iPod.. therefore iAm.
Written: Jul 10 '04 (Updated Jul 10 '04)
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Pros: Beautiful design, ease of use, range of accessories
Cons: Price, easily scratched, battery life
The Bottom Line: Brilliant design, and very intuitive.
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| contakt's Full Review: Apple iPod 3rd Generation White (20 GB) MP3 Player |
I can't remember exactly when my iPod obsession started. I can recall wanting an mp3 player at some point last year, and browsing a bewildering range of them to find one that I liked. I was immediately enthralled by the iPod. It just looked so amazing, and I'd heard that it worked well too. So after endlessly nagging my parents, I got one for my birthday. I was so amazed at its size once I'd taken it out of the box. In pictures it looks small, but it’s so tiny in real life, and fits in all of my pockets with ease. (Well excluding really, really little pockets obviously :D) And the joy of opening the box was amazing.. sounds lame but it's obvious that Apple really did put a lot of time into designing the packaging and the box. I also remember being in awe of the backlight.. when it came on my whole family just went "ooh.. ah" as if they were at a fireworks display. Okay it isn't that amazing, just a bright blue backlight, and a red glow for the buttons. But it looked really cool when we first saw it in real life lol.
So, onto the actual review of the iPod. This is the 20GB model, which holds 5,000 songs. I never thought I'd have even half of that number of songs, but my music collection has already surpassed the 10GB mark. The iPod itself weighs a mere 5.6 ounces and is 4'1" long, 2'4" wide; approximately the size of a pack of cards. You operate it by scrolling your thumb around the round scroll wheel. It really is very simple, and no other mp3 player can boast of having such an efficient way of browsing tracks. (Well I do remember seeing one mp3 player that kinda stole the idea...) It's very intuitive and easy to use. Most people don't even need to read the manual. The touch sensitive controls are great too, even if you need to use the hold switch constantly when putting in your pocket because the controls are too sensitive.
Accessories:
It comes with headphones, which are actually pretty decent, and of a higher standard than the ones that companies usually package with their audio players. Well, some audophiles complain about their quality, but they're fine for me. An issue is that as the iPod has become so popular, the rates of "iPod muggings" are rising, and its bright white headphones are very distinctive.
Then there's a wired remote control, which some users have claimed isn't very useful because there is no LCD display, but I like it. It’s useful for when I'm cycling or any other time that the actual iPod is in my pocket and I can't take it out. It's just a very small rectangle shaped thing with a volume adjuster button, two button to skip tracks forwards/backwards, a play/pause button and a hold switch. Basic stuff. The design is pretty decent, and it can be clipped onto clothing. A minor problem is that because of the way the buttons are arranged, you can't discern whether it's upside down or not, so you end up pausing the song when you wanted to turn the volume up and vice versa Also, because you plug the remote into the headphone jack, then the headphones into the top of the remote, so the combined wires make one which is ridiculously long and has to be tucked away somewhere.
It comes with a dock, which is really just a block of white plastic with a slot for the iPod to stand in at the top, (but it does look very pretty :D) a line out port so you can connect it to speakers, and a connecty bit for the FireWire/USB cable. It's a bit pointless, but does save space. There is also a charger/AC adaptor which plugs into a socket, then you put the FireWire cord into it so the iPod can charge. The other useful thing is a little 4 Pin FireWire adaptor which you will need to use if you have an un-powered FireWire port with only 4 pins rather than 6.
Additionally you get a little Apple case with a belt clip, which is okay but not great. It doesn't protect the sides of the iPod, you have to take the iPod out of the case every time you want to use it, and I found that the little tag on the inside of it scratched my precious.
