Rating: 
Summary: Nice piece of machinery!
Review: This is possibly the neatest piece of consumer electronics I've bought in a long time. First, the design and packaging: sleek and smooth. Apple once again leads the way in hardware design. Operating the iPod is intuitive; I was able to get mine running in about 10 seconds flat. Navigation thought the OS is easy and intuitive, and selecting music is a snap.Apple has just released iTunes for Windows, but is not currently shipping same with iPods. Do yourself a giant favor: after buying your iPod, go to Apple.com and download iTunes before you go any further. It's free and is about 14 MB. This program is much more intuitive than RealJukebox (previously used to sync tunes for Windows machines) and, obviously, is designed to work with the iPod. It also offers the much-vaunted iTunes Library, where any song there may be purchased for a nominal sum, as well as many streaming Internet radio stations. Battery life is not quite what it should be. For reasons unknown to me, syncing with the PC uses up a phenomenal amount of battery power. I ran down my batteries twice while syncing my entire MP3 collection (over 1400) with my iPod when I first got it. The answer, of course, seems to be to have a FireWire port so you can charge while syncing. With normal listening use, I seem to get about 4-5 hours per charge, which isn't too bad. If you intend to rip your CD collection to your Pod, be warned: the default rip format is AAC, which makes for much larger files than MP3s (albeit with better quality). This will eat up hard disk space on your own PC like no one's business. It seems to run about 100MB per disk, plus or minus. Therefore, ripping 5 disks to the Pod has taken up about 500 MB on my hard drive - no good. I suppose I can live with removing the source files from the PC as long as they stay on the Pod. The 20 GB model comes with a lot of interesting extras: a carrying case, a pouch to hold your charger and other extraneous cables, a charging/syncing dock, a remote control, and extra foam covers for the earpieces (which slip off very easily). It is true, as other reviewers have mentioned, that it does NOT come with a USB cable - so if you do not have a FireWire port, either buy one or purchase the optional combination FireWire/USB cable to plug into the dock. (And if you don't have USB, you are in big trouble anyway.)
Rating: 
Summary: Why Not to Buy an iPod
Review: I bought an iPod about two weeks ago. I knew relatively little about it... just that it was small & could fit roughly around 20gb (~5000 songs). Thats small-potatoes compared to what would-be-mp3 customers should know. What I'm really trying to say is you should really do some research before you decide to get something and Amazon's reviews don't really cut it when it comes to electronics (CNET.COM is the perfect site to look for reviews). Pros: The iPod is very sleek, pretty, and easy to handle. It can play a variety of audio files and can be used for storage (You probably see this in comercials all the time) Cons:
1.) Battery life.. 6 hours is pushing it. If you play around with it, you'd be lucky if you got 4 or 5 (in other words, battery life stinks on iPod).
2.) No voice recorder. If I had known that other mp3Players had built-in recorders I would have opted.
3.) Clutter. I haven't heard anyone mention this... but the earbud wires are really long, especially w/ remote and its just bothersome. I returned my iPod the seventh day I owned it.
If you're really interested in getting a TRUE MP3 Player, opt for the iRiver iHP 120 instead. (...) But if you are as smart, look into it's performance as compared to the iPod.
Rating: 
Summary: Ingenious MP3 Player
Review: I've had MP3 players since the first Rio was created, and the Apple iPod 20GB version is the best MP3 player I have ever used. The people at Apple know what they're doing, and the iPod is no exception. Not only is it stylish, but it is extremely easy to use. However, if you don't use Apple's music software iTunes, the iPod is not worth your time. All the features you use on an iPod are also on iTunes, which make syncing the two a piece of cake. iTunes organizes songs by Artist, Album, Track title and number, as well as on a five-star personal rating system. In the past I have had problems syncing MP3 players with my computer, for some reason PCs just can't handle it. Not any longer. The only complaint I have is that the battery does not last longer enough. Other than that, this has been THE best music gadget purchase I have ever made. The only reason I'll ever replace this iPod is to buy another one with a bigger harddrive.
Rating: 
Summary: DONT BUY THIS OVER PRICED JUNK
Review: DONT BUY THIS ITEM! IT DOESNT EVEN DESERVE THAT ONE STAR! LITSEN THE IPOD IS EXTREMELY OVER PRICED YOU CAN GET A Creative Labs Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox FOR $350 RITE NOW AND 40 GB FOR $300 DONT THROW AWAY YOUR MONEY FOR THE SAME THING. IPODS MAX GB IS 40 AND ZEN IS 60 SO YOU GET 20 GB MORE FOR OVER $100 LESS. I REPEAT DONT BUY THIS ITEM IT IS OVER PRICED AND NOT WORTH IT. GET THE Creative Labs Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox.
