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: Look no further - this is the MP3 player you want
Review: Technology is a beautiful thing and it is an awesome sight to behold with the Apple iPod MP3 player. I have my entire music collection of CDs and records stored on this device and carry it in my shirt pocket. I have right now at my finger tips a selection of 2,600 songs and I've only used about 1/3 of the storage capacity. The sound quality is impeccable and I've never heard it skip through a song. It is small, light, and very well designed. It is an absolute pleasure to use and it has a very long battery life. I use mine with my Apple G4 desktop and it is plug and play. The firewire downloads are extremely fast. And it works perfectly with the on line Apple iTunes Music Store. It is so convenient and fun to browse through the smartly designed website and purchase legally the songs you want and instantly transport them to the iPod. I can't say enough good things about this product. If you're in the market for the ultimate MP3 player then this is the one to get. It is a bit expensive but the best things in life always are. Buy this one with confidence.
Rating:
Summary: The Only Decent Player Available
Review: Apple has made a fantastic product in their newest generation iPod 40gb model. It offers the highest quality sound available, Arguably the best organization, and hands-down, the best looking player on the market. The Competition it faces does not make the cut.
Archos mp4 series - extremely expensive, extremely big, poor quality materials (a weak plastic cover hides the inner chipset) and battery life is only 4 hours, 3 if you watch all video feed Creative Labs Zen xtra series - a decent player, but do not buy until you have actually held it, its gargantuan, humongous! good sound, price, and looks, BUT ITS HUGE! An the organization on this product is terrible, the scroll weel is innaccesible while holding this with one hand iRiver Hard disk players - They are hideous, let's face it, and they are very big to boot. Rio Karma - This player is ugly, but probably the closest competition to the iPod, good battery life etc. rio is a great company, again, unfortunately, this player is very ugly and thick
Rating: 
Summary: Either Back Up Every Song You Have or Never Reformat Your PC
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: Windows users, beware!
Review: As a former Apple loyalist turned Windows user by professional necessity, I am shocked and appalled at the "Windows version" of iPod. I just spent $500 to be a beta user and spend hours of time trouble-shooting a product that DOES NOT WORK FOR WINDOWS. I have to assume Apple rushed this to market for Christmas business.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product - Better than expectation
Review: I am an audiophile. I must have spent thousands and thousands dollars on audio equipments and upgrades. To me, music quality is important. MP3 is not exactly a quality music format. I bought this 40G model for my son as gift. The ipod must be one of the most beautiful consumer electronic product ever made, if not the most beautiful one. The look, the feel, the touch - the smooth and glass like surface, the smooth edges, the respnsive buttons and dials, high quality plastics, perfact fitting of the parts, extremely beautiful and carefully done packaging told me this was made by an artist, not just an engineer. I tried to use the ipod. Using the AAC format, instead of MP3, the music sounded so good, it is hard to tell the music file was compressed so much. It sounded as good as a discman or a MD. As a result I bought another 40G ipod for my wife. The key words for the ipod are: Beautiful, Fun and Enjoyable. Some reviewer commented on the difficulties of installation. I found the installation a bit longer than expected but was an easy one. The interface, created by Apple, is a bit different from what a Window user used to. I do not find it to be a problem at all. For your window computer to recognize the ipod, you need to install the softwares that comes with the ipod. For managing your music, you may want to download the new and free Windows iTune from Apple's website. It is very easy to use and works well for me. Once the software is installed, every time your ipod is connected to the computer through the firewire or USB, the new songs automatically get uploaded. The only thing I want improved is its earphone. Earphones are like speakers, the better the quality the better the sound-provided the source of music is good. This is not to say Apple's earphone is poor. I think many people find it quite ok. I just prefer a even better quality one.
Rating:
Summary: iPod: Update.
