyone who is a music lover and has a large music collection. I highly reccommend it.
On: 2004-08-03
Wouldnt go anywhere without it! Absolutely great. Wish the battery lasted a little longer but it works pretty well...have to charge every few days.
On: 2004-08-02
If youre on the fence trying to decide whether spending $250 on an ipod is really worth it, I must urge you that it truly is. After pondering day after day about putting down the $$ myself, I decided to go ahead and purchase Apples premier product. After using the ipod for several months, Ive come to appreciate the great extent of the memory as well as its convienently easy-to-use structure. Being a student currently enrolled in summer classes at college, the recording option on the ipod has also been a helpful addition to the multi-purpose music machine. I can go on and on about the other purposes the ipod can serve, but youve probably already read them in the product description. All in all, my advice for those who are unsure that the ipod is worth the $$, is that you will not be dissatisfied with the product.
On: 2004-08-02
What can i say? Its great from what ive seen of it... and thats alot (apple stores at the mall... let you try it out as long as you want. heh heh suckers...)
it comes with built in mini games like helicopter, a game where youre fending off paratroopers and helicopters in a base with a big gun. You fend them off as long as possible, if they land on you, you lose, if 2 stack up they start to shoot at you,you get 2 points if you hit a paratrooper and helicopter, but lose one every time you shoot.You can go for two birds with one stone by hitting a helicopter and its falling debris hitting something else.
Then theres brick, the classic game where you are the platform with the bouncing ball and the large bunch of bricks in front of you.
I found brick hard with the new wheel... its like a laptop touchpad mouse and its hard to get the circle motion down without hitting the buttons (but i always did have trouble with those wheels). The old wheel let you actually spin it, so you knew it was moving, and the buttons were above the screen so you didnt have to worry about them. The music should be the same quality you download it, so if it sounds crappy, try it on the computer and compare. the wheel lost the ipods 5th star
and to reviewer sarah, i have a sollution,
1, stop living in the 90s and get dsl,
2, buy a faster cpu to download onto the ipod in about 833 1/3 minutes(13 hours) for a complete 10,000 song, 40 gig library (2000 + cpu)
3, the ipod has an 8 hour battery so the way you described it your ipod ran low on batteries, if not... then you have to restart your computer, or look for the place you downloaded the program (under start button, then my computer.)
4, learn to spell, its "the apple website gives no help" instead of "aple website give know healp)
and not to mention, if you HAD an apple computer then you would actually have better results
On: 2004-08-02
This is by far the best mp3 player made today. It is so easy to use, small and pocket size, and best of all has better sound quality than any of the other mp3 players. 3700 songs is a VERY LARGE amount and although it is $300 new, all the other crappier ones are more expensive. Not to mension that buying used here can literally cut the price in half!
On: 2004-08-01
What can i say? Its great from what ive seen of it... and thats alot (apple stores at the mall... let you try it out as long as you want. heh heh suckers...)
it comes with built in mini games like helicopter, a game where youre fending off paratroopers and helicopters in a base with a big gun. You fend them off as long as possible, if they land on you, you lose, if 2 stack up they start to shoot at you,you get 2 points if you hit a paratrooper and helicopter, but lose one every time you shoot.You can go for two birds with one stone by hitting a helicopter and its falling debris hitting something else.
Then theres brick, the classic game where you are the platform with the bouncing ball and the large bunch of bricks in front of you.
I found brick hard with the new wheel... its like a laptop touchpad mouse and its hard to get the circle motion down without hitting the buttons (but i always did have trouble with those wheels). The old wheel let you actually spin it, so you knew it was moving, and the buttons were above the screen so you didnt have to worry about them. The music should be the same quality you download it, so if it sounds crappy, try it on the computer and compare. the wheel lost the ipods 5th star
and to reviewer sarah, i have a sollution,
1, stop living in the 90s and get dsl,
2, buy a faster cpu to download onto the ipod in about 833 1/3 minutes(13 hours) for a complete 10,000 song, 40 gig library (2000 + cpu)
3, the ipod has an 8 hour battery so the way you described it your ipod ran low on batteries, if not... then you have to restart your computer, or look for the place you downloaded the program (under start button, then my computer.)
