A friend is wanting to order a refurbished iPod, 3rd or 4th gen- Had they worked out the bugs by then? How do they compare with the latest/5th gen ones? What problems did they had & how do they work now?
Well, there were the explosions … the lethal amounts of radiation … the unfortunate tendency to attract mountain lions … the microchip that inserted a subliminal “KILL, KILL, KILL!” message into every song. Otherwise, they were great!
Well, the main trouble with Ipods is the tendency for the battery life to run down after a year or two of use. For that reason alone, I’d probably get something else where I could replace the battery myself instead of sending it off to be replaced. But it’s a reasonably good product, as long as your friend knows exactly what he’s getting and what it can and can’t do, it’s not a bad idea.
Personally, I liked the 2nd gen. ones, because there were no actual buttons- just a wheel and touch sensitive pads. The 3rd gen. ones always struck me as a little less elegant because the buttons actually moved, and I’m a sucker for Heinlein-esque devices that can’t wear out because they have no moving parts.
BZZT, wrong answer. My two year old 3g ipod still gets 6 hours on a charge (got 8 when new) and the local Apple place sells replacement batteries plus tools for $30.
4g ipods were the ones to get the rocker switches…I’ve heard nothing worng with them.
Revise your world view.
I’m wondering the same thing. I got a Nano and now I want a big one. Some people at some other forums I frequent say that the 4th is worse and has audible artifacts when the hard-drive moves and whatnot.
Stereophile magazine tested the 3rd and said it was better than many CD players, at least when using Lossless compression and driving an aux input.
I believe you’re thinking of the first & second generation iPods, which required the battery be fully discharged before recharging.