Rating: 
Summary: Did not work reliably with Thinkpad and WinXP
Review: Pros: Lots of capacity and a very slick UI.
Cons: Does not work reliably with the IBM Thinkpad and WinXP. The unit would freeze up anytime I tried adding new music. I would constantly have to reformat the iPod and install everything from scratch. What a pain! I had to return it. Wait for the next version. The iPod is a terrific idea, but the implementation comes up short.
Rating: 
Summary: best MP3 player available
Review: The 20GB iPod is truly a wonder of design. It is tiny, lightweight, gets great battery life, and has a fantastic ergonomic design.Syncing MP3s is very fast. If you've ever transferred MP3s to a USB MP3 player, such as the Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox, you know what I mean when I say that doing so is painful. With a Nomad Jukebox, I would set it to sync before I went to bed. With my iPod, I let it sync while I'm having a quick lunch. It's so much faster! My primary reason for loving the iPod is that it is so portable. It is smaller and lighter than any other MP3 jukebox available. I always get at least nine hours of battery life out of it, and usually ten or more. I use it when I ride the train to work. It's perfect for flying across the country or around the world. Ten hours of battery life covers all but the longest of flights. There are two downfalls of the iPod, which prevent me from giving it five stars. The first is a software issue. Apple sends you MusicMatch for use with a Windows iPod, which has a horrible user interface and is very slow. For encoding MP3s, I use Exact Audio Copy and LAME, resulting in better MP3s. For transferring the MP3s to the iPod, I use EphPod. All of these are freeware. The end result is much faster downloading to my iPod. The second problem with this device is its price. The Nomad Jukebox, which also is 20GB, is currently significantly less expensive than the iPod. However, I think that the size, weight, and battery life of the iPod make its increased price worthwhile. If you have a smaller budget and don't mind some drawbacks (larger, heavier, significantly lower battery life, slower to transfer), consider the Nomad Jukebox instead. If you can afford it, though, I highly recommend the iPod.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the best product I ever bought
Review: Regardless of whether you have PC or a Mac, this is the best MP3 player out there. Period. I have over 1000 songs on my ipod and I've had it for over 8 months and I still use it everyday. Trust me, I could go on and on- this is an amazing little machine!
Rating: 
Summary: Can't queue music with iPod
Review: I bought an iPod yesterday and will be returning it today. I could have lived with all of user interface problems with Music Match jukebox but one thing was a showstopper for me. You can't queue up music in the iPod itself. It expects you to make playlists using the MMJB software and then transfer them to the unit. I don't know about all the other iPod users, but I prefer to look at what music I have on my MP3 player, and then queue it up whatever way I want for what I feel like listening to at the moment. My old and clunky Nomad Jukebox (first version) lets me do this and I couldn't imagine having a MP3 player without it. Apple keeps releasing software updates with video games, contact databases, and calendars rather than working on improving the MP3 player capabilities. I think this is something to think about since this unit is a MP3 player and not a Palm Pilot.
Rating:
Summary: Do not even consider it!
Review: I bought an Apple iPod 20G (Win) for my girl-friend for Christmas. She has an IBM T30 with WinXP so I also needed to buy her a Firewire card. Since her laptop is probably one of the most standard laptops on the market, it didn't occur to me that it might not work. First, I bought a Firewire card from Tekram which I had heard was selling the best Firewire cards on the market. After wasting an awful amount of time trying to get this card to communicate with the iPod we had to return it.
Then we ordered the Siig Firewire CardBus that IBM.com are selling from their ThinkPad accessories page. However, not even with this card were we able to connect her T30 to her iPod, and we had to return this card too.
As a last attempt we ordered Unibrain's FireCard400 that Apple is selling in its own online store. To make sure it would be able to communicate with the iPod we also ordered a repeater with extra power supply. The result was the same. It has not been possible to get any support or help whatsoever from Apple. Since they obviously can not guarantee that it their products readily work with a high quality laptop, I strongly recommend all Windows users to not even consider buying an iPod.
Rating:
Summary: iPod GREAT, but only as good as the software
Review: I got my iPod for Windows for Christmas and have been using it almost nonstop ever since. I have loaded more than 700 songs with lots of room for more. It's organization of songs/artists/genres is logical and easy to use with its simple wheel and button interface. Really slick. It even looks good! Unfortunately, Apple has chosen MusicMatch Jukebox for the "Winpod" interface. This software in no way measures up to the high standard of the hardware. After doing battle with MMJB for several days, I finally got totally frustrated with this clunky, awkward program and went looking for alternatives on the web. I downloaded Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and LAME to do my CD ripping and encoding and then set up Ephpod as my iPod interface. All are free for Windows. They take a little time to get used to, mainly because the are so loaded with options, but they all work together seamlessly and the result has been great music. Apple should do the right thing and get rid of MMJB as the default program for iPod. This terrific machine deserves better.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: When i first recieved this product, i thought it would be just one of the normal mp3 players. Boy! I was wrong. The ipod holds up to 4,000 songs! Plus, it has a phone book, a calender, and a game (this game can be refered to as "ping.") This mp3 player is so small and elegant it is perfect for anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Tried many, this is the one
Review: Listen up..I have owned the Creative Nomad 20g, an Archos 10G, and the Rio 5000. I took them all back due to various issues such as User interface, software errors (I am a software developer and know an error when I see one), shoddy construction etc. I eventually decided that I would try the iPod even though it costs a lot more. Well folks, its worth every cent-the interface is great, the quality of construction is superb, and the ease of use, is well enough to make me go and try a Mac after 23 years with Intel PC and Dr. Bill's OS, re-boot is the fix. If a Mac is anything like the iPod, have I ever missed the boat.
Rating:
Summary: Head & Shoulders Above the Rest
Review: As a "MacAddict", in my opinion the iPod is undoubtedly the best of it's kind. j.nomograms
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Easy
Review: I did lots of investigation before I bought my IPod. It really is the best. I am using the Adaptec cardbus firewire card and it works just fine. I bought the sports carrying case for my IPod and that helps to keep all of the little parts together. It's also great for travel. Long trips are no problem the battery really lasts! I agree with everyone else in that the music match software doesn't stand up to the quality of the IPod. I've accidentally wiped out the contents of my IPod twice. Transfer speed is not as fast as they tell you it will be on the Apple website, especially if you are using any of the advanced functions like Volume Leveling. That took my download time from 15-20 minutes to 1-2 hours. Using the IPOD as a PDA isn't so handy. Getting the contact to the IPOD in V-card format from outlook is a real pain. We have two of these little babies in our family, and we'd buy another one!
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