4, learn to spell, its "the apple website gives no help" instead of "aple website give know healp)
and not to mention, if you HAD an apple computer then you would actually have better results
On: 2004-07-28
Dont wait for Amazon to list the new version of the Ipod! People should be buying the older version now....and heres why. The older version (or current Amazon version, Model #M9244LL/A) is $299 and comes with a docking station, remote, headphones, carrying case, and AC adapter. If you like these extras (and I think most of us do), youre getting all of it free. If you had to buy these things elsewhere, like on the Apple website, they come to a total of $210. Now, lets look at the newest Ipod (Model #M9282LL/A). It costs $299, but doesnt come with any accessories. If you then went out and bought the accessories above, your total cost for everything would come to $509. So the difference in cost between the Amazon Ipod and the new Ipod is $210. The only benefits you get from the new version are 4 extra hours of battery life, and a new "click-wheel" feature which isnt all that special. Theyre both small, and almost the exact same size. So in the end, the question is, "Is 4 extra hours of battery life and this click-wheel thing worth $210?". Not for me!
On: 2004-07-27
Dont wait for Amazon to list the new version of the Ipod! People should be buying the older version now....and heres why. The older version (or current Amazon version, Model #M9244LL/A) is $299 and comes with a docking station, remote, headphones, carrying case, and AC adapter. If you like these extras (and I think most of us do), youre getting all of it free. If you had to buy these things elsewhere, like on the Apple website, they come to a total of $210. Now, lets look at the newest Ipod (Model #M9282LL/A). It costs $299, but doesnt come with any accessories. If you then went out and bought the accessories above, your total cost for everything would come to $509. So the difference in cost between the Amazon Ipod and the new Ipod is $210. The only benefits you get from the new version are 4 extra hours of battery life, and a new "click-wheel" feature which isnt all that special. Theyre both small, and almost the exact same size. So in the end, the question is, "Is 4 extra hours of battery life and this click-wheel thing worth $210?". Not for me!
On: 2004-07-27
Ipod has to be one of the coolest toys out there. Its pretty easy to use too. The sound quality is so much better than my old Rio S30S. It holds a whole lot more music then the Rio S30S. Its pretty fast even though my computer said "Fast connection" (or something like that) "Fast connection unavailable." I thought maybe it was because I might have USB 1.0 or something, not sure but it was still pretty fast. I only have about 225 songs but I plan on getting a lot more CDs soon.
Itunes is really great! Even though its kind of slow at converting files into AAC files. But that wouldnt stop me from buying an ipod. Importing music from your computer is fast too. Its slightly faster than my old rio MP3 player. Its easy to create play lists and its easy to move songs to play lists. Just drag the songs to whichever play list you want them to go to. Changing songs to AACs are easy too. I thought it would be complicated since Im not the best at handling computers. To change them, all you have to do is right click the song and click "Convert to AAC." It will begin changing it and a new icon thing will appear on the left hand side where all the playlists are that says "Converting files" or something like that. Its quite simple. The only issue with itunes is that if it messes up on one song out of a group of songs selected to convert into AACs then it will stop converting the rest of them. It doesnt mess up often, it only messed up on one song, there mustve been something wrong with that song.
The ipods controls are easy. Theres a hold button, a play/pause button, a stop button,a hold button, a fast-forward/next button, and a back/rewind button. They light up too as well as the screen. Im not sure if having the hold button on drains the battery or not, thats why I havent used it. If anyone knows, please note that in your review. Also, the buttons arent really buttons, theyre all touch sensitive except for the hold button.
Now for the big one: The battery. It seems like a three hour charge isnt that long. But it feels like forever when youre waiting to use it. I dont know if the battery is up to what they say it is (8 hours) but I never have the backlight on and Ive used it for about 3 hours or so and its almost to half way full. I guess its about 7 1/4 hours. I dont mind this because if it dies, you could just charge it. And you could always just play a song on your computer or use itunes to make a CD if you really have to listen to a song badly.
Its well worth the money. Especially now that its only $250. Which is the same cost as the ipod mini except you get about 3 times the space. Anyway, if you really like gadgets portability, music, and cool gadgets, this is definitely the new toy for you.
On: 2004-07-27
Wait a bit and maybe Amazon will finally start selling the new iPods, which are smaller and have a longer battery life. Cant believe theyre still selling these older ones at a price you can buy the new ones at.
by: bunny_fund On: 2004-07-26
I bought one of the original 5gig iPods when they first came out - it works, but the jack is loose, so I cant get it to synch properly (although I can charge it in the car), and getting it fixed cost more than getting a new 15gig iPod, so I treated myself to more space (I had already maxxed out the 5 gigs on the older model).
