rustyjaw Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Newsweek magazine's cover article will be about the iPod: Please excuse the rather unattractive photo. The article has been posted at MSNBC, but its getting hammered. There's also a related article covering the new iPod, which is pretty much evolutionary. The rumor is that they will introduce the new models tomorrow (7/19). One of the best things is that they are bringing the scroll/button-wheel from the Mini to the full-sized iPod. The Mini button-wheel is such a good design. They are all slightly thinner. Battery life is up to 12 hours, they needed to improve this. Prices are reduced by $100 across the line. I think this is to open up the top price-slot for a 60GB model which will be introduced later (but the 60GB drives were released a few weeks ago by Toshiba). Multiple on-the-go playlists (finally!). Apparently there are more shuffling options as well, and a general reorganization of some menus. Audiobooks can be plays up to 25% faster or slower without shifting the pitch of the voice. It remains to be sen how many of these improvements will be available via a software upgrade for the current iPods. I would expect the track shuffling, multiple on-the-go playlists, and menu reorg will be done in software, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 of course i just bought one. What else is new capt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 I think it might be time I finally catch up with the rest of the world and buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 I think it might be time I finally catch up with the rest of the world and buy one. Me too. I'm still best off buying one when I am next in the US mind you, as even with the current price structure, all iPod models over there are roughly ?100 cheaper than the UK versions. :? Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foogledricks Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 I have been contemplating buying an ipod for my wife. But it has to be small - and the regular sized Ipods are too big, and they are the only ones I have held. Also, I find Ipods to be a little costly, given all the alternatives. But, with a cheaper price, and with the mini line, I may be enticed to buy this soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainl Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 If I can ever justify the price, I'm personally leaning towards the iRiver devices instead, myself, as they do Ogg and plain 'ol mp3 as well, and I'd rather not bother keeping my music in multiple different formats depending on which device I want to listen to them on next. But at the moment, I really don't listen to very much music on the move outside my car, so a new full-size CD player for the Hi-fi is a higher priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 My 20GB iPod is only a few months old. But I bought the $50 warranty at Best Buy. I have four years for it to stop working. I'm sure I can manage that without even trying. :green: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 to tell ya the truth im glad i got the older ipod. I do not like the Ipod mini wheel/button combo at all capt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Originally posted by CaptDS9E@Jul 20 2004, 04:13 AM to tell ya the truth im glad i got the older ipod. I do not like the Ipod mini wheel/button combo at all capt ...and I'm glad I have my old-school 2.0 iPod with the touch wheel with actual buttons around it and solid battery life. It's only 10g, but it only needs to be charged once a week and it's solid as a bull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 I liked my first gen ipod fine, but I definitely like having more room...my current 30Gb is almost full as it is. As far as the click-wheel, I totally love it, as soon as I held a Mini and tried it I was hooked...it's a brilliant design, IMO. The previous iPods, like mine, are very difficult to operate without looking at it...you have to be careful not to accidentally touch a button when feeling for which button is which. Not that I run into this problem very often, I use the remote more in those cases, but the problem is unavoidable when the need arises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obnoxious Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 I've been thinking of getting an Ipod for a while, and after comparing reviews and looking at prices and such... I'm still almost completely clueless of what I should get. I've heard some comments here talking about how the Ipod Mini's battery is weak, and why this and that isn't good. I've got some money handy, but I'm still on a moderately tight budget. I don't want to spend too much... around $400 CAD would be my limit. I thought about the Ipod Mini... Is that a good buy? At about $350 CAD, it's a mere $50 less than it's older companion with about 4x the storage, it doesn't seem that great. I don't want to pay that much just for a slightly smaller player, and slightly homosexual colours. :x (bright pink, bright baby blue, etc. ) I don't need too much storage on my mp3 player... I won't be using it as extra storage space for some files on my comp, or anything of that sort. I'd just want a player solely for listening to music. 4 GB for me is more than enough, but I can live with having more storage for music. (as long as it doesn't cost me too much ) And then there's also the new Ipod coming out. At this point, to my knowledge, it has been said to only come in 20 gb and 40gb. Right? And- although you said the price has been dropped by about $100, the price for the 20 gb is currently set at $430 CAD.(said on the apple website.) AGH! What should I buy? Well that's pretty much my situation right now, and I'm looking for any helpful advice on what to buy. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Interesting - if they would make the battery replaceable I would be more interested.. But I am very tempted by the freeipod.com pyramid/scam - supposedly people are getting them. Several sites have conga lists set up and I've been this close to trying it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obnoxious Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Question: When people say the battery isn't replacable, do they mean 1. It's an 8 hour battery, and I want to replace it with a 12 hour battery but I can't. or 2. I've re-charged my battery so many times that it's gone real weak, and I can't replace it with a new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 The batteries are non-user replaceable and supposedly the run-time shortens tremendously after a year (no real surprise thats what rechargeable batteries do). But it costs you $99 to send off the IPOD to have it replaced. Here is an article on it from back when it first came out: http://homepage.mac.com/techedgeezine/ipod...ttle_secret.