Apple 60 GB iPod Photo M9830LL/A – Customer Reviews
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8/2/2006 12:00 AM | Rating:
The return of the master...
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It was the next logical step in the evolution of the iPod: a color screen. While this was an expected step, most rumor sites were predicting the latest incarnation of Apple's market leading music player to bridge into video, which was saved for the full-blown fifth gen iPod. Instead, Apple opted for a simple addition to take advantage of the color screen and its capabilities. You can also display images on an external monitor should you decide you want to go that route...
Out of the box, you get the iPod, the docking station, 1394 (FireWire) and USB 2.0 cables, A/V adapter cable, ear buds, carrying sack, and a case with belt clip and power adapter. We would have liked slightly longer connection cables, since the 3.5 ft. cables are stretched to their limits if your tower is placed under a desk. Also, the power adapter has to be used with the FireWire cable. We would have liked both USB and FireWire ports for charging on the road (not all laptops have FireWire ports). The carrying sack is largely useless. The material feels low quality, and the functionality is the same as the case with belt clip. While it may provide slightly better scratch protection, we recommend that users buy a third party case.
One of the unique features, and a major selling point for the iPod photo, is the availability of a 60GB version. Even if you don't want to take advantage of the photo capabilities, there are simply no other players as small as the iPod photo and with this amount of storage capacity.I was able to fill the full 60GB in close to 4 hours using the FireWire connection; not bad at all. Battery life is advertised at 15 hours however we were able to get close to 10 with the volume cranked up 3/4 of the way.
The photo functionality adds a new level of flexibility. Users can display slideshows to music, browse thumbnails and with the purchase of a third party add on, plug their camera's flash memory in to the iPod photo to offload pictures. In addition, color album art images appear in the Now Playing screen. We can see some die hard shutterbugs really taking advantage of the photo storage features, but curiously missing is support for the RAW picture format. While this won't be a concern to most people, we expect to see it in a future update with Apple's recent inclusion of the format in their iPhoto software. Photo synchronization is handled by Adobe Photoshop Album. Rather than add a slew of ports to the industrial design marvel, video output is handled by a single adapter cord, consisting of composite video out and stereo RCA leads. The dock also sports a s-video output and a stereo headphone jack.
Music playback quality is great. Most of our test MP3s were encoded at 320Kbps and sounded far superior to similar iRiver products. One sound quality gripe I had was the lack of deeper bass. Some sites have posted ways around this problem, but they require transcoding the MP3s and lowering the volume by 30-40%. I used the stock ear buds, and found them on par with other bundled ear buds, which is to average. Audiophiles will want to use their own set of head phones. I tested the sound quality with the Shure E2Cs, Sennheiser HD580s and Bose QuietComfort headphones. The iPod had no problem driving any of them, although the QuietComfort had to be switched to the Hi volume mode. There have been complaints in the past about a humming while the drive is accessed. I held the unit while it fetched data, and could hear no artifacts. I would like to see a user configurable equalizer, although there are plenty of EQ settings to choose from.
The user interface followed the tried and true iPod interface that hasn't changed significantly since the first generation. I would still like the display to show more information about the music files playing, such as bit rate, graphical EQ, and perhaps next song title optional for tech-heads, myself included. Also, quicker access to the shuffle feature and EQ settings would be a plus, as well as an option to keep the backlight on when docked.
I had two issues with the iPod photo. The first was the increase in width. The iPod Photo is slightly thicker than the 40GB 4G iPod, which is slightly thicker than the 20GB iPod, rendering most third party cases and add on docks useless. My second problem was with the iTunes software. While I loved the easy browsing, filtering, and playlist creation, there were several technical issues. My iPod would never stop displaying the "Do Not Disconnect" screen when iPod photo was plugged in or if the computer was restarted. For some reason, opening and closing iTunes fixed this. Just a minor point, though.
