Rating: 
Summary: Love the iPod 20GB
Review: Love, love, love it. I'd been thinking about ordering one for several months, but some of the reviews talking about FireWires and difficulty working with a pc made me hesitate. I'm on the downhill side of 50 and technically challenged. But I've had zero problems, and within minutes of taking the iPod out of the box this granny was boppin' to the oldies. I downloaded music from iTunes and copied my CDs. My pc had IEEE 1394 port (didn't know that was a FireWire), so I didn't need any extra cables. I simply loaded the software, plugged-in the iPod dock and was ready to go. The only negative thing I can say is that I wished that the Quick Start manual had been a little more detailed on the buttons and scroll circle. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that I needed to run my finger around the scroll dial since I had never actually seen an iPod work. Like I said, I'm technically challenged. Even so, I figured it out without too much frustration. The sound is great. The software is easy to use. I'm very pleased with this purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: My entire CD collection fits into a tiny corner of the hard drive. The user interface is light years beyond the other players I looked at. Finding the exact song I want out of the ~2000 I've put on it so far is a snap! I can also use it as a portable hard drive when I need to bring my work home! I'm impressed...
Rating:
Summary: Awesome - buy it
Review: (This is a review I wrote for the 40GB iPod. Most of it applies to this model as well.) What I like best about Amazon reviews is that, unlike Consumer Reports or other technical reviewers, they come from people who own the product and use it every day. Hence a disclaimer - I got my iPod a week ago. That being said - it is awesome. My iPod is connected to my PowerBook, where I have almost 5,000 songs stored in iTunes. All I have to do is put the iPod in the cradle and it automatically syncs. The first time took about 30 minutes or so - after that it hasn't taken more than a minute or so. It's much easier than other MP3 players. (For Christmas last year, I bought my dad a Rio MP3 player. Teaching him how to load songs onto it was a huge pain.) The sound quality is as good as it gets for an MP3. I bring my iPod everywhere and am listening to songs I forgot I have. It's also forced me to go through my music library and make sure everything is labeled properly (if it's not, it's going to be hard to find on an iPod, as it doesn't have a search function). The games it comes with are mindless timewasters, which is what they were intended to be. The music quiz is pretty cool though. The address book and calendar functions are useful, although a bit of a pain to update if you don't use Mac's Address Book and iCal, as you can't use iSync. The only complaints I have are minor: -When attached to the remote control, the earphone cord is too long. While it can be tucked in a pocket if you are wearing normal clothes, it's a pain when you go to the gym or for a run.
-There's a slight pause between songs, which is annoying when listening to a complete concert.
-Like many newer cars, mine doesn't have a tape deck. Hence, the only way to play my iPod through the car stereo is through an FM transmitter - most of which have lousy reputations.
-The functionality of the calendar and address book could be improved, although I'm sure that will come in time and iPods will be fully functioning PDAs as well.
Rating:
Summary: Quick Warning for Windows Users
Review: One note of caution for Windows users:
The iPod does not support WMA format. If you've been recording all your CD's to your computer using Windows Media Player, it defaults to WMA format so you'll have to convert your library. Call it a dirty Microsoft trick, but it's worth knowing. If you're just getting into the scene then no worries: you can still use Windows Media Player to record your CD's, just go into the options and tell it to record using MP3 format and then you can use that on the iPod. I think the internal hard-drive competition right now is between the Rio Karma and the Apple iPod. The Karma is smaller (better for a pocket), has a longer battery life and supports WMA format, the iPod is made to be iTunes friendly and just plain looks better (though the Karma's docking station is way cooler). Both are great players, though I think Windows users may want to lean towards the Rio simply for the support of the WMA format.
Rating: 
Summary: So Small . . .
