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15 GB (Hard Drive), 3800 Songs, 5.6 oz., Audio Files: MP3, WAV, AAC, MP3 VBR, AIFF. Display Size: 2 inch |  |
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| Product Reviews from Amazon.com (Rating System 1 to 5) |
| Review | Rating | Last Updated | i pod OR pea pod for the pea brain
The ipod has become an almost necessity. With endless master classes, repertoire collection and rehearsals, the ipod comes in handy to the musical pro. I record live piano accompaniments, upload the ipod to my iMAC and create sound files with ease.
Here's what doesn't work.
1) APPLE does not manufacture microphones for their i-POD.
2) You have to by peripherals made and designed by other companies.So I bought a GRIFFIN i-talk which is not so good either. I have to connect yet another microphone into the top of the i-talk to get rid of static and clicking.
3) The GENIUS bar in the APPLE store runs away with an allergy when stuff doesn't work and then parrots the beloved phrase.."APPLE doesn't support other products"
4) APPLE doesn't support other products but doesn't mind selling them in their stores to make the APPLE product more practical and functional.
5) The APPLE battery racket is shameful. SONY and OLYMPUS etc. mp3 players can have a battery replacement in a flash.
6) APPLE forces you to send in the iPOD for a battery, and wait for it's return by mail
7) WORSE than that, APPLE has the slimy gaul to offer you 10% off your dead iPOD on a new one in the store so you don't have to wait for a battery.
8) APPLE gets away with a lot of stuff because it's name recognition is remarkably placed but it's heart isn't in the right place.....SOOOO
9) I am soon to change computers and mp3 players and not deal with the SAFARI browser either which is a total drag. | 3 | Today | Don't get hard drive
The hard drive i-pod I purchased for almost $400 died in 17 months. The drive as well as the battery. I was told to go with a Flash 'drive'. I was so disgusted with the Apple merchandizing mentality, I researched and now own an i-River Clix and I love it. Check it out before becoming chained to i-pod and i-music. | 2 | Today | Still Going
I bought this IPOD three years ago in August of 2004. It's been with me from Hawaii to the mainland and even to Korea. I mostly use it in my car through my auxilary jack. Although now outdated, it's proved tough as nails. It's been accidentally dropped on solid asphalt from four feet and still works. I haven't had to replace the battery or anything. It's pretty banged up, but keep chugging along. It even outlived my wife's IPOD Mini! | 5 | Today | Great to use, but not made to last
The iPod's pretty decent when it's working correctly. It play mp3s fine and by my ear the sound is as good as any other portable device. The included software, iTunes, however, leaves a lot to be desired. My major complaint is that you can't take your music off your iPod with iTunes. The remainder of the problems I have with it are largely that the program tries to do a bit too much automatically, which can be irritating.
The big weakness, and the reason not to buy it, is because the iPod itself is rather poorly designed. Despite being hard drive based, there is little protection for the hard drive in the event the iPod is dropped. The protection consists of a small, blue, rubber enclosure internal to the iPod. While this provides some protection, it does not afford nearly enough for a portable device that will, eventually, be dropped on accident. This typically results in physical damage to the hard drive from even a small drop, meaning you either have to replace the hard drive itself, now a $60, or buy a new iPod if you're not mechanically inclined. Another big weakness is the headphone jack and its connection to the iPod's motherboard. The connection between the headphone jack and the motherboard itself consists only of a small jack which is secured to the motherboard with only a few solder joints. The connector on the motherboard often will develop failures of these solder joints, leaving you with again a non-functional iPod unless you can manage to resolder the joints. The actual headphone jack itself also wears out quickly. Over time, the small metal pieces that are within the jack that provide the electrical connection to the headphones and also hold the mini-plug in the jack wear out and loosen. This only took a couple years for me, meaning the entire headphone jack had to be replaced, which is not a cheap repair since the jack itself is proprietary.
The biggest weakness, however, is the (as-designed) unreplaceable lithium ion battery. Like any battery, lifetime decays with continued use, and with a device intended for daily use that will see frequent charging, the battery only lasts a year or two before the length of time the battery will run the iPod diminishes significantly. This would have been no problem, had Apple designed the iPod to have a user-replacable battery. However, they did not. So, you can either run the risk of a do-it-yourself battery change, send it back to apple to have the battery replaced (a costly repair at $99), or deal with the significantly diminished time. Either way, it's an annoyance that could have been avoided had Apple designed the iPod intelligently, but, unfortunately they did not.
The case and screen are also extremely susceptible to scratching, which, while it may not affect function of the device, detract significantly from the iPod's appearance and harms resale value of the iPod should you ever decide you want to rid yourself of the poorly designed contraption. Again, the only solution here is to buy a third party sleeve to protect the screen and case - something that could have been avoided by proper design.
The iPod itself is nice, while it works. The bottom line is, other manufacturers provide hard drive based mp3 players that provide every feature that the iPod provides, but with a lot less of the problems from poor design. The iPod is little more than an expensive mp3 player designed in a manner you would expect a throw-away device to be designed. You'd be better off buying another product from a manufacturer that's designed to last, unlike the iPod. | 2 | Today | Versatile Hard Drive
I've had a 3G for about 3 years. The battery life is poor, 4-5 hours (at this point), much worse in the cold weather (don't leave it in your car, or you should buy a car recharger).
But it is very versatile. I back up GB's of pictures on the Ipod using Windows "SyncToy" (free). I back up my Palm Desktop using another sync program. I still have GB's of memory for medical lectures and "Teaching Company" lectures.
One weakness of the design is that the touch wheels are very "touchy", a glancing movement of your finger can increase the volume or change the program you are listening to accidently.
