Pros: Sounds Great, Fits in any pocket, Superb Interface and iTunes integration. Fast file transfers.
Cons: Mac only. No belt clip. Artist and CD names truncated. Front prone to tiny scratches.
The Bottom Line: US$400 seems to be expensive for an average mp3 player, but the iPod is not average: You'll end up saving money since you will never outgrow this great sounding player.
rrose's Full Review: Apple iPod 1st Generation 5 GB (MAC) MP3 Player
The main criticism I’ve read of the iPod lately is how it’s “outrageously expensive” or people stating that they would buy one “if only Apple made it $200”. My experience is to the contrary. The iPod would be a good value at US$500: The 1.8” Toshiba drive, that allows the iPod to be so small, sells for US$400 alone. I would have bought an iPod at US$500...
Let me explain...
In general, I had stopped listening to music. Yes - I had acquired an average-sized collection of about 100-150 CD’s - but grew tired of hauling them around, along with the hardware necessary to play them. A portable CD player only plays up to 72 minutes of music per CD, and doesn’t really fit into any pocket I own. Some boom boxes can hold up to six CD’s at a time, but are even more cumbersome to carry and more difficult to change out CD’s. There are also CD jukebox’s which can store up to 200 CD’s in one chassis, but this would make my collection even less portable.
After a bit of research, I bought my first mp3 player: A NOMAD jukebox. It didn’t completely solve the size issue(the NOMAD is slightly bigger than most portable CD players), but at least it carried most of my CD collection on its internal hard drive.
The problems with the NOMAD jukebox quickly became apparent. At the time I purchased it there was no way to audition the product. I later found the sound quality not to be quite as good as I had hoped. I would often fiddle with the EQ settings to improve the output, but it never really got to level where I felt I was really enjoying the music. I encoded my mp3’s at 192 kbps with Variable Bit Rate, so I expected more.
Other problems also surfaced: The USB interface would take over 1 hour to copy 4+ GB of music files to the device, the NOMAD would take about 1+ minute to start up (each time!) when full, the NOMAD’s batteries would only last 3 hours(eeek!), the screen was difficult to read, the backlighting was dim, and the volume wouldn’t get very loud.
The size of the NOMAD eventually got the best of me. It did not fit in most of my pockets, so it was more of a desktop player that was easily transported. It just wasn’t convenient to walk around with it or always have it with me. My purpose in getting a portable jukebox was to ALWAYS have the music with me. The NOMAD was a step in the right direction, but it did not go far enough. I eventually stopped using it, and therefore, stopped listening to my music. Back to square one.
Then came the iPod. I decided to buy an iPod because it seemed to have everything the NOMAD was lacking. The extremely small size of the iPod means that I can put it in almost ANY pocket I have, even shirt pockets or the front pocket of my pants! The firewire means that I can copy my 4+ GB of mp3 files in less than 2 minutes! Since the transfer rates are trivial, I can swap out my music at a whim or even share my iPod with my spouse. The screen and display font are bigger, the backlit is MUCH brighter, the built in battery lasts over 3-4 times as long(taking only one hour to recharge), and the controls(especially the jog wheel) make it so much faster and easier to navigate the many song I’ve loaded. And did I mention that the iPod turns on instantly? Just push play...
Most importantly, the iPod sounds much better and is far louder than the NOMAD jukebox ever was. My 192 kbps mp3’s don’t sound slightly muffled any more; I can drive a pair of less efficient(yet better sounding) headphones with some volume to spare; I don’t miss the NOMAD’s EQ features since the quality is already good.
Lastly, I consider the iTunes integration and Fire wire Hard Drive Data capabilities to be icing on the cake. It is _so_ easy for me to rip my CD’s, create my playlists, mount the iPod and copy my playlists to the iPod. Even “manual” mode automatically copies all the mp3’s you need to satisfy any playlist you copy to the iPod. Its that simple.
iPod can mount automatically as a hard drive on my desktop. If I need to back up or transfer my data files from home to office, I can do it without shutting down my computer. All I need is a fire wire cable and my iPod.
The iPod is also extensible. It seems to run on the PIXO OS platform, which has telephony, internet and PIM support built into the OS. Apple(or 3rd parties perhaps) could develop software applications than would run on the iPod, such as an Address Book, Dictionary or Clock/Timer. The iPod could even become a remote storage device for Digital Photography. There are many possibilities.
All of these points underscore how the iPod has put music back into my ears. It is now easy AND convenient to keep great sounding music with me at all times.
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How can the iPod be improved? I have several minor notes:
1.) The iPod should've been designed with an integrated belt clip receptor, so that users can attach a belt clip when necessary. Although the iPod fits into most of my pockets, I have found that I do not ALWAYS have available pockets. Third-party adhesive-backed clips are available, but they're ugly, they would most likely increase the size of the iPod and mar the iPod's finish.
2.) Others have complained that the supplied headphones are uncomfortable. They ARE larger than most ear bud-type head phones, but that seems to be a plus for those with bigger ears and a minus for those with small ears. I find them comfortable, and they sound very good for ear buds. I do think, however, that Apple could have made the headphone chord a bit thicker so it would be less prone to tangling.
3.) Although the names of songs scroll when a song is playing, Artist and CD names are truncated in the directory listings and song descriptions. In the ID3 tag, Artist and CD names need to be shortened to compensate for this problem. This was also a problem with my NOMAD jukebox; Perhaps Apple should update the iPod's firmware so the reverse and forward buttons can scroll left and right while navigating the menu structure.
4.) An EQ feature could be useful to make general compensations for headphones lacking bass or treble. I think the iPod sounds great right out of the box, but I admit that not all headphones sound great.
5.) On a more minor note, the clear hard plastic material that covers the screen (and front) of the iPod is prone to tiny micro-scratches which may obscure the visibility of the screen if they were allowed to accumulate. A screen protector, such as clear adhesive film, should be sufficient to protect against any buildup.
Discontinued by manufacturer, replaced by model #M8976LL/A FireWire interface for fastest digital transfer available Download audiobooks from Audible....More at Amazon Marketplace
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