 |
Apple iPod Video 60 GB Black MA147LL/A (5th Generation)
By: Apple Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 230
More Information
 On: 2007-08-07
Been using it for a year now and never had any problems, battery life is excellent, but i think i bought too much of a capacity have used only 27GB max ;)...
My best buy so far!
On: 2007-07-16
Its nice... gives me options with plenty of disk space... I like to store a lot of pics... its nice when youre on the go... also hooks up to my HDTV... Im pretty happy with my iPod and would definitely recommend one to anyone....
On: 2007-07-02
I love my 60GB Video iPod- theres plenty of storage room with all my music, photos, videos and room left over to backup my data. If you look at the price per Gigabyte, this is without a doubt the most cost-effective iPod model. The Battery lasts for hours upon hours when playing music and still for several hours when watching video. I love the fact that I can hook this up to my TV with a video cable and watch my video on the big screen. It also works great when coupled with the dock and remote, before the Apple TV, this was the best way to watch my iTunes movies and videos on the big-screen from my sofa.
The iTunes software works great for managing all my media and the sync process is easy and fast with the USB 2.0. Just plug it in and go. I was really surprised at how clear the video screen was - yes it is small, but its fine for occasional viewing such as when on a trip. Made my 8 hour overseas flight much more enjoyable. I also bought an iPod compatible stereo for my car and now I rarely use anything else. Great for podcasts and audio books, especially for long commutes.
Oh yeah, and last but not least- its absolutely gorgeous.
 On: 2007-06-15
My husband got this for me for my birthday and I have used it non-stop ever since. It crashed several times, no one knows why, and I took it to the local Apple store and they replaced it for free.
Great product and great price
On: 2007-04-19
Enough said. I was a long time hold out, but Im so glad that I gave in. Great for travel and home.
 On: 2007-04-04
First unit stopped working within first year. Even the replacement unit stopped working in 3 months. Apple will not cover second unit failure in warranty. Apple still have a serious reliability problem in my experience.
On: 2007-03-26
After purchasing the Apple iPod Black 60GB last September 2005, I noticed that once the clear seal which protects the screen and iPod wheel was taken out, I found the surface to be very sensitive. The surface is succeptible to scatches easily. If you are planning to own this device, I suggest that you purchase adhesive plastic cover or iPod skin to protect your investment. Other than that, the iPod 60GB is an amazing device that can fit approximately 20,000 songs depending on track lengths and MB size.
Looking for new music? iTunes, the desktop companion to the iPod, offers one or two free songs every Monday online. Want Podcasts on your favorite topics? No problem, just use iTunes search engine to see if its available in the iTunes website.
Planning on using your iPod during long drives? Purchase the iPod iTrip which easily fits underneath your 60GB player. Look for a clear station on your car stereo and start dancing or singing away!
On: 2007-03-19
First of all Ive owned this 60 GB 5th gen Ipod for over a year now and its been a blast to own. I often tell people that if it were any more versatile that Id consciously use it in my sleep :). During the time that Ive owned it it has been a snap to operate. ITunes is very easy to browse through and buying and transferring new songs to your IPod likewise is a snap (you can make $$$ disappear really quick while browsing ITunes :)).
So far its held up remarkably well I have my IPod in a simple case and Ive dropped it a million times and thankfully it hasnt given me any problems. The worst was when I accidentally dropped it into a bucket of water I freaked out (naturally when you pay as much for something like this) the rest of the day it didnt work and I was bummed and thought Id have to send it in, but remarkably the next day it worked again :). So in closing this is one of greatest devices ever is quite durable, worth the money, saves you the risk of sifting through 10 million CDs while driving, and is among one of my most valued possessions as in if I lost it I know Id have to have another ASAP. After owning this wonderful device its no wonder that there is so much competition trying to compete for a slice of the Apple pie.
On: 2007-03-12
My husband is digging his video IPOD. He has pics of the grandkids on it and can share them at the gym while he works out...
On: 2007-03-09
My ipod changed my life.lol Im in the navy, so everything has to be compact. No more carrying around CDs DVDs TVs etc. Now it is all in one place. I can watch movies in my rack now without a bulky laptop. The picture is so crystal clear. i fought the hype for a while by buying a creative, a gigabeat, a lyra. They cannot compare by far. Having an ipod is like belonging to a club. Trust what ever you want a mp3 player to do the ipod does. A little advice though, learn how to use itunes fully. People at work are always asking me to hook their ipod up like mines. Itunes is simple. It will organize all your stuff for you if you take the time to learn how. Fyi dont buy that 100 dolar cable to hook your ipod up to your tv. Just go to walmart or somewhere and get a 20 dolar cable that plugs into your headphone jack and converts to audio and video rcas. Normally these cables are for digital cameras/cams.
On: 2007-01-23
I spent endless hours, days, months researching which MP4 Player to purchase. This product certainly exceeded my expectations in all aspects including sound, picture quality, and the ease of downloading music. However, I am disappointed that this product does not come with an AC adapter that it is optional along with software to download movies. Soon your iPod costs way more than the original purchase.
On: 2007-01-23
The 5th Generation iPod 60 GB from Apple is the perfect video and music player for anyone with enough movies or music to fill it up. So, first things first, I recommend searching for a smaller-sized model if you dont have a very large collection.
I have owned a 5th gen 60 GB iPod video for almost a year now and felt that it was a good time to write a review about it. Ive read reviews from people who have complained about their iPod breaking and freezing, and I have my own input regarding this.
One of the abilities of the iPod is to play videos. The iPod will only play .mp4, .m4v, and .mov format videos, so be careful! iTunes DOES take care of converting videos for use with an iPod, but Im not reviewing iTunes. Assuming youve converted your home movies for the iPod and have downloaded the latest season of your favorite TV show, its now time to put it onto your iPod. Once youve got it sitting nicely on the 60 GB hard drive, you can access it in the menus and begin to watch. On a fully charged iPod, video playback is noted at up to 3 hours, and Ive found no problem with this, though over time that length might decrease just like most electronic products over time. The video quality is superb on iTunes purchased movies and shows and the audio quality for those shows is just as good. With your own movies, it can be a different story. Basically you just need to make sure that the audio quality is good enough and the video resolution is good enough for the iPod. If youve succeeded in those two areas then the video should view GREAT! I have found that, over time, my iPod was filling up with shows and movies and I had little room to store other new videos. I would recommend regularly updating your iPod. This means that once youve watched a movie, if you have no future plans to watch it again, delete it off of your iPod. This way you can always save space for videos you may want to put on your iPod in the future. But remember: ALWAYS make sure to keep a "hard copy" of the video on your computer. Otherwise you may find yourself an unhappy camper.
Music has always been the main focus for the iPods ever since day one. My music has always worked GREAT on my iPod and Ive never been failed. Many people have complained about the lack of an option to use alternative audio formats with the iPod. Unless youre looking to put all .wma files on your iPod, you wont be disappointed. The iPod works well with most usual audio formats. Just as long as you keep your non-iTunes Store music as mp3 audio you shouldnt have any problems. Audio quality is great for great quality audio. It all depends on the kpbs. 160 kbps is nearly indistinguishable from CD quality for most people. 192 kbps is a much larger file but is just the safer route. iTunes Store music sounds great at the quality they have set for all the music.
Podcasts work great with the iPod and work very similarly to music on the iPod, as they are all audio files. The only difference is that the iPod treats podcasts as they are and they have a separate folder within the iPod.
Photos work fantastic with the iPod too, and the picture quality is great for the most part. The size of the image you upload to the iPod has a lot to do with the quality. But for the most part, your standard digital camera pictures will look great.
I have not played any of the iTunes Store games that are available for the iPod but have heard good things about them all. I dont think this is a relevant feature for the 5th generation iPod at this point seeing as how there are so few games available for purchase. No outside source games are compatible with the iPod to my knowledge.
My only complaint with the iPod is the occasional freezing/slowing down of some media when playing it. This is largely due to the fact that this is a hard-drive based player, and most problems can be solved with a reset (pressing the menu and center click buttons at the same time and holding). My iPod has also been scratched a bit on the screen, even with a case. With proper care and treatment, this should not be a huge problem after prolonged use, and the scratches on my own iPod are due, for the most part, to my carelessness with where I put the iPod. If you put the iPod in a backpack that has dirt or sand in it, it WILL get inside the case you bought for the iPod, and WILL scratch the iPod if you do not remove it quickly. This is just common sense.
Overall the iPod is an extremely fun player to use and can be very easy to use, given that you actually read the instructions. Make sure that your bases are covered and you will be fine.
I would also like to add one last bit of information that will help some people, Im hoping.
The Apple iPod has a TV-Out feature that is extremely useful for when you would like to hook it up to a TV and watch it at home with the family. Apple has a sleek little RCA cable that you can buy for a pretty penny to be able to hook the iPod up to your TV, but be assured that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY IT. With these steps, you can have your iPod playing on your TV in NO TIME:
1) Go to a local electronics store and buy a standard RCA cable with the red, yellow, and white plugs on one end and a 1/8 inch plug (headphone jack) on the other. Again, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY THE APPLE BRAND RCA CABLE FOR THIS. Dont waste your money. You can pick up a great RCA cable for a few dollars that will work fine for this feature.
2) Turn on your iPod and select your desired settings concerning TV-Out. I enjoy the Widescreen format and the "Always Ask" option ON. This ask option is just so that whenever I choose a video to play, the iPod will ask me if I want to turn TV-Out ON or OFF.
3) Once youve selected your desired settings, grab the RCA cable and plug the 1/8 inch end into your iPods headphone hole.
4) Locate the analog input holes on your TV (red, white, and yellow) and grab the RCA cable. Heres the tricky part that Apple "accidentally" forgets you to tell you. Instead of matching colors and plugging the RCA cable into your TV, youve got to switch colors around. Plug the RED END into the YELLOW INPUT, the YELLOW END into the WHITE INPUT, and the WHITE END into the RED INPUT. Apple switched the way the composite video signal and analog audio signal comes out of the iPod on us! Once youve switched the colors around and youre plugged in, switch the TV to the channel or mode that matches with where youve plugged into, select a video to watch, select TV-Out ON if you havent already, and sit back and relax!
On: 2007-01-12
I received my iPod in a very timely manner. The product is great!
On: 2007-01-12
I had a third generation iPod that didnt even have the click wheel, so this is quite the upgrade. I love the clarity of the video screen.
On: 2007-01-11
I bought the Ipod as a Christmas gift for my 16 year old son. He absolutely loves it. It is very stylish and lightweight. Also, he says that the memory capacity is probably even more than he needs.
The product was shipped and received in a timely manner and I will definitely purchase again from amazon.com.
