Rating: Summary: A godsend! Review: I'm so happy that I got myself an iPod. I've had no problems with it whatsoever. I'll admit that it's pricey, but it's also well worth it--besides being a music player, it also functions as an address/contacts book and has a place where you can store notes (anything in .txt format) AND it serves as a hard drive, so you can store whatever you like on it and transfer it onto another computer. Very nice. But back to the music part...I don't have to carry big CD wallets around with me anymore. I can listen to my favorite songs now without having to skip past the ones I don't like. I can create my own playlists and listen to stuff from a bunch of different albums without having to physically shuffle anything around. Plus it's helped me rescue several of my CD's--CD's that I was planning on throwing out because they wouldn't play properly on my CD player anymore; they were that broken in. I'd tried cleaning and fixing these CD's before, and none of that worked out. Then I got my iPod in the mail last week and thought, "Why not?" and tried putting the stuff from those CD's into it. The music didn't just play well on the iPod--it sounded much, *much* better than it would've sounded on my CD player, even if the CD's themselves were in better condition. Actually, *all* music sounds much better on an iPod than with a CD player. It's fabulous. I don't regret buying it at all. It really is a godsend.
Rating: Summary: Disappointment Review: I recently bought an iPod and I've had nothing but troubles with it. When I connect it to my PC and try to send files to it the computer reboots and file checks. Another problem that I had was when I do the commands to remove the iPod from the computer safely. The screen is stuck on "OK to disconnect". Now I know why Apple products aren't popular on the market. I'll write a review on their customer service once they get back to me on the problem.
Rating: Summary: Awesome Product Review: The Apple iPod is definitely the best mp3 player out there. The 10GB model is enough space for almost anyone to fit an entire music collection. It is also amzingly easy to use. I have a Windows PC and it even works with my computer. Don't listen to people who say you need an Apple Computer to make it work and also don't listen to people who say you need to have a firewire port installed in you Windows PC. If you buy the USB connector cord (www.apple.com) it syncs very quickly through USB on a Windows PC. Definitely a great product for all music lovers.
Rating: Summary: A little frusterating, but in the end, worth it Review: I wrote a previous review about this product before even using it, complaining about the extra expenses that came with it. I regret not using the product first, to determine whether or not the hidden expenses (sales tax ($20.00), USB 2.0 card ($30.00), and USB plug ($19.00 plus $5.00 shipping and tax), total $374). The Apple iPod, despite its setbacks in price, is an amazing little product. As soon as the USB connector cord arrived in the mail (quickly, even, I ordered late Saturday night and recieved my order the following Wednesday) I proceeded to download the software (took about 10 minutes, very easy set up), and record about 12 CDs using the MusicMatch Jukebox software that came with the iPod. This proved to be slightly frusterating...MusicMatch is not very user-friendly, and very flawed; I had to restart my computer between every 5 or so C.D.'s, and a few C.D.'s didn't record at all. Each C.D. took about 3 minutes to record. After recording the discs, I synced my iPod to MusicMatch (my computer failed to recognize the iPod, but for some reason MusicMatch did, so I had no problem) and downloaded the files; an amazingly fast process with USB 2.0. After that, I had a slight problem in that the iPod didn't remove the "Do Not Disconnect" message from the screen after the songs were downloaded. I decided to be brave, and unplug the little machine, and had no problems. As far as the iPod itself goes, I was amazed. The controls are a bit confusing at first, but it too me no time at all to become accostomed to them. The overall layout of the files is easy...from the main screen you can go to the playlists option (a list of your playlists, or mixes, of songs...you could do "Happy Songs", "Favorite Songs", "Classical Music", "Songs that Start with the Letter B", etc.), the browse menu (look at songs by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, and Composers) the Extras menu (the clock, contacts list, calender, notes and games- Solitare, Brick, and Parachute. note: although you can enter info onto the contacts list, calender, and notes from your computer, information can no be entered on the go and the iPod is absolutely no replacement for a PDA), the settings menu, the backlight button, or the "Now Playing" option if you have music going. The sound quality of the player is excellent, however, I'm not a fan of the earbuds...they're a bit too big and uncomfortable. If you really, really, really want to get the most out of your iPod, you can use it as a portable hard drive- to transfer large files from one computer to another- or to download text onto like recipies, driving directions, and maybe a short story. The touch controls make the iPod more durable-no buttons to break-but are easily pressed, so you never know when you may accidentally brush against something and stop you song, or worse, cause the volume to rise to earsplitting levels. I reccomend using the hold switch so nothing will accidentally be pressed. The only problems I have are with the batterry status indicator...its very approximate. So, in short.... Pros: Put all your CDs on one player...throw out the clunky CD case Small and portable Easy to use Doubles as a calender, address book, text displayer, and portable hard drive iTunes Music Store (Mac) lets you purchase individual songs for $.99 each Looks totally spiffy Will make friends jealous Cons: Battery life indicator is approximate MusicMatch is slightly difficult to use Scratches very easily Kinda screwy with the "Do Not Disconnect" messages EXPENSIVE
Rating: Summary: Windows users Beware!! Extra expenses galore! Review: Although iPods are fun toys, I had no idea how much money and time I'd be putting into the little machine. First off, you have to remember sales tax. In Minnesota, where tax is 6.5%, it equated out to be about 20 bucks. Ouch. To make matters worse, you need a USB 2.0 port (or Firewire, if you're a Mac user). Unless your computer is brand spankin new, its quite doubtful that you have a USB 2.0 already. Although the instruction manual says its optional, its truly not--USB 1.1 is painfully slow and totally defies the purpose of having an iPod. That's another 30 buckaroos. Finally, the iPod doesn't come with a connecter cable for USB ports, only 4 and 6 prong firewire plugs. You need to get a cable to fit into your USB 2.0 port. Another $20, plus $4 shipping and handling from apple.com. Total cost: $364, and an extremely deflated bank account. So be sure to ask yourself if its worth it before you invest!!