I really loved the moveable jog wheel on the original iPod - it made the technology that much more - I dont know - touchable. I was also annoyed that not only did this new model did not come with a dock (as does the identical 40gig), but that the new connector is not a standard firewire connector - this means I have to bring the cord with me if I want to move a file from my iPod (which serves as an external hard drive as well) from home to work or vice versa. When working on big Photoshop projects with multiple layers, I dont always feel like burning another 3 CDs to take to work and vice versa - so I use my iPod as the portable conduit... but when I forget the cable, Im up a creek (you know the one - it has a very familiar name).
Also gone are the easy to remember buttons on the 4 sides of the jog wheel - I could easily navigate the iPod without looking, whether exercising (rarely) or driving (often), but I need to look at this one every time, otherwise Im likely to hit the wrong button.
I like the fact that this new model is a bit thinner than the original and has rounded edges on all 8 edges, instead of just the back 4. The way the buttons light up along with the screen is very handy in low-light situations. I wish there was a photocell that would also auto detect this need (with the ability to turn off the photocell in situations where the light would be distracting) instead of having to figure out which one is the menu button in the dark.
Im a bit annoyed that such an expensive gizmo does not come with a nice leather case to protect it from surface scratches... leaving the buyer to buy a another $40 accessory for this thing.
My fantasy is that Apple will make the logical next step - color screen, PDA and phone with a flip-out keyboard or something. Such rampant space is begging for this ability. No more would you have to download ringtones - just use iTunes and use your favorite mp3 or acc file or use GarageBand to make your own ringtone!
Until the day my fantasy is realized, I still have an iPod - this centurys coolest gadget. I get a lot of use out of it - and despite its shortcomings when compared to the original, Im digging the extra gigs in a big way.
On: 2004-07-26
Short and Sweet: This is THE SINGLE BEST electronics device Ive ever owned. 99% of my use is just playing MP3s (instead of using it as an external drive), but thats primarily because its virtually full of music, and theres no real room for other files of any size. But even though I dont really use any of the "extra" features, this still qualifies as absolutely amazing.
Best uses:
1. While driving--one iPod instead of a million CDs.
2. Studying
3. Books on MP3--great for long car or plane trips
4. Sleep aid when travelling. Downloading white noise, waves, etc. and playing it on a loop is great to drown out unfamiliar noises that keep you awake when you try to sleep on the road.
5. Doing yard work--mowing my grass is a MUCH better experience with an iPod
6. While working out--Ive never had a problem with it skipping even when running
Bottom Line: If youre even THINKING about buying an iPod, go ahead and pull the trigger. Youll be thrilled with it.
On: 2004-07-25
I bought one of the original 5gig iPods when they first came out - it works, but the jack is loose, so I cant get it to synch properly (although I can charge it in the car), and getting it fixed cost more than getting a new 15gig iPod, so I treated myself to more space (I had already maxxed out the 5 gigs on the older model).
I really loved the moveable jog wheel on the original iPod - it made the technology that much more - I dont know - touchable. I was also annoyed that not only did this new model did not come with a dock (as does the identical 40gig), but that the new connector is not a standard firewire connector - this means I have to bring the cord with me if I want to move a file from my iPod (which serves as an external hard drive as well) from home to work or vice versa. When working on big Photoshop projects with multiple layers, I dont always feel like burning another 3 CDs to take to work and vice versa - so I use my iPod as the portable conduit... but when I forget the cable, Im up a creek (you know the one - it has a very familiar name).
Also gone are the easy to remember buttons on the 4 sides of the jog wheel - I could easily navigate the iPod without looking, whether exercising (rarely) or driving (often), but I need to look at this one every time, otherwise Im likely to hit the wrong button.
I like the fact that this new model is a bit thinner than the original and has rounded edges on all 8 edges, instead of just the back 4. The way the buttons light up along with the screen is very handy in low-light situations. I wish there was a photocell that would also auto detect this need (with the ability to turn off the photocell in situations where the light would be distracting) instead of having to figure out which one is the menu button in the dark.
Im a bit annoyed that such an expensive gizmo does not come with a nice leather case to protect it from surface scratches... leaving the buyer to buy a another $40 accessory for this thing.
My fantasy is that Apple will make the logical next step - color screen, PDA and phone with a flip-out keyboard or something. Such rampant space is begging for this ability. No more would you have to download ringtones - just use iTunes and use your favorite mp3 or acc file or use GarageBand to make your own ringtone!
Until the day my fantasy is realized, I still have an iPod - this centurys coolest gadget. I get a lot of use out of it - and despite its shortcomings when compared to the original, Im digging the extra gigs in a big way.