On: 2007-01-11
if you compare wih th Microsofts Zune, it is better but if you compare with the rest of mp3 players, it is the best.
On: 2007-01-10
How could anyone not like the ipod? Its simply amazing!I love it and my kids love theirs!
On: 2007-01-10
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my ipod. The software is outstanding compared to other mp3 players that I have owned (this is my fouth one.)I had to try a couple of times to sync with my pc for pictures and addresses, but in the end it worked out perfectly well.
On: 2007-01-10
I bought a mini the middle of the year and realized that I really needed more gigs as well as the option to build more playlists. The Ipod is easy to use and converts my CDs easily. If you want to take your music on the go, this is the device to have.
On: 2007-01-09
i purchased the 60gb ipod video and i have to say im in love. i can pretty much down load anything on this thing not to mention it has more memory than my desktop. The video on this device looks superb and i can organize my music tracks with no problem.
 On: 2007-01-09
My impression of the iPod after all these months is I feel ripped off. The only good thing about the ipod thats not available from much cheaper and simpler Mp3 players is the memory size. The iTunes software is like paying to be spammed. You have to learn magic if you want to use music from another source other than iTunes or direct from the CD. "Video" has to be bought from iTunes. Some quicktime clips below a certain size can be loaded on but others cant and there is no telling which ones can and cant until you just try.
I have a 1 gb player of some generic Chinese manufacture. I plug it in and it shows on "my Computer" as another drive. I copy and paste the music I want on it and poof! I am ready to go. Loading the iPod the first time is an hour long ordeal using the UI of iTunes is for "Mac" people ( you know who you are) and it is maddening.
Last thing to address in my rant is the fragile nature of hard drives. A hard drive has moving parts and they dont do well with shock. A drop of 31 inchs to concrete will kill your iPod forever. Just one is all it takes. a good rap and your $260.00 is gone. Treat your ipod like a raw egg and it will last. Take some advice though, buy a flash memory based Mp3 player. Sure you cant load 60 million songs on it but you will be happier and more trouble free with ease of use plus less drop stress.
On: 2007-01-09
Not a good compatibility with most of the song formats. When i try to transfer songs to this IPOD, it tries to convert them to itunes, which does not work for 50 % of the songs. I should have rather bought an mp3 player / flash drive.
On: 2007-01-06
One word to describe it - Awesome. I would go with the 80GB which was not available when I bought my 60GB. Headphones are not the best quality and break easy. You might want to upgrade.
On: 2007-01-04
I received my ipod quickly and it works great and I havent had a problem with it
On: 2007-01-04
Me as many others, bought the ipod because of it looks and the catchet of the brand. Apart from that there are many others players that cost less and have more functionalities.
On: 2007-01-04
I bought my 60 gb iPod several months ago which was definetly money well spent. I take it with me everywhere. I have loaded over 500 CDs of every musical genre and have only filled up a quarter of the capacity. One of my main pleasures has been rediscovering CDs I bought many years ago which had long been forgotten. Having them all available at the spin of my thumb makes them instantly available.
I recently took a trip to visit my sister and and brought a connection cable so we could play it through her Bose radio. It became the main entertainment through ten days of partying and relaxing. I can also play it through the car radio. I am thinking of making an iPod input a must-have feature on the next car I buy.
A big advantage of the iPod is iTunes, a free software from Apple. This program makes it so easy to load and classify my music on my computer. And all I do is plug in my iPod and it immediately begins to synchronize the iPod to iTunes, copying any new music or changes I have made. And it does it all by itself without any input from me.
Unless you are planning to store lots of videos and/or photos, I think a 30 gb unit would be more than adequate for most music collections. I could probably put a couple thousand more CDs on mine before it got full.
On: 2006-12-29
I love this ipod. I have the second generation, and this was a great improvement. The battery life problem seems to be fixed, as I have had this for 6 months and havent had it die on me during a long trip yet. The video looks great, the audio sounds better than ever, and the click wheel is a nice feature, although I miss the touch sensitve buttons. The menus are very nice, and everything is organized very nicely. One thing Im not sure about, theres a place in itunes to add the music lyrics, but i dont know how to locate them on the ipoid, maybe it doesnt display them?
My biggest issue here, the screen scratches very easily. Please make sure to buy a protective cover, or leave on the one that comes with it, or something. I was VERY careful with it, had it in a case and everything. I took it out one day to check a couple things out, and when I looked at it later in the day, it was scratched!! Bad enough that I notice it when Im watching video. I dont think anything even touched the screen except some paper that may have been on my desk. It was very strange...
Itunes integrations is as good as ever, and its very easy getting ripped or purchased music onto your ipod.
PROS
*Best sound quality of any ipod yet
*Video screen looks great
*Click wheel is pretty responsive
*Battery life is fantastic
*Factory headphones actually sound pretty good
CONS
*Screen is very susceptible to scratches
*The entire body of the ipod will be scratched and/or smudged within a week, dont expect it to stay all nice and shiny forever. But get it in a good cover ASAP and just take care of it as if it were a nuclear bomb just waiting to explode on impact! :)
All in all, this is a great player. Apple haters everyhwere will tell you it sucks and battery life is terribe and screen is too small, blah, blah, blah.... but the fact of the matter is it works. It does what its supposed to do, which is play music VERY well, and it also plays movies, TV shows, and other video surprisingly well.
On: 2006-12-28
You can buy this item for less than the Apple Store AND without sales tax!!
I love the color video feature. Im glad I waited for the upgrade.
On: 2006-12-15
It is better than I thought it would be! It carries soooooooooooooo many songs, it has games like solitaire and brick, I can display lyrics and the pictures of the albums! I listen to it wherever I go, and my life is now like a movie: I have a soundtrack!!!!!!!!!!! lol. the cases are fun , u can make them match any outfit you have. this ipod is so fun!!! the videos are great. I cant believe I can put movies on it! yay! the best present I have E V E R gotten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2006-12-14
Im not sure if people are still buying this now but I just wanted to let you know that you can get a brand new 80GB video iPod for 349.00 (381.00 after tax in TN). I love mine and couldnt be happier!
by: frizzle_mt On: 2006-12-13
The iPod came into my life about a month ago. Learning to use the iPod has been a battle at times, but overall, its been a battle worth fighting. So far, the iPod itself works fine. It charges relatively quickly, and plays many hours on the battery between charges. Ive heard the screens are easy to scratch, so Ive been careful with mine, and I havent had any problems with scratching to date.
My main problem has been figuring out the software. On the same day I got the iPod, I also got a Sandisk 512 Mb MP3 player. Without reading the instructions for the MP3 player, in less than 15 minutes, I had it loaded with music from Jukebox software that came with my computer, and playing tunes on my new iFi system. It took the better part of 2 days to get that far with the iPod. I had heard that iTunes can screw up your filing system in your music folder, so I tried connecting the iPod to Jukebox. Several hours after starting the download to the iPod, the system froze, and I found that the download was aborted. Then I found that the iPod had put the music files from Jukebox into its Notes folder, and didnt recognize them as music. It seems an iPod will only talk to iTunes (although there was no documentation saying so in the packaging), so I had to install the iTunes software. Fortunately, the software does give you a choice about rearranging your folder system, so my initial fears were unwarranted. When I went to download my music from iTunes onto the iPod, however, the system reported that there wasnt enough space because of the files Jukebox had put in the Notes folders. I had already deleted those files by moving them to my desktop recycle bin, but some trace must still have been left in the file system. As I tried reloading the music from iTunes, the system froze. And the iPod froze. And the only way out was to reinitialize the iPod. Due to my unfamiliarity with iPod technology, it took several hours of studying the online instructions for such a procedure to understand how to do this, which buttons on the iPod to push and for how long. Finally, I got the iPod back to its initial state and could begin to download my music, which took 6-8 hours for 35 Gbs.
Since then, the software has run more or less OK, although its not very intuitive, and takes a bit of a struggle to figure out. I think Apple thinks its cool to provide a minimum of signage or instruction and let people figure things out on their own. Perhaps the mystery of a device or software without instructions is supposed to be endearing, but I just find it frustrating. It took me several days to figure out how to turn on the shuffle feature on the iPod. As far as I can figure, every time you begin to play a shuffled playlist, you always have to start with the same first song. Stupid design, if thats true, and stupid documentation if its not. Ill never figure out why people are so loyal to Apple anyway if this is an example of what customers have to put up with. Not only does Apple have an overwhelming share of the hardware market for music players, but they also rule the software, and through it, online sales. Smells of a vertical monopoly structure to me. Good for business, bad for customers.
Since iPods are known to bad for your hearing, Apple has provided 2 volume "safeguards". The first is through the iTunes software which has a tool to analyze all songs and put them at the same volume settings. I tried this feature, and my music is still all over the place in terms of volume. If the software did anything at all, I think it amplified applause and drum solos. The other is a setting on the iPod where you can choose a maximum volume. It would be great if the iPod software could look ahead at a song and make sure that it doesnt play it back with a decibel setting over a certain level. Instead, the volume guard simply functions as a stop on the dial, so that you cant turn up the volume any higher than the setting you define. But since music can come into the playlist at a variety of levels, if you set the volume guard in a quiet piece, when a loud piece comes on, it will set your eardrums afire. And if you set the guard in a loud piece, you wont be able to hear the quieter pieces even with the volume turned up all the way. In other words, the feature is useless. Basically, Apple still hasnt done anything meaningful to address the volume problem, although a software solution wouldnt seem that hard to implement.
The iPod ships with a set of earbud headphones (with little black sponge caps that are impossible to put on and fall off all the time), a faux velvet case for the headphones (not for the iPod itself, which I mistakenly assumed, so I ripped out the seams of the little case trying to stuff the iPod in it), a CD with the iTunes software, and a short cable for connecting the iPod to a USB jack. At a minimum, I would suggest investing in a tape adaptor for your car if you are lucky enough to have a tape player (the Sony tape adaptor works great, and is under $15), and a car charger. Not only are tape adaptors cheaper than FM adaptors for the car, but they also are a lot more reliable and dont have the channel changing problem as you drive long distances. You can connect your iPod to your existing stereo system with a Y-cable. Or get an iPod ready sound system with a built-in charger.
 On: 2006-12-02
for over a year I think I can give a fair review. Although this is a nice little machine its got its problems, problems that shouldnt occur in such an expensive product. But first, the positive. I listen to alot of music, Ive already had to delete about 10 gigs to make room for other music so the 80GB is looking pretty tempting right now. Actually, I heard that a 100GB is coming soon, I can only hope! Anyways, everything you might have heard about the iPod being hard to use with PC is untrue. If you have any computer skills at all it should come as no problem. iTunes is easy to use (although I hate all the music on iTunes), adding songs, pictures, movies and text are simple enough. When you first get an iPod you may struggle for about 2 minutes. The mp3s sound good although I with there was a function that kept all the songs at the same noise level. It sucks when you have it turned up very loud when a low sound level song comes on and then your head explodes when the next song comes on!
