can dropping an ipod affect the sound quality?

[stickybytes]

My friend bought a ipod nano today from compusa and being as clumsy as he is, he dropped it even before he even got a chance to use it. It was from a distance of about 3 ft. When he got to turn it on, the screen and the case weren't harmed but now he's worried if he broke any chips on the inside that would affect the sound quality. I took a listen of the music and couldn't discern a difference in the sound from my nano.

I told him that if it broke, the whole thing wouldn't be functioning at all but he's pretty uptight about it. My question to you guys, especially those who are familar with the insides of an ipod is if this is possible? Can dropping an ipod cause the sound quality to degrade or drop?

Also, are there any tests that you can run on the thing to see if anything else broke?

 

[Neurorelay]

Read an article where the thing was run over twice and still worked and sounded fine.

 

[josedawg]

Have him read this article (I think this is what Neuro mentioned) to calm his fears.

Ipod Nano 'Stress Test'

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Can't he just return it and get a new one?

 

[videogames101]

WOW that article is amazing, apple has quality products it seems....... But running an ipod nano 2 times with a car with both tires and "the band played on....." is amzing. of course nothing can survive a 40ft drop though.....

 

[johnnqq]

if it went up to 8 gb i woudl buy it :\

 

[josedawg]

I was in the market for a flash based player for a long time, but was not a big fan of the shuffle. When the nano came out I wanted it immediately, but decided to wait at least one generation before Apple worked out their kinks. They always have problems on their first gen hardware. After reading the Ars review though, I sparked up apple.com and order my new nano. First generation or not, if it can withstand that much abuse, I think it can handle a little more

 

[phisrow]

There is a small chance that the headphone jack would be damaged by shock; but you would hear that quite easily. That aside, though, the thing is solid state, it's either working, or dead.

 

[stickybytes]

Originally posted by: phisrow
There is a small chance that the headphone jack would be damaged by shock; but you would hear that quite easily. That aside, though, the thing is solid state, it's either working, or dead.

what would you define as signs of a damaged headphone jack? could it be something slight that couldn't be discerned from casual listening?

 

[phisrow]

Were the jack damaged, you would hear pops or interruptions if and when you wiggled the connector around. If you hear nothing untward under such stressful conditions, the connector is fine.

 

[sniperruff]

his ipod nano will become unusable in another 2 weeks due to the drop. tell him i'll offer him $25 for it.

 

[Raduque]

If they went down to $199 for the 4gb and 149 for the 2gb, i'd buy one. But priced as they are, I can't justify it. Just toss in an extra $50 and get a full-on 20gb iPod.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Raduque
If they went down to $199 for the 4gb and 149 for the 2gb, i'd buy one. But priced as they are, I can't justify it. Just toss in an extra $50 and get a full-on 20gb iPod.

remember a 4gb solid state CF card costs around $200. apple is quite hard to justify to pay you and take their ipod nano. at $50 a pop for the shell with the color screen and their cable, packaging, overhead for distributors etc, apple isn't making much money out of the nano as is.

 

[Rubycon]

The ears on the poly 1800 box can easily withstand the force of the patchcord being yanked at full tab say from fouling in the wheel of an office chair.

 

[IeraseU]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
remember a 4gb solid state CF card costs around $200. apple is quite hard to justify to pay you and take their ipod nano. at $50 a pop for the shell with the color screen and their cable, packaging, overhead for distributors etc, apple isn't making much money out of the nano as is.

Actually apple uses 4 different flash cards (1 gig each), rather then a 4gig one, and they get better pricing then a consumer has access to since they buy in tremendous bulk. Still I think the price is right on the actual nano, but the 'accesories' are super inflated. The armband $30...corded headphones $40.....pretty outrageous I think.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: IeraseU

Originally posted by: sniperruff
remember a 4gb solid state CF card costs around $200. apple is quite hard to justify to pay you and take their ipod nano. at $50 a pop for the shell with the color screen and their cable, packaging, overhead for distributors etc, apple isn't making much money out of the nano as is.

Actually apple uses 4 different flash cards (1 gig each), rather then a 4gig one, and they get better pricing then a consumer has access to since they buy in tremendous bulk. Still I think the price is right on the actual nano, but the 'accesories' are super inflated. The armband $30...corded headphones $40.....pretty outrageous I think.

actually it's 2 pieces of 2gig's shown by this website

but yeah, those alone would cost close to $200. as for assoceries... it's not like buying a car when you have to pay an insane amount for a specific color... you can just skip the asspceries on the nano. but still, boo to apple for skimming on the damn AC adapter.