Rating: 
Summary: a little pricey but the best mp3 player ever!!!
Review: I checked out many mp3 players before buying this one. I bought the jukebox zen, before i knew about the new generation of the ipod. The zen was okay, the battery life was less than i expected so don't buy that one. I gave away my zen as a birthday present for my 12-year old brother and decided to buy the ipod. If you read the rest of the reviews most of them say that the sofware is not good for pc, but if you have any trouble with that you can download the free sofware, ephpod. the ipod is smalled sized has a great capacity and sound quality, totally worth the money. The dock comes in handy specially when you are recharging via usb because you prevent the ipod from falling and breaking into pieces. I recomend keeping the ipod always inside a protective case because the white part and the screen scratch a lot. The hold button is one of the most used buttons because they are so sensitive that with the minimun touch the ipod will turn on or change current state. The backlight is amazing. The calendar is very useful specially if you are in college and need to organize your time with all the study. I personally download the lyrics of my favorite songs and sync them to the ipod. If you listen to music often I recomend buying the ipod with the adecuate capacity for you:40gb, 10.000 songs, 20gb 5000 songs and so on. But if you ocassionally do so, buy a cheaper mp3 player. READ THE MANUALS, to learn how to use musicmatch. listed below are the pros and cons of the ipod.PROS: good sound quality, nice presentation, small, light wieghted, can be used as a portable hard drive, speed in transfer is amazing, good accesories, includes cool games, big capacity. CONS: scratches easily, does not include usb cable, too sensitive touch buttons, not adecuate carrying case.
Rating: 
Summary: beware!
Review: Before you shell out $400, keep in mind that the iPod's recheargable internal battery is fixed, that means that as with any other Li-ion battery, after approx 300 cycles you are left with an expensive white, apple-branded paperweight, since you CANNOT replace the battery. But of course by that time you may be already hooked to it and then you will buy another iPod and make Apple richer, thats their business strategy. If you have had a laptop for a while you know what i am talking about, after 1 year of use you usually need to replace the battery cuz it doesn't last too long.
Rating:
Summary: IS IT WORTH THE HASSLE
Review: Let's face it, the puny 128 mb players are expensive and worthless. That is why we are moving up to the bigger leagues. Well there has been big competitors trying to run the 20 gb market. Dell has one, rio has a nice smaller one than ipod, neuros, archos, and **Creative**. Now why did I stat Creative? First I will explain why I gave the ipod 2 stars. First off, I have two 20 GB MP3 Players. I have a Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox 3 (Same thing as the Zen) and a 20 GB Ipod. Good: Setup was simple and transferring files to the ipod was fast. It comes with a nice docking station and yes it is small. Bad:
Let me uncover the truth about the ipod that no one knows about and that people never will say because they are now stuck with the pod like me. Apple will tell you I believe when you open the box that the pod is meant for your computer ONLY. That means you can't go over to a friend's house and copy your friends music. Ok well that isn't legal, but no matter what there are people who want to do that everyone knows that will happen, SO WHAT MOVE ON. So you are limited to only your PC. Now here is the tricky thing that no one even think of. Take my computer for example. I had the virus that spreaded across the net and I like to reformat my drive every year to give it that nice fresh start. ****Warning**** IF YOU REFORMAT A DRIVE OR ACTUALLY TRY TO INSTALL IPOD ON ANOTHER COMPUTER, EVERY SINGLE THING WILL BE ERASED!!!! That is what happened to my Ipod. See when you reformat a drive, you have to install the software over again because everything is erased off the computer. So when you reinstall it on your pc or a friend's pc, the ipod does not like when you try to copy so the software has a reset in it and will wipe out everything you have. I have 2,000 songs and 4 months of work (because I have other work to deal with) gone down the drain as if I never touched the d*** pod. Secondly, unless there is some way to change the settings, every cd burned, ipod makes a copy of each song in the library making you have to erase each copy which becomes extremely annoying because it makes a copy of it on your ipod which is so stupid. Unlike the creative, you can't change anything directly from the device, only on the computer which isn't good either. Now back to the Creative. I have the Jukebox 3 which is the SAME EXACT THING as the Zen. Zen has a different style so that is why it is called that. To prove it is the same, check the prices at Comp usa and other stores. They still sell my at the same price as the Zen. Plus all the firmware and accessories are made for both devices. The creative allows you to use it on anyone's computer and it is compatible with everything. Apple is known for having there products strictly work for them. The drastic windows change didn't change that much. Apple you are limited to there firewire and usb attachment and you must have every wire that comes with it or else you have to buy it again because you can't just go to a normal store and buy any usb or firewire because it won't fit your pod. Creative will work with anything. you can go out and purchase any cable for it. Next is the firmware. It comes with a simple easy to use program where you can see everything on your computer and see your device on the other screen. the scrolling is great and the sound quality is superb. You can choose some great accessories for it. I purchased a $68.00 FM Tuner with built in Microphone and mini display with the play, stop, fast forward, and rewind all on it. The biggest difference is the price of the Creative. It is $100 cheaper than the pod and it has more features and works well. Ipod has gotten so much publicity when I feel it shouldn't. Creative has been knocked down just because it isn't white and a couple inches smaller. Creative truly is better. It isn't as if I wanted to advertise it because i am a Creative fan because this is my first product I purchased from them besides the standard soundblaster built into Home PC's. I have both the Ipod and Creative Labs and I would take Creative over ipod any day. My mother went with the hype and bought the ipod and I took the Creative going with my instincts and a lot of reviews. Look who came out as the winner. I still have my songs and less of a headache. Don't make the same mistake like my mother.
