Reading some of the Apple iPod reviews I thought I would add my own as I work for a gadgets/technology online shop and have had extended use of the iPod and also receive many queries etc about the device which will be able to give you more of an unbiased review instead of those which just say ... Read review
Advantages: Hey it's Apple, looks, sound, organiser, games, capacity Disadvantages: Battery life, compatibility with some computers
Reading some of the Apple iPod reviews I thought I would add my own as I work for a gadgets/technology online shop and have had extended use of the iPod and also receive many queries etc about the device which will be able to give you more of an unbiased review instead of those which just say it's great and flawless which it is not!
Let me start by saying that I do LOVE the ipod. It is a great device which has changed the way in which ... ...etc.
Apple states it weighs 5.6 ounces (although I would say that it weighs in slightly heaver) and so it weighs just less than two Compact Discs, and definately some of the bigger mobiles out there at the minute.
The iPod comes in 3 hard drive sizes at 15GB, 20GB or the huge 40GB hard drive which is big enough to hold 10,000 songs. If we do the math like apple say then that is four weeks of music played continuously ... more
Reading some of the Apple iPod reviews I thought I would add my own as I work for a gadgets/technology online shop and have had extended use of the iPod and also receive many queries etc about the device which will be able to give you more of an unbiased review instead of those which just say it's great and flawless which it is not!
Let me start by saying that I do LOVE the ipod. It is a great device which has changed the way in which we listen to music for ever. It looks great and has tonnes of features which make this gadget more than just an Mp3 player.
First I will start by describing the main features that everyone needs to know about the iPod for those that dont already know much about the device:
~~~~~15GB, 20GB and 40GB Models~~~~~ The NEW iPods are just over half an inch thick, and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and slips easily into your pocket meaning that you do not look like you have a buldge and can be used anytim, work, rest, jogging etc.
Apple states it weighs 5.6 ounces (although I would say that it weighs in slightly heaver) and so it weighs just less than two Compact Discs, and definately some of the bigger mobiles out there at the minute.
The iPod comes in 3 hard drive sizes at 15GB, 20GB or the huge 40GB hard drive which is big enough to hold 10,000 songs. If we do the math like apple say then that is four weeks of music played continuously or one new song a day for the next 27 years.
Now that is a lot of memory! Don't let Apple fool you though; The 15gb, and 20gb hold around 3,750 and 5,000 songs respectively and these are the models most of us will be able to afford.
~~~~~iTunes Music Store~~~~~ Apple really do promote this as heavily as the actual iPod now and with good reason to... You can build a collection of music on your iPod with songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store. They do have hundreds of thousands of songs you can preview and buy with just one click although another downside, you have to be American!!!!
There will be an English version of this coming soon this year i beleive (if they pull their finger out!) but I am pretty sure most of the users here will have already heard of www.winmx.com or www.kazzaa.com, although would not recommend kazzaa as they install spyware on your computer and throw adverts up all over the place. Stick with winmx.
Side Note: if anyone does need to know how to get rid of spyware guestbook me a message and ill help you out, I have a free program.
Back to the above, these are peer to peer networks where you can download mp3s for free so you can put these on your iPod anyway.
~~~~~Nice Design~~~~~ The design of the iPod is beautiful which keeps it in line with most Apple products. The Touch Wheel makes scrolling through an entire music collection quick and easy, and the all-touch interface enhances durability and sensitivity. We have had a few users complain about the buttons however and them not working so please view the problems section below.
Around the wheel is a thin circular band encompassing the wheel, with the wheel itself being split into four quarters. Each quarter is it's own button which will control the basic functions of the mp3 player. These would obviously be play/pause, skip forward, skip back, and the stop button which also acts as a select button.
Above the wheel and buttons is a two inch square LCD display. The iPod design makes it very easy to browse through your music files. The iPod LCD screen and buttons feature a backlight for clear visibility in low-light conditions, this is nice if you run in the dark etc where you can see the screen lit up and choose your songs.
The iPod is also able to display four languages which are English, French, German, and Japanese.
~~~~~High Fidelity~~~~~ Designed to give you the best portable digital music experience ever, the iPod delivers the highest sound quality from input to output.
iPod supports the most popular audio formats including MP3 (up to 320 kbps), MP3 Variable Bit Rate (VBR) and WAV which is nice as it allows a bit more variety in your music choices unlike some other mp3 players.
iPod is the only portable digital music player that supports the AAC format used by the iTunes Music Store for Mac and Windows. AAC features CD-quality audio in smaller file sizes than MP3, so that even more songs fit on your iPod. Again those Americans will not let us join the party with this yet but it is worth keeping in mind as we have heard stories from across the pond of people sneaking an extra 500-1000 songs on doing this!!!