Overall, the iPod photo is an all around great performer. The sound quality is first rate, the battery performance is excellent, and the storage capacity mammoth. While the ability to make slideshows won't appeal to every one, the color screen and higher capacity model will draw many people to this miniscule music marvel. Windows users should prepare to encounter some minor software issues, but most are well documented. iTunes is a breeze to use and offers great music organization features as well as the easiest playlist creation you can ask for.5/28/2006 12:00 AM | Rating:
iPod is an excellent and elegant tool
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This (60 Gb iPod Photo) is my second iPod (the first, a G4 40Gb was pickpocketed from my napsack in the NYC subway - beware) and I've had it over a year.Looking over the spate of recent negative reviews here prompted me to respond.Most of the shrieking pans and drooling raves are divorced from reality.I think it's important to point out that iPod is a tool and only a tool - a portable music player - a compact digital device with much in common with a laptop computer.It is highly configurable and the user has many choices about how to encode music - which affects the final results a great deal.
1) About scratching.The front of the iPod is shiny plastic. You'll need to put it in a protective case.There is an extremely lively aftermarket.I bought a nice silicon case with a compliant plastic panel that covers the display for $12 on Ebay.It does the trick and a year later my iPod looks like new if I take it out of the case.A protective case must be considered manditory for an iPod.That's it - now get over it.
2) All hard drive based devices of any kind - iPods included -have limited G-force tolerance.If you jog, it will go into protection - (the music stops and unit appears paused until you hit "play" again).If you drop it while it's running, you might kill it - or cause disk damage that will require a reformat.If you want a player for jogging or sporting (skiing, skateboarding etc...) buy a Nano or a shuffle or competing solid state player.Memory chips have no moving parts and don't suffer these limitations.They just have the size limitation.
3) All electronic devices are subject to RF interference - especially digital devices.The iPod has a nice metal body shield, but it can crash when taken near power lines, radio transmitters etc...
4) Sonically all MP3 players will vary in quality based on how much encryption you choose to use.For best sound use a high bit rate (192K or above).Apple offers proprietary schemes that offer higher performance.Competing open standards exist for just about every format Apple has cooked up.Is this skeevy of Apple?Perhaps.It's similar to what Microsoft did on computers.Love it or hate it - it's part of the whole Apple experience.I use Apple's lossless compression and it works seamlessly with iTunes and yields wonderful high quality rips.Are they portable with any other deivce than the iPod?No.Do they work with any software other than iTunes?No.Am I complaining?Not yet!I personally think the iTunes software is the best software and the iPod is the best player.Down the road if the proprietary format limits me from doing something I want to do I might start complaining.Life is full of compromises and choices.
5) You must turn off equalization if you care about sound quality.Sadly this is true of every portable digital player currently extant in the world.I was expecting better with Apple - but it's not so.Every single equalization setting introduces audible distortion that ruins the experience for an audiophile like me.With EQ set to off I get wonderful sound.
6) About reliability and dealing with broken players - portable electronics take a lot of abuse.Laptops have shorter warranty periods than desktops because rapidly spinning hard drives don't tolerate motion well.This is exactly the situation in the ipod.It's a tough environment for a hard drive.There is a lively after-market for hard drive replacement services.Ambitious folks can buy cheap replacement hard drives on the open market and fix/upgrade their iPods.Sure you'll scratch the case getting it open - but it's better than a dead iPod.Battery life issues - same situation.If you like to tinker you can do this for little cost.If you are paying for the service it becomes more justifiable to just buy a new unit.Is this cost effective?Nope.But if you become addicted to the wonderfuly lifestyle of having one of these players - you'll do it.
7) Audible distortion of the Photo iPod becasue of the video jack?Maybe on early units.I have one and don't have any audible distortion when the EQ is off.This unit sounds noticeably better than my 40GB G4 iPod did.It has better battery life too.