On: 2004-07-23
I bought an Ipod about three weeks ago, after a long and hard dispute on whether it was worth the cash or not. Let me tell you, it is! Since I bought Ive put my entire CD collection on it and am filling it with songs already on my computer and its not even half full yet. I know theres a lot of writers out there who have complained about dropping it and breaking it. Whats wrong with these people? If youre spending $300 on an MP3 player, get it a carrying case for crying out loud!
I bring my ipod wherever I go and listen to dozens of CDs whenever I want, isnt that reason enough to get one?
One last thing, if youre getting an ipod, treat it with some care, dont drop it and break it and then write a review that consists of a bunch of whining, just because you dont treat it with the proper respect.
- Treat the ipod with respect, and it will treat you with respect -
On: 2004-07-23
Ipod is cool. I got it to work with Limewire which is like Napster despite Kevin "Gooney"s wrong statements. He just might not be able to work a computer..NOOB!!! LOL. With 40gb u can store a lot of music, all your CDs maybe. The only slight problemo (problem- if you are not fluent in spanish as is I) is the battery power. But other than that it is the greatest machine ever created, i take that back, the computer is. LOL
On: 2004-07-22
Ipod is cool. I got it to work with Limewire which is like Napster despite Kevin "Gooney"s wrong statements. He just might not be able to work a computer..NOOB!!! LOL. With 40gb u can store a lot of music, all your CDs maybe. The only slight problemo (problem- if you are not fluent in spanish as is I) is the battery power. But other than that it is the greatest machine ever created, i take that back, the computer is. LOL
On: 2004-07-21
This product has REVOLUTIONIZED the way I listen to music. It has a lot of space, so I was able to transfer almost my entire cd collection onto it, plus some downloaded mp3s. iTunes, the music store for Apple, is very easy to use and has very good quality Mp3s for a low price. Ive been very satisfied with this product. The only thing that disappoints me is its battery life. It only lasts about 6 hours with the backlight timer set to 10 seconds after pressing a button. It needs to be recharged nightly. Other than that, Its a great way to spend that kind of money
On: 2004-07-20
Apple has really done it this time, with their iPods that are getting more and more popular every day, especially with the iPod minis, available in 5 different colors. This 15 GB iPod is so user-friendly, any non-computer genius can use it. The fact that iTunes automatically updates your iPod when you plug it in is even cooler. The only reason I give the iPod four stars, is because the iPod itself, especially the metal back, scratches very easily. This can be easily solved with the use of a case that can be purchased at any Best Buy or other electronics store in your area. I have purchased a few mp3 players and jukeboxes before, but none of them come close to the user friendliness and quality that the iPod brings. I purchased a RCA Lyra Jukebox and a Rio 20GB Jukebox, and returned both within 2 weeks. Why? The two were jsut not quality products. The fact that this iPod is such a good quality buy is making me consider purchasing a Mac computer! Another note: if your computer does not have a firewire port, then you need to purchase an iPod USB Dock Connector, which can be purchased at Target, Circuit City, or any other electronics store.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-20
i had an ipod for 15 days, then i returned it. i dont really find it that great.
first, it had great design and layouts. Very easy to use, but im afriad you have to "hold" all the time so you dont touch anything wrong, in other words, the buottons are a lil bit TOO sensitive. i had to put it very flat on a table or keep "HOLDING" it.\\but more importantly is its sound quality. IT WASNT THAT GOOD AT ALL. Alot of the songs i had played well in my iTunes, but not in ipod. Those songs had a lot of noises when they reached a pitch or got louder. Some of them couldnt even be listened at all, 70% of the track was jumpy and glitchy. not good at all. but i m still thinking if it only happend on mine alone. i m ordering an iriver coming a few days later, and i especially like its SRS and remote. i ll prolly write another review on that too and do a comparison. Over all, ipod is really nice from the outside, but just OKAY from the inside.
On: 2004-07-20
I really enjoy my iPod. I got it about two months ago and already it is about 1/3 filled. The design is great and it allows me to listen to all my show tunes anywhere. However, there are a few details that can be annoying. First of all, the apple website states that with a fully charged battery (three hours of charging) one can play music for 8 hours straight. That is incorrect. After I charged my iPod overnight (eight hours) it allowed me about 3 hours of playing time, less that half of what was advertised. Another annoyance is that it gets scratched really easily. The coverplate on my already has some permanent scratches. Also, if you arent planning on carrying more than 1000 songs, just get the iPod mini for $50 less. Its a great product.