~~~~~The iPod Dock~~~~~ A very nice feature which comes with the higher priced models is the dock. The dock makes charging and syncing easier as you do not have to reach around, looking for the right port on your Mac/PC anymore but just place it straight into the charging dock.
It is a convenient home base for the iPod on a desk or connected to a home stereo system, and the dock provides syncing via FireWire or USB 2.0*, charging via FireWire and audio line out for connecting to powered speakers or a stereo system.
*Although you have to purchase the connect for this which is another $19 which will translate to, you guessed it £19 over here!
~~~~~Extras~~~~~ Like I said at the start, this is more than JUST an mp3 player it also has tonnes of great extras: The iPod features a sleep timer, so you can fall asleep to your music. And with the iPod’s alarm clock, you can choose either an alarm tone or your favorite music to wake you up. Nice feature and makes waking up a bit different to an annoying buzzer every morning!!!
The iPod lets you do a whole lot more, including contacts, calendar and to-do lists. You can keep important numbers, addresses etc of contacts in the iPod meaning that it doubles up as an organiser although it is a little bit basic so don't go throwing your PDA's away yet!!
To do list is a nice feature with reminders about what you SHOULD be doing today, although I tend not to use this feature as much as I would outlook on my PC or a reminder service on a PDA.
iPod also includes Music Quiz, Solitaire, Brick and Parachute, four great games you can play anywhere (a feature you’re sure to appreciate the next time you’re standing in line or waiting for someone). You can even use your own music as the soundtrack to a game. These are all nice features and something that other mp3 players do not have!
iPod also includes a notes reader that lets you download text-based information and read it on the screen. This requires internet connection and port to connect your iPod to your PC.
It does however allow you to download information you need on everything from restaurant reviews to nightlife guides, and from news articles to exercise routines at your fingertips.
They are the main features and some of the best things about the iPod. I will now go onto a problems section where I will discuss some of the problems you can have with your iPod. This does not mean you will have all these problems but I thought I would let you all know that it's possible.
~~~~~Battery Life~~~~~ We might as well start with the one that has had the most press coverage. This is the main problem with the iPod and the one you should be most aware of.
I have got to say that the iPod is going to cost you a lot to run. Apple for some reason decided to make it so that you can NOT replace the iPod battery yourself but you have to send it away to apple for a qualified engineer to do it for you. Unfortunately all this will set you back around £100 a YEAR!!!! as that is the average life of an iPod battery. (there is also around £7 shipping cost)
This does include a new battery, labour, and 90 days warrenty on materials and workmanship. But this is going to be a running cost. That £250-300 you spent on one of these will soon rack upto £600-£1000 once you consider how long you are going to keep this for and the price to keep replacing that.
In my eyes this is disgraceful by Apple and the customer should at least be made aware of this from the very start.
Because I love you guys though Im going to let you in on a secret. It does NOT have to be replaced by Apple, I get mine done by an independant company which only charges $68 for a new battery and mail in service or $59 just for the battery.
This is much cheaper than the £100 you would have to spend with Apple and I have to say that they do a very good job. The web address is shown below:
http://www.pdasmart.com/ipodpartscenter.htm
Remember this is only one company which does this type of thing and a quick search on google will find you many more independant retaillers.
Hope this helps most of you solve this problem because if I did not do this then I would not be able to afford my iPod's running costs.
~~~~~Battery life Cont~~~~~ Unfortunately we have heard of many more problems with the battery life. Apple do state that battery life is aroun 6-8 hours, although I know people who have had battery life of no more than 4 hours from around a month after they bought the thing.
I have had no problems with my battery length however so far and by following one simple step you can easily counter act this: let the battery drain completely before charging and full charge it overnight. This is what I do and I have had no problems so far. Again it seems to depend on your luck really with this matter.
The iPod takes around 3 hours for a full charge and so is less than most of the new mobile phones around. This is quite a good thing as the battery life at maximum 8 hours is still not that long for an mp3 players. I know of players which can last for 20 hours or more off a single charge, although they do not look as good and have longer charging times.
~~~~~Scratches/Looks~~~~~ I have got to say that the iPod can scar very easily. It is better now the new iPods have been released but they do mark very easily. After just a few weeks you will notice scratches and fingerprint marks on your lovely clean (white) ipod which you just can not get rid of. Times this by the amount of times you are going to use the gadget over a 12 month period and you will find that it only retains half of its looks from when you first bought it, which is a shame.
