iPods, What Pieces of Junk

The BBQ Pit
61

Over the past couple of years I’ve had something like five or six different MP-3 players. They all did their job, one broke, two I lost and yet one more I gave away. Now I’m left with a 2 gig Nano and a SanDisk of the same capacity.

They both work just fine, but for whatever reason, I love my Nano with the Body Glove cover and Nike headphones and it’s the one I choose for all my workouts – including racquetball practice. Takes a licking and keeps on beating.

Not interested in either video nor radio capabilities.

62

BTW, the only gripe I had about it was solved by buying the software suggested in this thread: Any legal way to download music from Nano to a puter?

63

I love my iPod. I had a 4G black & white 20gb iPod for a few months, but then I upgraded to the black 60gb iPod video because I am physiologically incapable of resisting new toys when the opportunity presents itself. I’ve only had it a couple of months so far. I baby the crap out of it – leather case, never dropped, always docked when it at home. Despite that there are very fine scratches on the plastic front, a problem endemic to these iPods and really, I have no idea how they happen. The plastic must be made of some weird kind of inverse non-Newtonian fluid that accepts scratches only when the lightest of touches is applied.

Still, other than this unfortunate cosmetic flaw it has been working extremely well. I’ve been through a few MP3 players, including playing them from any of half a dozen PDAs I’ve owned, and the iPod really does it right when compared to the rest. It’s fast, easy, and has taken everything I’ve thrown at it. Okay, so videos have to be re-encoded in h.236 in under a certain bitrate and at the proper resolution, but other than the odd video podcast I don’t use my iPod for videos anyway. That’s why I have a PDA that plays all kinds of stuff and has a large high res screen.

Anyway, we’ll see how long it lasts. So far, so good though.

64

No discussion of iPod durability/junkiness is complete without a reference to the time Ars Technica stress-tested an iPod by running over one with a car.

65

Have a Dell DJ 30 (which is not manufactured anymore) but it has been running like a champ for over a year. It’s been dropped a couple of times where I’ve had to reboot, but no lasting damage. I use it daily running on full random - 5,000 tunes.

I went with the Dell because at that time I thought it was the best choice of the players that were compatible with Yahoo subscription music. I’m glad to see Yahoo has now added Creative’s line in case this one expires.

66

True. Dunno if that timeframe takes any more on this side of the ocean, though.

And with that said, I don’t know that he wants a replacement. This died in less than 9 months, and before that the battery life was on the way out anyway. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement of apple’s quality control, and I think he’d much rather get an MP3 player that at least has a removable battery next time so he’s not bound in by the constraints of the hardwired battery.

67

We sell iPods at work, which is a double-edged sword of epic proportions.

The great thing about them is that because of the whole “iPod as a Cultural Symbol” thing, people come in, point at one of the iPods, and say [Little Britain]“I want that one!”[/Little Britain].

“You do know that you need iTunes to make it work properly, right? And there’s issues with the batteries? Are you sure you don’t want a Creative Zen or an iRiver? Even the 2gb Sony Walkman Mp3 Player has an FM Radio in it…”

[Little Britain]“Yeah, I know. I want that one!”[/Little Britain]

“Alright, let me get you one from out the back…”

In short, people have decided that they want an iPod, dammit, and an iPod they shall purchase! Makes my job a lot easier, since I don’t have to explain what all the other Mp3 players are… :wink:

However, it seems that in New Zealand the word “iPod” is a synonym for “Mp3 Player”. So, someone on holiday from NZ will ask to see out “iPods”, and I’ll show them the Apple iPods, and they’ll recoil in horror and say “That’s far too expensive! I didn’t mean the expensive iPods! I meant the $100 ones, like these ones (indicating the vast array of 128mb-2gb Flash Drive Mp3 players).”

“Those aren’t iPods.”

“What’s the difference?”

Try explaining to people who know fuck all about anything computer or electronic related the difference between an Mp3 Player and an iPod. Wait until they stop you in mid-explanation and say “What’s an Mp3? Where do I get them from? Do I just plug a CD into the iPod? Oh, I need a computer? I don’t have a computer…”

It’s very annoying and frustrating, as you can see.