8) What about music services?It's a totally personal opinion - but I don't recommend buying music on iTunes or any other service.They all pretty much use relatively severe mp3 compression.Buy the CDs and get full resolution.Then rip at your choice of compression.That way you have a full backup and you get all the music you pay for.I also feel that music appreciation sometimes takes time.There are many songs on albums that I didn't initally like, but grew to love over time simply because I had them because they were on the album with some more accessible hit.If we only buy the hits - we never get to know the more difficult songs and we end up shallower.
I'll confess I'm a dyed in the wool audiophile - the kind who hangs sonex on his walls and puts specially made sound reflecting pillows on his ceiling.I'm also, like a lot of audiophiles, opposed to digital equipment in general and prefer the warmer fuller sound of analog sources (like my very tricked out turntable).That being said - the system that shows you the most is the one you use most often - and for me that is the portable.For years I had high-end cassette tape walkmen, then portable CD players of various stripes.The iPod completely blows away all previous portables by a WIDE margin.The iPod sounds way better than most stand-alone CD players - the sonics are comparable to a really good DVD player playing CDs.This is a killer sounding portable when used with lossless compression, and etymotic ER-6 headphones.It has better resolution than my big rig (Rocksan Xerxes turntable, Audio Research pre and amp, and ProAc Repsonse speakers).Granted this is digital - so the highs are more brittle and there's less warmth and depth.This is highly dependent on source material.Recent recordings by good engineers sound great - through the headphones or played on a stereo system with a good cord via a line out from the cradle.I get around 1500 songs - about 135 albums worth on my 60gb.The iPod is high enough sonically that it can function as my test source for critical listening of back-end components or sharing music with audiophile friends at their house (on their big rigs).This "library" aspect is the biggest feature of the iPod - and is really life changing.I can't recommend it highly enough.
My main complaint with the iPod is with the headphones.The included headphones are not adequate for musically satisfying listening.I recommend Grado or Etymotic headphones (even the bottom of the line ones).You don't need a separate headphone amp - unless you source material is unusually low volume."Earbud" type phones are all garbage - avoid them like the plague.Other than that - I'm a really happy camper with the iPod!4/29/2006 12:00 AM | Rating:
BUYER BEWARE: these don't last after the arranty expires...
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My iPod 40GB died within TWO MONTHS of its initial use as Christmas present.The hard drive quit working and just makes little clicking sounds.
My husband's 20GB iPod died within SIX months of purchase.His locks up his computer and won't hold files or play music.He has been sent to "email support" but reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system hasn't helped, so we don't expect much good from that.
Our father in law went through 3 iPods within a year.Similar issues.
These are lovely and useful devices, but TERRIBLE PRODUCT RELIABILITY.None of us used the product while jogging or doing anything else strenuous to the devices.
Two of these iPods were refurbished by HP.That was a terrible product support experience, too.
A tech industry insider suggested that we replace our iPods with the disposable Shuffle - not much functionality, but at least it's just $100 down the drain every year or so -- rather than $200 to $500!We'll also look into the extended warranty... unless we switch away from Apple entirely and re-scan our entire music inventory.(Another recommendation:don't use the Apple proprietary music format in case you experience what we did and don't want to give Apple a second chance afterward.
Buyer beware.These are disposable devices.Handle like glass and don't expect them to last.4/12/2006 12:00 AM | Rating:
Do Not Buy iPods
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I have owned two iPods.The original that came out a several years back, and now one of these new 60GB Photo iPods.I had repeated problems witht he first one.I had to have it REPLACED 3 times before the warranty expired, then it continued to degrade, and wascompletely useless with in 2 years of the original purchase date.After a while, I was told by sales associates at the Apple stores how much the product had improved, and they assured me that the problems I had experienced previously were rectified, so I tried another one.I have had mine less than a year and absolutely hate it.It is nothing but problems.The same problems as previously do exist, although to a lesser degree, BUT there are at least ten new problems from the one I had previously.I will never buy an iPod again.The product is cheaply engineered and made, and is not worth the extreme price tag.I would only value it at $50, as that is how long it will last.
4/10/2006 12:00 AM | Rating: