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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Agathon
I'm prepared to pay for style, size and functionality. Well made things cost more. |
Well-made things? Last I heard Apple had QC problems.
quote:
If only Apple's quality control hadn't gone so downhill. The last three Apple products I bought have all had major problems resulting in weeks away at Apple's special service centre, and a lot of inconvenience for me! My iPod just died after 42 days - I've heard a lot of people having similar problems. So far it's been three weeks and it's still not been repaired. 1. Bad things about iPod - it only has 5GB of spce, where the DAP jukebox has 6GB and Archos do a 20GB version for the same price. 2. You can't edit or create playlists on the fly, have to do it via your computer. 3. For easiest use, its best to keep a copy of all the songs on your computer hard disk, which can be a pain. 4. It scratches easily and doesn't come with a case 5. Price - it IS expensive Good things: 1. Small, gorgeous to look at 2. battery life is very long 3. Fast transfer of files via firewire But my bad experiences with Apple's quality control and post-sales customer service have now made me vow NEVER to buy another Apple product after this. |
quote:
Well, I've now had my 20gb ipod for around 2 months and the g-dam thing crashed while I was taking a stroll, unrecoverable, loads of music and files....Poooff GONE! Of course its hopeless to do self repair since you'll void warranty, and its firewire connection leaves few options when doing disk diagnosis with the ever so worthless Norton utilities, and that goes for the even more incredibly and unbearably worthless waste of money ever, "DRIVE X" (do not waste your money on this). I swear after this little experience and the paucity in decent programs, I'm fixing to join the dark side and go PC. I have just as many hair-pulling experiences with the mac as I do my Sony Vaio. I WAS a mac loyalist because I believed in it, but its starting to make little sense in sticking by the f - - ing machine. Give me the Studio Display and a PC, and I'll be fine. This was the last straw along with trying to find the right multipurpose software for burning LP's to CD----jillions of PC programs with mega whistles and bells, and what does the mac have.....the obsolete dog of a program, "Spin Doctor". Well, I've had it , I'm tired of the uphill battle and vacuous justification for sticking by APPLE, its more friggin trouble than its worth and I'm discovering that there's a hell of a lot more you can do on the PC. Facts a fact, majority rules. Excuse me while i throw this little white crap box off my rooftop. Time to catch up and put my money into substance rather than facade |
quote:
Reading the Mac discussions there have been a number of complaints about the iPod battery life (First users are finding that their battery life is over after 1 to 1.5 years). The batteries cannot be replaced by the consumer. Apple charges over $250 to repair them. The Creative 'Zen' is likely a similar story. Throwaway toys!. Also, I find the 20GB drives attractive but I don't think they have the staying power and for $500(iPod) or even $300 (Zen) they are way too expensive little gizmos. Moving parts have a limited life. I say stick with no moving parts. My Rio has lasted 2 years so far and no compalints - it's still tickin'. The RAM-based MP3 players are a much better deal and a better bet for longevity. |
(though that last one bashes the Zen too -- just thought I'd be "unbiased"  )
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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:29
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I mean, lets do a comparison:
iPod battery life: 8 hours
Zen battery life: 14 hours
iPod max size: 30GB
Zen max size: 60GB
iPod SNR: >90dB
Zen SNR: >98dB
Plus the Zen has DSP stuff like real-time audio normalization (so tracks all end up a uniform volume), time scaling, 4-band equalizer, headphone spatialization, and EAX effects.
Hmm. Longer battery life, more storage, better sound quality, more DSP options -- and for 65% of the iPod's price?
That's not a "clone", that's a "trump".
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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Agathon
Can you play games on it? No.
Can you store all your contacts on it? No.
Does it have a calendar? No. |
1) Do you understand the definition of "MP3 Player"? If so, how could you argue that calendar/contact/games fits under this umbrella?
2) Why don't you explain to people how painful it is to enter data on the iPod with nothing but a touch-screen scrollbar and an okay and delete button?
3) Tell everyone what wonderful "games" the iPod comes with.
The Zen is an MP3 player. It holds more MP3s, it has more DSP options for playing them, it lasts nearly twice as long on a single charge, and it has crisper audio.
If you're in the market for an MP3 player, the Zen is the obvious choice.
The iPod exists for the trendy yuppies who want something that looks purty rather than functional and economical. Surprisingly, Apple is behind the iPod. So the people who by iPods are also probably equally irrational when buying Macs. 
quote:
The BMW comparison is apt. |
You are right -- it IS a brilliant comparison.
The iPod is like the new BMW X5...which absolutely tarnished BMW's reputation for quality for an insane amount of glitches (mostly computer-related).
The new iPod, similarly, is notorious for crashy,buggy firmware:
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Any veteran iPod user has had their iPod crash or freeze on them, because Apple's newer firmware versions are not entirely stable. When the old iPod was reset it would lose it's time and date settings, on the new version the time settings stay intact, which is nice because the player occasionally locks up. Some settings return to their defaults after a short rest. |
(http://www.slcentral.com/ipod-mp3-player/)
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/audio/ip...ty_reports.html
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I wanted to chime in here, because I definitely have a story to tell about my iPod experience... I got an iPod last December, it worked fine for about 3 and a half months, just *past* the warranty- and then it died, spectacularly. It wouldn't even mount, and showed a little icon of a hard drive being scanned, and a progress bar... it would stop suddenly before the end of the progress bar, and then just showed a folder icon with a question-mark: very similar to a Mac that can't find a System Folder! At that point it would turn off entirely.
I wrestled with it for a while, tried to get it to mount over and over- no dice. So, I though I'd call Apple's 800 number, to see what my options were, and I got a nice woman on the line who directed me to point my browser at a particular Apple support page for info. That page said that an out-of-warranty iPod could be exchanged for a refurbished one- for about 250 bucks!! That, coupled with my initial purchase, was WAY more than I was gonna pay for a thousand songs in my pocket! So, I decided to blow it off, and started looking at other HD-based MP3 players. I wasn't too happy with Apple, and the unusually SHORT warranty coverage on the iPod. |
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My iPod was a pretty solid performer, particularly if it was stationary. I normally used it in the office, either at my desk or when locked away in the server room for hours at a time. But one day, about five or six months after having purchased the unit, I was taking a stroll to the bank and noticed some odd behaviour. With each step, the volume seemed to change. A quick examination revealed that there was very little resistance on the scroll wheel, and as a result every jounce would cause it to spin. |
quote:
I had iPod failure 130-140 days out from purchase. Luckily, via the double-your-warranty of Mastercard, I was able to get it fixed by Apple for $7 shipping and handling (MC refunded me the other $249). |
BMW. 
Not to mention the materials Apple uses on the outside of the iPod (and iBooks) are especially prone to scratching...
Another feature of note is Apple is forcing original iPod owners to buy new iPods if they want the new firmware features. Creative, meanwhile, is releasing the new firmware (with new features such as profiles) for the Zen LX as a free download for all Zen owners as well.
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22-07-2003 09:36
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