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Actually you can do it yourself. Many companies now sell batteries to do it. It just voids any warrenty :-) capt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obnoxious Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Well, seeing as the warranty only lasts a year and it takes about that long for the battery to be dead, I'd say you'd be better off replacing it yourself. Any idea where these kind of batteries would be sold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 ill get you guys a web site that sells them tommorow. A guy i work with just bought a mac and has a ton of magazines which ive seen the batteries advertised capt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Originally posted by Obnoxious@Jul 21 2004, 05:50 PM Well, seeing as the warranty only lasts a year and it takes about that long for the battery to be dead... In my experience battery problems are quite rare. My old 5GB iPod, which was one of the first ones made, is still going strong (my boss bought it from me). My one year old 30GB is working fine so far. I know about 6 other people that have iPods and I've never heard one of them complain about the battery failing. Obviously some people have battery problems, but I'm not convinced it's any more common than with any other portable device of that type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obnoxious Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 whew... you sure have a lot of experience with ipods. :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Originally posted by Obnoxious@Jul 21 2004, 06:30 PM whew... you sure have a lot of experience with ipods. :shock: Now that I think of it, I was being conservative. If I only count people I work with, there are 5 besides me with iPods, another has one on order. And I can think of 3 other friends that have one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrik Draven Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Wouldn't a PDA that can play all forms of music AND movies be better? I've never wanted a dedicated music player because the PDA's keep getting better and better. The new ones from Dell, the X30's (I believe) are REALLY impressive. I'm not one to talk since I'm still on the fence on the whole damn thing; no pda or music player! Everytime I think of getting something, it just keeps getting better. Maybe I should upgrade from my p3/500, with a 16mb 3DFX Voodoo 3 card, first? :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 I would love a device that was a PDA with a hard drive and even a cell phone...but at this point such a device would be rather big, probably not easily pocketable, and it would likely cost a quite a bit. As far as video, well I play video on my palm now and then via an SD card, but I don't see a lot of general use for it...it's pretty much a novelty, unless the screen gets bigger, but then the device gets larger and you lose convenience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainl Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Yeah, while being able to watch films on the move seems like a good idea, most places I actually use my walkman there either isn't room to get a screen out, I'm busy doing something that requires my visual concentration, or I'd rather just read. Anything big enough to be worth watching is going to be too big to act as a convenient walkman, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Funny, you guys seem to be talking about the PSP. Except for the PDA functionality, that is. I have three PDAs - two Palms and a Pocket PC. All three are in my closet. I hate them. I've tried three times, obviously, to integrate them into my lifestyle, but I find they create more of a maintenance hassle than they solve problems. In lieu, I download my calendar, notes, and contacts to my cell phone every night before leaving work - I do this via iR or Bluetooth, depending on the computer. As far as the iPod, literally everyone I know has one. Everyone at work (that's 35 people) has one - it's true. The Apple store is around the corner, after all. The LAN is frequently clogged with iTunes music sharing. We have all generations - 1st gen 5giggers, my 2nd gen 10 gig, a few minis, and a vast majority of 3rd gen 20 giggers. I haven't seen one fail yet or heard anyone complain. I also haven't heard any complaints about battery time. I had some weird issues with battery time a year or so ago, but a software update seemed to have taken care of that - I think it had something to do with the internal clock that was more software-based than hardware-based. I now charge my iPod on the weekends, and that's it - it's good from Monday to Friday, and that includes a commute on the 6 train, walking in Manhattan, and zone times at work (I use a PC at work and as such can't dump my library to my PC). I can't say enough good things about the iPod. I look at people using CD players and, aside from financial reasons, can't figure out why they'd carry those discs around with them. I look at my CD collection as a backup archive now. All I need is a bigger iPod. Soon. Soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainl Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Originally posted by stencil@Jul 22 2004, 03:05 PM I look at people using CD players and, aside from financial reasons, can't figure out why they'd carry those discs around with them. I look at my CD collection as a backup archive now. Well, for me, at least, while I admit there is a fairly large financial component to it all I'm a lazy git. I just cannot sum up the effort to convert my entire CD collection to a lossy format, particularly when I know I'll probably have to do it all again should I buy different one, or a better sound-quality format comes along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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