Review: And yet you forget about the size once you hear it. Having started out with 78s, then 45s, 33 1/3, CDs, this is truly amazing in every aspect. It is small, lightweight and flat enough to fit into the pocket of your jeans. But it manages to hold an entire music library with room to spare and reproduces excellent sound. The sound quality is unsurpassed. Transferring files, from Apple's iTunes, is a painless, quick and easy way to do it. After the download you can sort them to folders you create. iTunes has quite a vast arrany of music ranging from Billboard hits going back to the 50's up to the latest hits on the airwaves. You will find almost everything you want there and even a few albums/ songs that you don't know about. The price is the standard 99 cents per song; $10 for an album. But it is the iPod that makes it all amazing. In less space than you could store a CD jewel case (and think of all the fun you will have with NEVER having to open one of those cellophane wrappers again), you can have nearly 5000 songs or 500 complete albums! The sound quality is excellent and even though I am using it in enemy territory (I am a PC devotee), the Apple people don't begrudge you that choice and it loaded, set up and works with any PC imaginable. The loss of one star comes from the impossible tuning system though. The wheel/ scroll device is OK but it makes it nearly impossible to quickly back and forth from one album/ song to the next. Something more in the line of a PALM touch screen would be better suited but as the sound quality is excellent, the ease of use is unbeatable and you will have this with you for quite some time, that is a minor glitch. One recommendation: get one of the small, inexpensive devices that lets you play the iPod through your home or car FM stereo sound system. Don't be mislead by the claims that it drifts in and out. If you are playing it at home, just keep the iPod near the stereo and you will never have to worry. All in all, it is truly the next step in music.
Rating:
Summary: i no
Review: the ipod is wonderful, but you have to remember that it comes out of the box formatted for mac, and if you are a windows user like i am, you absolutly MUST reformat your ipod to windows. its a pain, but once its formatted to windows, it works like a dream
Rating: 
Summary: bad sound quality
Review: I've had this product for 10 days now, and i'm very disapointed with it. I loved it when i opened the box, charged the batteries, turned on and found out about the extra features it had (contacts, notes etc). The dispointment was when I found out i had to pay extra $40 for firewire card. After downloading some CDs into the iPod there was more disapointment.
I'm just surprised that not too many people perceive the bad sound quality of iPod. The Bass is very bad even in good headpphones. Even my girlfriend that is not a sound freak perceives the difference from my other mp3 players.
Of course the battery life is discouraging too, but this is a known issue mentioned by many users.
I'm returning my iPod today and thinking of iRiver instead. The more songs iPod can hold and play them in bad quality the more reason to get rid of it.
Rating:
Summary: Was skeptical, but I have seen the light!
Review: I bought my iPod a couple weeks ago and really love it. Some people complain about the touch controls, but I love them. They don't take any getting used to at all. I'm a Windows XP Pro user, and had no trouble getting anything hooked up or installed. The thing about it not coming with a USB cable... who cares? If you're anything like me you have thousands of these stupid cables laying around already. They're easy to find, and you can find them cheap. I use iTunes, and would recommend that, as it was obviously made for it. It works flawlessly, and so smoothly. I was up and running in five minutes tops, and I had three gigs of music on my hard drive!
Pros:
*easy to use
*easy to learn
*sound quality is fine, some complain, but I have no problems with it, and I'm a total music buff. If anything, the bass could use a little work.
*I love iTunes!
*organization within the iPod is smart and it's pretty customizable
*buy it from Apple and have your name engraved on the back, that's too cool!
*works great plugged into my home stereo, it sounds just like a CD playing in there
Cons:
*still worried about battery life, though I use it all day at work (8 hours) and it makes it all the way through. If you're real worried, but the AA battery pack and have it in your bag or whatever for long trips, just as a precaution. But for normal daily use you won't need it.
*wish it charged through the USB cable
*heavier than they claim (2 CDs), I think it's morethan that, but it's still light I'm happy with it, and I was worried that I may not be after spending so much money. But I love it,and whe ni dont have it with me i always wish i did. It's a sweet little toy that is one powerful little jukebox!
Rating:
Summary: Veteran Ipod Owner
Review: When the Ipod 1st came out, I bought my wife the original 5gig Ipod. This christmas I bought this Ipod and started using her old one. She loves her new 20gig. She plugged it into her computer, Itunes started and her music downloaded. On to a great music experience. No fuss/ No problems
I wanted the old one for the most part for contact and calendar features. But, the quality of even the original Ipod is so great that I find myself listening to it everywhere I go. My original battery is still going strong. If you have a Mac, don't buy anything else. I you have a PC, download Itunes and don't buy anything else.
Rating:
Summary: iPod, worth the money? Yea it pretty much is...
Review: So last week, I told my dad (sophmore at high school) to help me order an iPod 20GB online at amazon. It was amazing when I got it this weekend. Oh man, so many things to talk about the iPod, but overall I can say that it is an honor to have something that only 2 million people around world has. And I am part of that 2 million right now. :D
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