Okay, so now some of the negative. First, battery life. I turn off my backlight because it will eat the battery in about 4 hours! I forget exactly how long it says the battery life is supposed to last, I think 12 hours, but it isnt close. And, it only gets worse the longer you own it. Okay, another thing that I hate. Im not sure if this happens to everyone but my songs will duplicate, meaning that Ill have 2 of the same album instead of just the one. This is very annoying because, like I said, I put alot of music on this and having double of an album only takes more space that shouldnt be taken. I have to go through my iPod about once every 2 weeks to get rid of doubles. Sometimes when I try and turn off my iPod it wont respond. So I have to hold down play once...twice...thrice...foursies...fiveins...you get it. Itll respond after a bit, but this is annoying. And finally, my biggest complaint of all time, the 5GBs that you dont get to use!!!!! This is such a pain because I bought a 60GB not a 55GB!!! If iPod has to use 5 gigs to put memory crap on here then make it a 65GB and sell it as a 60GB! Dont cheat people out of 5 gigs, I need the space!!!!! Okay, Im calm now.
So, all in all this is a good piece of equipment if youve got a whole lot of music and dont feel like carrying CD books around. When I do get another MP3 player, I dont think Ill be going to Apple again though.
On: 2006-11-29
This Ipod is simply a joy to own and use. Plenty of storage, portable and no issues with ITUNES. The video quality is amazing considering the size of the screen. The only issue is with the earbuds - terrible sound and fitting issues.
On: 2006-11-22
First off--Im old(ish) in my 50s and I watched my daughter using her iPod nano. Then she started playing me songs from her iPod, then I started really liking some of the songs, then I got jealous, so I asked for my own for my birthday. So I got the biggest and newest, and I love it. It has fantastic sound. I play it in my car. I also use it to listen to audiobooks. I cant wait to watch movies on it. It is also very easy to use. So I give it 5 stars.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-11-21
I love my new iPod. I bought this one after my 60GB iPod Photo was "misplaced". I had a library of about 6,000 songs (small for what this thing can hold) and the first time I updated the new iPod with the library I got error messages every 700 songs or so. I had to restart the whole updating process about 9 times until I finally got al my songs into the iPod. This was problem number one (which I dont expect to happen again unless I update the iPod whith more than 700 songs at a time).
Problem number two: if Im searching for a song by artist, it wont display all the songs I have by that artist in the iPod. Say I have like 20 songs by Madonna, and I search for Madonna on the artists menu, I only get like 5 of the 20 songs there are. That didnt happen with my old iPod.
But all in all, its a great product and I would buy it all over again if I had to.
On: 2006-11-15
I have the 60GB black video iPod and its awesome. Sleek, well-designed, sexy and built like a little tank. I love iTunes, and the latest version is great.
On: 2006-11-12
What else can I say but "its excellent!!! I enjoy using it, traveling with it, using it to carry music and videos, and talking books, back and forth to work. The only thing it needs is a convienient way to hook it up to my car speaker system with out major surgery.
On: 2006-11-10
I have a number of toys in my older age, and the Apple I-Pod is clearly a favorite! I use it in the car. I use it with my high-end home system. I use it for music enjoyment first and then and occasional audio book. I also use it during a workout. When I travel or get stuck waiting somewhere for something I will use the video. All the functions work great. Its easy to use and it does so much its just about ridiculous. Its the Mother of all gadgets. If you buy one (and you will be glad) I recommend getting a protective case for it just to keep it looking like new. This compact wonder is one of the few things in life that will give me my moneys worth (and more).
On: 2006-11-10
AMAZON FAIL TO DELIVER ITEM WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME. THE ITEM FAIL TO ARRIVE AND THEREFORE WE NEVER RECEIVED THE GOODS
On: 2006-11-10
I love it, but I think I would like the the 80GB ipod.
On: 2006-11-10
Excellent product from Apple. Improved battery life (about 5-6 hrs video, 15 hrs music). Very bright screen. Good wheel response. I didnt notice an installation CD, but I already have iTunes on my Mac, so dont know if a new user would have to download iTunes to install or not. Overall, Im very pleased.
On: 2006-11-10
I am happy with my purchase. I havent had a chance to test it fully yet but it has been performing as expected to this point. And with 60G (twice the capacity of my laptop!) Ive got a lot of room to work with.
On: 2006-11-07
I bought this for my husband and thankfully Ive been able to use it. The sound is great, the look is great (black) and is easy to use. Im a little confused about why Podcasts are showing up under the music category, but thats not the iPods fault-at least I dont think so.
The only bad thing is that the accessories are very expensive.
On: 2006-11-07
Id have to say im satisfied with this purchase. I take it everywhere i go. If i kno i have to wait, i take it with me, if im gonna be in the car, i take it with me. Its very useful, not only for music but also for video and photos. The only things would be 1. iTunes; if u lose your music in iTunes, u need a third party application to take everything off of your ipod. 2. The 80Gb came out like 2 weeks after i got this one, for the same price. So Id go with the 80Gb. Other than that, which really isnt problems with the item itself, im happy with this purchase.
On: 2006-11-06
This is an awesome gift for music lovers that are up to speed with technology. You can have access to music catalogs, download your favoriate TV Shows (wow how far we have come) and take nice pictures all with a spin of your fingers. Convinent, stylish and functional.
If you dont have a good computer, I dont recommend this device. You may find yourself frustrated due to lack of memory or durating of music downloading time. Also, this device could be more affordable but its worth every penny.
On: 2006-11-05
===THE GOOD===
- Sounds great.
- Screen is sharp and clear.
- Will play any MP3s you already have in your music colletion (but requires iTunes software)
- Easy, intuitive user interface.
- Works well for frequent, everyday use.
- Has games, a calendar, and contacts and note-storing capability
===THE BAD===
- I have to convert MPEG, DiVix and AVI movies using intermediary software because they do not play in their original format.
- Requires iTunes software (included) to interface with the iPod.
- Music purchased through iTunes is in WMA format which only plays on iPods, unlike MP3 which plays on most software.
- Only comes with a USB charger. Recommend buying a charger for the car lighter and/or 120V wall outlet if you travel and dont have consistent USB access.
- Screen scratches easily. Recommend buying a case w/ a protective screen cover.
- Battery discharges quickly when watching movies. (When watching a movie w/o interruption, battery will last about 2-4 hours.)
===ALSO...===
- Battery discharges quickly; but charges quickly too.
- The 60GB hard drive is actually about 54GB.
- iTunes has a slight learning curve and takes some getting used to.
On: 2006-11-05
I bought this as a birthday gift for my grandson. He loves it though to get full utilization he needs a computer with more capacity which he will get for Christmas.
On: 2006-11-04
We received the iPod fairly quickly and havent had any problems with it yet. Also purchased the Apple protection plan, but havent had to use it yet.
On: 2006-11-03
Okey, Ive had my 60g video Ipod for a few months now. My entire CD collection is now on this thing along with most of my digital photos. With all that I still have used only about 10 gig or so of space on my Ipod. I now take it on my walk to work and use it all the time. The short of it is I love this thing.
by: indyguy50 On: 2006-10-19
I wasnt really interested in iPods. My youngest son got one of these for Christmas last year and I conceded it was cool, but didnt see the point. After all, I had XM satellite radio and all the music I could stand.
Then my wife walked me into the Apple Store on my birthday last July and announced that she and my two sons were buying me the biggest iPod available.
I quickly discovered how cool it can be to have ALL of my tunes available all of the time. I have what I thought was a pretty big accumulation of CDs - around 1,000 or more - and this thing swallowed them all up and begged for more. At the moment, I have about 6,100 songs on it, along with my calendar, contacts and a ton of photos and that only amounts to about 23 gigs of the 60-gig capacity.
And then theres podcasts.
Ive been a fan of Leo Laporte since the TechTV days and use the iPod to listen to nearly all of his podcasts, along with video podcasts on Photoshop techniques and other stuff.
It was a big revelation - actually discovering the obvious - a couple of weeks ago when I bought a car adapter for my iPod. When we bought our Subaru Forester a couple of years ago, we thought the 6-CD changer was a big deal.
Hah!
On our last road trip, we took along maybe 50 CDs in a big bulky notebook-style carrier.
Next time we hit the road, well be packing more than 1,000 albums worth of music in a device about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
My wife liked it so much, she just bought the new 80 gig iPod and is eyeing the growing list of full-length movies available for iPod.
This is an amazing device and I was delighted to be proven wrong about whether I needed one.
The only downside is that you can get really obsessive about loading it with everything you can think of, to the point where its almost like taking on a new job.
On: 2006-10-10
Arguable the best product Apple has ever made, the iPod Video (5G) does exactly what its supposed to, in the best looking package, with the best user interface. For all the talk of iPod killers, I dont see it happening anytime soon. Theres simply nothing better or easier to use than the iPod + iTunes package out there for 95% of consumers. This is the thin wedge into Microsofts empire!
On: 2006-09-17
Yes, iTunes purchases do have their own format, but all my other music is copied from CD as an MP3 (using iTunes no less) so it can be played on multiple formats. The user friendly controls are the best Ive used on any MP3 player, and theres no beating the look. The only reason why it gets a 4 instead of a five is because a integrated FM tuner would be nice, as well as even longer battery life.
On: 2006-09-17
I am in disbelief when I see reviews that are mad at Apple because they have to re-upload their digital music to a new computer or because they lost their songs because he wanted to add a cd. First off burn all your songs on to a DVD and be done with it. Lastly, learn how to use your own software and hardware and you would not have lost your music because of your ineptitude.
Ranting done, it is bad luck to have your iPod break on you. But this is inevitable. Millions of iPods are made and there are most certainly going to be some defects or something bad that happens, and most certainly those very same people are going to come on to sites like this and bash it, more so than the millions of people who love their iPod are going to write good reviews. Dont let this deter you from this wonderful product. I almost didnt get one because I doubted the hardware that I would be spending good money on.
This is perhaps the most used product I own, second only to my computer. To date I have only been able to use about 20gbs of space and I have put 4,000 songs on already! I have compared this product to older iPods and the screen is definitely bigger and more vibrant, plus the drop down menus are better. I have only had one glitch happen once, which was when I pushed play it said it was playing but nothing happened. When I plugged it in to my computer it corrected itself with the power influx.
