Rating: 
Summary: The same problem as any HDD player
Review: I was one of the first to buy the Archos 6000 6gb player (I know this review aint about archos, but hold tight). It was great - I mean, really fun and all - for 9 months at which point I dropped it 4ft down onto hard wood floor. In a couple days, the hdd went boink (thankfully I had a backup on my computer). It's been lying around, literally used as a paperweight since.I was hoping the 4gb player would be a solid-state memory based one, but nope. I have gotto pass on the ipods (would love to have one for father's day) because I am prone to dropping things.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT IPOD UNTIL YOU FIND OUT
Review: Before you buy this item you must realized THE INTERNAL BATTERY IF USED CONSTANTLY ONLY LASTS 18 MONTHS. To get it replaced by Apple costs 202 dollars. Its alot of room for mp3s. I love my ipod. But the headphones are too big for my ears :(. COMES WITH NO DOCK OR REMOTE. The ipod minis are for females. Notice the colors. And Apple has admitted that they are pointed towards females.
Rating:
Summary: 15gb iPod Review
Review: I've had the 15gb iPod for about 2 months and I've been very happy with it. Pros: small, compact and easy to use controls (the scroll wheel is alot easier than most computer touchpads). In addition it holds your entire CD collection in one place - no need to switch out memory cards, etc., which is great if you like to switch from artist to artist at a moment's notice. You can listen by playlists that you create on the computer, artist, album, genre, or the "on the go" playlist that you create on the iPod (the playlist will upload to your computer when you connect, saving it separately and leaving the "on the go" available for a new spur of the moment playlist). It also allows you to shuffle the music by song or album. Cons: If you own a PC, you will need to buy the separate usb cable or, better yet, get a firewire/usb2 card (I got one with 2 firewire ports and 3 usb2 ports - well worth the $50). In addition, the contacts, notes, etc. don't work with the PCs, so if they are important to you, don't bother with the iPod. My biggest negative is that you have to download all your music everytime you want to add a new CD - this is a pain if you don't want to store your music on your computer's harddrive. As it doesn't come with anything but the firewire cable and iTunes, you will end up spending at least another $40-$60 on accessories to enjoy it completely (case, fm transmitter, second cable so you don't have to unplug the cable from the computer everytime you want to recharge, etc.). Lastly, if all your music is currently in Windows Media Player, you will need to reload it all into iTunes - I couldn't figure out any way to convert them. All in all, the cons are minor irritations and don't add up to the convenience of having approximately 500 albums at your fingertips.
Rating: 
Summary: Trendy, gorgeous, great sound, but not perfect
Review: I just got my iPod 2 days ago and I have to admit I love looking at it and holding it. It's a beautiful piece of minimalist machinery and with the 15GB model (which is thinner than the ones with more memory), the weight and size suits me fine. Weight and size were two of my main concerns (I was going to purchase a mini-iPod until they pushed back the date of anticipated delivery for another 2 months). Anyway, to make this as simple as possible I'll just list the pros and cons of the iPod. But my bottomline is, if you want a beautiful, stylish piece of kit, then get it. But if functionality is your ultimate concern, you may want to shop elsewhere. Pros:
- Great Design
- Intuitive to use
- Great backlight
- Decent battery life
- Charge and upload at the same time with the larger firewire connection
- Automatically sorts songs you've played a lot/recently
- I never thought I'd pay for music online but iTunes takes the guesswork out of chosing the right/decent version of a song Cons (mainly to do with software):
- The MAIN problem is that once you initially configure your iPod with a computer you can't upload songs from iTunes on another computer unless you want to DELETE ALL THE MUSIC that's currently on your iPod and replace it with only the music that's on the 2nd computer. This was EXTREMELY annoying for me, because I planned to download songs at work and at home. If anyone knows how to get around this please let us all know!
- While I appreciate the touch interface, the buttons are far too sensitive. I don't like the idea of having to put my ipod on hold all the time simply because my sleeve might disrupt what I'm listening to. A lot of times, even in a playlist I've created, I might want to skip ahead or back. But to ensure I don't press buttons accidentally, I must always take it off hold before doing so. It may sound trivial, but after a couple of hours of holding and unholding to skip back and forth it gets on your nerves. That's why I highly recommend getting the remote control (which is sold seperately for the 15G but comes with the other models with more memory). You can put the iPod buttons on hold yet still skip through songs on your remote.
- I would love to be able to create playlists on my iPod and then save them to iTunes. Unfortunately communication is only one-directional (e.g. from your computer to your iPod)
Rating: 
Summary: Attached at the Hip (Literally)
Review: As the owner of a large CD collection, the combination of iTunes and this iPod have redefined my music experience. My only regret is that it wasn't available when I was in college. iTunes is a killer music app. Anybody who gives MusicMatch a second look after trying it must be smoking something. The ability to quickly browse by genre, artist (and have a filtered view of the music changing in real time!) is a must for those who have a significant number of tracks by the same artist (or even the same title). The iPod itself is an engineering marvel. The case is tight, refined, and aesthetic. The play options have allowed me to listen to my music in every conceivable way. After my wife gave me this thoughtful gift for Valentine's Day, there is a new demarcation point in my life: i.P.(As in Before iPod, After iPod)
Rating:
Summary: Like Wow!
