iPod: Controlling the market with an iron fist and white scroll wheel
Written: Aug 04 '04 (Updated Aug 05 '04)
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Pros: Sound Quality, Speed of Transfer, Sleek and Sexy Style
Cons: Pricey, poor battery life, mediocre ear buds, and no case
The Bottom Line: Good quality mp3 package that is beaten by supreme players like Dell.
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| joe-uncool's Full Review: Apple iPod 3rd Generation White (20 GB) MP3 Player |
The iPod was my first heavy duty mp3 player I have ever bought. I quickly bought the iPod following the trend, now I regret the choice because there are other products with better statistics out there. But I will supply the information, and you make the choice.
Style and Durability: 4/5
With a beautiful dove white front and flashy chrome backside the iPod is one of the hippest mp3 players on the market. A perfectly crafted wheel in the center of the tool yields an elegant curve that would appease any eye. While the iPod is constructed in a way that makes it an aesthetic, it has some problems with the engineering. After a few days of owning the beauty, I noticed that the fire wire port protector was falling off. No big deal I just ripped the remains off they made sure nothing got stuck in the port. Another flaw was with the screen and backing. They both seem to get scratched easily when put in a backpack or other areas of the sort. This was a minor concern until I bought a condom like case which protected the 2-inch screen from any further damage. As of right now the minor scratches are still their, which makes me angry, but all is well in the design aspect. The size of this component is also very remarkable because you can actually forget that it is in your pocket. Not as small as the memory stick of the small 256 MB players, but a notable amount smaller than the Dell Digital Jukebox.
Ease of Use (Design): 5/5
With no side buttons on this unit the iPod keeps the central controls on the front. The design on the front of the iPod is very user-friendly. With four small circular buttons and a large navigation wheel, Apple has stripped the controls down to the bare essentials. This gives the iPod and clean look and does not clutter your hands when trying to operate it. The four circular touch-sensitive buttons are accompanied b symbols meaning “skip back”, “menu”, “play/pause”, and “skip forward”. To save space on the front of the iPod the engineers made the “play/pause” button a double for the power button. One main difference between the iPod and all of its competitors is the navigation wheel. This wheel allows for quick surfing through all your music files. This quick and easy way to sift through music files is one of the best features on the iPod. My two major tests were when I listen to music the most, in the car and in the dark. The iPod performed very well in both scenarios. I sat in my car with the unit in my pocket and used the included remote to control my play list and the volume from the small yet handy remote. The dark was just as impressing. With the four main playback buttons light up in a neon orange/red light they were easy to see and use. The grey-scale LCD screen was not as impressive as the bluish-green of the Dell Digital Jukebox or some of the Rio mp3 players my friends own. Unfortunately also the navigation wheel wasn’t lit up, but that is not a big deal and my be a plus for some people.
Speed of Transferred Music: 5/5
The iPod is accompanied with a Firewire cord that needs a particular port that some people do not have on their computer. This can cause some trouble for those that do not have an IEEE-1394 Firewire port. This port looks like a deep “U”, not like the rectangle your USB port, and could either be in the front or the back of your computer. There are two solutions to this problem either go out and purchase this port to put in your machine, (not a big hassle), or get a USB 2.0 to Firewire adapter. For all you computer nerds like me who have put in RAM, Video cards, and even thought about building your computer, you will definitely just want to snag a port at Best Buy or your local computer shop. Also of you are thinking of buying a digital camera in the future, many digital video cameras use a Firewire port because of the extremely fast transfer rates. For those that don’t want to shell out some cold hard cash, head on over to Radio Shack and look for a USB 2.0 or 1.1 adapter that will accept a male Firewire component. Either of these options will leave you well on your path to your new mass music collection. I am rambling on about this Firewire port because the speeds of transfer through a Firewire is quicker than a USB connection. I have transferred mass amount of albums over dinner and then cranked out the jams for an after dinner rock out session. When compared with products using USB 1.1 or 2.0 there is a significant difference in transfer and I wanted to make a point of this feature.
Sound of Transferred Music: 5/5
The sound quality of iPod is what draw me to the unit. For such a compact size mp3 player it had quite a booming sound. Whether listening to the thrashing vocals of a Lostprophets or the booming bass of a trance song the iPod gives the track a nice full sound that will accent an artist from Beethoven to Beck, or Mozart to Mindless Self-Indulgence. With a rich and elegant sound quality the iPod blows away most of the competition in this category. Using a combination of headphones and speakers let me determine the supreme sound quality of this unit, but what do you expect from a multimedia based company. One way to get the best sound quality out your iPod is to increase the bitrate whilst downloading or ripping off an album. Since an album is the record is what you are ripping from the quality can’t be any than that, but the iPod minimizes the loss in quality. A great sound emanates from this small component and this is again one of great features.