I have nothing bad at all to say about this iPod. I cant believe I waited as long as I did, but I am all the happier now that I have it. This is a must for everyone. A definite recommend.
5 stars.
On: 2006-09-16
After loosing all my music because I wanted to put a cd on my iPod at work one day, I almost threw my iPod in the trash. I looked around and found the iPod killer.
This baby does it all plus you get an FM radio and built in voice recorder!
Thanks Creative Labs!,,,,,,,Sam goodys No returns only store credit,switched to Creative Zen Vision M no more problems
On: 2006-09-16
My girl friend has a 60gb Black 5g ipod, and I use it a lot. The product is great. I was going to get one myself. She was tired of me borrowing it. Then I looked on apples website and saw the 80GB IPOD!!!!! The batterly life for video is 3x as long. The screen is 60% brighter. There is gapless playback, as well as other tweeks for $350....GET IT NOW!!! Mine will be here in about 3 days. Dont pay $370 for a 60gb ipod and get mad when you see the 80gb in stores. If you want the 60gb and not 80gb just w8 for the price drop. Apple no longer makes them so the price is sure to drop. The ipod is not the perfect HD mp3 player, but they are still king of the mountain. I highly recommend this product from using this product second hand.
On: 2006-09-15
I bought a 30G iPod Photo a little over a year ago and was on my second replacement when just recently, outside the warranty (which of course goes from original purchase date, not replacement date), its kaput again. Now if I have to pay $275 for Apple to fix or replace a three month old player! No way. THREE players on the blink, each after a few months - that isnt just bad luck.
That isnt even mentioning the difficulties with the iTunes software or if you change computers. I get a new PC and have to re-transfer 100s of CDs! How lame. That negates all the convenience of the large capacity (I wish other MP3 players had the storage space the iPods have).
I just cant justify spending more money to replace this limited, inferior POS again. So essentially over the last year I have spent about $1 a day to have a player and now Im left with nothing. I will be buying a different player. I will spend far less than $275 and get something that will last more than three months, is compatible with the rest of the players in the world and is easy and convenient to load and use - obviously not an iPod! Unfortunately I cant transfer the music I spend hours and hours loading up (over and over). What a waste of money and time.
On: 2006-09-03
I purchased a 60 gig i-pod 31 days ago. Last night, it started making funny noises and locked up. Today I took it back for a replacement, and guess what?? 1 day too many on the return policy. Thank goodness I purchased a 3 yr service plan. Well, the techs told me they would send it in to Apple, and I should have it back in 4-5 weeks. If I would have known this in advance, I would have passed on any Apple brand. I own 2 Sandisc products, and I love both of them. See what happens when you want to keep up with all of the "Jones" Very dissatisfied with Apple. Maybe my apple had a worm in it.....
On: 2006-08-31
I have had all types of high capacity hard drive mp3 players from I-river to Cowon to the original PJB, Archos etc.... I have purposely stayed away from the Ipod due to an original PC interface problem. However, I bought this project now since it represneted to me an advanced capability, and my new Nissan Maxima only had an interface for the IPOD. So I was sort of boxed in if I wanted a lot of music in my vehicle.
The IPOD has greatly impressed me in its functionality, ease of use, i-tunes software interface, size, sound, earphones are the best set of "earbud" phones I have ever listened to. Note, "earbuds", not nearly as good as the Koss portaphones, but good quality to say the least.
I have a Cowon X5 60 GB as well, which is probably 90% of the quality of IPOD, i.e. it fails in the customer support arena, battery life, peripherals, etc. But it outweighs IPOD int he drop and drag arena and maybe a bit on the sound quality.
If you are thinking about getting this product, I would go for it vs. any other player on the market as of this writing. One more thing, "DO NOT BUY ON THE AMAZON CARD". I made a mistake and had to travel overseas, and they immediately took my interest rate from a promotional 3% to 29% with penalties and fees. Nobody at Amazon or the bank cared about my reasoning, and therefore this has soured my interest in dealing with Amazon again, either via credit card or not. A total lack of consumer consideration with a very viable and "backed up" reason for a simple error! They were horrible at the bank and Amazon, without a care.
So buy Ipod, but either get it somewhere else, or at most dont use your Amazon card....they will rip you off without moving a facial muscle in the process!
Good Luck folks, and enjoy the new Ipod 60GB Video.
On: 2006-08-30
My old iPod died and I was faced with the dilemna of what to buy next. Stay true to Apple, even with all of its problems and mine unexpectedly dying? I was VERY tempted by the new Gigabeat, and the only reason I didnt get it is because there are no accessories for it. No cases, car chargers... I dont need anything fancy, but I do want to be able to charge this thing when Im driving between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Plus, I already had most of the accessories I would need for a new iPod.
Ive had this new iPod for about a month now and I am very happy with it. GET A CASE. I dont use it for video or photos (why you would want to watch something on that tiny little screen I just dont know), but for music, its great. No complaints... yet :-)
On: 2006-08-30
This MP3 player is not that bad. However, two little quirks that I didnt like about it is 1) you have to use iTunes to transfer the songs from your computer to the player and 2) as far as I know, only MP3 and AAC file extensions are supported. My whole jukebox on my computer is WMA format (20GB worth). So, if you are like me, plan on two days of file converting (iTunes does it for you), before you can enjoy the product. Havent used the video option yet. It also would be note-worthy that this iPod has the battery built-in. So, in a year or two, I am anticipating forking over another thirty to forty bucks for a new battery. Other than that, have been pleased, thus far, with using the 60GB iPod.
Also, a helpful hint. I bought the black version, because the white shows the dirt and grime...however, come to find out, black shows fingerprints very well...a simple over sight. :P
On: 2006-08-27
Very easy to install and use. So far works great. I did though buy a protection plan just in case.
On: 2006-08-25
It is a good buy. I bought the 60GB with video and have no regrets except that it is heavy. When I fix this on an all in one FM transmitter, I fear it may fall down. Other than that the product is excellent. Very easily scratchable.
On: 2006-08-24
The 60Gb Ipod is almost perfect for me! The only things that could be improved are concerning:
The lifetime battery, because it lasts very fast;
How it can be easily scratched out, so it must never stay without its case; and
It would be perfect if we could have FM transmittion in the Ipod, as a lot of others MP3 players have.
In the other side, it is wonderful to know that more than 14,000 songs can be stored in the IPOD - its music for more than 2 generations...
On: 2006-08-23
As a techno junky it was a great rush to receive the iPod w/ video. It of course goes anywhere, and with the right accessories anywhere can be more broad than you think. I have the desk to speakers, earphones, car transmitter, and the micro-speakers. I work out at the gym, listen at work, on my way here and there.
I have realized however the battery isnt long lasting. And I found the online instruction manual hard to find specific instructions. When trying to find instructions to delete/clear items from the iPod I went over and over the manual then finally had to use the search feature to lookup the word "delete". Managing the iPod library may be a little time consuming if you have other MP3 players loaded onto your computer. The library features automatically finds all music on your computer and lists them on the iPod. However, this can be easily corrected by clearing the unwanted music/podcasts/videos...
Once up and running I can say it is a breeze to add new music with the click of a button (whether uploading a cd or downloading an album from iTunes). One thing I learned later that makes organizing and listening easier is to list the type of music in the properties of each song or album. Then you can fully use the sort feature which is what makes iPod so speceal. You can sort by author, genre, by beat...
The iPod is great. I didnt have real problems with the device that a little understanding didnt solve. And so far Ive found only one limitation and that is the battery life, but what do you know. There is an accessory for that too.
On: 2006-08-22
While 60GB is a lot at once I dont have to fear running out of space. Its a little bigger (physical size) than the 30GB and you can actually feel the hard drive engage when you play a song. Overall very pleased with Apple Ipod.
On: 2006-08-19
For the price, it better be good and has been, so far. I have pushed EVERY music CD I own to this thing and it did not squeek once. I have been pushing all my favorite movies and TV shows to it and have been very pleased. I only have about 15 gb left. It is pretty cool to have all the music I own on this thing and video as well. The thing that Im finding out is the poor quality of some of the accessories; I mean, theres some real crapola out there, especially some of the charging docks with a line-out to your audio system.....DO YOUR RESEARCH. I have been using Lenogo DVD to MP4 for the video stuff and its pretty good. I do have some problems with video/sound sync on some DVDs. I dont know if its the conversion software or the actual DVD quality. I was able to convert Lost season 1 disk 1 and not the next disc in the series; I tried over and over, no luck. I tried two copies of the same movie and got the exact same problem. Not sure what that is. I may try another conversion software program and see what happens.
On: 2006-08-18
my uncle got me the ipod as a gift...truthfully, i wanted to tell him not to bother with it because i wanted the creative instead. this is the worst form of mp3 player i have ever seen. i lose my songs time i try to update it. right now i have to call my uncle, apologise to him and tell him the ipod is driving me crazy. anyway, before i get angry an break this waste of money, the best option for me is to sell it and get the creative zen. my brother owns one of its old models, and i envy him. first of all, with the ipod, you always have to have the original cd or whatever, or else you are screwed. the only option left is to copy it to your hard drive. which i finally decided to do, but with a 60 gb ipod, there is s much space it can take. so i bought a 120 gb portable harddrive that cost about 200 buck. right now i have only 30 gb left, in only 2 weeks. so for the people who want to get songs from their friends ipod. dont bother because by the time your ipod updates, everything would be erased. while for my brother, some of the songs he has are from his friends computers and for the past year his player has not caused him any grief mine has caused me in the past few weeks. with his creative zen, he can easily store the music without having to spend a whole day for it to first convert and then store. for my ipod, i have spend atleast 2 day trying to convert my cd (although it contains 800 songs) and then wait another 2 days for it to store on the ipod and this is only if my itunes does not freeze and make me start from the beginning. any way, uncle, im sorry but the ipod has got to go and i guess i also have to say good bye to the 25 weekly free songs i get through facebook. oh well things i have to give up to have a peace of mind.
before i forget, my 60gb ipod which is supposed to take up to 15000 songs can only take 3500 songs...i am still baffled over this because i have more songs that need to be in one place.
On: 2006-08-15
MUST HAVE for all the family, great music, video and photo with tons of storage, great playback, its a mobile entertainment dream.