Rating:
Summary: More than just a music player
Review: I am a Graphic Design student at Central Connecticut State University. I have had my ipod for about a month now and I love it. I don't just use it for music, I use it for storing my design projects as well. It is very easy to use and I can go back and forth between my computer and the computer lab with it comfortably in my pocket. It will connect to any computer as long as it has a firewire port and the system requirements. I also use it to hold digital pictures, this takes the load off my imac. When you connect it to the computer, the ipod icon pops up on the screen. You can store pretty much anything on it all you have to do is drag and drop. This is so much better than using unreliable zip disks. And because it's connected by a firewire port, it's alot faster. I recommend this to any design student or anybody that wants an easy storage solution with a fun musical addition.
Rating: 
Summary: Pricey, buggy.
Review: I purchased the 20 GB iPod about a month ago... Even though the price is over $100 higher for comparable models, I heard how great the iPod was quality-wise. I'm just not seeing it. Even after upgrading to the latest firmware, the device is just plain buggy. It shows that the music is paused when it is playing, and vice versa. The electro-static controls don't always "register" that you touched them. While the capacity is great, the fact that its a hard drive makes it slow. Skipping to a song can sometimes take 4 or 5 seconds, leaving you wondering if you really hit "next" to go to the next song. Also, sometimes it just skips over the song as though it can't read it. I returned my first one because I thought it was defective, but the replacement does the same. I guess its just how the iPod works. Also, the optional USB cable is proprietary (and therefore not optional at all if you intend to use USB). So, most windows users add another $20 to the price.
Rating:
Summary: What the napster player wants to be when it grows up.
Review: First of all, have you seen the iPud? if you're into the plastic Fisher Price baby look, go ahead.
---------
sorry, white doesn't mean fisher price. In fact, the plastic on the ipod has a better chance of belonging in the museum of modern art. Not that cheap plastic crap found in most winbloze mp3's. Napster is light years ahead iTunes. For starters, Itunes allows only 30 second clips to be heard instead of the whole song like Napster before buying.
------------------
If you need more than 30 seconds to figure out a song, then that's no fault to iTunes. And you said for starters.....most of the time, when someone say for starters, there should be a list of things following it. which means, this is best you have to offer. pathetic. The last reviewer suggests that pocket pool is possible with the iPud as "with the apple scroll wheel, you can control the iPod without even looking at it (from inside your pant pocket)."
-----------------------
A typical ploy with winbloze users. Can't fault the product, so you try to add levity or sarcasm. Sorry buddy, play your own pocket pool. Wow! What a feature. I'll take the Samsung Napster additional recording features (cassettes, FM radio, voice, vinyl etc) and FM radio and transmitter instead
------------------------
What good is all the features, when it doesn't last but a couple months. Come on dude.....samsung? It's not like we're talking about sony or something. We're talking about S-A-M-S-U-N-G. Sure, the Hyundai has wheels, an engine, windshields, and an antenna, but does it necessarily compare to a Mercedes??? By now everybody knows that apple stuff is the "mercedes" of the computing market. It costs more because its worth more. The gushing iPud reviewer also asks "plus, tell me what other mp3 player has over 50 after market items for it."