Again this is something to look out for.
~~~~~Firewire support~~~~~ One of the iPoids main features is Firewire support which allows you to transfer music onto your iPod from your Mac at blistering speeds. Transfer times for me have been as little as a whole album onto my iPod in 5, yes that's 5 SECONDS!!!
Now that is great especially when your iPod can easily store 3500+ songs and you want to load it up.
Now the down side of this. Some Macs and PCs do not support fire wire transfer as they do not have the connection ports or the capacity to install the software (you need Operating System 9.2 or higher on a mac). Pcs it is a little easier with as they support usb connection which allows you to just plug in and transfer files quickly and easily.
~~~~~Sound Quality (not a problem)~~~~~ Apple really does pull out all the stops with the sound quality of this player and you can hear it as soon as you start to listen to your music. If you have a good quality Mp3 file of cd to listen too and store on the iPod then the iPod will recreate the sound perfectly for you and it is CD quality. Beleive me when I say if you do lose any quality then it will only be because of the cable connection.
The earphones are ok, very stylish and will recreate sound well at low levels. We have found though that a lot of customers do complain that raising the volume to louder levels has blown their earphones however and we have had faulty crackling earphones quite often as well.
I must say that i do not use the apple earphones provided but a pair of sony's as I think they are personally the best earphone manufacturers today and the quality is better than the standards. Do not be put off though the standards are great quality and very cool looking in white which matches the player nicely.
~~~~~Skip Protection~~~~~ Coming in the top 5 of problems also is the skip protection feature.
Apple claim the player has a 20 minute skip protection feature. I admittdley do not use mine when running but from feedback we have had the skip protection system seems useless for this.
The iPod takes the music that is to be played and enters it into it's 32mb memory so that you get 20mins of music stored to stop skipping.
Unfortunately this is not always the case when you take part in activities such as running, jogging etc as the iPod has to cope with the skip every time your foot lands and so can not transfer the music quick enough to it's internal memory to stop the track from skipping.
Like i said I do not use mine for jogging so I can not comment fairly but I will say that mine works beautifully for everyday use (work, rest etc) and I do not remember one time where my music has skipped whilst using this baby.
~~~~~Competition~~~~~ The iPod has much competition but if I was going to look for another mp3 player I would only ever consider these two REAL competition for the ipod:
X-clef at £229.99: 20gb for this price is amazing. Admittedly a little chunkier than the iPod and also not as pretty (but what is?). It also has voice recorder, fm radio and 12hours battery life which is at least 4hours more than the iPod. Music quality around the same if not slightly lower than Apple's.
Archos video jukebox (AV320) at £549.99: Don't know if it is a bit unfair to compare these two as the Archos is a mp3 player AND media player as well! It has a 3.8 inch colour LCD screen and 20gb harddrive which can store movies, tv episodes, music videos etc which you can watch on the move!! Really is a brilliant device and a real threat for the iPod. Unfortuantely it is quite expensive but not for what it is.
~~~~~Instructions~~~~~ The iPod is pretty user friendly and many of you will not have to use the instructions to use the thing. Especially if you are technologically minded. The instructions are very comprehensive and covers everything you would ever need. Can not fault Apple for this at all.
~~~~~Price + Availabilty~~~~~ 15gb cheapest price: £239.99 from Amazon.co.uk 20gb: Again Amazon at £289.99 40gb: What a surprise £394.99
Although a 4-6 week despatch on the 15gb and 20gb models at the moment. Try DABS for the second cheapest prices.
~~~~~Overall~~~~~ Overall the iPod is a beautiful device and one of the most thought out, well designed products around today. It has changed the way we listen to music and has become an entertainment system in your pocket.
That does not mean it comes without it's flaws however and the battery life issue is one that will put off a lot of people as the running costs are very high. Like I have said above please do not pay the cowboys £100 every time you want your battery replacing but get an indepandant company to do it for you.
Compared to other players it ranks very well and is the best mp3 player out there at the moment. Archos may change this when they release there new mp3/video player later this year but until then this time belongs to the iPod.
Advantages: Great design, small, good user interface, lots of storage, fast file transfer Disadvantages: FireWire is only interface, relatively expensive
TRUST the folks at Apple to think differently, this time coming up with their own MP3 player, called the iPod. Of course, MP3 players have been around for years, but this is an MP3 player like no other. For starters, it is only the size of a deck of cards, yet it contains a 5GB hard disk, which means you can store up to 1,000 songs in it. That equals about 77 CDs worth of music, assuming that each CD has 13 songs on it.