Review: Update: It went dead, probably because of a really bad power surge here, and Apple replaced it without questions in 72 hours. Nice work! My original review is appended. ****************************************************************
In what has to be the slickest execution of a new piece of hardware yet, this Apple-linked but PC-compatible product will make all portable music players obsolete in no time flat. I have been following trends in this area for a long time, and my last big MP3 player investment was in a SONICblue Jukebox. Wow, how fast things evolve! That machine, cutting edge 2 years ago, had a 6 gig hard drive and allowed only for rather slow uploading of music through its balky software interface via a USB 1.0. In addition, its organizational abilities were limited.
The iPod is about 1/10 the size of the old Jukebox, absolutely ultra high tech looking, with backlighting that awes and controls that work intuitively, and it uploads easily through a firewire or a USB 2.0 (optional) connection.
Music can be categorized and recalled quickly, with the scroll control making it all simple to access.
Sound quality is awesome, its earbuds light years ahead of anything similar. Capacity is incredible in the 40 gig model, holding 10,000 songs!(the 10 gig unit will hold 2500 songs, 15 gig unit will hold 3,700 songs, the 30 gig unit about twice that number). Battery life (6-8 hours when fully charged) is just fine. The (optional only in the 10 gig model, included with the others) cradle will recharge and synch the unit to your PC, but I bought the optional car charger for longer road trips. I also bought the FM transmitter that attaches neatly to the unit and allows you to play the iPod through your stereo sans wires, though the cassette adapter works better for that purpose.
A word about Apple's customer service: WOW! I ordered my unit on a Sunday, with the additional $19 for custom engraving on its silver back. In an hour I got an email that my order was being processed, and in 6 hours I got an email that it had shipped! The email included a tracking link, and I watched it move from Taiwan across the world in 2 days. I got it on Tuesday evening (!) and it was factory sealed/shrink wrapped and in fine condition. When I opened it (even the packaging is high tech) and took it out of its protective inner wrapper, I was delighted to find the engraving was there and was done just perfectly.
If delivering a great product and offering perfect service is to be lauded, Apple must be given the highest kudos possible.
Rating:
Summary: Simply a Great Product
Review: This is simply a great product. Easy to use, great looking, good sound, and a beautiful design. It makes you fall in love with music all over again. Also, it is good buy given the "cost per song capacity." Overall, the other players on the market just aren't as good. Don't buy a "cheaper" player without at least trying one of these.
Rating:
Summary: My iPod
Review: As a longtime Apple fan forced to live in a PC world, I was thrilled to finally get my iPod for Windows. After getting used to the design, it's a great gadget to play with. And let's face it - it's a gadget. I continually hit the 'menu' button which I think should be a 'select' button. I can't really call it an Apple flaw. I have not had the freezing up issues others have expressed. Software loaded easily. Musicmatch loaded ok too - but it's not horribly compatible if you're planning on using iTunes. Drag and drop technology would be beneficial - but these are trivial issues. The 40GB holds so much music - you are almost required to build playlists. When fully loaded - or anything over a few hundred songs, it can be cumbersome to locate individual songs. I can't always let it randomly play this or that. Wayyyyyyy to controlling for that. I have only really used my iPod when travelling. It's great for plane rides. I have yet to buy the adapter to use in the car - but when I do, I can kiss FM radio (except NPR) goodbye! I also have not yet used it while running - but hopefully there will be no issues w/this. It's an expensive investment. IMO, totally worth it for a music lover. If you don't feel the need to put as much music on it as I have, save yourself some money and go w/a lower storeage iPod.
Rating:
Summary: I Love This Player !!!!
Review: Very simple. Bought the RCA 40GB Lyra - piece of crap. Bought the iPod - WOW!! what a fantastic player. Controls are intuitive, can operate easily with one hand. Great accessory list. I have a Kenwood Excelon 869 stereo system in my truck and had considered the Kenwood Music Keg (20GB). I hooked the iPod up to my aux input's and wa-la!! For the same money, I get portability and more storage. You won't regret purchasing the iPod.
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