On: 2006-08-13
couldnt stand it anymore, so have upgraded to the almost latest and greatest.
im not sure why some of the other reviews are having difficulty transferring files to their iPods, and the other complaints.
for me the interface is very intuitive, loading in files is straightforward with iTunes, and the fidelity is more than good enough for me 99% of the time. i dont use the supplied earbuds but use inexpensive but excellent sounding koss titanium headphones that can be bought on sale for $20.
for the relatively small incremental price increase i went with the 60gb over the 30. just like Mac or PC hard drives, just when you think you have a hard drive that is so big that "ill never fill this thing up...." it is full.
the only bad thing about all the iPod models is that they do get scratched up pretty easily. i solve that problem with an inexpensive silicone skin bought from eforcity website. no additional bulk, etc and the silicone makes the iPod easier to hold onto.
On: 2006-08-10
Im not the oldest guy in the gym, but I finally got tired of being the last one with a tape cassette Walkman. After much deliberation and delay, I bought the 60gb iPod to hold all of our familys CDs (about 32gb in MP3 format) and support my workout music.
Why the Apple?
A network of friends who raved about it and want to give me music (it may be illegal, but it seems to be assumed..), no real perceived advantage to being contrarian, easy access and large drive size.
Impressions:
Overall, it pretty much meets all that you have heard in terms of styling and usability. You cant really go wrong unless you have some esoteric requirements. Understand, you will boost the base price with at least one charger or docking station, some type of warranty extension and some type of case, at a minimum. The headphones are an insult, but if you have any other sets around, they will all work (better). The thing does what you were told it would and does it prettily and simply. That said, for the money and the market leadership, it has some sad lacks. 1)Sound quality is only OK. Im no great audiophile, but I can tell that this device is at best a "B" for sonic reproduction. 2)Sound control is weak. Given that you cannot set input volume compensation as you can in an old school mid to high end tape deck, you are forced to face a playlist where the volume changes, song after song, this is maddening. I consider it the number one failure of vision and interference with the user experience of the music. 3) Failure to engage the vision of the end user is a major flaw. This could be an exciting toy, but past basic use, you really have to dig to find out what the possibilities are, and most of them are limitations. I expected the software to give me much more control over setting up and working with playlists.
I guess I may be jaded to give such impressive technology a ho hum review, but the promises and potential are much greater, and the mediocrity of primary function bring it down. Overall, it is a solid, basic music player in a very pretty package but Im looking forward to giving it to my son and getting the next generation, probably not from Apple.
On: 2006-08-09
This product is better than I was expecting. It is very simple to use.
On: 2006-08-06
I was looking forward to getting my iPod, because this should undoubtebly be the best mp3-player there is. The functionality is great, with both music, pictures and video. And its easy to use. But a few disapointing things: Why isnt it possible to use both firewire and USB to transfer files? It recognizes a firewire cable and charges with it, so a step further to also transer files should be possible. But maybe its not technical possible to have both USB and firewire, I dont know.. Second disapointing thing: I wish it was possible to have the music organized in the same folders and folder structure as on my PC. Mp3-tracks are not always labeled with albumtitels, and these track will disapere if you shoose the "Album" selection, even if it was in the same folder on the computer.
On: 2006-08-04
The only reason I cant put 5 stars is that the screen seems to be easily scratched. If this kind of thing bothers you (as it does me), make sure you buy a protective film. That and a good cover will protect the iPod. Having 60 GB makes it possible to put my entire music library (8000+ songs), several full length films and almost the whole season of one of my favorite TV shows (I bought extra software online to do this, plus use the iTunes Music Store). Its a revolution in entertainment for me.
On: 2006-07-31
I love this ipod and it is the best thing to have. I would have bought it long time ago, but I waited too long. The price is kind of high, but it really worth it. With this 60GB ipod I am able to download all of my pictures and music and it is very convenient to carry it with me where ever I go.
On: 2006-07-31
what can i say about the ipod video, i have stored in here almost four years of my life uploading songs and deleting them, all i can say its thank you apple for making my life more enjoyable i cant live without my ipod :) and for letting us take our videos on the move im waiting for the 6g ;)
cheers!
On: 2006-07-30
I had heard of iPods legendary ease of use but I was at first skeptical. I am not a fan of iTunes, the software youll need to use to transfer songs to your iPod. However, I decided to make the plunge and get an iPod. Its been a great move.
The iPod itself is much smaller than I thought and looks very good. Looks aside, it is much easier to use (transfer songs, videos etc) to the player than other MP3 players (Windows based ones). The iPod also has good sound quality and a variety of different utilities like the world clock make it fun to use.
The only gripes I have with the product is that the front and the back of the player smudge and scratch easily. I would recommend getting a cover of some kind for this problem. Also, transferring videos is a bit of a hassle as Apple only supports limited video formats. You need a converter to transfer videos and songs in other formats and the conversion process is not guaranteed to work.
But these problems aside, the iPod is a very easy to use player and performs its functions well.
On: 2006-07-25
I upgraded to the new 60gb iPod from a 3rd generation 40 GB model. I used to have a remote control I could clip on my lapel. No more. I used to be able to update songs at 400Mb/s with Firewire. No more -- I do not have the very latest Mac, and Firewire transfers are "not supported," so I have to update at USB 1.0 speeds. I am not sure my new iPod will be fully loaded by the time my flight leaves the day after tomorrow. Im seriously considering returning this.
On: 2006-07-16
The iPod is a great gadget compare to any other MP3 players, but Apple still would not release the custom equalizer. I played around with all the presets and I can not get the sound as good few other MP3 players.
On: 2006-07-14
60gb!! I have hundreds of CDs and I can stall all of them on here and still have a great deal more space for miscellaneous personal files, photos and videos! iTunes allows you to update and organise your tracks either manually or automatically. Automatically; it will retrieve and stall any tracks you have on your computers hard-drive and keep them listed in convenient alphabetical order with all the tracks info (including the date of production and the names of the producers and composers). Manually; you can pick and choose which tracks you want, the display information and you can delete previous tracks and files and refill again without any messy configuration or error prevention.
iTunes is free and is compatible with PC and Mac and it is the most efficient music sorting software Ive ever used. It also allows you to convert tracks into different formats, enhance the sound quality and burn them onto CD by simply clicking and dragging the tracks you want into a new playlist! You dont have to type the track names in yourself because it will search the net for them and fill them in automatically and you call also change any inaccurate info manually.
If youre a budding sound-artist or musician and you want to hear your own work in CD quality before burning it, you can drag it into your iPod and listen to it straight away without going through any tedious procedure.
I cannot speak for those who have encountered technical problems with their iPods as I have not yet experienced such errors. Anytime my iPod has frozen or turned off it has been because of low battery and corrupt sound files - both these incidents only occurred twice. Ive owned both a Sony MP3 walkman and MD walkman for less time and had more problems than what Ive had with the iPod.
The only disadvantages would be the low-quality headphones it comes with and the lack of accessories which really bring it to life. I strongly recommend purchasing a cover or carry-case as the surface scratches easily and cannot be buffed or repaired. Unfortunately most of the best covers and cases are expensive but its a wise investment granted that theyre not too bulky. Definitely get a clear plastic screen-protector sticker as well.
The iPod does cost a little more for maintenance but I dont know how much of an issue that would be to people who could easily afford to purchase the iPod in the first place. I do feel that the device is ludicrously overpriced but at the same time its still by-far the best portable accessory for music-lovers. It also works well as an external hard-drive and is able to stall more files than more regular external hdrives at a close price range. I have taken my iPod to university and Ive saved large video, sound and document files on there and still have an abundance of spare room. When I later copy those files onto my PC hard-drive, the iPod ram is replenished.
Id recommend this to anyone who carries and uses a walkman everywhere, almost all the time. Also for those who regularly use a computer and keep an excessive amount of files on their ddrive. Youd get more than enough use out of this.
On: 2006-07-13
Very impressed with the video screen quality. I did not purchase this for the video becasue I thought that I would never watch a small screen and go blind, but I can now say I have changed my mind. Great picture. I could watch a whole movie without going blind.
If you can pay the extra I would get the 60 gig. The space does fill up quickly and I wanted to have my entire library on my Ipod.
*****!!!
On: 2006-07-12
Its the IPOD! unless youve been living in a cave somewhere, of course you know all about it! Its cool, you should get one! now, the big question is .. what do you put on it after? maybe some of my other reviews will help you answer that .. :)
On: 2006-07-10
Everything has gone alright; The shipping was incredibly fast, it took only 4 days and the product is great.
Many thanks.
Cheers.
J.
On: 2006-07-10
You can do almost anything with this iPod. Watch videos, mp4s, and you can even store notes on them such as resumes! Very cool!
On: 2006-07-06
PROS:
1) Looks stylish & beautiful (which is not particularly important to me).
2) Tighly integrated with iTunes software (you *must* be 100% willing to let Apple/iTunes/iPod completely take over your music collection; I am not)
3) Good sound quality.
4) Long battery life. My test: nearly 14 hours continuous random play (songs ripped from CD at even a higher bitrate than iPod recommends, dpPowerAMP "Alt Standard Preset" VBR vs. Apples recommended 160 CBR).
5) Massive harddrive. You can use it as portable storage (outside of iTunes control or iPod access). But you must carry the special Apple USB cord with you.
CONS:
Most importantly, watch how fast iTunes shills bury this review & stuff the "user" reviews with corporate hype.
1) iTunes/harddrive synchronization does not exist. iTunes will not detect any tag updates (song/album/artist details or pics) that you add outside of iTunes using your favorite tagging software, such as Helium Music Manager. iTunes will not pick up these changes (& therefore neither will your iPod). Most likely, since iTunes/iPod synchronization separates album art from the music file, you will loose album art.
Even when iTunes manages to correctly associate song pics with the song file, iPod can only access one pic per file. Have artist & album pics embedded in song tags? Youll be lucky to see even one of these on the iPod, especially if you tag with non-iTunes software. Apple commands: Thou shall not break the iTunes/iPod monopoly. Arrogant! Complete lack of iTunes/harddrive synchronization is the deal-breaker for me.
2) Power adaptor, even though this is a "portable" device, is also an optional "accessory". Out of the box, you can only rechange the iPod through a computer (USB cable). And dont try to use a friends computer. More than likely, the iTunes installation on the 2nd computer will hijack your iPod, delete all your music, and add the iTunes database from the 2nd computer. Again for basic "portable" functionality, Apple wants you to spend another $25 (plus tax) just to be able to recharge your "portable". Offensive!
Traveling outside America? Shell out another $40 (plus tax) for the travel adapter kit (99¢ worth of plastic).
3) Oversimplified, poorly documented & buggy interface. For whatever reason, iTunes & iPod are convinced that there is no need for a "STOP" button. You can only pause, but not stop, playback. You can sometimes "Shutdown" the iPod, but the interface is incredibly flaky in this area. Much of the time the iPod will not shutdown ... unless you leave it paused for a while (total waste of battery).