Rating:
Summary: This Changes Everything
Review: First of all, I've NEVER had a problem with my iPod. I bought the 15GB model right when it came out this summer (2003) and it's been nothing less than perfect.
Before I had my iPod I would always fumble with lousy portable cd players which were bulky and cumbersome, with substandard remotes. And I would also be forced to tote around a cd case with 20+ cds. Now that I have my iPod though....
I can walk around with over a hundred cds worth of music in the front pocket of my jeans, the remote is actually useful, and I also connect it to my home stereo (way more convenient that browsing through jewel cases to find what i'm looking for). Critics of the iPod will whine about the price and this and that. Lemme tell you, it's worth it the money. ... Apple is clearly committed to the iPod, they continue to release firmware updates for the iPod which enhance it's functionality. Lastly, there's no reason to complain about MusicMatch and iTunes, you don't have to use them. Download "EphPod" (PC only) for free, it does everything you could want, and it's easier to use than anything else I've tried.
Rating:
Summary: Be afraid, be very afraid
Review: The $400 price tag should be enough to scare you off
If its not consider:
that you can buy a Dell,Gateway, Napster Samsung, iRiver, Rio,HP and countless other 20GB players for at least $100 less. These player also do more than just play music, some of them can record, have fm receivers and transmitters AND all of the above play music that you can buy on Dell, Musicmatch, Napster, buy music etc. The ipod works only with itunes proprietary service and format.
A sure way to tie yourself to no other choice than to purchase Apple products in the future if you want to continue to play your music. Stay away from this ipod.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible, absolutely terrible
Review: Well I've owned an iPod for several hours now and I still haven't done much except reboot the darn thing - which takes longer than my Windows PC, by the way. I can't persuade my PC to see the device even though my firewire port is on the Windows Hardware list. I'm currently on hold with Apple 'support' and listening to the canned message telling me how important my call is for the 40th+ time. This was my first and last Apple purchase. The product doesn't work and there's no detectable support. What a complete waste of money!
Rating:
Summary: Super Product, Terrible Support
Review: Other reviewers have heaped well-deserved praise on the iPod itself, so it is worth briefly noting that Apple's customer support does not match the quality of its product design. For the many shoppers who are from the Windows world but are now contemplating getting an iPod after being impressed by the clean easy to use iTunes user interface -- beware! Don't expect overnight shipping of the sort you've come to expect with virtually every Windows peripheral or device and don't expect the same service -- automatic refunds for defective products, cross-shipping of replacements, etc. -- either. Apple's customer support is virtually non-existent. If everything works with your iPod, you may never have to deal directly with Apple and should consider yourself lucky, but even if you are just considering buying it's worth noting: avoid Apple and buy from someone else -- like Amazon -- instead (unless you want to wait weeks and weeks for your iPod to show up).
Rating:
Summary: Battery Replacement, Which iPod?
Review: Several people have griped about Apple's not replacing batteries on the iPod. They now offer a battery replacement service for $100. 3rd parties online sell iPod batteries for around $50. I'd assume that you're going to have to pay for this after one to five years of use, depending on how much you use the unit. The iPod is technology done the Apple way; immaculate design, slightly pricey, and poor software support from anyone besides Apple. Since you don't need much external software, I'd say buy it. I'd also say to go with the 20 gig over the 10. Whether you actually need 40 mobile gigs of music is up to you...
Rating:
Summary: Way too expenseive
Review: The Napster Samsung player accomplishes alot more than the ipod The Napste player is $299 from J&R Music world-available on this site. The ipod is $399!!
The Napster player:
1. records mp3 files from cd (no pc needed) radio, vinyl, cassette
2. Plays mp3's and wma
3. works well with Napster
4. has fm -needs a more powerful transmitter but you can buy one for $20
5. Has tremendous storage
the ipod at $400 can't compete-espcially after since you are tied to the mac format. Let's say you download a bunch of tunes from itunes and Napster.
Well, in three years let's say your ipod or Napster player stops working or you need more storage. Guess what your options are-if you downloaded from itunes-you have one option-buy another overpriced ipod as the music you buy there only works on the ipod. if you download from Napster you can buy another Napster player or any of the 400 other players that play the Napster format.
(from Gateway, iriver, Rio, Dell HP etc) Also while you own the Napster player you can buy a small cheap 128 mp3 player that will work with the files you download from Napster. With Itunes you are stuck with the large ipod. For recording, compatibility and price the Napster player is a far wiser choice than the ipod.
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