Rating: Summary: iPod Will make music lovers happy. Review: I got my iPod last week, just before Isabel knocked out power in our area for days. It was a life saver. Now for the technical nitty gritty. PC's can put mp4(aac)audio onto it, dbpoweramp's software with a mp4 codec will put aac audio on your ipod with the musicmatch software running (your iPod has to be opened). However if mp3 floats your boat, musicmatch will do just fine. Battery life is good contrary to what many people say about iPod. I have friends who have owned theres for over a year and it works beautifully. It's best to keep updating your software and restore it once a year. If you do restore, to keep battery life good, make sure you back up your files so you can re-install. Simply put iPod, is the easiest, and best sounding portable audio player you can buy. Save up, it will be the best money you've spent on music.
Rating: Summary: It's a wonderful little piece of equipment. Review: I just got the iPod 10GB and I'm pretty impressed so far. The unit is tiny, sounds great (better than on my computer) and interfaces suprisingly easily with Windows. This is also the first Firewire device I've used and I'm impressed with the transfer speed. The user interface on the player is unique but very intuitive, functional and simple to get used to. It doesn't crash, freeze or otherwise torment the user like some products out there. The only drawbacks include the proprietary battery system which means if the battery starts failing you need to do surgery the thing. Also, I've found the included headphones, as rich and wonderful as they sound, to be very uncomfortable, at least as earbuds go. I'm currently using my old Sony earbuds instead. Finally, some additional on-board features such as a voice recorder or FM radio tunner would be nice, but aren't too sorely missed. Definitely a product worth buying. You won't find a better MP3 player anywhere.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Product Review: I purchased the Ipod 10GB for windows. I have had no problems i use it with the Transpod in my work van and have no problems. When i rent cars or ride in some one elses i just take the unit along with me. I have a extra 5GB hard drive on my computer and store all my mp3s on that drive and my operating system on the other. I have downloaded and copyed about every Damm song i can and i only have 885 songs. This is a good product and i recommend it.transfer speeds with the firewire is lightening fast.copying your CD's using the enclosed MusicMatch program takes seconds to your Ipod. I'am curious on how the new design ipod is doing.
Rating: Summary: The single coolest device I've owned Review: The 10GB iPod is by far the coolest electronic device I've ever owned. I just switched from PC to MAC and got the iPod because I love music and thought it would be fun to try out, and since I was already buying a new computer what was another $300.00 (sarcasm)? The price is a little high and was the only thing keeping me from buying one earlier, now I wish I would not have waited! The user interface is very easy to learn and it took me about 5 minutes to get used to it. If your music is organized correctly with the correct ID3 tags then you will have no problem locating your music, and the iPod does a good job of keeping all the information easy to access. The iPod is extremely easy to connect (on my Mac at least, I have not tried it on a PC, but I would imagine if you have firewire it is pretty straight forward), just plug it in and go. After spending two days transfering all my CD's onto my hard drive I now have my entire collection on the iPod with room to spare. I take this thing with me everywhere, and not only does it have my music it also syncs with my Calendar and Address Book. I believe that this feature is only available to Mac users, although I am not sure. It has replaced my PDA however due to how incredibly easy it was to sync with everything on the Mac (although I never used my PDA seriously enough to warrant owning one, for those of you that are dependant on your PDA's it is absolutely no replacement as you can not enter data on the go). If you are putting off getting one of these due to the price, don't put it off any longer it is more than worth the money.
Rating: Summary: make sure you know what you need! Review: After some initial bumps, I now love my iPod, but there are some things I was never told....for one thing, the material states that iPod is fully compatible with Windows, however if you are running ME you MUST have a Firewire card in order to use it. I did not, I only had a USB port, but did not find out you couldn't do that until much frustration and calling Apple support. (I did, however, find Apple Care to be VERY helpful and informative). However, after I upgraded my system to XP I had no problems, other than the fact that the USB 1.0 connection is tremendously slow. But, I think if you have a USB 2.0 card and are running XP, you will be very happy with this product!!
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