In their attempt to make iTunes simple to use, they intentionally eliminate flexibility. To further the impression of simplicity, the documentation is minimalist & lacking. Several cryptic iTunes "preferences" or iPod "settings" do not even appear anywhere in the latest software or hardware documentation. See that "Compilation", or "Grouping" option? Even if you could find an explanation, the option is so inflexible as to be totally useless.
The iPod works great if you set it playing & leave it alone. If you try navigating around while listening, it can become confused, stall, loose album art, etc. Frustrating.
4) The Apple-or-nothing rule applies to video, as well. Buy videos from Apple? Youll probably be able to watch these on the iPod. Shoot home videos using common digital camera formats? Good luck. Youll almost certainly have to test a lot of 3rd party shareware before finding one thatll create a file that iTunes wont reject.
I have given up on viewing vacation video on my iPod; iTunes rejects Canon Powershot S80 video.
5) Screen & body front (plastic part) are incredibly low-quality plastic material and scratch instantly once you remove the iPod from its box. Even sliding it in & out of its own pouch creates micro-scratches on the screen. This is an incredibly poor effort by Apple. Nonetheless Apple considers a screen protector an optional "accessory" (read: shameless profit stream). For $400+ (after taxes) you dont even get a minimally protected screen. Offensive!
OVERALL:
I would never again consider buying an iPod. iTunes tyranical, arrogant lack of support for external (non-iTunes) ripping, managing, tagging of my music collection is unacceptably frustrating & time-wasting. If you also want the flexibility of managing your own music library however you choose, then do not consider an iPod; you too will regret wasting your money.
Apple have one simple rule: Submit completely to Apple (ie, buy your music & content only through iTunes), or suffer infinite frustration for every violation of this rule. If you want to hand full control & a lot of money over to Apple for low-quality, overpriced music (128 cbr), then youll probably be quite happy with the iPod.
I am not.
by: osmanthus11888 On: 2006-07-05
Definitely get the 60 gb and not the 30 gb if you dont want to wait for Christmas to see if Apple unveils something better.
[EDIT: ETA 2007 WIDESCREEN IPOD so I have no regrets getting this one now.]
I am very happy that I bought the ipod from Amazon instead of from Apple. Although I didnt get to have a free engraving on the back of the ipod, I did get a cheaper total price. Also, Apple was a hassle to deal with when I had a problem with the original ipod I received whereas Amazon was delightful and sent me a replacement before I even received the mailing label to return the original flawed ipod. I will definitely buy more apple products from amazon in the future to save money and to get better service.
Does this fulfill my why buy from amazon criteria?
1. Would I prefer to buy new vs. previously owned and cheaper from Craigslist? yes
2. Is this a good price? yes
3. Do I save on shipping? yes
4. Do I save on sales tax? yes
On: 2006-07-03
I think that the iPod is just a MP3 player , but is more than I player, I had now all my music and my digital photos.
On: 2006-07-02
I just recently bought a 60 GB iPod from Amazon.com and i am totally satisfied with this product! I have gone through about 3 ipods but by far this one is my favorite, the videos and movies are clear and I love it! It also has a lot of cool new features to learn.
On: 2006-07-02
I have a 40gb ipod that died 13 months after I bought it. I bought the extended warranty and apple replaced it with an ipod that died after 3 months (this was last week). The apple store exchanged it under warranty with an ipod that had problems the 1st day. There are lots of people with similar problems in the apple store every time I go in as well as several friends with similar problems. The software and accessories are cool, but what good is it when the ipods dont work. Horrible quality especially for $400. Buy another brand.
On: 2006-07-01
The ipod 60 gb is the largest that apple now offers, I selected this one over the 30 gb since I plan on putting lots of videos on it. My family was sceptical at first that you could see much on such a small screen, but the picture looks great. It is a bit of a pain however converting other forms of video for playback on the ipod. After a bit of google searching, I was able to find a good converter and I transfered some of my dvds onto it.
Also it is great in its primary function as a music player. The number of songs it holds is astounding and the quality of the playback is great. It is especially great for long car rides, I can just set a play list and let it go.
I would suggest this product without hesitation to any music lover with a large collection of music that they wish to listen to on the go. The only thing is that you should also buy a case for it as soon as possible, the plastic is easily scratched and it would be a shame to mar that beautiful sleek new ipod.
On: 2006-06-29
Product is fantastic but you need spend more money for missing plus.Also black iPod is coming with white head set.Sound, video, picuters are amazing. I wish for every one to have this fantastic ipod.
On: 2006-06-20
I bought my I Pod 60 gig with video playback a few months ago and i love it. The only problem i have with it is that the the videos i convert to play on the i pod come out without volume at all.
On: 2006-06-11
This is the coolest thing i own, imagine it a video player in the palm of your hand. You dont have to change DVDs or wait about 5 - 10 minutes for a video to load as it is instant.
This 60GB version can hold well over 10,000 songs and upto 1500 videos with very good picture and sound quality.
The battery life on it admitedly is abit short but for the quality that youre getting it doesnt bother me.
Buy one if you have the cash because youll love it.
On: 2006-06-08
Everyone I know (including me) who has an Ipod, has sadly watched them break in the first year. My touch pad stopped responding to touch. You should be prepared for your $400 purchase to last less than a year. Just look at all the broken Ipods on Ebay.
On: 2006-06-05
I demod one of these recently and think that you really need to look elsewhere. Some of the 256mb no-named players at walmart are better. First of all, the audio quality is horrible. I demod sound quality on a Denon receiver(ipod input) with B&W 803s. The material tested was my trusty Motorhead Ace of Spades CD. Comparing the CD to the ipod, the songs sounded dull, lifeless, and unfun to listen to, and the apple headphones didnt help at all (thats why I switched to the high-end system). When I wasnt impressed, the worker showed me the "amazing" image quality. Remember the LCD TVs that were thousands of dollars...12 years ago? Yes, a flashback hit me of seeing a JVC LCD from way back in time. The picture was lackind detail (not suprised), black levels were bad, and the screen is tiny. Unless apple makes an iGlasses holder, I think the image looks like its useless. The screen size would be OK if the screen was good to look at.
As for value, 300 dollars for audio quality of a 40 dollar stereo at Shopko? I tink Ill pass. With apple you pay for a name and a fashion accessory. While Ill admit I would look cool with one of these strapped to my chest, I dont see the need to spend the money. Overall, save your money and buy a decent pair of home audio speakers like Axioms. Youll never want to leave the house with a real hifi setup.
On: 2006-06-02
I have the 20gb, mini 4gb and recently bought the black 60gb ipod. After using it for a few months and having compared it to its predecesors, I would like to make a few points:
The good:
- Sexy Look;
- Large Capacity and small size (same as the 20gb);
- Plays video and display photos.
BUT the bad:
- It comes with no remote, no stand, no charger and the earbud sucks. If you want to have all these, another 200 bucks on top.
- It does not sound as good (as its predecessors). I noticed that this new model has considerably higher-pitch sound and less bass than its predecessors. I think Apple did this to make the music purchased from itunes sound a little more crisp (itune music is encoded 128k), but it makes your own music (presumablly encoded at a bit rate higher than 128k) sound screatchy at times... and you will still hear varying volume across different albums - i really dont think it is that difficult to level volume across the board;
- Video/photo display drains the battery very fast. I think it will last for about 3-4 hrs if you try to watch video. How do you watch films like Lord of the Ring on you ipod...?
Overall, I am slightly disappointed by the new ipod and will not recommend it as a worthy upgrade of your existing ipod, if your existing ones battery still works.
On: 2006-05-21
Some people are absolutely right. The ipod has problems. Ipods will fail, crash, have to be reset, etc. These problems, however, are all inherent in hard drive mp3 players. Hard drives just arent meant to be jostled, jogged with or dropped. If you want to avoid all failure problems whatsoever, buy a nano. But before you do that, take these few points of advice into consideration.
1. Apple has an amazing protection plan. After 2 years my ipod finally crashed, but I had it under warranty. A two year warranty is relatively cheap, considering your ipod probably will die within 2 years. If you are covered, this is how it goes. You fill out an online form describing your problem. Ipod processes this form within a day, and you get an empty box in the mail within 2 days. You ship your ipod back (expenses paid) in this box, ipod receives it within another couple days (or sooner depending where you are). They diagnose it for about a day or less and ship it back to you. All in all, it takes no more than a week for you to get your ipod back. If its a serious problem they will send you a complete replacement (and you feel like its Christmas again, getting a brand new shiny ipod!)So in summary, their protection service is amazingly quick and efficient and you should invest in one when you get the ipod. If you are unfortunate enough to either not be protected or to drop your ipod (which is not covered) you might as well sell your broken one and use the money to buy a new one.
2. If you are worried about losing data thats stored on your ipod, make sure its backed up!
On: 2006-05-16
Its an Apple product, so I would expect an easy straight forward way to get music & video loaded onto it. Wrong. The iTunes software works extremely well for music, but its very partial about video.
The iTunes software will only convert QuickTime videos to iPod format. If you want to convert other videos to iPod format, you will need to purchase third-party software to do this.
On: 2006-05-16
The first iPod that I bought was an iPod Nano 4GB so Ill be comparing the iPod Video 60GB to that.
Pros:
- Feels just as solid as ever. Ive seen my coworker drop his several times and it still works. We have a rough, office carpet which softens the blow a bit though.
- Great battery life.
- Video playback is awesome... at first.
- Very smooth interface. Nice sliding effects and transitions so you dont get confused by a sudden change in the menu.
- Tons of storage. I can fit my entirely library, whereas with the nano, I have to pick and choose.
Cons:
- Feeling the hard drive spin up and click is a bit disconcerting after using the nano.
- Its considerably heavier than the nano. I definitely wouldnt go jogging with this thing in my pocket.
- Video playback seems like more of a novelty. The screen is too small and I have to wear headphones to watch a video.
- The size may be a problem for some people.
Conclusion:
Basically, the iPod video is bigger, bulkier, and heavier than the nano, and also has soft clicks and vibrations from the internal hard drive. If you need the extra room, the 60GB capacity is awesome. The interface and build quality are also as high quality as ever. Youll also get a longer battery life if you stick to playing music.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-05-15
IPods are Rip-offs
The iPods not the only music player you can get,
Its just that there are MP3 players people have not met.
If they just knew what the other players had in store for them,
Theyd know the iPod stinks so bad it came from a pigs pen.
The iPods soar to the top of the list of MP3 players like kites,
But why not get a better player with more gigabytes?
Sandisk and Creative have some pretty decent devices,
Yet people cling to iPods even with their retarded prices.
The Sandisk Sansa E100 has many, many things,
An FM radio, recording, and movies make it the king of kings.