The iPod only measures 6.17 ... ...Easy to use
Apple has always been known for its user interfaces, and the company doesn’t disappoint with the iPod.
The iPod sports a 1.5 x 1.5in screen with very crisp text, and a bright backlight in case you need to use it in the dark. Long-time Mac users will recognise the Chicago font used on the iPod screen; Chicago was the default Mac OS font for many years. The iPod’s buttons consist of a rotating jog wheel and a button in the middle. The ...
ani_muza 19.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apple iPod 5 GB
Advantages: Incredibly large storage space, great design, Disadvantages: Nothing. It's flawless!
The Apple iPod
Theirs something really cool happening when music in this digital world we’re living in is coming together. And in this new digital world Apple has a lot of technology to bring to the party. They know how to make really cool small devices. They know how to make them beautiful and fun. iPod is this amazing digital music device that fits in your pocket and carries thousands of songs, so now you can carry your entire music collection ... ...seamlessly. The only way Apple can do this is that they make the hardware and the software and all the technology that allows them to solve problems for people that no others dare to take on. The iPod is so fun and easy to use. You just take this cool little device. You plug it in over Firewire through your Mac; it launches iTunes, takes all your music, all your play lists, and automatically transfers it to your iPod. It’s so fast it can transfer ...
Spike5792 02.06.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apple iPod 5 GB
Advantages: Large capacity, small size, speed of firewire Disadvantages: None, really
...is all chrome, with an Apple logo and 'iPod' etched into the face. The top edge of the unit contains the ports. It really is tiny though, being about 10cm tall, 5 wide and just over one thick.
Features
These are the killers. It sports a tiny 5 GIGABYTE hard drive within its tiny exterior, a very easy to use OS for navigating through the songs, and 32Megabytes of memory to load the songs into so that the HD can spin down to save battery power. The ... ...boost, but I expect that Apple will provide this in a downloadable firmware update soon. Another slight problem is that if you have a very big MP3 file (ie more than 25megs, the HD spins all the time, as it is too big for the cache - nothing too bad, but it reduces the battery length a bit).
The final bad point is that the shiny good looks are very scratchable - that is why I have just ordered a special ipod case from www.xtrememac.com
EasterEgg ...
iMacfan 06.02.2002 (11.02.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apple iPod 5 GB
Advantages: Huge hard disk, not just for music, superb styling Disadvantages: Can scratch easily
When Apple first introduced the iPod last year, a couple of criticisms were heard pretty often. First was that the iPod was expensive; and second was that it had no case or belt clip.
But that was then, and this is now. At last week's Macworld show in New York, Apple introduced the third incarnation of the iPod, making a fine job of getting rid of the niggles.
But what is an iPod, exactly? Well, it's a digital music player (it doesn't just play ... ...of a lot of songs. Apple reckon that the 20GB iPod can hold 4000 songs, but that's actually a conservative estimate. On my 5GB iPod, I have about 1400 songs, so multiply that by four and you actually get 5600 songs. As I said, a heck of a lot. The main reason for this is that Apple calculates the capacity based on MP3 files encoded at a rate of 160 Kbps, whereas 128 Kbps (making a smaller file size) is used by many people.
But it's not just songs. ...
kamoda 26.07.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apple iPod 5 GB
Advantages: Looks amazing, feels amazing, sounds amazing-go buy 1 NOW Disadvantages: the 250+ price tag (depending on model)
...will need to have an apple mac,windows 2000 or xp to run the cd which enables you to upload/download music.
There will soon also be the option to purchase all the latest music via the i_tunes internet site but this is currnently only available in the U.S
Apart from the music side of things the i-pod can be used to keep voice notes, pictures and pass away the time with 4 fun little games.
If you have a spair £250.00 pounds lying around i would ...
aircooled69 12.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Apple iPod 5 GB
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
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Reviews which might be of interest for "Apple iPod 5 GB"
Advantages: Price, excellent feature, great design Disadvantages: Okay read the review
The great popularity that appleiPod Nanoes enjoy is largely because of its beauty, impeccable technology and out of the world features. No wonder it has already sold more than 100 million units. This is till the arrival of the 16GBAppleiPod Nano 5G that has added features that most of us have been eagerly waiting for. The FM radio and the video recording features and add to that voice recording capability. Where does the popularity go up? Well it?s any body?s guess.
I have always been apprehensive about iPods because of its inability to deliver quality reproduction especially audio reproduction since that?s precisely what a MP3 player is meant for. But the iPod Nanos remain baffling me for its amazingly tiny size (chuck out 20% out of a standard credit card-you have the nano size) and more so its mind-blowing number of features ...