On: 2004-07-20
I bought the iPod for use on my motorcycle. My touring bike has a small "glove" box in the fairing and a power (cigarette lighter) source can be installed. Theres also a jack for headphones that plugs into the iPod.I downloaded about 1,000 songs so far, and the downloads have been very simple. The sound quality is outstanding, and the ability to create playlists and organize music is also quite easy. I looked at Minidiscs, and Im glad that I spent the extra $100 and bought the iPod. So, if there are any fellow bikers out there, I would recommend this product.
On: 2004-07-19
For the reviewer who claimed to have spoken to the manufacturer in July 2004, you mustve dialed the wrong telephone # (and thus not truely spoken to an actual Apple rep), for Apple does indeed have a battery replacement program in effect (albeit for ~$100 US). Nevertheless, there are plenty of "3rd party" alternatives for about 1/2 the cost of the official fix.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-19
I bought two, 40 Gb iPods in a period of 3 months. I really love the design, handling and sound quality of this baby. The downsides and remedies: Scratches easily - I got the Icondom cover to protect both screens and use the standard black carrying case included with the iPod as I think the other cases look stupid. It doesnt scratch anymore. ITunes - dont use it. Register a small program called Xplay which will allow you to upload/download any song from anywhere onto your iPod and back onto your PC as though your iPod was just another folder on your HDD. Dont encode MP3 music with iTunes unless you use the Apple LAME plugin. There is a really cool Freeware CD ripper out there as well called Audiograbber which uses the free LAME codec too and the CD database. LAME offers best MP3 quality. Battery Life - you can get a replacement Li-Polymer battery in auctions/on the web for $19.99!!! Thats another 18 months of fun for you with your iPod. Finally - long ear piece cables.... these are a drag. Mine always get tangled up. The Apple ear piece cables are not the best and mine are fraying already in the part where the L and R split off. The quality of the ear pieces themselves is very good however. The Good - everything else - quality of music, ease of dumping stuff onto your iPod. You dont need a DOC to charge or connect either. Just plug into your USB 2.0 or FireWire slot (I use a DV editing board FireWire connector). The iPod is heartily recommended by me. I admit I am a bit of a dummy with only 7Gb used of my 40Gb but maybe one day Ill fill it up with more Anime music/JPOP, Gorecki and Buddha-Bar music. ^_^
On: 2004-07-18
Its got all of the features and space that anyone could want....its a little pricey, but worth the extra cash
On: 2004-07-14
If you are going to purchase the Ipod, you must be willing to ask yourself what you really want in an mp3 player. If you just want to play a few hundred songs, dont really need something to hold files, dont really care about the design or ease-of-use factor, then dont get an Ipod. However, if any of the previous things are a necessity or a luxury youd like to spend a few extra bucks on, get an Ipod -- without a doubt.I was never an Apple fan before, but the Ipod changed that. It is tremendously light, can hold tons of songs (and audiobooks), is beautifully designed for usage, and has a great software support program in Itunes. It is fragile, but what $300 device isnt? A great solution, though, is to spend an extra $30 and get a solid hard case to protect it. The extensive array of extras available on the market make customization of this device very easy. If you like to go off-roading with your Ipod, buy a tougher case. If you want to use it as a recorder for recording lectures at school, get a microphone recorder. If you want to listen to it through your car stereo system, buy an FM transmitter. This device is very adaptable and its after-market accessories are a testament to that. If I had to be picky about the Ipod, though, I do wish the battery life was longer. It isnt enough to make me want to return it because it is rechargable, but something that could be improved in future models. All in all, this is the MP3 player of all MP3 players. It is like the Nintendo of the 80s and 90s - head and shoulders above the rest.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-13
Ignore the review from Sarah from Chicago. It sounds like she cant navigate the internet in addition to the worlds easiest MP3 player.
Im a diehard Mac addict - my husband is a PC guru. We both love the iPod because of its ease of use, durability, size, flexibility, style, etc. Connecting it to the Mac or PC is truly plug-and-play. It doesnt get any better.
