Apple 20 GB iPod from HP (MP102)

Rating:
Summary: All hype, no long lasting play. Malfunctioned after 3 week
Review: I bought my Ipod Hp 20 gb only 3 weeks ago. It was brand new so I thought there would be no problems to it. Anyways, I had roughly 600 songs in my Ipod, everything seemed to be working fine until one day. While attempting to load the next song, my Ipod suddenly malfunctioned and was unable to play a song. I could hear the internal hard drive hard at work trying to load a song, but it was unable to do so. The hard drive kept trying to search and load the songs but had no success. After three hours and the hard drive searching and my attempts to fix which had no success, I call customer service and attempt to get this resolved. The customer service guy tells me I need to reset the ipod and then get it restored (thus erasing all memory). I reset the Ipod which stops the hard drive from attempting to search for music. When i followed the customer service rep's instructions to get the ipod restored, the ipod would not read on the computer. Therefore I could not get the restored and my ipod remains useless. I am now in the process of getting a replacement ipod, which would take weeks. I have no idea how the ipod malfunctioned, I cared for my ipod like a child. I never droped it, listened to it often, bought an Iskin to protect it, and still the Ipod broke before a month had passed. I recommend sticking with a cd player or getting an affordable mp3 player (or mini disk player).

Pros
Stylish
Small
Lots of songs

Cons
Extremely fragile
Expensive
Headphones deteriorate in sound
Hard drive malfunctions for no reason (like in my case)
Lasts roughly a year
Expensive to repair (w/o warrantly)
On many thieves wishlists
Headache to put songs on
Headache to contact customer service

In conclusion, nobody needs 5,000 songs (actually less because the programing takes up about .5 gigs) in their pockets. A cd player is more than enough for the average human being.




Rating:
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I found that the roller ball is difficult to use. Also was not impressed with the instructions for downloading music and can only use ITunes. The Ipod is not as user friendly as I had hoped.

Rating:
Summary: DON'T Buy the HP iPod If You Have a Mac!
Review: I got the HP iPod as a gift, and even after three days of playing with it I still haven't figured out how to transfer songs from my iMac to the iPod. This one comes with instructions for Windows users, but not for those who have Macs. The Apple website has instructions for those with the regular Apple version of iPod, but nothing on what to do if you have this version and are trying to use it with a Mac. Additionally, Apple tech support won't help (because I have the HP version) and HP tech support won't help (because I have a Mac). Everything seems to agree that this iPod theoretically *should* work with my computer, but you're very much left to your own resources to figure out how to make it happen. Mac owners should save themselves the headache and avoid the HP iPod.

Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone
Review: I have had 2 ipods and ive loved both of them. There really hasnt been much to complain about. The only real reason that I gave it 4 instead of 5 is the non-user reaplacable battery. See li-ion batteries only last for so many charges before they go dead. This means youll either have to take it to your nearest apple store or send it to apple directly, oh and $90 bucks also. But see I gave it 4 because it doesnt last for just 6 months it can last for 8 years if you use it for around 1 charge every 2 days. This means that if your a person who listens to music 24-7 dont get an ipod

Rating:
Summary: love this ipod
Review: I never really cared about the ipod until a sept.04 when I saw my cousin's ipod. I instantly fell in love. I bought the HP version because of the discounts available. It's a beautiful, elegant, and sophisticated piece. Itunes makes it extremely easy to take all your CDs and convert them into many different formats. The itunes music store is just as easy to purchase music. Hooking ipod to the computer is easy, everything is automatically sync'd. After buying this, I bought a firewire card online (~$7, but I needed to tweak my registry, for those who don't want the hassle, go with BELKIN's firewire card)so I can take advantage of the speeds (I have a PC, and no firewire/usb2 ports). I also recently bought a sleeve so I can protect my precious in the event of transport (check out foofpod.com). After buying this ipod, and seeing how EASY everything was to get started, setup, etc, I can never go back to regular PC :-(

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: if you are looking for a mp3 player get an ipod. they are by far the best. the only thing is the battery does not last 12 hours. it would if you played it straight through but if you do not use it the battery discharges.

Rating:
Summary: Flawless
Review: One of the best devices ever built. Period. This thing organizes music by artist, album, and genre which is excellent. If I did that on my own it would probably take me hours on end to do. Amazing. A must have for anyone who enjoys music and has a large collection.