Does the iPod Nano have this stuff? No, it does not!
The Nano lacking all these features is definitely its weak spot.
The Creative Zen Micro Photo also kills the Nano for an amazing deal,
It has so much more for so much less that its basically unreal.
Radio, recording, and replaceable battery make it a better player,
For less than the Nano...are you kidding? Its definitely a Nano slayer.
Theres a player that blows the iPod Shuffle into outer space,
Its called the Samsung YP-U2 and it definitely earns its place.
FM tuner, voice recorder, and screen make it a great buy,
The fact that the Shuffle doesnt have these things should make Steve Jobs cry.
The Creative Zen Vision: M is better than the Ipod Video,
Better screen, more features, and better value make it glow.
The fact that the Vision: M is thicker doesnt really matter,
The features are what make the Vision: M unimportantly fatter.
So you see, my friends, the iPod is a waste of precious time,
The fact that Apple cheats you out is basically a crime.
They make their iPods fragile just to make them really "cool",
Anyone who buys one is just a ridiculous crazy fool.
Facts
1. Ipods are MP3 players. It seems like people want to separate iPods from other MP3 players. Can iPods play MP3s? If so, its an MP3 player.
2. The Creative Zen Vision: M is pretty much the same thing as the iPod with video, but the Zen has much, much more. It has an FM tuner (FM recording), voice recorder, better screen (262,144 colors as opposed to 65,000-very big difference).
On: 2006-05-15
This ipod is great. It plays 15,000 songs, plus, you can watch all your favorite tv shows. You can even burn your own DVD movies to it if you own them. This is a great price, too. Buy it and start putting songs on. 15,000 songs are going to take a long time to fill your ipod. Great value for how long youll use it.
On: 2006-05-07
I bought this for the space it offered (60GIG) because it is the cheapest 60 gig music & video player out on the market. I only use this for playing music and all I can say is that is the best thing in the world because I can carry my music library in my ipod. The best thing about the ipod is that it lasts me about 15 hours of pure mp3 playing with EQ & Backlight ON. If you get some descent headphones & turn on the EQ to your liking than you wont be disapointed. I was originally gonna get it from apple but Amazon offered me the same product for cheaper. I recommend getting A good case (I got a black eVo3 case) because if you dont I guarantee you that your screen will scratch. I consider this a very good investment becaue I am sure this will last me for a long time. If you listen to music 24/7 like I do than this is going to become your best friend. If you are getting this for video playing than I suggest you look for something else because this will only last you for about 3 hours. The screen is nice but There are other better ones out there.
by: free_delivery_tracking On: 2006-05-05
Despite the fervor about the iPod, keep in mind some important issues and deficiencies:
1. Hard to use with more than one computer
2. Tedious and deficient computer interface to manage the iPod
3. Unreliable song playback
4. Ineffective Apple Technical Support
.... READ ON FOR ELABORATION OF THESE POINTS
-----------------------------------------------
1. If you have to reinstall iTunes onto your computer, youll have to completely format the iPod device and reload it, for my 60GB which has 40GB of music (two thirds full) it takes approximately 6 hours to reload the songs.
2. iTunes is the only interface to manage the songs on your iPod and iTunes cant be used to manage the song file. In other words, if you want to move the song file on your hard drive, you can do so but then you have to find the listing in iTunes and point the song listing to the files new location. Windows Media Player has the capability to refresh its database... ITUNES HAS NO SONG OR SONG DATABASE RELOCATION FUNCTION, so if you ever have to manage the location of song files with iTunes you have to redirect the index entry to every file. If you move a whole directory, plan on spending some time inside iTunes.
3. Some songs on the iPod just stop playing at the same point every time, they play fine on the PC with iTunes or Media Player or any other music player, but they always stop on the iPod at the same spot and skips to the next song, no matter how many times I rip the song again, no matter how many formats. (two songs so far are Moby God moving over the face of the water and New Dawn Fades from his I Like to Score CD.
4. Apple Technical support is about as helpful as hemmorhoids, theyre friendly and will sit there and listen to your problem, just to say "I understand" then tell you to reset your iPod back to factory settings (essentially a format and reinstall) and you get to.... reload the songs again.
In short, Apple is behaving as they did in the 80s and early 90s by assuming because they have the market share, their design must be perfect. Similar to how they lost the desktop to Micro$oft, theyre going to lose the portable music player market unless they fix some basic issues.
Which is too bad, because it would be nice to Apple hold some aspect of the consumer electronics space instead of losing it to Micro$oft (again).
by: free_delivery_tracking On: 2006-05-05
I wish I never bought this thing !
----------------------------
NOTE: I expect tons of negative votes on this review, because Apple is flanked by Steve Jobisciples who cant stand to have their precious items criticized with the same scrutiny the rest of the worlds consumer products are subjected to. Jobisciples love all Apple products more than the NRA loves all hollow point ammo!
----------------------------
Despite the fervor about the iPod, keep in mind some important issues and deficiencies:
1. Hard to use with more than one computer
2. Tedious and deficient computer interface to manage the iPod
3. Unreliable song playback
4. Ineffective Apple Technical Support
.... READ ON FOR ELABORATION OF THESE POINTS
-----------------------------------------------
1. If you have to reinstall iTunes onto your computer, youll have to completely format the iPod device and reload it, for my 60GB which has 40GB of music (two thirds full) it takes approximately 6 hours to reload the songs.
2. iTunes is the only interface to manage the songs on your iPod and iTunes cant be used to manage the song file. In other words, if you want to move the song file on your hard drive, you can do so but then you have to find the listing in iTunes and point the song listing to the files new location. Windows Media Player has the capability to refresh its database... ITUNES HAS NO SONG OR SONG DATABASE RELOCATION FUNCTION, so if you ever have to manage the location of song files with iTunes you have to redirect the index entry to every file. If you move a whole directory, plan on spending some time inside iTunes.
3. Some songs on the iPod just stop playing at the same point every time, they play fine on the PC with iTunes or Media Player or any other music player, but they always stop on the iPod at the same spot and skips to the next song, no matter how many times I rip the song again, no matter how many formats. (two songs so far are Moby God moving over the face of the water and New Dawn Fades from his I Like to Score CD.
4. Apple Technical support is about as helpful as hemmorhoids, theyre friendly and will sit there and listen to your problem, just to say "I understand" then tell you to reset your iPod back to factory settings (essentially a format and reinstall) and you get to.... reload the songs again.
In short, Apple is behaving as they did in the 80s and early 90s by assuming because they have the market share, their design must be perfect. Similar to how they lost the desktop to Micro$oft, theyre going to lose the portable music player market unless they fix some basic issues.
Which is too bad, because it would be nice to Apple hold some aspect of the consumer electronics space instead of losing it to Micro$oft (again).
by: imuilu143 On: 2006-05-01
iPod works fine. Download all your CDs to iTunes, and then synch the iPod. Or buy a song from iTunes online store. I used my iPod on airline flights (heard that kid crying a few rows away, poor kid, poor parents, been there done that, but point is iPod sends your ears tunes instead of hearing the poor kid--wish it could help the poor kid with the aching ears). This 55 gig (it sells as 60 gig) iPod can hold over 14,000 songs, and thats about a full month of songs played 24/7, so my challenge is to fill it up. Essentially, you load your CD into your computer, download songs from the CD you like into iTunes, and then later plug in your iPod to get the downloads sent into the iPod. I bought Copy pod so i could move songs from one pc/iPod to another (sorry, aint gonna sell anything to you or violate Apples no-can-copy policy, Copypod is solely for my backup as I have 6 iPods of varying capacity--55 gig iPod to 3.7 gig Nano, mini, plus my wifes various iPods-- to load with my CDs, to listen to one at a time). Also, one can get a unit to sit on the desk top where one can plug in the iPod and play away without using the iPod ear-thingies (units available from Apple or Bose, I bought them both and reviewed). This iPod setup works very nicely. Would all our technology arrangements work so well. A fabulous product.
Update here a few months later--still the same recommendation, a very nice unit. It is also nice to pace through iTunes on my PC to play songs, as if the iPod didnt exist at all, iTunes is really easy and nice to use. And, for those of you travelling on planes, an iPod is the best thing to have when the baby starts crying a row or so ahead or behind or next to you. Just dont listen to it too much if you need to listen instead for delayed boarding announcements or gate changes at the airport--dont wanna miss your plane by listening to your music!
On: 2006-04-30
This is a good player -- possibly better than good, depending on your needs; but there are a couple things to keep in mind if you are considering this player.
First, the good. If your primary concern is capacity, you absolutely cannot find a better combination of capacity & portability in any other player. Period. Now that Creative seems to have discontinued their 60gb zen xtra (I dont know that for sure, but I searched for months & could never find it in stock on any site), there arent even that many other players on the market that offer over 40gb. And you are definitely not going to find another 60gb(or greater) player in such a tiny package. The sound quality is excellent & there are plenty of equalizer settings to suit your particular taste. The controls/user interface is very intuitive, not to mention stylish (if you care about such things). The battery life is outstanding (at least for music -- I dont really care about the video features, so I cant really comment on that). Im not sure about the 14 hours mentioned in some product decriptions Ive seen, but Ive consistently gotten way over 10 hours, usually somewhere in the 12 hour range. More than adequate, in any case. Also, I really like the USB charging ability -- no need to worry with multiple cables if you want to hook it up to your PC but the battery is low. The iPods battery charges through the USB cable as its connected.
Now, for the not-so-good. First, as with seemingly all players, the provided earbuds stink. Maybe I just have deformed ears, but Ive never found a pair of these that will stay in my ears. And while they are in, theyre extremely uncomfortable. But, I already had a nice set of headphones, so thats not that big a deal to me. The lack of included accessories is a little dissapointing as well. Basically, you get the USB cable & the earbuds. As some others have mentioned, theres not even an A/C charger included. Yes, it charges when connected to your PC, but come on, Apple -- for $400, you couldnt include a travel A/C charger?