On: 2004-07-12
Apple came out with a great, user friendly product. I bought my 40G ipod 2 years ago and used it religiously. However, the rechargeable battery has declined from 8 hrs of play time to ~2hrs. When I contacted Apple for a solution, such as a possible new battery (which I was more than willing to pay for) they could not offer me a decent solution. As much as I loved my Ipod, I am not willing to pay an extra $400 for a new one when I know that the product life expectancy is a mere 2 years. Though this may not be a problem to some, Im sure that there are many like myself who are looking for a product which is not so heavily determined by the life of the battery when the rest of the product works perfectly. Until, Apple fixes this easily reconcilable problem with their ipod, I would not recommend this product.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-11
I should have been tipped off when one store tried to sell me one of several RETURNED iPod 15gbs. I had to hunt down a USB connector, which is NOT widely available. I was pressured into buying a card to convert my USB1 port to a USB2. THAT wasnt cheap, and it was on top of the exorbitant price of this little piece of junk! Go ahead and laugh, the adaptor worked just fine in my USB1 port and I learned my lesson, although I let the store know I wasnt happy about being swindled when I returned the whole mess.Yes, after all that scrambling and downloading the right conversion software (which took hours), I was ready to return it for the time-wasted factor alone. I managed to get a CD put on and it sounded awful! It crackled, and nothing could fix it. It wasnt the CD - we checked. Then it SCRATCHED just by passing around the house a few times! I returned it with only a mild fight with the store I bought it from. People, save your money for a company that produces quality products.
On: 2004-07-11
Theres no way anyone can ever NOT like an ipod!
So heres how it works:After years of searching and reading reviews over and over again, being just on the brink of clicking Buy It and backing out, and finally getting together the guts (and the money) to make a purchse, youll bring your sweetly packed ipod home.
Whether its mini,white,pink,silver,15GB,40GB, Mac or Windows, after 20 mins of using your ipod youll fall in love with it. Its just awesome! The look and feel, the intuitive controls, sound quality..everythings great. Sure if you drop it, its going to break..its not designed for the military! but nonetheless its a lovely piece of electronics. Very simpley put, if you are willing to spend the $300 or so on a music gadget! and you like listening to songs and you have a wee bit of show-off mentality.....DO NOT THINK TWICE!
On: 2004-07-10
i just bought a brand new ipod.and then i read some reviews on amazon to see what people are saying about this. i am amazed at how many people are belittling this product. first of all, id like to say some things about negative comments that have been very commonly made about ipod. BATTERY LIFE ::
battery simply doesn not die or stop working in one or two years. its a battery, of course it will die out eventually. a little bit anxious, i asked friends of mine who have been using ipod for 12+ months, and they told me theirs work fine. if the battery is fully charged, and not used for a week, the battery may be weak or can die out much quicker. but really. do you expect the battery to last forever? with a little more attention to the amount of backlight use, nobody should be complaining about the battery life. just plug it over night, and its fine. if you are really, really, seriously worried about it dying on you over a long trip, get a four AA battery pack. seriously. please stop whining. you just spent 300 dollars on this product. resepct it, appreciate it, and live up to its values. FRAGILTY::
if you drop something this delicate, what do you expect to happen? of course it will break. again, if you are handling a device that costs 300 dollars, and is one of the most precisely manufactured technological product, you really should be much more careful with it. if anyone thinks ipod is fragile, which hdd mp3 player isnt? iPOD and iTUNES::
itunes is so versatile. the auto-synching can be manipulated, so you can make it auto-sync totally, partially, or in any way you want. playlists are really easy to make, smart playlists are even better, everything is organizable by name, artist genre, composer, rating, album. for window users, you can simply click and drag files from windows explorer into itunes to make playlists, so if you know exactly where your files are, this is the perfect way to use itunes. you can also make it get rid of repeated files and songs, so that you wont have multiple copies of the same song. there are programs that can transfer the music files from ipod to the computer, but if any transporting is to be done from the ipod to the computer, just simply store the files in ipod as harddrive files. itunes buttons are so big and clear, and everything is so easy to understand. what can be so hard about this? i just dont understand. at first, i was considering buying a small, 128-256 flash mp3 player, cuz i never imagined i would need 15gb of storage, when the point of mp3 player is to use it "on the run." so i never imagined myself getting sick of the songs for multiple days, when i could just change them at night when i come back home. after long consideration, i decided to just get the ipod. ipod certainly is the mainstream mp3 player on the market, and it probably is the most widely used. because of its heavy use, there are so many additional products out there that makes up for ipods lack of indigenous innovations. for example, the ipod may not have fm encoder, recorder, microphone or anything else built into it, but you can always find a solution(like with the battery pack). but YES, everything that has to do with ipod is more expensive then other brand products. in my opinion, it is worth that extra fifty dollars. anything that apple computers make is design at its best. whatever that they design, from the product manual, cable, box, even the bags that contain the pieces are designed to pure perfection. customer service is one of the finest, and i really couldnt ask for better designs. the touch sensitive wheel is so sensitive and smooth, that it almost amazes me every time i use it. there are no moving parts on the interface, which makes it extremely hard for it to have any physical malfunctions. the backlight is just beautiful, but DO be careful with its use cuz it can drain the battery significantly(for all those who worry themselves to death). i too thought paying 300+ for something like this would be a risky investment. but every dollar is worth it. in the world of mp3 players, ipod really is the king of them all. NO QUESTION.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-10