Rating:
Summary: 20 gb iPOD
Review: The iPod+HP 20 GB is identical to the Apple version that's sold. It includes both a Firewire and a USB cable for sync.

The iTunes software requires two updates (as of December 25, 2004) to get full functionality. The software conflicts with Roxio's music software. So, if yo uwant iTunes to recognized your CD drivers - you'll need to exit all the Roxio software as well as any other digital music utilities. Make sure to run the CD drive tests. For some odd reason, my CD-ROM driver isn't recognized by the iPod, but my DVD drive is.

After that, it's simplicity itself. Just insert the CDs, and the iPod picks it up as a music source and automatically adds the tracks to your library. The system looks to an external CD Database to pull the track information, so make sure to verify that the way it identifies your tracks is correct. Older CDs and import CDs can be a challenge - and the database recognition isn't the fastest I've seen.

Personally, I don't care for the earbuds. The sound quality is excellent and they are quite stylish. I prefer noise cancelling headsets for travel, so I'll pick up another unit. My Aiwa headset has been seized by my better half for use with his portable DVD player.

Use of the iPod is gorgeously simply. The click wheel is one of the best industrial design elements I've ever seen. It's virtually impossible to not "get" the iPod in about a minute.

I don't care about the PIM functions; I have a Blackberry for that. I don't care about the games. I'd rather be able to delete the superfluous functions and gain more drive space! :-)

When I imported my library of MP3s (ripped from my own CDs, thanks for asking) I did convert them to Apple's AAC format. I was able to use third-party software that supports AAC as well without any difficulty. I haven't tried purchasing music online from third party sources, but I understand that might be a bigger challenge.

I previously used an iRiver 256 MB solid state player, so the weight of the iPod was a surprise. Unlike the iRiver, I don't think I'll wear the iPod around my neck. The form factor is very nice, just slightly larger than a typical 2.5" hard drive for a laptop computer.

The screen's visibility is excellent. Just hold down the "menu" button on the click wheel and it backlights. Hold it again, and the backlight turns off. Hold down the "pause/stop" function, and the unit powers off.

It is a delightful christmas gift and I recommend it very highly.

Rating:
Summary: The Apple iPod, what more can I say........
Review: When I bought the 20GB iPod on my birthday, (this one was the 3rd generation, which I like better than the new 4th generation because of the softer, sleeker and more stylish wheel) it had the docking station, the little "remote control", the earphones (the salesman told me to not use those earphones outside in case people distinguish the white colour as an iPod and steal it; It has been done), the whole nine yards, so I was quite lucky.
It can store thousands of songs, whether mp3 or CDs, and it can import the songs using iTunes, (like Windows Media Player or Real Player), and also store many digital picture, or so I've heard.
The chrome behind is so shiny you can call it a mirror. But it not just the looks that go with this exquisite piece of machinery. There are many things you can buy (accessories) for the iPod. Like a case, (including leather), or the split where you can have two head/earphones, instead of one.
It organizes itself so well. Not only music is put in, but you can choose the music from just the album, the artist(s), the genre (yes it does it all by itself, though you can change it all), and the way it is played can be altered by making it seem like a different genre, by louder lyrics, bigger bass, echoing, make it Piano style, R'n'B style, Acoustic style, Hip-Hop style, Rock style, Pop style, and so forth. There also 3 games, which are all fun, especially the music quiz. From all of your play lists, there is a part of a song played, (it is chosen at random by the iPod), and you have to choose in approximately 5 seconds the name of the track being played. The catch? There are 4 answers and 1 of them is right, but sometimes, they put another song of the same artist for a bit of confusion unless you know the artist's songs inside out. All in all, there are a lot of extras and settings you can play around with. Try to get the iPods with big storage, and I don't mean 50-200 tracks like smaller iPods and many other mp3 players. Get ones with capacities of thousands of tracks; they are well worth the money.
And for all those who are skeptical about "free mp3s", Apple have a website(s) for iPods buyers to download tracks, (which may cost a bit, but would you want an attachment with your "free" download or even worse.)
In addition, it is not very heavy for a thousand and over storage of tracks and pictures, and with many things to do other than listening to music; it is a must-have!
It may be an expensive little gadget, but it is worth all the money you have saved for it.