Rating: 
Summary: Chere, but dear
Review: Apple takes your money out-the-wazoo, but in this case, it's well worth it. I honestly don't see a point in paying [a lot of money]for a 64MB or 128MB mp3 player, when one could go all-out and own the best on the market, with well-over enough space to hold hours upon hours upon hours...of music. This simply is the best available, and although I'm not a Mac user (just because theirs are the fastest, most reliable, and most user-friendly does not make the computers better than Windows-based PCs!) I must say that this is a beautiful, simple, fun machine to use, with easy controls and menus through which to scroll. It's easy. But the main fact that sold me was not the ease of using it, but the storage capacity... 20GB. That's twice the amount my current PC hardrive has got, giving me the ability to carry every song in my library with me, wherever I go. However, although not bad, the software that comes with the Windows iPod is a bit cumbersome, not bad, just could be a bit better, but this being a review for the iPod itself, no points were docked, nor do any deserve to be. The iPod is the music-lover's dream-come-true.
Rating:
Summary: Best Portable 20gb Mp3 player currently available
Review: Ipod may not be the best value (Nomad Zen would probably win that battle), but it is the best player overall. Sound, user interface, ease of downloading (with the proper application) are all awesome. I am by no means a computer expert, but by using the forums at ipodlounge and media jukebox, I have an ipod that is working flawessly with little effort on my part. Some hopefully useful suggestions:Use EAC/LAME to rip and encode. It's free, and is the best ripper/encoder combo available. You can easily download it and set it up by going to Chrismyden.com, scroll down to "The Quintessentil Guide to Creating High Quality MP3's" and click on "read article". I bought an IOflex fire wire card with both USB 2 and firewire connections. It uses an empty floppy slot in my 'puter, so it comes out the front of my computer. Very convienent, works great. Use Media jukebox or Media Center 9 (same company, but Media center also allows for video and picture file management)for your file management. Download the ipod plugin for synching. It's faster and much easier to use than mmjb. You can create all sorts of playlists extremely easily--and smartlists, where all you do is enter a paramter (like all your music rated with a five for example) and presto--you have a playlist. Synching is a breeze with the ipod plugin. You can also use MJ to rip/encode, burn and label cds, manage picture files. You can trial it for free; it costs 30 to 40 dollars depending on which version you buy. Two wonderful resources for the ipod are the websites "Ipodlounge" and the "Media Jukebox" forums (look specifically for the ipod topics in the media jukebox forums). Any question you have has probably already been answered there; if not, post your question and you will get very good help by the forum regulars. If I can get the ipod to work easily and well, anyone can!
Rating:
Summary: The MP3 Player that only Apple could make!
Review: As a long time PC/Windows user, I've always been impressed with Apple's equipment, but also always at a distance. After purchasing my new iPod, I'm wondering why I don't have more equipment from them. This product is one of the first I've purchased in some time that delivers exactly on its promises, worked immediately out of the box as expected, and was just too fun and easy to use. In fact, it took longer to install the FireWire card on my PC, then it did to install, configure and start loading songs onto my iPod. I'm sure you can read the features this iPod offers elsewhere, but let me tell you that all of those features are indeed included and this device performs extremely well and plays songs as well or better than any other device I've owned. In fact, if you're anything like me, once you start using an iPod, you'll wonder what you did before. Playing music from CDs, even my personal mixes, now seems so antiquated. Assuming you decide to purchase this, here are a few tips: 1) consider the 40GB model. Now that I have this, I wonder if more might be even better (I'm nowhere near my 20GB limit, but more is always better, right?!), 2) consider adding an auto power kit for recharging from the lighter for long trips, and 3) very seriously consider getting the FM transmitter to play iPod tunes over any FM radio (Belkin makes a great model for about $30). After that, the hardest decision is which songs to load up and play first. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Ipod is awesome- MusicMatch isn't
Review: After installing the software that comes with the 20G Win-Ipod...I ripped 300+ CD's and tried to syncronize with my PC (Compaq 1.4G P4 with 1G of RAM running XP pro, FYI). No dice. Took three different firewire cards before I found one that works. Belkin, BTW. Even after various emails (48 hours for a reply) with MusicMatch support team, and deleting Easy CD Creator and some other software, it takes 12-14 hours to syncronize! Glad Firewire is so fast! I finally bought XPlay and can syncronize in 15 mins. Once that was dealt with, I've found the Ipod to be awesome. Easy to use, 10 hours on a battery charge, it's worth every penny. If you are afraid to experiment with your system, line up a freind who is tech-freindly...you'll need him/her.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic mp3 player. Perfect for xmas stockings!