The click wheel failed the other day. Forget about repairing one of these yourself. I wish Ipods just had a simple, analog on/off button and volume/tuning knob. They wouldn't be as stylish, but they would last longer. Without the click wheel, it is unusable and I sent it off for service. | 3 | Today | worst ever
this is an absolutely wonderful device to listen to. the sound quality is great, the navigation is great, everythings good...when its plugged into a wall. this thing has the worst battery every. ive had it for 3 years and im on my 4th one. the battery lasts for 5 hours for 6 months. after that, maybe an hour. its terrible. dont buy this. | 1 | Today | Apple, Have You Given Up On Me?
I bought one a few years ago back before they got real big. I am an avid mac user, a music lover, and a real iPod fan. This one just doesnt cut it. It worked flawlessy with my imac, until a few days out of warrenty, when it totally died. It commit suicide. Seriously. Only 15 or so days out of warrenty! Apple wouldn't give me a new one online for free because it was out of warrenty. I decieded, screw apple, I will send it directly to them with a letter. I did. It worked! I got another 3rd generation. Well, I had a 3rd generation. About a month ago, it commit suicide again! Gosh Apple! You stink! I couldn't send it to them with their program because they did not renew my warrenty when they sent me a new one. So, I did my little sig. trick and sent it directly to them.
A week later, I got a small box from Apple. It had a typed up letter to me. Well, not to me, to "Customer." Yep, you guessed it, no new iPod. They said I hadn't filed for one online. I went online and they now want to charge me 250 for another 3rd gen!!!! AM I CRAZY?!?!?!?! Why the **** would I want another piece of **** equipment for $250!?!??! I really really want to but another music player, but I only need 15 gigs... THe vid's are a min. of 30! WHo could have that much stuff, vid's, and music that they actually need (and like)!?! Not I! So, I went looking for another brand that sells itunes (AAC) happy players. There are no ones that I can find that have enough space for a reasonable price... GOSH! So, Here I am with my REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY old CD player, listening to CD's that I DID NOT buy on the iTunes Music Store. Unlike some other people who HATE APPLE because of the new vid's without the second headphone jack, I love apple. Well, except for their ipods, which I have been in a love-hate relationship with for quite some time. Before you buy a new-old-or really-old iPod, please read this to see some background info. from a Aple lover. And to all of you guys who are tech wizzes** who think I could have fixed my iPod myslef, you are wrong! I even tried to re-load the iPod firmware through Terminal but no, it didn't work.
**heh heh heh, dillion, wizzes... heh.
~Jake | 4 | Today | iPod
This item was shipped very quickly which was nice but it was extremely scratched up I would of been better off spending another 50-75 dollars and getting a new one that was never used for how bad this item was scratched up and the amount of money that was spent. | 1 | Today | The sleekest old school iPod
Granted that the color iPods have now become the gold standard, I still went out and bought a refurbished 3rd gen iPod not only because it was cheaper, but in my opinion it was the best generation iPod ever released.
The 3rd gen is what really got Apple and iPod into fame through its sleek looks. When I first saw the design I just fell in love with it. This is the downfall of the 4th generation/Color iPods; it's definately more geared for function over form hence the ugly click wheel.
The major downfall with the 3rd generation is the terrible battery life, but for me it's not as big of a deal. I use my iPod while walking to work (10 minutes) or taking the bus to campus and walking between classes. Because I do use my computer often, charging isn't that big of a chore. And now you can get iPod batteries on the internet for 25-30 bucks that even offer improved performance over the stock battery.
I really enjoy using my now "old school" iPod for its functionality AND form. Someday yes I will upgrade to a future iPod, but as of now I don't need U2 or a color screen to simply listen to music. | 5 | Today | A Lifesaver... For my EARS!
My job reassigned me to overnights and all I had to hear while I worked was horrible Musak! I thought, disc-mans are way too bulky and my musical tastes span many variaties. So I thought of MP3 players. I found the 15GB iPod and thought, "Holy crap! This thing has 3 quarters the capacity of my PC's hard drive!" So, I shelled out out the $235. I have about 300 songs on it now and that's only 1.41 out of 15 GB of space used at 19.1 hours! (One song being the 26 minute live "Dazed and Confused" from Led Zeppelin's "Song Remains the Same" soundtrack.) People bitch and moan about not enough space? I don't think I could ever come close to filling it unless I wanted every CD I own to be on it.
I just shuffle the songs while I work and I get all my favorite one hit 80's wonders to No Doubt to Van Halen (with Diamond Dave) to soundclips from Pulp Fiction to the opening theme from Chico and the Man! Now that's my OWN private Musak with style!
My only problem with it would be with the software. They have to develope a way to link certain pairs of songs so they play in sequence even when you have it set on shuffle. Ex: I hate hearing Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" without "Living Loving Maid" coming right after it. The same holds true with "The Song Remains the Same" and "Rain Song" or the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "A Little Help from My Friends" or No Doubt's "Sixteen" and "Sunday Morning." The biggest pet pieve is Van Halen's "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" not running into "One Foot Out the Door..." It's an abrupt end to the 1st song and a tear-off start for the 2nd.
The iPod only crashed on me once in the 8 months that I've owned it. I simply let the battery die (which reset it)and then recharged it and hadn't had a problem since. Great for your car too if you don't want to install a CD changer and play around with burning custom CD mixes of your favorite tunes. You will need an FM Transmitter to do this though. I recommend the Kensington, because there's rarely any static and it recharges while you drive (hell, I haven't used my original recharger since owning it, but I gues this is another review LOL).
If you have an issue with the compressed mp3's not being as good sound-wise to uncompressed wav files? It holds wav files too. BUY a case for it! So you don't scratch the crome backing. If you own a PC you'll need a USB adapter.
Happy Listening!
| 5 | Today |
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