Size and Navigation: 4/5
At 20 gigabytes this iPod is one of the larger mp3 players on the market. With this size the unit can hold about 5000 songs. The cool thing about the iPod is that with this size it can be used as a transfer drive for documents to big for a floppy, but not worth a cd. Sifting through 5000 songs by 300 bands would be no small undertaking for any navigation firmware company. The firmware on the iPod is perfect, for the high capacity music connoisseur. Being able to search for album, artist, track, or genre leaves no vagueness that was common in other mp3 players. Now that iPod has made so much progress with the firmware and it is an easy and organized way to store music other companies like Dell have taken the idea. The simple firmware has the title of every destination in short and concise words that could be understood by an eight year old. In a matter of seconds and several keystrokes the whole Rage Against the Machine collection is open and you are scrolling from Ashes in the Fall to Year of the Boomerang, something unheard of in the mp3 world early on. All in all the navigation of this device is remarkably simple and the size is quite nice for an up and coming music aficionado.
Battery Life: 2/5
One of the major let downs with the sleek iPod is its sub-mediocre battery life. When first using this unit I had just followed the trend of my friends and bought an iPod for its hip style and its massive capacity. With a battery that loses its charge at about 8 hours, the iPod has the worst battery life of any mp3 player or portable audio system I have owned. The inadequate battery actually last less than the advertised when using accessories like backlight, and other activities like games. I have also heard horror stories of people listening to their music and then just having the iPod die and not accept a charge. This is a rare situation, but no one wants to chance it with the replacement costing 99 clams. Fortunately with the Apple Extra-Care warranty the replacement is free, so that is a definite for this unit’s measly battery.
Bundled Accessories and Software: 3/5
Accessories:
Headphones: The iPod comes with a set of ear buds that not exactly the greatest. To be honest I am not a fan of ear buds whatsoever. So for me the purchase of head phones was a definite choice. Even though I don’t care for the ear buds it was still nice for Apple to include then in the package, but to accentuate the supreme sound of the iPod a nice set of rich headphones is a good decision.
Remote: The remote is a nice feature for this unit. It allows you to roam your iPod without taking it out of you pocket. By plugging it into the headphone jack you are allowed to play/pause or skip the track. There is also a volume switch so when in the car just plug in the remote and you can surf your playlist without even touching the iPod.
Case: Oh wait, there is no case included. Sorry for getting your hopes up. Truly, I was disappointed when I opened the box and their was no case. “What no case?”, a preposterous thought that should never cross an mp3 owners mind. Oh well Apple may be able to redeem themselves with the fourth generation iPod.
Power Adapter: The only needed accessory here is the power adapter. It is critical for keeping the low battery on the component charged and ready to go at all time. Lacking the ground prong on the plug, it can be plugged into any kind of outlet for use. The power adapter has a nice white coat of paint on it to look good with the iPod. A little chunky looking on the wall because the adapter only has a cord out and is directly connected to the outlet, unlike the Dell Digital Jukebox.
Software:
iTunes: Probably this ranks with iMovie as the best software that Mac has made for their consumers. Its ripping speeds and brilliant organization are user-friendly and will never cease to amaze me. I could write a whole review on iTunes so I will save that for another time. The ability to rip, organize, tag, burn, manage, and make playlists for parties is just simply amazing. It definitely surpasses Dell’s Musicmatch Jukebox with is simplistic user-friendly style and compatibility with your current system.
** I even use iTunes sometimes to rip, organize, and tag for my Dell Digital Jukebox.
iPod Manager: I must truly tell you I never used this software for my iPod. It basically just organizes your iPod. Since it is not worth your or my time I will not go any farther about explaining it.
Price: 3/5
At a whopping $350 dollars this unit is overpriced and one winds up buying the brand name and style along with its sheer capability. I have bought portable audio systems that range from $50 all the way to this one at $350. I felt ripped off and stupid for shelling out my hard-earned cash for this. It is definitely worth $250 or even $275, but not $350! Even my loving mother questioned my purchase. Me being the thick headed consumer I was nabbed it of the shelf and purchased it with pride. This is another one of my large complaints about the iPod. Oh well at least it was $500 for me like it was for some!
Customer Service: 4/5
One thing I really like about iPod is their customer service. If something is wrong and you have the warranty they will either service your iPod or get you a new one immediately. The Apple warranty was copied by Dell and other high end mp3 player companies. Unfortunately those who either don’t have the warranty or broke you iPod in a stupid fashion the customer service will not be free, but rather quite expensive. For the money of fixing the iPod some would rather just buy a new one, but I am glad I bought the warranty because I cashed in on it a couple weeks ago when the screen was faulty and was scrambling some pixels. Another thing that I am not ecstatic about is the “middle-man”. Instead of shipping it to Apple, they have you go to where you bought your unit and talk to them. Now for me I would rather mail it to Apple than take the thirty minute drive to Best Buy. But otherwise the tech support and the warranties are excellent on this product.
The Verdict:
There are many mp3 players out there so look for yourself, not the trend. I suggest you research the product, then think for a week, then research again, and then purchase. This is a timely and thoughtful consumer process.
SCORE: 3.89 Rounded Up to 4 Stars
© KV 2004
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 350
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
joe-uncool
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Location: Cranbury, NJ, USA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
Sorry, got involved in school. Will get back to Eps full fledge soon.
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