Ease Of Use.. and other info :D
Well that's the accessories described, now to talk about how the iPod interfaces with your computer. I had some songs already on my computer before I got my iPod, and the rest were on albums. You use iTunes (which I think is a great music organiser) to rip your CD's to your hard drive. It automatically labels your songs with the ID3 tags for artist, track title, album name, genre etc. (You can also buy songs from the iTunes Music Store) For the rest of my songs I had to go through them all fixing the ID3 tags. A slightly laborious process, but apparently you can also get software that does it for you. Then you can make playlists, either by dragging and dropping your favourite songs in, or using the "Smart Playlist" function. Here you give a certain criteria, e.g. if you put in "Genre: Hip Hop, Year Released: On or after May 2000, Playcount: 5 or more" then iTunes will give you a list of songs that match that info. You can rate songs in iTunes (from 1 star to 5 stars) depending on how much you like them, so that can be used in Smart Playlists too.
So, now to actually put the songs on the iPod. You plug the iPod in, and the transfer starts automatically. (You can change the settings to manual if you want) If I remember correctly, it took about 15 minutes or so to transfer 800 songs. And then once that's done, you disconnect the iPod and all of your music is on it. Easy. I do it manually now though, because I don't want to keep all of my music on my hard drive.
It's very easy to find the song you want using the aforementioned scroll wheel, which has a select button in the centre. The wheel is also used to control volume. From the menu you can browse by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres or Composers. The main menu can also be customized. There are some extras like an alarm clock, contacts, notes and games. Standard stuff I guess. The games are okay, I had fun with them at first but don’t really use them any more. The best one is the Music Quiz, where it plays you a clip from a random song from your library, and you have to guess which one it is out of some options.
Negatives:
The iPod's biggest weakness is its battery life. Major competitors offer much more than the iPod's measly 8 hours. In reality you only get about 6 hours though, what with using the backlight, switching songs etc using up power. An old problem was the fact that the lithium battery would sometimes die after about 18 months, and it cost $200 to replace it. But now Apple have a battery replacement program, and lots of other companies offer cheap batteries; you can get a replacement one for as little as £40 now. Apparently the iPod's battery will generally last between 2 and 7 years, depending on how frequently you recharge it.
The iPod is a bit overpriced, but you're paying for the brand name and the prestige of the product. It would be the same with an expensive suit/car etc.
The iPod is also very easily damaged. I wouldn't go as far as calling it delicate, because I've dropped it a few times and the hard drive still works, but the outer shell of white lucite at the front and gleaming metal at the back is easily scratched and scuffed. There is a ridiculously large range of iPod cases though.
Some people also complain about the iPod's lack of extras; there is no recording function, (you have to buy a separate add-on product for that) no support for Ogg file types or less importantly WMA files, (who uses WMA anyway?) no radio, and the EQ isn't that great. But the iPod does do its primary job better than any other mp3 player.
The controls are a bit too sensitive, but you can just use the hold switch to lock the buttons.
Positives:
The design is awesome, it just looks so good. The huge capacity: you can put your entire music collection in there and never have to lug around CD's or change CD's again. It's so convenient. And yes I know you don't really need 5,000 songs in your pocket, but it's just so you can choose from everything, and have any song that you spontaneously want to hear, at the touch of a button.
A big bonus is the amount of accessories you can get for it. Because of the iPod's popularity, there is a huge range of add-on products you can buy, from every single kind of case imaginable, (including a Gucci one if you feel like spending $200 on it) to special iPod portable speakers, FM transmitters, an iPod coat with remote control functions on its sleeve... you can even seamlessly intergrate it with your BMW. (should you own one that is..) There is also a huge community of fellow poddies over at iPodlounge.com.
Which size iPod to get?
The 15GB one is £50 cheaper, and there's not a big difference in capacity, but with the 20GB you get accessories (the dock, remote control, case) that you don't get with the 15GB. So if you don't mind not having these things, get the 15GB, but otherwise, pay £50 more. Also, the new iPod mini which has come out looks really cool, although you only get 4GB of storage, when for £50 you can have 15GB. But if you don't need that much space then the Mini is better.
Overall:
I usually get bored with my "toys" very quickly, but after months of owning it, I still use my iPod every day for at least 3 hours or so.
Although the iPod has flaws, I would still recommend it, because its excellent design, ease of use and almost perfect interfacing with iTunes makes it a pleasure to use.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): £300
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
contakt
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
"It's honour and I spell it with the 'H' I stole from heritage" - Aesop
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