I’m mulling over buying a new iPod from Apple.
Don’t really need more than 20GB for my music, but I was thinking about getting the 60GB to plan ahead, and because I might use it to carry JPGs around as well (I’ve got a lot).
I’m dangerously close to doing it, and using Apple’s Credit plan ($10 a month) to help justify it to myself.
Please convince me that buying one is a bad idea.
I’ve heard it will give you cancer.
And turn your hair green.
I bought a 30 GB one a year or so ago, and it’s WAY more space than anyone needs for music. For JPGs and whatever other media, short of movies, anything that big is over kill. If an Ipod worked better as a portable hard drive (the digital rights protection screws this up unless you’re savvy) then maybe there’d be a decent excuse.
If I had it to do all over again I’d either go with a Mini or the new Nano. Smaller, more portable, wearable on an armband and cheaper.
The difference in cost and weight between the 20 GB and the 60 GB should be more than enough reason to avoid the bigger one unless you actually have 40 GB of stuff to put on it right now. I’ve got about 2500 songs (most of very high quality, 256 kbps+) and it only takes up 7.5 GB, even at this point organizationally it can be a bit unweildly.
All in all, all the propriety and DRM stuff companies are putting into these things hurts their value quite alot in my estimation.
I won’t talk you out of buying one. I do enjoy mine. Many people will bash the Apple version and want you to get another brand, I think they are all flawed in their own ways. I will however mention that it’s a BAD idea to go for the top end one, these things don’t last forever. Get just what you need now. By the time you’re in need of an upgrade the new model will be out for cheaper.
Well, they…
that is, they’re really not…
they kinda…
Nope, sorry. Can’t be done.
pops in earbuds, walks away
Really, though, I enjoy mine a lot. I got a 20g a couple months ago and I love it (then they had to come out with the Nano, grumblegrumble). I’ll never use all 20g for music, but I’m sure it’ll become useful at some point as a portable hard drive for other media.
Huh? I can easily fill one up, even without enabling disk mode. And what DRM when you are using it as a hard drive? Plug it into a USB or FireWire port and it’s just like any other removable media.
Ok. I’m about convinced to buy the 20GB. I’ve got about 17GB of music right now. But a few GB of that I’m going to delete, because I never listen to it. I’m just a packrat.
What about the battery issues? Don’t they usually fail after about 3 years?
Thats what ive heard
Ugh. Battery issues…
Apparently if you’re lucky, you get a couple of hundred charge cycles with a lithium battery. If the thing’s under warranty when the battery dies, they’ll replace it for free; if not, it’s sixty bucks. Also keep in mind that they’re not actually replacing the battery, they’re replacing the iPod itself–so all the music is gone.
There are also DIY battery-replacement kits (which I believe invalidate the warranty, but I’m not positive) that are around $30-$50.
My advice for good battery life: make playlists and use them, and don’t constantly be turning the thing off and on. I hop around too much among albums and need to recharge it once or twice a week.
I use a smaller capacity mp3 player (rio, maybe?) and love it. It was cheaper, supports any damn format I want it to (including itunes), is upgradeable using SD cards and runs on one AAA battery.
Plus, you’re not a zombie buying an Ipod because it’s ‘neat’. I’m an apple and a pc user, so I’m not anti-macintosh, I just think Ipods are a silly waste of money for how restrictive they are.
Remember that you arn’t buying a permanent thing. My battery died after I had it for a year and a half. Yeah, you can replace it, but it’s kind of a crappy deal for something that costs that much money.
I thought you were supposed to be poor?
My biggest thing is I want it to sync with iTunes.
And tell me more about the restrictions. Music files I already own would work fine right? Isn’t the trouble only with ones you buy from itunes store?>
They’ll be cheaper after Christmas. 
The iPod only natively supports MP3 and AAC (either standard or wrapped with Apple’s FairPlay DRM.) It will not support WMA or any other sort of DRM. Now, of course, there are ways around the lack of WMA and DRM support but I’m not sure why anyone would choose a subscription service over a purchase service. If you have already ripped and encoded your CDs as WMA, you’ll need to either convert them or rerip everything to either MP3 or AAC. Apple does not license its DRM, so as a general rule you’ll have to find a way around the DRM. I’d go into more detail, but I’m sure I’ll get slapped down while you can probably find all the help you need in the Google ads.
FilmGeek, can that Rio deal with the DRM-wrapped AAC? From what I remember about the Rio models, their big selling point was the OGG support.
All of my music is already in mp3. I accept no substitutes.
What about the Apple Credit program?
I was one of the first buyers of the original PowerMac G3s. 400Mhz if I remember correctly (Maybe not - I’m drunk). For about 6 months I had the best PC on the planet. I remember plaing Unreal (that game rocked!) and getting 32fps!!! w00t!
Anyway, I payed for it (dearly) using the Apple Credit plan back in the day.
The total system cost was $3200. I paid close to 4K paying it off. Of course, interest would be much less if I pay it off in a couple of months.
Convince me this is a bad idea!!!
A friend of mine bought the 60 gig iPod. Three weeks later…
Bam!
Herpes.
Their popularity is, as far as I can tell, not entirely based on their intrinsic merit as a portable media player, or their raw value for money; there are alternatives that offer greater function, storage capacity and performance - for less money.
But they are not iPods, and for some reason, that matters more than I personally think it should - the question is, do you think it matters?
Also, the screen will crack. Sooner or later, and most likely for no reason, it will crack. And when it does, you’ll essentially be left with one big iPod Shuffle. Apple won’t do any repairs on cracked screens, and DIY repair kits cost over a hundred dollars. Look up “Ipod cracked screen” and see if you really think putting something on credit (which may be a paperweight by the time you pay it off) is such a good idea.
If I were doing it now, I’d buy a shuffle or a CD/MP3 player (or maybe both). The shuffle is actually a good value and does fine for commutes and outings- where you ipod is likely to get stolen or broken. And you can fit all your music on a few disks if you get a CD/MP3 player- great for the car and plane rides and stuff. Plus, they run on AA batteries and are far less likely to get stolen or destroyed (and it’s far less likely to ruin your day if they do)
At the very least, I’d wait until I’d saved up the money to see if I still wanted the thing.
If you want to pit me, go ahead. I’m not going to drag this old thing in to someone else’s thread.
If you have to buy it on credit… don’t.
If you still want to buy it, make sure you’re ok with the size. I own a 40 gig and carry it around less then I would like to because it’s actually kind of big… an ipod nano on the otherhand…
Both my sister’s Ipod and her friend’s have broken within a year. They’re badly manufactured pieces of junk.
At least wait a week, I hear that Apple will be making an announcement on Oct. 12th. If they’re announcing an upgraded iPod, it may affect the pricing for the current models.
And… don’t buy it entirely on credit, save up at least some of the money for the thing. At $10/mo you could be paying for it long after the thing is broken/outdated. This isn’t exactly a washing machine or car, it’s a small, portable, electronic device, easily swiped or broken, and new models come out every 6 months.