And for the record, I don’t own an Mp3 player (iPod or otherwise), and have no intention of getting one any time in the foreseeable future. :slight_smile:

68

I agree. That’s why I linked to it in post #41
[Nelson Muntz]Ah-Ha![/NM]
:smiley:

69

This past Wednesday evening, I went in to the hair salon to get my bi-monthly foil and highlight. The whole process takes 2 hours, with 45 minutes of waiting for the color to set. Used to be I had to content myself with reading inane articles about say, Jessica Simpson (who is on the cover of ever magazine, BTW). But this time, I got out my little iPod and watched an episode of “The Office” (S1, about them having to pick a new health insurance plan).

Aside from the odd looks that people gave me as I giggled incessantly, I quite enjoyed the wait for once.

I love my iPod.

70

As to why I bought another iPod, easy answer. I use an Apple computer and am unsure that other players will integrate with my iMac.

71

If your Mac can handle having a USB external hard drive plugged into it, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work with Cowon’s iAudio.

The iAudio just shows up as another removable drive when I attach it to my computer. Transferring files is as easy as dragging and dropping.

72

I’ll also offer up a requiem for the Dell DJ.

Software-wise, it doesn’t match up to the iPod, since I was never able to get it to sync up as seamlessly with MusicMatch Jukebox as promised. Of course, it’s no trouble to drag and drop music onto it like you would any removable drive.

As a piece of hardware, it’s a tank. In its little rubber $15 “sport sleeve”, it’s hard to imagine what it would take to kill it. After two years of daily use, I could just about pass it off as brand new. It weighs about twice as much as the current iPod, but every time I pick up an iPod it just seems flimsy by comparison.

All that said, I’m becoming seduced by the video capabilities, and my collection has far outgrown my DJ’s mere 20GB, so I’m being seduced by the white, curvy side. Besides, I’ve always wanted to be part of a throng. The next time they drop the price, I may jump.

73

I’ve had my Ipod almost a year, and against reccomendations I’ve taken it out running with me.

It works great!

74

I had a Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen. I had it for about a year and a half, maybe more, and I looooved it until I dropped it while kneeling and it only played out of of the headphones no matter how many headphone brands I tried. I shopped for a new one, and at the time, apple’s mini was the best mp3 player on the market for me. I like it better than the Zen, it is lighter, easier to use, painless for transfering files and withstands being thrown around. I often drop it while walking/hurrying and all it does is pause the song. Based on how easily the Zen broke and how well my Ipod has held together, I’ll probably get another Ipod for my mp3 player (i want one with video now) unless I see something that is much better on the market. I’ve had my Ipod for about two years now and it is going strong.

75

I’m quite rough on my iPods, including sticking them in my pocket with loose changes, dropping them on concrete, and generally just tossing them on any flat surface at home. What I have found is that every iPod I have owned (starting with 2G) turned into absolute crap due to battery issues except the mini that I’ve had for two years or so. It’s battered and chipped around the edges, but the screen is pristine and the battery only slightly reduced in life. I’ll probably get a replacement nano around Christmas now that they’ve got more space than my mini, but my little champ will probably hang around the apartment for a while.

76

Well, I got a Dell pocket DJ about 2 years ago. It’s pretty rugged with it’s stainless steel case and all. Except that it’s got some short in it that makes the sound crap out and the battery doesn’t last for shit.
My iPod shuffle crapped out on me when I got caught in the rain while jogging. I guess they don’t like to be wet.

77

Knock on wood, but this Christmas will be 2 years with my 3G 20GB iPod, and it still keeps on ticking. Battery is great, although I’ve been having issues with Windows recognizing it. Fiddling with it for a few minutes with hard reboots and such gets it working though, and I don’t connect it that often anyway. Got a big scare when I updated iTunes and the iPod firmware (said I needed to restore the iPod), but a computer reboot fixed it.