Review: I own an HP Pavilion, and for the past three years I was getting along okay with a Rio mp3 player that I got at Circuit City. When the iPods first came out, I thought they looked stylish but obviously they weren't made for Windows. But then the Windows iPod came out, it got great reviews in all the PC mags, and let's face it -- my Rio was getting pretty old. So I made the jump.
All I have to say is, the iPod is amazing! From the pictures, you think it's the size of a clunky walkman, but it is literally the size of a pack of cards, or a pack of cigarettes. The thing is tiny! Easily fits in a back pocket or clipped onto a belt when you're at the gym. The firewire connection makes importing songs very quick (compared to USB), and also charges the battery automatically. Very easy to use, way better than the other mp3 units I looked at, and literally gigabytes of space. Since my CD collection isn't super huge, I was able to fill up my iPod and still have space left over to transport files to and from work. I gotta say, if Apple's computers are as fun to use as this thing, I may just have to switch to Mac next time around.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the money, but room for improvement.
Review: I have had my iPod for Windows for about 2 weeks now and I must say I am impressed. The unit is sleek, intuitive, lightweight, and I have had NO problems using it when jogging. In fact, it's so unnoticeable that I'm afraid I might lose it one day. The web based support is (so far) very helpful (I couldn't get the remote to work at first, so I went on line and quickly learned that you really need to push the connection in FIRMLY in order to get it to click and then it works fine). On the down side, I agree with most other people that MusicMatch is a joke. I wish I could figure out why MusicMatch was picked over a host of alternatives. It is just plain awful. After playing around with it by trial and error (the instructions were most unhelpful), I was finally lucky enough to come upon ephpod and lo and behold, I can now use the iPod as it was meant to be used. Also, and this is key, you simply must download Exact Audio Copy and the LAME mp3 encoder for the most reliable music transfers possible. This is not free advertising! I sincerely think this (free) software is indispensible. I have now transferred both popular and classical music and the quality is superb. Do yourself a favor and forego the MusicMatch program. You'll save yourself alot of headaches! Also, although the ear buds are OK for popular music, I wouldn't recommend them for classical music. But otherwise, this was money well spent. I'm thinking of getting a second one when I fill up my 20 gigs, which won't be long from now! To address some complaints I have read at this website: When you chose the "hold" key, a little lock appears in the window to let you know that you cannot make any changes in settings. As for fingerprints, they wipe off easily with a soft cloth. The remote is small so it is possible to accidently fast forward to the next song unintentionally, but who wants a cumbersome remote? You adjust to how it must be handled quite easily. The leather carrying case is great and I feel that it is well protected when placed inside it. The only downside to this unit is the MusicMatch program. Hopefully Apple will change this soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Disadvantages of the Apple ipod...
Review: I will make this short..yes, it is user friendly and simplified compared to other mp3 players. BUT it is almost TOO simplified. here are some of the things it lacks.
- No Line In jack for recording
- No USB capability (except for the new version, but that requires you to buy and adaptor
- Cannot drag and drop files like you can on the Archos Jukebox 20Gb (requires Matchbox to modify files on player)
- a bit pricey compared to other mp3 players
- It's Apple, enough said..
- only can create playlists through Matchbox
- since it is firewire and most people dont have firewire cards you much purchase one, but not only that if you ever want to use it as a portable swap drive to share files, the other computer would need the card too.
Rating:
Summary: iPOD Dreams
Review: I just recieved my iPOD today, and think its amazing. It is small compact and easy to navigate. The only "bad" things about it is that it picks up fingerprints in a heartbeat, but other than that it is pure perfection.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Friend Money Can Buy!
Review: Watched my friends play with their Ipods for the last couple years, never caught the bug. Finally bought one. WOW! Scary how obsessed you can get about an device. It ROCKS!
First off: I like the older design better then the "new" one.
Apparently so do a lot of folks (according to various web pages comments section). The only negative is the Music Match software. It seems intrusive. Found a better program online: EphPod. Much simpler to sync and edit with. Do a Google search and you'll find it for FREE ;-)
Also, now you can find a replacement battery for the Ipod for about $... bucks(for a while there, if the battery died on you the replacement was only avalible from Apple and cost almost as much as a new Ipod).
VERY HAPPY WITH IT. Absurdly so. Annoying really ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Ipod is awesome!
Review: I did quite a bit of research before purchasing the 20 Gig Ipod from Amazon. Set up using the firewire connection was a breeze. The transfer speed is amazing. I myself like the musicmatch software, it has worked great for me. I have loaded all of my MP3's and ripped all of my CD's that I wanted onto the IPOD and I have used under 5 gigs. The storage capacity is incredible. I have gotten attachments for the Ipod to work in the car and with my home stereo. Both work great. I would highly recommend this mp3 player to anyone in the market for one.
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