Ok guys I think im ready to buy an Ipod with my UT discount. But before i do so, has anyone run into any problems with ipods yet? I've heard a lot about the battery problem but is that solved now? Plus, anyone here have the 4th gen Ipods, and if so, what are your opinions?
Im getting the new 20gig for $269....Not much but it's still a saving Here's the Apple education link: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/routingpage.html Find your school and you should get discounts on certain items. They're probably the same discounts througout the U.S. as they are for UT
"Solved" is a relative term. All LiIon batteries start losing their ability to hold charge after a couple hundred cycles. http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm Apple has gotten more generous about their policies. Replacement of the battery by Apple is now less than $100, or less than $40 (http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Page.cfm?Parent=1225&Title=1Template=1) if you are the DIY type.
that's a good deal on the Ipod...i think it's better looking too, and although i don't have one, i hear the software is better than what i have with the Dell.
My co-worker got a 4th gen Ipod and he's exchanging it for a 3rd gen because the buttons for the select, menu, pause, etc were too "clicky". It sounded like a mechanical pencil. Showed him mine and he like the touch sensitive buttons better. Also I don't like the gray wheel color. I love my 3rd gen Ipod, use it everyday. Best purchase I've made in a while.
But the 4th gen has a HUGE increase in battery life! I think thats more important than "click" buttons but thats just me
I had a 2nd gen iPod that I sold for pretty good money on eBay, and bought a 40 gig 4th gen from Amazon (not too bad at $399 plus a $50 Amazon GC). I hated the 3rd gen's touch sensitive buttons (too easy to brush by accident, no tactile feedback) that weren't around the wheel like every other iPod.
Um, you know, you can turn off the sound of the little touchpad wheel where you don't get that 'clicky' sound, right? BTW, I'm PISSED! I just bought an iPod at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and now you're telling me I can get one for $269 instead of $299 plus tax?
30gb ver: $208 shipped to your front door http://www.gameve.com/ The Zen sounds great as well--once you ditch the chintzy earbud headphones included with the package. Creative's EAX audio processing lets you apply a number of effects to your music, including custom and preset equalizer settings. Creative made a couple changes to the side-mounted controls found on the original Nomad Zen. On the positive side, it added a helpful back button; unfortunately, Creative also replaced the original Zen's scroll wheel with a jog dial that's a lot harder to use. Pushing the jog dial in to select something is particularly unreliable, to the point where you almost always need to consult the Xtra's bright, seven-line LCD display to figure out what you're doing. Though the included carrying case leaves the side-mounted controls accessible, it covers the LCD display. That would be fine if the jog dial control were easier to use. To see what you're doing as you scroll through tracks on a playlist, you have to flip the case open as if you were flashing an FBI badge. A clear, plastic window on the case would have been a nice addition. If you don't mind its above-average size, the Zen Xtra offers an outstanding playlist interface
I've triend the Zen, the Iriver, and the IPod. The Zen NX's had one of the better nav menus (IPods was easier, but didn't pack as much features). It let you create your own playlists and move songs around very easily. The problems were that it was very wide/heavy and the jog wheel sucked. I've heard some interesting things about the Zen touch, but I found out they dumbed down the menu system; trying to make it more like an Ipod. If they use a firmware upgrade to bring back the old menu system it may be the better choice (even though it's a little thicker/heavier). The Iriver h120 is pretty good. It has more features than all of them combined (mic, inline recording, plays several formats, awesome remote, and great potential with firmware). The big draw back is the menu system, it just plan sucks. Also I would have kept my Iriver if they actually kept their promises with firmware upgrades, but they fail in that part as well. Ipod... the best. It doesn't have as many features as the rest, but I just want something that plays music and is small. It acomplishes both. Also the best menu/scroll design out there. I bought my 40gig Ipod (refurbished) from the IPod store for 320 (no shipping). Here's a site I found a while back. http://www.playerblog.com/ (new Rio Chroma (color) sounds cool too)
Yep I know about the sound option, but when you actually pressed the buttons (menu, pause, etc, not the wheel) on his ipod, it felt like cheap plastic.
Great. Thanks guys... No really. After reading this thread, I decided I wanted an MP3 player to replace the crappy 128MB Rio player I bought for $300 over 4 years ago. I'm about to buy a 30GB MP3 Player with FM Tuner ( Juke Jam - PDP 601 ). Anyone got a review on this? I'm finding a great deal online for it and I want to buy it. But nary a review on the web. I've got my credit card number typed in, just waiting to hit submit. Any comments before I make the purchase?
Well, I went ahead and bought the mp3 player I discussed in my earlier post. Here are the specs: FEATURES- Polaroid Portable MP3/WMA/FM Radio Juke Box Player- 30GB Juke Jam is a new digital combination of MP3/WMA, FM radio player with direct MP3 encoding, eliminating the need for additional conversion software! Juke Jam features an easy to use file navigation system, with the ability to define your own music library and play list. Music Match Jukebox software provides easy album management. With a large hard drive to store thousands of songs, and then stick it in your pocket and go jam! Includes MP3 Player, High fidelity stereo earphones, Instruction and operating manual, Carrying case, USB Cable, AC Adapter and Installation/MusicMatch disk. MP3, WMA (supporting DRM) decoding format MP3 encoding (64, 128 bps) format Jukebox capacity stores thousands of songs ID3 tags display song title, artist name, album, elapsed time Direct MP3 encoding - voice, music, radio! FM tuner with 10 preset channels FM live record Highly sensitive external voice recording including line-in Five preset EQ options Date, time and sleep timer functions Large backlit LCD display 42 x 61 mm Easy to use file navigation User-defined music library and play list playback 16MB anti-shock buffer Rechargeable via AC adapter Passive line control Bundled Music Management software (upload/download data, album management) and MusicMatch. Simulated stereo sound effects RTC embedded Rapid download speed via USB 2.0 Firmware upgradeable via USB port English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese playability -- SPECIFICATIONs -------------------------- Memory : 30GB Signal-to-noise-ratio: 90 dB Frequency Response : 20Hz ~ 20kHz REQUIRES- Pentium 233 MHz or better 1 GB Hard Disc or higher (4 GB recommended) 64 MB DRAM or better USB Port Monitor Resolution: 1024 x 768, 16 Bit Color or Better CD-ROM drive to install software Windows 98/98 SE/ME/2000 Pro or MacOS (ver. 9.04 or later) POWER- (1) rechargeable 1400 mA-hr Li battery SIZE - 117 x 75 x 29 mm WT.- 250 grams w/o battery
