Apple iPod 40 GB White M9245LL/A (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL by Apple Computer
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Digital camera reviews of Apple iPod 40 GB White M9245LL/A (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL
Digital camera Review: Frustrated at best
Summary: 3 Stars
I received my iPod promptly. And I enjoyed the user experience of unpacking the iPod...but the enjoyment stopped there. When I tried to charge the iPod on my new iMac overnight I found the iPod had only one bar indicating the charge level. So I redocked and hoped to get it charged, no use. Then I tried charging it using just the AC adapter that following night...next morning I checked it hoping the unit would be ready to go...it wasn't. Only one bar indicating the charge level. I called Apple to see if this was normal. I was instructed to pack and return my iPod to their service center where upon an iPod [a reconditioned one] would be sent back to me...not the one I just ordered off of Amazon. It seemed better at this point to return the product to Amazon. If you read my review earlier...after I contacted Amazon about the incorrect refund amount they sent me an email an adjustment will be made to my credit card [initially my refund was short by almost $100.00]. I am slightly more pleased with Amazon now...but still dissapointed with the performance of the iPod I tried. Perhaps in a few months I'll go into the local Apple store and think about trying it out again.Digital camera Review: Good for Mac. Bad for Windows.
Summary: 3 Stars
I tried the iPod on my friend's computer, a Mac G-something. It worked great and the touch-feature really sold me. Now, after trying to set the whole thing up on my PC for the last five hours, I am finally uploading my songs. It's definitely not worth the extra $200 for the look, since it is so inconvenient. Better go with Dell's DJ or Creative's NOMAD.Digital camera Review: Good start, now apple needs to build on it
Summary: 3 Stars
The iPod is already very nice, though it lacks in some areas.-should allow dragging and dropping of media to drive w/o using special software to transfer songs to the iPod
-should connect to digital cameras and other portable devices to allow for storage on the road
-should have removable battery (for replacing when it goes bad -is your $400 iPod disposable?)
-should have longer battery life
-Should have codec support for other audio formats (see below), including MPC, Ogg, and FLAC. This is probably one of the most important
Codec (audio format) choice is a very importwhen deciding on a Digital Audio Player ("mp3 player").
I recently began looking for the best audio codec to store my large music collection. Nothing quite fit the bill. The thing that came closest was MPC, its ONLY problem was lack of hardware support. I dont know if you are familiar with this codec but it has many strongpoints that beat MP3, WMA, MP4/AAC.
MPC is an audio codec similiar to MP3. The main difference is that MPC is optimized for quality (and is the choice of audiophiles), while the other new codecs are optimized to give acceptable (but not good) performance at low bit rates. For anyone here that cares about the quality of their digital music I would suggest you investigate MPC. It is nearly transparent (indistinquishable from CD) at 140-170. It supports gapless playback and has advanced meta tagging support. It compresses music very efficiently and encodes and decodes amazingly fast. In fact decoding it is so easy on the CPU that if MP3 players offered support for the codec they could greatly extend battery life.
You can read more about MPC here:
Digital camera Review: Good, but could be better
Summary: 4 Stars
By now we all know what the iPod is and what it does - but just in case you don't, it's a device similar to what the walkman was 20 years ago that plays music from an internal hard drive instead of a cassette tape. You can currently get an iPod in 3 different sizes, 15, 20, or 40 gigabyte hard drives (not including the new mini iPod which holds 4 gigs). It will play several different file formats, not just mp3s. You can play full quality (16-bit) wav or AIFF files, as well as AAC or Audible files. The unit can also be used as a standalone hard drive. This is all controlled from a simple touch-sensitive interface that allows you to scroll through your songs in a very organized way - either by song name, artist name, album name, or according to your own playlists. You will control the songs uploaded into the iPod from a computer, either a Mac or a PC, and Apple limits you in your ability to upload a song from an iPod onto someone else's computer (i.e. it knows which computer is yours). This is to prevent illegal file sharing.
It works well in general, and will hold thousands of songs. The exact number it will hold depends upon the quality of the files you import into it. I have the 15 GB model, and I mostly use full quality AIFFs or the highest quality MP3s and I've barely gone over halfway. By the time I fill the thing up, I'm sure they'll have something else for me to buy.
There. Now that's out of the way I can get on with the opinion side of things. It's an overall great product that has helped revolutionize the way we listen to music, some of it good, some bad. Most of my complaints about the iPod center around its lack of features, rather than current features that don't function properly.
The unit seems to offer very little compared with the technology that's available today. Why isn't the screen in color? Why doesn't it offer more PDA-like features? These are incredibly inexpensive features to install and would make it a far more valuable piece of equipment. Why doesn't it communicate wirelessly with Airport systems? Why isn't there an easier way to manage playlists from within the iPod itself, not just from a computer? Why isn't there a touch screen/stylus interface for even easier, less cumbersome usage? With all the technology coming to life today, the iPod seems to be remarkably less than what it could be.
I also find the problem of non-sharing between computers to be annoying. While I appreciate and agree that such elements should be controlled, cars still drive over 70 miles per hour - we leave it to the consumer to decide not to speed and break the law. Apple shouldn't decide for us. I'm a songwriter and I store song ideas in my iPod to take to writing sessions. The problem? When I want to leave a copy with a co-writer for him to work on, I can't because the iPod won't let me transfer a song to a computer that isn't mine. Here is a completely legal transaction being blocked by Apple's stringency. It can be very annoying.
I'm looking forward to what Apple does in the future with this device. Hopefully they'll make it more functional, incorporating the current and inexpensive technology available right now.
Digital camera Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great product MUST-BUY but dont drop it!