Of course there are many aftermarket items for the iPud, they are needed to add functionality to the ipud, features that come pre loaded with the Napster Samsung player. Spending more to enhance an iPud may be a hobby for Apple geeks but I'dprefer to buy the product and use it and not have to worry about the pants pocket navigator or other add on items.
---------------------
You know the saying...."jack of all trades, master of none". Better to do one thing, and do it great, than try to be all things to all people, and SUCK at it. Napster falls in that category. But you don't have to take my word for it. Even trying to dump this cheap player on the market with napster's service, they still sold 1/5th the amount of songs as iTunes did on Napster's opening weekend. What a let down! If I was in business, and this is all I could muster, I'd file bankruptcy! There is no comparison. The Mac people are smoking cr@ck!!!! They are willing to make religion out of spending $400 for an mp3 player that requires additional purchase to make the thing work the way they want.
-------------------
Let's just say we're more about style and quality over a low price point. Not everything is about price tag. If I'd a wanted a Hyundai, I would have gotten one. I for one, would rather have top of the line. $400 is cheap for years of carefree operation.
Apple doesn't design crap. If the world would just wise up to apple and their products, we wouldn't have a huge customer service and IT Department budget......none needed. It just works. So just go home to your mom, and ask her to give you an advance on your allowance, buy the ipod already, and let the rest of us who "gets it" alone! You can buy the Napster Samsung player and be better off, the Gateway 20GB player for $100 less too.
---------------------
You must work for napster. Any one that just looked at the napster player has got to be kidding! It looks like a cheap
knock off of the prior generation compaq ipaq pda with a straw poking out the top of it. And Gateway? Heck, I'd buy you a 20gb ipod myself if Gateway even makes it another year!!!! If their plasma tv doesn't start taking off, they're gone. Their PC wares sure ain't makin' it. Please give it a rest!
Rating:
Summary: Don't need it? Get it anyway, you'll not regret.
Review: I felt no need for an MP3 player and although I thought of iPod as a nice little toy, I didn't WANT one as I didn't find much time to listen to music anyway.. An impulsive buy a few days ago after I held it in my hand for the first time surprised me and worried me - afterall, it wasn't a small amount of money. After I uploaded a few tunes on it my remorses have gone away. iPod is a stunning gadget, probably the most beautiful one, and I've had many. If you have a sense for detail you'll appreciate it even more. Handling, navigation in the menu, the touch sensitive surface, all is an ingenious work of art. Recommendation - don't try to save money on the remote if you plan to use your iPod outside. Message for WinXP users - please follow my instructions to upload songs for the first time on your iPod. If a good soul somewhere hasn't written them on the ipodlounge, I'd be lost and very distressed. Here we go:
1) Charge up the battery.
2) Go to apple.com/ipod and download the newest updater (2.1 now) and install it.
3) Connect your iPod to your PC. Go to my computer and format the removable drive that appears there with FAT32. This will take up to 20 mins, so don't worry.
4) Now run the iPod updater which you installed in step 2.
5) After the updater puts the necessary EPROM information on your iPod it will tell you to plug it into the power supply to flash the ROM.
6) After you plug it into power supply flashing starts and after a few minutes you are ready.
7) Install iTunes (apple.com/itunes/download) and connect your iPod. You're set. It works like a charm. Not to mention the incredible speed with which gigabytes of songs will transfer to you iPod. The above has save me lot of nerves, and from what I read some people actually returned their iPods because the process for WinXP wasn't documented. Apple should do something about it, perhaps their website, hint-hint? As for the headphones, I'm quite an audiophile and they are very good, not too big too, like many think. Good luck and many enjoyable listening hours. ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: Overpriced hyped toy
Review: Doesn't support WMA, overpriced. Better choices-Gateway's 20GBplayer for $100 less. The Samsung Napster player for the same price but with recording capabilities and fm tuner and transmitter for car playing.
Rating:
Summary: any napster employees in here?
Review: notice that every bad review you see on here refers you to the napster samsung player. i doubt this is a coincidence. anyways you should look at them side by side, and i guarantee you'll see the ipod is no toy.
Rating:
Summary: How to solve your problem!
Review: The problem you are having is caused by a bad operating system. Switch to mac and you'll never have any problems again! Why didn't you think of that? Because you were dumb enough to use windows in the first place!
| 