PROS::
***outstanding design
***reliable
***touch sensitive click wheel and buttons
***interchangeable languages (more than 10)CONS::
***doesnt come with usb 2.0 cable for pc users
***no fm, no voice recorder
***doesnt support wma files after getting this 15gb apple ipod, i could understand why it is so popular everywhere. functionally, there isnt very much ipod can do, compared to other hdd type mp3 players on the market. for example, to record voice, external sounds, fm radio and fm recorder, you have to purchase extra parts. even though the ipod lacks any indigenous innovations or features, it is a industrial design at its best. from the box, manual, to even the cables, everything is designed to perfection. the ipod itself is EXTREMELY reliable. touch sensitive click wheel has very precise response, and the clean, white and silver back design makes it top of the line in every department. transporting and auto-synching with itunes makes everything organized and neat at the click of a button. calenders, alarm, clock, equalizer persets, games... ipod may be priced higher than most mp3 players, but it is definitely worth the money.
On: 2004-07-10
Ive had my Ipod for less then 6 months and it been nothing but a hassel! First off it wont work on my Windows pc(Toshiba Laptop) and i spent weeks figuring out how to get it to work! Once I did it was great..untill I had to update the software for Itunes(a must in order to keep purchase songs from Itunes) and if you have a dial up it takes like 3 1/2 hrs! Once I got it done i was all excited..but then i couldnt get my songs on my Ipod! I was so mad! Then like a week later(after attepmts to call apple) i figured out that i had to download software for the ipod too. Which of course when you download the itunes thing it never tells you that!So this takes over 5 hours!(No jokes for those of us still in the jurassic period..cough dial up) Finally after forever its at 99% and has like literally 20 secs and the download just shuts off! Figures huh? Apples site is horriable and gives you know solutions to your issues! Save your money!
For something so expensive it should work! Apple will be hearing from me and I dont plan on keeping my Ipod,Which was a gift! : (
hmmm wonder why I dont own a Apple computer!
On: 2004-07-09
Dont get me wrong, I think that it is a cool device. Theres just so many things that they could have done to make it better.(1)It is a very fragile product. Two of my friends have broken there iPods by dropping them no more than 2 feet. After that the hardisk gets ruined and 300 dollars have gone down the drain. (2)Warrenty is not all its cracked up to be. I bet a lot of you that just read #1 said "Well just go to a Apple Strore with your warrenty and theyll fix it right up."....WRONG. The Warrenty is pretty much just for a mistake made in the factory. If you take in your broken iPod with as so much as a tiny tiny dent the employees will call it a customer abuse code and they will definently not repair your iPod. (3)To put it simple, iTunes could be a lot better in the way you upload your songs to your iPod. A lot of you will argue with that but it is, and admit it, frustrating. (4)The battery time. Im not just talking in life span but Im talking in just plane daily use. The daily use is just about 4 hours long. That is pretty bad if you ask me. Maby I just got a defective battery, but I dont dare go down to the Apple Store to honor my useless warenty. (5)The iPod DID NOT revolutiuonalize music. There were MP3 players long before the iPod. Not to mention they played cds and were pretty indestructible if you ask me. Well thats all I have to say about the iPod. Dont just take my word for it, there are a great number of Apple Lovers on this topic to prove me wrong. -HELPFUL PIECES OF ADVICE- (1)Battery Time: My only suggestion to you is to not charge your iPod more than 4 hours. If you do the battery life will ware down a lot, and I mean A LOT, quiker. Also, dont charge your iPod untill it has completely lost charge, this will also increase battery life span. If your battery does stop working there is a store online that I came across one day that does actually teach you how to take apart your ipod and install a new battery, the cost is around $150. To find the web site click in "New iPod batteries" in your key word search. (2)Warrenty: If you feel that you arent careful enough and that you need a little insurance, you can buy an extended warrenty that will cover SOME damages you might put on to your iPod, the price is about $50. Another good way to keep your iPod safe is to buy a jacket/cover for it. (3)Easy Scratches and Marks: If your that obsessed to keep it good looking than buy a cover for it, the average cost for a cover is about $20. (4)No Fire-Wire Port: You cant get around this problem if you have a computer like, for example, a Dell that requires a USB port connecter. There are only two solutions to this problem. {a}Buy a fire-wire card: this solution will cost you about $40 dollars and it takes a little time to install. I wouldnt suggest this solution unless you have other products that require a fire-wire port as well. Or you can {b} buy a 20 dollar chord that connects to your iPod and then splits into a USB chord and a fire-wire chord. (5)iTunes Frustration: OK I have been determined to find way to get around the frustrating style of iTunes and find a way to be able to load new songs into my iPod without keeping the enormous amount of songs on there as well. I saw on an earlier review that you can use "deauthorizing" to fix this problem, however he/she didnt explain what that means, so untill someone clarifies on that method heres mine. There is another program for iPod handling that is pretty much for Windows users called Ephod. It is free and easy to download from the internet. This system allows you to take songs from the iTunes library and synchronize them with your iPod. So it basically loads one song at a time and doesnt require you to have every song on your hardrive as you do on your iPod. WARNING: Make sure that you make the iTunes-iPod options to manuel or when you plug in your iPod your memory will be erased. Well thats about all I have to say. I hope it was helpful.
