Yes it's another bl00dy iPod question

The only thing I miss about my ipods is itunes- I have an iriver player now which I find a better player but you have to use windows media 10 which makes a complete hash of ripping and transfering, keep getting glitches. Also the Gracenote db that Itunes uses is incredible, it finds stuff I've recorded from LP to CD when you stick the CD in?! How I have no idea, its not even like the tracks are the same length

 

Apparently there has been a lot of issues with the screen cover (not the screen) sratching very easily to the extent you can't read it very well, this can happen just by putting it in your pocket. As to wether this is a quality or design issue remains to be seen.

On the plus side because its part of 83% of ALL mp3 players sold, the media attention will be such that apple have to do something about it.

Dom moaning about charging the battery is silly talk, its the new style recharables like all other recharbles it is designed to be trickle charged when ever it is plugged in, the rest of you arguments seems to stem from the fact you don't want to spend any money thats fine but a different argument.

FWIW you can import all your tunes using itunes, it will put them neatly firstly into a folder called music, then the artist then folder of each album, it will do it a lot quicker and neater than you can by hand, you do not need itunes afterwards to use this music.

The DRM issue comes from apples agreement with the music labels, it is only an issue with music purchased on the itunes music store, all your CD imports or nicked from the web are yours to do with as you please.

 

It appears there have been a number of issues with the screen with the Nano. It's not just the screen cover, it's the actual LCD screen becoming cracked or otherwise damaged. I hope for Apple's sake that it is limited to "one batch" of Nanos.

Michael.

 

That's not true - NiCads and NiMHs do NOT take kindly to being trickle charged without being run down first - I'm really anal when it comes to battery charging - I never charge my mobile up until it's run down fully (unless I'm REALLY desperate) even though that's a Lithium Polymer, so allegedly immune to "memory effect" - isn't that what they said about NiMHs when they came out? Ha ha ha...

A non-user-serviceable part (the battery) that costs a mint to replace when it busts is a potential stumbling block for me, but it's not a show stopper.

Not true - I've been sitting on the fence re MP3 players for 4 years now, as I don't like the idea of a mini HDD due to shocks/corruption, but then again solid state hasn't, until the Nano, been anywhere near big enough....

The screen issue is a real bummer - but at least that gives me time to save up to buy one - he he! I WILL get some form of player by the end of January (well, maybe February, as I'll be buying a replacement MC cartridge in January...)

 

As per what michaelab said re. iTunes ripping ability, its an easy bit of software to use. As for its mp3 capability, well I ripped 3 tracks with ITunes mp3 and the same tracks using Lame (cos some folks rave about it). I went back and forth listening to both types and I couldnt tell any difference whatsoever. So stuck with iTunes.

The Gf has a shuffle and I ripped all her stuff at 160kbps AAC. Sounds just fine. Though I would point out one thing we found -

The Gf wanted to plug her shuffle into the hifi, so we did. We listened to the home ripped stuff and it sounded ok but the treble was a bit muted. The tracks she had downloaded from iTunes (128k stuff) sounded perfectly sparkly. Hmmm I thought. So I had a look in the ripping options in iTunes and found the Sound Enhancer option (yes usually a big no-no) anyway I pushed it up to 75% and re-ripped a track or two and hey-presto the tracks were perfectly sparkly again. They didnt sound any different through headphones due to freq limitations but you really noticed it through the hifi.

 

I don't believe there is an MP3 player on earth that can claim to be audiphile quality and in most cases should not be connected to an hifi!

Itunes I believe has the option to re rip your tunes for the shuffle. in other words you can have full quality onthe computer, that is mixed down for the shuffle.

Dom. I hope you don't avoid the ipods simply because they are iPods, the fact is this, they have 83% of the market for good reason, simply stating its good marketing is bullshit. Apple have marketed many things well and they have still been failures. The iPod and itunes is perfect product symmetry, for those of us that know what an mp3 player is for (music on the move) there is no better combination of hardware/software on the market. 23 million people cannot be wrong.

 

Would agree with Gary - although I'm a PC/Windows user, the iTunes/iPod experience is one that is slick, stylish, easy to use and of decent quality. iTunes is one of the few media players that I've used that is intuititive and 'makes sense'. The same can be said of the iPod itself. As an iPod Mini user, having tried other MP3 players, CD portables and MiniDisc, there's not really anything about the product that I can say is negative. The sound quality is one of the best I've heard for a PED.

One very slight niggle - if you let the battery discharge totally, then recharge, it doesn't seem to remeber the 'clicker' setting - I keep mine turned off. Have to change it back after a recharge. Hardly a showstopped though.

I'm pleased I got my iPod Mini when I did, as the wall charger is very handy when travelling or needing a quick charge whilst at work. If I remember rightly, it's now an extra with the Mini.

 

I was quite sceptical about these machines... the bad press regarding the screens wasn't exactly going to instill confidence. Finally actually got to have a look at one, one of my work colleagues bought one, and let me check it out. I'm quite impressed, easy to use, they look fantastic in black as well. Sound quality was pretty good as well, and that's through original Apple headphones. For me the main issue, with the eyesight problem, was going to be the screen, but no problems. Nice and clear. Easy to navigate through to find things as well, although I have to question some of the content I found!

Anyone seen the 4Gb ones at a good price? In black?

 

I bought two of the 2 GB in Black, they look good, never heard them yet.

Price in Australia was equivalent of £122.00.

Ken

 

Bought the 4G nano for gym & 60G ipod for music & photo... love it!

Will test its 15hrs battery life with our coming up trip...