Ipod's Dirty Secret video (1 Viewer)

[Scott L]

Got a big laugh from this video:

www.ipodsdirtysecret.com

(I really hope it's not a repost, I ran close to a dozen searches )

 

[McPaul]

Hah! I remember this clip. Very funny. I liked the Holland Tunnel movie as well.

Thankfully you can now purchase 3rd party batteries on ebay and other places, I understand.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Well, this was one of the many reasons I went with a creative player instead of an ipod. Not only is my battery removeable, but I can use two of them at once for about 22 hours of playtime!

 

[ThomasC]

Wow. Thanks. Even though Apple and third-party companies offer replacements, it's still looks way too expensive. I'll be looking at other options first.

 

[Todd K]

Let me see if I've got this right:

If you buy an Ipod, it's only good for 18 months and then you have to toss it?

 

[MarkHastings]

Ok, first off, the clip says it would be cheaper to buy a new iPod???

According to Apples site:A brand new iPod for $99? That sounds better than buying one (especially if you have the 40GB model).

 

[Francois Caron]

Most likely it's a refurbished unit, not a brand new one. Essentially, you're "renting" the iPod...

This battery situation is very similar to the battery problems I and many people have had with our IBM 600 series notebooks. The battery would slowly lose its ability to hold a charge within a period of three to six months. IBM never did acknowledge there was a problem or even offer a proper fix for it. As a result, many of us had to spend upwards of $200 for a replacement battery pack we knew was defective by design.

 

[McPaul]

I will be getting my ebay'ed Sony Network Walkman very soon...

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/ser...oductId=172257

*drool*

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Well, I've had 6 ipods now and have never had a single battery problem of failure. The only one that actually "broke" for any reason was fried by a crappy firewire card.

I currently own 2 ipods- never given me a minute of trouble. Best MP3 player on the market.

 

[ThomasC]

Yes, but at the bottom of the page, there's a link called "More about iPod's Dirty Secret" where the makers of the video acknowledged Apple's battery replacement policy, implemented after production of the video had finished.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Not for those who listen to artists whose songs segue together, such as Pizzicato Five or Cornelius or Frank Zappa or Pink Floyd or side 2 of the Beatles' Abbey Road. Or any live album for that matter. Not only does the MP3 format introduce small gaps between the songs, but I understand the poor buffering on the Ipod actually increases the gaps. Only the RIO KARMA eliminates the gaps for true, gapless playback.

Also, the Ipod costs $100 more than a comparably-sized Rio Karma.

Vince,

What virtues does the Ipod have that I'm not aware of?

 

[ThomasC]

On Rio's official site, it goes for $299, same as the 20GB iPod. The Karma also stores 20GB. Granted, you can get it from other retailers for as low as $232, but $68 isn't $100.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Well, as of right now from Amazon:

Creative 40Gb Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra: $254
40 Gb iPod: $379

That looks like $125 difference to me. Same storage, and arguably more features (such as the ability to bookmark tracks and change the battery) makes me wonder why the ipod is so well revered.

 

[Chris]

Apple's original policy was that they wouldn't really replace the batteries. That has since changed, after it became a story. The newer Ipods work differently to my understanding (but still no easily removable batteries)

 

[MarkHastings]

I bet you can find tons of bad reviews for EVERY MP3 player on the market.

I wouldn't take a few bad experiences with iPods to equal an inferior product.

I just switched over to an iPod. I was on my 2nd Creative Nomad Jukebox and there was no way I was buying another one due to the fact that it is no longer as compatibile with my MP3/MP4 lifestyle as the iPod is.

In fact, the Creative software is horrendous compared to iTunes. Plus the fact that the iPod is Mac and PC friendly (my Jukebox 3 wasn't), that makes it even more sweeter to a cross-platform guy, such as myself.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

As far as I'm aware, AAC files do not sound as good as LAME encoded MP3s. And the crappy buffer in the Ipod adds a gap between songs regardless of what format they are in.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

Dang, I was considering one of these (Creative), so what do you mean by this?


I would rather not by an Apple for personal reasons, so now what?

 

[Craig S]

Uh, could you elaborate on this? What exactly is an "MP3/MP4 lifestyle"??

 

[MarkHastings]

I purchase songs off of iTunes and since iTunes won't recognize my Jukebox (not even on the PC with the Creative card) and since it also won't allow MP4's (i.e. AAC), I had to burn my iTunes songs to CD, then re-rip them as MP3's and then put them on my Jukebox

Also, I have the 40GB jukebox. I could NEVER download (or upload) all of my songs (via firewire) to and from the computer because the Creative program would crash. I had to do them a few artists at a time. With the iPod, they all transfered over flawlessly the first time (i.e. all 37 GB at one time with no crashes).

Actually, the Creative app was poor in performance. It was cumbersome and took forever to load songs and the lists. I would even have major lag times in just renaming the songs. The app was just slow all around.

Even the jukebox itself was slow. If you ever loaded all of your songs in to be played (in list mode), it would take forever to show the list. Jumping between screens is so much faster on the iPod. The Jukebox just seemed to lag when navigating (software and physical player wise). I do have to say that the Jukebox DID have better buffering because I have experienced longer pauses between songs on the iPod then on the Jukebox, but I used to use my Jukebox with a power supply in my car, I don't have one for the iPod yet so I can't say the lag will still be there when it's off the batteries. I do remember a LONG lag time after hitting "Play" when the Jukebox was using the batteries.

Back to the Creative play center: It wouldn't even hold onto the MP3 tags. I would import a whole bunch of MP3's and they would show up as 'unknown' ID's. I would then have to re-enter all the info in again

I don't know if this is an issolated case, but I've been happy with the Creative line for years. This last experience has soured me. It may be a fine solution for others, but for those who need Mac and PC support, along with a love of iTunes, it was best for me to switch to the iPod.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

Please forgive me, but I'm way ignorant about these players.
If I don't use a mac or plan on getting music from I-tunes, would an Ipod still work for me?
All I basically wanna do is down load my cd collection and some music I've "downloaded" onto it. Will it do that?