Review: I just got my ipod today and i started using it and it was very easy to use. I got it because my friend gave it a good recommendation. I bought it and she was rite, it was easy to use. then i found out that i need a usb port for me to use it (my friend has a mac, go figure) but i see her use it all of the time and it is really good.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to use
Review: (...)
As you open the box of the new iPod, you have to remove a sealing sticker that carries the words 'Designed by Apple in California'. Of course the iPod is manufactured in the Far East, but the over-riding impression is of West Coast cool. Although the iPod is essentially an MP3 player, as it has a hard drive you can also use it as a storage device. While that is true of many MP3 players, including the devices based on flash memory, you'll find your iPod has plenty of storage capacity. The original iPod came in 5GB, 10GB and 15GB versions, but it's been revised to 10GB, 15GB and 30GB. My 15GB unit had 13.8GB available for use which is good for some 2,200 songs recorded at a high-quality setting of 192KB/sec. You'll get more at lower sampling rates, with Apple reckoning on 7,500 songs for the top-capacity version. Despite the hard drive technology the iPod is a tiny unit, about the size of a pack of playing cards but half as thick. This is thanks to the low profile, 1.8-inch Toshiba hard drive, and it is genuinely pocket-sized. It also looks very stylish, with the front half moulded in pearl white and the back formed from stainless steel. While it would be foolish to abuse the hardware it certainly feels well made and robust. The monochrome LCD display is a decent size and shows details of the current track with a progress bar showing both elapsed time and time remaining, as well as a battery indicator and the option of a clock. You control the iPod with four buttons that have a gorgeous luminous pink backlight, but the really neat part is menu navigation. A circular track uses the same touchpad technology that you find in notebooks and in the centre is a button that works in the same way. Scrolling and selecting could hardly be easier or more intuitive, and there are no moving parts to go wrong either. On the other hand the controls are hopeless for the three games that Apple includes, and they are best ignored. In addition to the main unit there's a charging cable, the all-important white earphones, an in-line remote control so you can tuck the iPod away in an inside pocket or your bag, a carrying case and a docking station. Naturally iPod uses a Firewire connection but a big selling point of the new iPod is that it also has a USB interface, with a USB 2.0 software update due soon. This is a little disingenuous as the USB cable is an optional extra. Apple includes an adapter so you can also use the smaller four-pin Firewire port. When the iPod is placed in the dock it fires up the included MusicMatch software with an iPod plug-in that searches your PC for music and creates an index. Synchronising the iPod transfers music at a respectable speed, and the files are logically arranged by artist and album, assuming you used CDDB when you first ripped them. Annoyingly the tracks are arranged in alphabetical order rather than as per the original running order, but that seems to be the case with most MP3 equipment. What does it sound like? It's one of the best MP3 players we've ever heard. It's not quite up to Minidisc standards, but as a mobile music player with an enormous capacity it's beyond reproach. Verdict: On the face of it an iPod is an expensive luxury, but that's crazy talk. This new version, compatible with both Mac and PC, offers excellent value for money and it is a pleasure to use. And, for the style-conscious, the white earphones mark you down as an iPod owner and therefore someone to be envied.
Rating:
Summary: This is a most excellent Mp3 player.
Review: The iPod is the best Mp3 player I have ever had. All the other players dont keep your songs organized the way you want them, but the iPod organizes my songs the way I want them and I can make my own playlists which is really cool. But the coolest part of the iPod is the touch wheel. That is so cool! The iPod is the coolest thing I have ever gotten.
Rating:
Summary: BUYER BEWARE - PRICING SCHEMES
Review: I just bought the 15GB iPod, figuring it was a better deal than the overpriced mini. Only now, after I've opened it, do I find out that I need a dock AND a USB cable for the dock. (iPod ONLY connects directly with a FireWire cable. This is smart in terms of technology, but unrealistic in terms of what most non-mac computers have out there.) Now I've got to spend another $60 or so. I should have bought the 20GB iPod for what amounts to $40 more, since it comes with all this stuff, plus a slipcover. I already feel like I've been suckered, and I haven't even turned the thing on yet. Now I've got to wait another week: I wonder what other little surprises are waiting for me? Cheap and sneaky!
ADDENDUM: I was a bit wrong here. I turns out that you don't need the dock. The USB cable plugs right into the dock slot on the 15G iPod. Apple, to their credit, also mailed it to me with free shipping very very fast. I should also note that the handbook should've explained all of this more clearly, but, in its efforts to be stylish, it doesn't. Still: the USB cable should be standard with all iPods.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I recently purchased a 15 gig iPod. I love it. I switched from an ancient Archos Jukebox to the iPod. It works without a problem. The included iTunes is a great improvment to any media player I have tried, it will automaticaly sync with the iPod every time you dock it. I recomend getting the iDock, it makes charging much easier. If you are a PC user you will need a firewire card. I found it very easy to instal. I get about 5 hours on a charge which is sufficent for me. If I had it to do over I would get the 30 gig version. I have about 12000 songs on mine and about 3 gigs left.
| 
