I have never been a fan of Apple (IMO, AMIGAs will always rule!) and I couldn't believe how everyone jumped on their bandwagon with the release of the iPod.

I always said that an internal & non-user replaceable battery was a BAD idea.... well:

ipodsdirtysecret (http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/)

btw - Luv those commercials where you see the silhouettes of people dancing and shaking their HARD DRIVE based iPod - buhahahaha - hope you have backups for your 40 gigs of music, dummies!

In the end, I'll just stick with my minidiscs that can run off of ONE AA battery for 60+ hours.

dont see why people go with HD based mp3 players when you could fit 150 tracks on a cd based player

Well, I do have to say that they are a lot smaller than portable CD players. Another thing is convenience (no swapping CDs).

But... in the end, it's still a HD which should NOT be shaken like in those lame ads ... and have a REPLACEABLE battery.

But then again, I guess its in Apple's best interest to have people buy new iPods every 18 months or so, so the shaking issue is pointless. ;)

ok its smaller but whats the point, hd's dont like going in pockets and moved constantely, or taking a jog.theyr meant to sit in a computer and not messed with until they crash of course.
a little inconvenience with the swapping but i get reliability in return.plus how many cd's do you really have to swap when you have 150 tracks.i usually can listen to the same cd in the rx8 mp3 player for 3 days.
anyway, it was probably apples evil agenda to make it unreplaceable!,but if i had 1 and it died on me i definately wouldnt go out and buy another.

I think apple is offering a service to replace the batteries now. There is also a website that sells the batteries and shows you how to install it. Also, if your HD crash on those ipod units... wouldn't you have them backed up (sync'd) on your desktop computer? So far IPOD is the most intuitive mp3 player and feature rich that I've used. Until solid state mp3 players gets bigger Hard Drive based will be popular.

Whoops: one correction to my initial statement -

Apparently, after many complaints, Apple now offers a replacement policy... which still costs you mucho $$ ($100 for just a battery replacement????). Wouldn't it be hella easier for Apple to just design one with a user-REMOVABLE battery???
http://ipodsdirtysecret.com/message.html

For goodness sake, my Nintendo GBA-SP has a similar battery and I can replace it with no problems if needed for under $15.

I think that Apple designed the iPod with the same mentality as it did with it's Macs from the past: not very upgradeable:
Apple Gamer Switch parody (http://webdev.o1.com/rvb/movies/switch/RvB_switch.mov)

Also, I would hope that iPod and other HD-based mp3 users DID have backups on their PCs or Macs. But you know there's always someone who didn't....

my ipod battery has lasted over 2 years now! and it has never lost data. sure the battery thing sux- we will see what happens! just don't diss apple on this site too please>???? can't we all just get along/?

'bout 20 months and counting here on my iPod.

We will see what happens?

I have 3 iPods and have never had any battery issues. Also, why would you only want to carry 150 tracks on one CD when you can carry 3000 in about the same space? I use mine everywhere, and have dropped it with no data loss or problems.

iPod rocks, IMHO. :)

yikes what is your problem with hd based mp3s..

first the hd is not spinning at 7200rpms like in your computer at home this eliminates the crashing of the heads onto the platters. Second the drives that they use have a vibration isolator that damps out your shaking or anything like that. he!! you can drop the darn thing and not crash the drive. plus the ipod loads into memory up to 32 megs of songs before it plays, thus you better be shaking the player for about 32 minutes at the exact strangth and frequency to conitunally keep the player from loading more into memory. now power issues maybe a case against it as spinning a hard drive draws more juice than solid state decives.

Still the battery issue sucks.. but here is some things to consider. first the raw materials of the battery. if i remember right the battery is a Lithium Ion gel battery. From experinece I know that these are very expensive to get just in a standard size(about $10 for a 3v 1.5A battery) second apple must specially make the packs...I could go on about battery pack manufacturing but, all I am saying I could very well see how 99 bucks to replace a battery would be. 250 yeah thats outrageous but thats what the orignal service documentation said.. i am not really argueing for or against apple I am just pointing out facts

I still use 8-tracks... are they still "cool"?? Nah, just foolin, I have sinced moved up to cassette tapes, they rule:-):-)

Have you heard? The IPOD has 10-15% less memory than advertised! Apple is going to buy back the player, or extend the warrenty.

By the way, I know for fact that an 8 track is far better than the I POD, and I just do not buy into apples cliams that the software is so advanced that it can not be analyzed by any audio program.

I am going to start a thread called "IPOD v. 8 TRack", where I will insist that a 30 year old 8 track is better, even though I do not own either one.

I do have a RCA LYRA I, that I put 2 g's worth of upgrades into. I have a sticker that says "IPOD KILLA' on it.

I am 15 years old, have no job, and live in my parents basement.

I think we should invade canada, because I am 1/100 indian, and gosh darn,my people just were not treated right 500 years ago during the french/english war.

Has anyone else received their "IPOD SILVER" touch up paint? it comes in a box that is shaped like an apple IIC. I am mad, because even though it is free, apple should still do more for me, like mail me a date.


When I get banned, I will come back under a new name, and start a thread called "IPOD v. Phonograph", where I will insist that the sound quality of the mp3 format is far worse than a 70 year old wax cylinder.
'

:D rofl.


i love it

What is that? MAC humor?

Vince

I have the new G5. let me say this it is amazing, WOW.I need that comp for school. Beacuse i will be working with editing,audio,ect. I am going to school for digital media productions.

I think the battery issue is a little blown out of proportion. The owner can replace the battery by themselves for $50.

There is a pretty good thread (http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152798&highlight=dirty+little+secret) over at bimmerforums.com about this.

The essential links are below for those too lazy to read through the whole thing.:)

http://store.l-f-l.com/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=616-0159

http://www.ipodhacks.com/article.php?sid=170

Originally posted by Kaliken
.. but here is some things to consider. first the raw materials of the battery. if i remember right the battery is a Lithium Ion gel battery. From experinece I know that these are very expensive to get just in a standard size(about $10 for a 3v 1.5A battery) second apple must specially make the packs...I could go on about battery pack manufacturing but, all I am saying I could very well see how 99 bucks to replace a battery would be.
Are you kidding? Lithium Ion (often called Li Ion) battery packs are pretty much the standard anymore. My Motorola phone, my wife's Samsung phone, and my Sony digicam all use lithium ion battery packs, and I KNOW they don't cost $99 to replace!. Sony's standard capacity InfoLithium Li Ion battery costs $59.99. The super-slim Li Ion battery for my Motorola V70 costs $35. I'm not sure what kind of playing time the IPod battery gives, but don't make excuses for big business. FWIW I have no issue with Apple, HDmp3, CDmp3, or 8-tracks. Everything has it's purpose. My ideal would be a small player that runs the CD/HD only long enough to fill a 128MB+ buffer, then plays strictly from the buffer. The drive then runs briefly and intermittently to replenish the buffer. I don't know if any of them operate like that. Oh yeah, and it should also have integrated 802.11G (or better with mixed-mode compatability) capability.

there will be a day when.... MD'S RULE THE WORLD!!!!!!!!
________
Kitchen Measures (http://kitchenmeasures.com/)