But by far my biggest complaint with the iPod is the fact that Apple insists on FORCING you to use iTunes to manage your library & load music onto your iPod. For those of you who missed the memo (as I apparently did), let me repeat that -- you CANNOT load music onto this player via any means other than using iTunes as your library manager. I learned this the hard way -- loading well over 5000 songs onto the player (seen as an external hard disk) via the music library manager that I had been using for years. The files transfer just fine, but when you turn your iPod on, it doesnt realize there are any songs there. Ive seen some open-source programs that supposedly override this "feature" for the iPod Shuffle, but nothing of the sort for this model. Now, if you already use iTunes to manage your music library, then obviously thats not a problem. But if, like me, you already have another tool that you like & have been using, you now must either switch to iTunes altogether or keep up with 2 libraries. In my case, its 2 libraries since the existing tool I used (Creatives MediaSource Organizer -- which, as a library manager is vastly superior to iTunes, in my opinion) is necessary for my Creative Wireless Music Server. Oh well. One other thing you should be aware of if youre not that familiar with iTunes: the "auto-sync" feature. The first time you connect your iPod, you will be asked whether you want to automatically synchronize your iPod with your iTunes library. You need to understand what saying "yes" to this means -- it doesnt just synchronize that one time. It also sets a preference (which you can change later) whereby every subsequent time you connect your iPod, it will automatically be synchronized to your library. So, if anything has been removed from your library, it will also automatically be removed from your iPod when you connect it. Personally, I turn off that feature & manage tranfers to my iPod manually.
A recording feature would have been nice, but both of my previous players (an old Archos Jukebox & an Archos gmini 402) record quite well, they just dont have the capacity of the iPod 60gb.
Overall, for what I bought if for -- the ability to store my entire music collection on a single, portable device -- the iPod 60gb is probably the best choice currently on the market. I give it only 3 stars, just because of the unholy, incestuous and entirely unecessary marriage to iTunes. I mean honestly, how hard would it have been for Apple to make this player capable of playing music files loaded onto the device sans iTunes?
On: 2006-04-30
This is the third MP3 player Ive owned. I dont even remember the brand name of the first one but the second was a Creative Labs ZenXtra. I finally caved and bought an iPod when the Zen started to lose sound quality for some mysterious reason.
Heres what I like about the iPod:
The sound is very good. The design is seductive and the click wheel is easy to use. The screen is fantastic. Ive watched several TV shows on the screen on an airplane. I find that I only watch them once and never again so I havent bought any more from iTunes. Once you get used to the click wheel, navigation is straightforward.
Heres what I wish the iPod did:
The "on the go" feature is a way of creating spontaneous playlists, but the Creative Labs ZenXtra was much more flexible in this regard. I could create play lists on the fly, name them, and then change the order of songs in them if I wanted to. I have to be attached to a computer to do this on an iPod. I wish I could play songs at random from the iPod within a certain genre, album or playlist. Maybe you can and I dont know how to do it but I did like the Zens ability to randomize play based on whatever was in the "now playing list." I also wish that the iPod came with a wall charger. I know it charges through the USB when connected to a computer but there are many times in a hotel room or in an airport when Id like to get a little juice and dont want to drag the laptop out just to charge the iPod. The price of the charger is outrageous.
Overall:
Generally Im satisfied with the iPod and the listening experience. If I had the choice between my old Zen and the iPod, Id choose the iPod. But if I had better sound and a better screen on the Zen, I think Id opt for the added features of the Zen even without the elegance of the click wheel.
On: 2006-04-29
Get ready for a long one...
I bought this ipod thinking it would be the greatest thing ever... play video, pictures, and best of all, ALL of my music! It does all of these functions fairly well, and the battery life is very good (for music; for videos, you might as well bring the power cord... that you have to BUY seperately~~).
Sound on the ipod is very good too, with many different EQ settings enhancing the sound. I dont use the included classic earbuds becasue they never stay in my ears, but any headphones i plug up work well. I like how it automaticly pauses when you unplug the headphones, and it turns on (if hold is off) when you plug them in. The bass could be a little more pronounced, perhaps by a three-level megabass such as those on many Sony CD players. Overall, though, it sounds great.
Photo and video capability on the ipod is also great. The screen, i must say, is fantastic for such a small size. Videos play smoothely, although i have encountered slight hanging and sometimes, on full length movies (which are a TRICK to get on there~~), the lipsync becomes messed-up. Also, as i said, you cant watch many videos and/or pictures without the ipod drying up. Dont expect to be able to easily get videos on the ipod either... this can turn into a tramatic experience.
Playback on the ipod is fairly reliable. I have had the player lock up on me a few times, but it is a HD-based player, so this can almost be expected. Shuffle is extremely handy, although i wish the firmware would allow you to select what artists and/or genres were shuffled; sometimes i am not in the mood to hear rap, yet shuffle does not discriminate.
An improvement that is direly needed on the ipod (aside from itunes... well get to that in a moment~) is the way you find music. Especially on a 60gb model, where virtually zillions of songs under zillions of different artists are likely, it is very difficult to find the needed song in any moderate time frame (especially when looking for a specific song under "Songs" view). If you play the click wheel just right, it will zoom incredibly fast through the ABC-ordered songs, but it is VERY hard to get it to stop on the desired letter, much less song. Apple needs to update its firmware so that users can go directly to a letter in the alphabet, so that they dont have to scroll through ALL of the songs.
Some other things the ipod lacks is FM tuner/recorder and voice recorder. this is probably possible through some accessories, but i believe these should be givens for such a "great player". This brings me to my soapbox for ipod. My first erk is the lack of included power adapter. That is just sad. Apple is truly ripping-off America. Another turner-offer is the video-out capability. A great idea in theroy, but you cant easily do this. You have to BUY yet another accessory from Apple, a SEEMINGLY standard RCA cable. Regular RCA cables wont work. That really irritated me.
This brings me to the reasons for which i am selling the ipod. The lack of accessories i may have dealt with grudgingly. However, the hastle you have to go through to put songs ON The ipod and actually FIND them is rediculous. My first problem with itunes was the library itself. My music is on a seperate hard drive, so after importing all the songs into itunes (about an hour process, on a FAST computer), the next time i unplugged the hard drive itunes thought none of my music existed. Anger. It then preceded to do the "handy" auto-update of my ipod, thereby erasing over 2000 songs from my ipod to match the "empty" library. I was mad. Also, after i had corrected this problem, i made an attempt to delete all duplicate songs, which itunes has a handy feature which finds them. The only problem is, any songs that are remotely the same show up, and if you delete them (which i thought to be a good idea), i lost both the original copy and the duplicate song. There goes another few thousand songs from the ipod. AutoUpdate was promptly turned off.... Also, my music is organized via folders, and not all of the id3 tags are correct. To find them on the ipod, i have over 10,000 songs to go through and correct. Quite a pain.
FINALLY, when songs go onto the ipod, it renames the filename to a random 4-letter/number combination and sticks the songs into one of 50 random folders. VERY painful if you want to give a friend a few songs from the ipod, or want to put them on another computer (itunes wont let you bring songs from the ipod to your library. big surprise~). This heavily irritates me.
SOOO, even with the moderate plusses the player has to offer, i dont think its worth the trouble of fighting Apple every time you want to put a song on, or take one off. The lack of features other players possess, such as the iAudio x5, also is a con. Finally, the extremely irritating software (itunes), lack of "drag-and-drop" capability, and no included accessories is just a simple turn-off. This is why the ipod got a 2-star rating from me; the benefits dont even closely outweigh the hasles that you have to go through. If youre not obsessive about being in control over your music, and how to actually FIND it, you may enjoy the very simplistic, limited-access ipod. However, for anyone else, I do not recommend.
On: 2006-04-25
This is my fourth iPod. I am one of those "gadget geeks" that just loves to get their hands on something new. Im also a HUGE HUGE fan of music. A proper mp3 player is just something that I CANNOT live without...
Whats Good:
Obviously, the video aspect of the new iPod is fantastic. Ive downloaded quite a few clips/shows/videos from iTunes and even converted my own videos (using AVS Medias VideoTools) and am VERY impressed with the playback quality (both the audio and video). Theres nothing more enjoyable than watching your favorite stand-up comedian on the train ride home from work.
The audio from the mp3 files is also second to none. iPods are just my favorite in terms of sound quality. If youve ever had one, then you can expect the same quality from the newer models.
Whats Bad:
With the 60 gig model, navigation is fast enough, but when you finally find what youre looking for, it takes the iPod FAR too long to actually begin playing it. Im sure this has to do with the slow hard drives that Apple uses in its iPods but, come on, people are paying $400 for these things. Its just VERY annoying and fristrating to click on a song you want to hear and then have to wait 5-7 seconds for it to begin. And for videos - well, youll have to wait about 10 seconds for those to load. Of course, "its only 5-10 seconds" - but when youre sitting on a train or taking a jog, its much longer than it should be.
The battery life is HORRIBLE. I listen to this iPod when Im at work (for about 4-5 hours) and on my train rides (a total of 40 minutes). By the time I get home, either there is VERY little juice left or it has died completely. If I play a video clip for the 20 minute ride home, Im lucky if I even get to watch the whole thing.
My bottom line - I LOVE iTunes. Its my main music player at the house and its just convenient to be able to use the same program to sync up with my mp3 player (especially with the same playlists). If it werent for iTunes, I would be getting a Creative Zen:M. In fact, Im going to go ahead an recommend that player to anyone interested who doesnt have any ties to iTunes or the iPod...
by: Anonymous On: 2006-04-17
Alright i got my 60gb 5g Apple iPod about a month ago and so far its doing pretty well -
Pros:
Great screen resolution
Long battery life (with music)
Good Quality
Looks nice/high tech
DVD/Movie converters are out there for it and they are cheap
ALOT of accessories
Good OS
Easy to use.
Cons:
Occasionally locks up
Scratches WICKED easily
Battery life is short (With Movies)
Doesnt like to turn off
Costs $400!
End Review:
Overall its really good with some minor flaws its worth buying. For DVD converters i suggest PQ DVD to iPod video converter.
On: 2006-04-16
Ive had just about every ipod made. This one TOTALLY kicks [...]. I take it everywhere with me & havent had any problems with it. EVERY CD I own is on here & I still have plenty of room for more. I also bought the Griffin fm transmitter, so I listen to this in my car. MUCH better than radio. I like that you can make your own playlists & put stuff on random.
My only complaint is the the black one scratches VERY easily & I havent had much luck with covers.
Buy this...you wont regret it. ALL your music in one place...how great is that????
On: 2006-04-16
I bought my original iPod when they first became available for PC owners. I had jealousy eyed the Apple Mac crowds new toy for ages while growing frustrated with my Creative 256MB MP3 player. When I bought my original 20 GB iPod in September 2002, the cashier at Best Buy who rang me up actually asked, "Whats an iPod?" Imagine getting that question today.
The iPod "owns" the MP3 player space for a reason. The navigation on the iPod is sheer joy to play with. This goes double for navigating photos as far as Im concerned. I uploaded 12,000 photos to my iPod and zooming through all the pictures at high speed is wonderful. Its so nice having everything with me. The 60 gig iPod Video is a true multimedia device. I have 4,000 songs, 12,000 photos, 30 videos and about 25 audiobooks at my fingertips. This is great | | |