On: 2004-07-09
Lets face it, this is a toy but what a great little toy it is. I dont know how Im ever going to fill this thing up and it works great for running and exercises (I had had some misgivings before buyig because it was a hard drive and moving parts dont take very well to a person running). The back does seem to scratch easily so heed the warnings and buy a cover/case/jacket for it. DLO makes a great one that comes with a very effective armband.
On: 2004-07-09
Although iPod is revolutionary, and has lead to a complete change in the music industry (with the introduction of iTunes music, etc.), it does have the minor annoyances. My first problem came when I unpacked my iPod, it doesnt come with a USB cable for my Windows machine. Which, I had to purchase for about $20, which isnt too bad. Then, after owning my iPod for about 10 months, I was putting it in my pocket and getting out of the car at the sime time, when I dropped it in my driveway. After about a 2 and a half foot fall, my iPod stopped working entirely. Fortunately, its $7.50 to be repaired under warranty, and $30 out of warranty, depending on the problem. I have also heard of other people dropping there iPods on concrete from a similar height, without having any problems at all, besides the aesthetic flaws. Which is the other problem, although I can read the screen as well as the day I bought it, and it functioned fine (until I dropped it), the iPod is very prone to scratching. I would recommend buying a carrying case immediately (or making one). The final issue I have with the iPod, is its controversial battery life. My iPod does last for several hours, but it doesnt last near the time thats advertised, which I consider only a minor annoyance.I am overall very satisfied with my iPod. Its indispensable to anyone with as many CDs as I listen to, and it saves a huge amount of space.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-09
i just bought a 40 GB iPod and I find it fascinating. It is taking me a while to learn all the secrets to using it. The best hint I can give is to follow the instructions for manually loading music; if you dont and change your songs in the iTunes programs, everything that you removed from your library gets erased.Also, a little secret: if you download songs from the iTunes music store, burn the song onto a CD-RW. Then delete the song from your library. When you then copy the song back onto your computer from the disc, the computer stores it as an AIFF (MP3) file thus circumventing the share problems some have spoken of. As for the reviewer who didnt like the fragility of the iPod, take notice! Since my player cost $500, I treat it as if it were a piece of gold. Buy a carrying case. Handle it with extreme care. Would you store a $500 TV on the front seat of your car? Would you do everything in your power to prevent dropping a $500 computer tower from a height of "only" 2 1/2 feet? Its your money. Be a clutz and pay (literally) the consequences. Also, make sure to purchase the monster cable accessory so that you can hook it up to your stereo. You must own a dock in order for this to work (the headphone jack on the top of the iPod doesnt produce a strong enough electrical signal), but it is well worth the extra $20 or so. The sound quality is slightly lower than a CD, but it is adequate enough if you arent an anal-retentive audiophile. Because I have over 2000 CD titles stored in bankers boxes, I mainly bought the iPod so I didnt have to root through box after box every time I wanted to hear a favorite CD. For this reason along, the iPod was a worthwhile investment. Why four stars? I believe that the price is a bit excessive. The cost for iPods will most likely decrease dramatically even as Apple improves them. Wait if you can. I bought a Phillips CD burner for my stereo for $450 in early 1999 that burns at 1X. Now I have a $100 Firewire burner that burns an 80 minut |