Advantages: Price is great, Fabulous new features, same great shape. Disadvantages: Still at a max of 16GB, and thats my only qualm.
OK, I'm a Nano addict. My obsession started with a 2GB nano 2nd generation, and has really just progressed from there. Now I hold in my hand the new 5th generation Nano, 16GB, in purple, and engraved on the back with the words "Please Steal My Phone Instead", as a plea to any potential muggers out there, because no other gadget I have really comes close to this. So lets take a look at whats new:
The Body
I thought the finish on the 4th gen model was as good as it gets, but this new look is sleeker, shinier, and apparently even more durable. The size and shape of the iPod is exactly the same as the previous model (possibly they've finally perfected that), but the metal is shinier, and somehow feels much better in the hand. As for the screen... well, its bigger. Its taller anyway, but not wider. This is an OK new feature but not mind ...
Advantages: small form factor, long battery life, built in video camera and FM radio Disadvantages: can't play music or videos without headphones
The AppleiPod Nano 5th gen is that much different from the 4th generation. The main features that are noticeable is obviously the video camera. Amazingly the Nano's form factor is exactly the same, if not smaller even with the camera. The video camera is only VGA, nothing special, though it comes in handy and it's only about £10 more than the previous model.
The 5th Gen model also has a larger screen. I love the super clear curved glass display of the previous model, and with the new model having a larger 2.2 inch screen, it's just a bonus.
Another great feature I love is the built in FM Radio. I find this feature very useful and convenient and I thought that this was the feature that the previous model lacked.
The 5th Gen Nano has the same long battery life of 24 hours music playback and 5 hours video playback.
So, if you have ...
Battery level indication, hold button, rechargeable capability, date display, Battery level indication, hold button, rechargeable capability, Battery level indication
Built-in clock
Sleep timer
Digital player (recorder)
Supported Digital Audio Standards
WAV, AIFF, MP3, WAV, MP3
ID3 Tags Support
Built-in
Playback Modes
Programme play, random play / shuffle, all tracks repeat, one track repeat
Supported Bit Rate
32 - 320Kbps, 20 - 320Kbps
Response Bandwidth
20 - 20000 Hz
Shockproof Memory
1200 seconds, Yes
Shockproof Memory Capacity
32 MB
External Hard Drive Function
Built-in
Features
PC Connection via FireWire
Headphones
Headphones Type
Headphones - binaural - ear-bud
Connectivity Technology
Wired
Sound Output Mode
Stereo
Response Bandwidth
20 - 20000 Hz
Sensitivity
104 dB
Impedance
32 Ohm
Connections
Connector Type
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK) ( 6 PIN FireWire )
System requirements
OS Required
Apple MacOS X 10.0.4 , Apple MacOS X 10.x, Apple MacOS 9.2.2 or later, Apple MacOS 9, Apple MacOS X, Apple MacOS 9.2.1, Apple MacOS X Server 10.1
Peripheral / Interface Devices
IEEE 1394 Firewire port
Amplifier
Output Power / Total
60 mW
Headphones Output Power (per channel)
30 mW
Response Bandwidth
20 - 20000 Hz
Equaliser
Equaliser Factory Preset Qty
21
Manufacturer's product description
Apple presents iPod - the first MP3 player to pack a countless number of songs and 10 hours of battery life into a stunning package you can literally take everywhere. It's your entire music collection. With no moving parts, the iPod's touch-sensitive scroll wheel is less vulnerable to dust, dirt or sand and more durable. The touch-sensitive scroll wheel is designed to retain its crisp feel throughout the lifespan of your iPod. There's even a clicker that makes a tiny clicking sound when the scroll wheel is moving. Small though it is, the iPod packs a lot of storage. The number of songs it holds depends on the compression rate you choose. At a 160Kbps compression rate (the default setting for encoding MP3s in iTunes), 5GB equals approximately 1, 000 songs, or about 100 CDs. That's how big it is on the inside. And with that much space, you might also find yourself storing documents, files and applications on your iPod in FireWire disk mode. iPod's rechargeable lithium polymer battery gives you 10 hours of continuous playback. In a hurry to get it recharged? Fast-charge the battery to 80% of capacity in an hour, and get it fully recharged in three hours. With an industry-leading 20 minutes of skip protection, iPod keeps playing without missing a beat. iPod has a 32MB solid-state memory cache, meaning that it has no mechanical or moving parts. Skip protection works by continually preloading up to 20 minutes of music into the cache, so your iPod is not affected by sudden movements.
