<rant>Apple iPod support sucks</rant>

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
This makes me want to reconsider salivating over an iPod and get a Nomad Zen NX instead... decisions, decisions...

My 30 GB Zen NX is awesome... EAX is sweet. File transfers are faster than hell... averaged about 5-5.5 MB/s on USB 2.0... interface is really easy to use... and it's really not THAT much bigger than the iPod... if it was any smaller it would be hard to hold onto.

*EDIT*

And the fact that I have all 180 of my CD's on it encoded at 192 kbps and it's just a little over half full is a plus

What kind of software bundle\bloat comes with it? Could I just drag and drop files onto it through explorer or am I stuck using Creative's package?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
This makes me want to reconsider salivating over an iPod and get a Nomad Zen NX instead... decisions, decisions...

My 30 GB Zen NX is awesome... EAX is sweet. File transfers are faster than hell... averaged about 5-5.5 MB/s on USB 2.0... interface is really easy to use... and it's really not THAT much bigger than the iPod... if it was any smaller it would be hard to hold onto.

*EDIT*

And the fact that I have all 180 of my CD's on it encoded at 192 kbps and it's just a little over half full is a plus

What kind of software bundle\bloat comes with it? Could I just drag and drop files onto it through explorer or am I stuck using Creative's package?

 

[Jeff7181]

You have to use creative's software... but it's VERY basic... there's not a whole lot of bloat to it. Then there's the Creative File Manager that allows you to use it as portable storage... you can't put files on it with Windows Explorer though. I know you don't like the idea of having to use Creative's software, I didn't like it at first either, then when I installed it and used it I'm glad that is how it's done because it's so simple and it checks the ID3 tags... I did a writeup of it here right when I got it. Just search here in General Hardware for "Creative" and it's probably one of the first 5 in the list. I included pictures of it and the software too.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
You have to use creative's software... but it's VERY basic... there's not a whole lot of bloat to it. Then there's the Creative File Manager that allows you to use it as portable storage... you can't put files on it with Windows Explorer though. I know you don't like the idea of having to use Creative's software, I didn't like it at first either, then when I installed it and used it I'm glad that is how it's done because it's so simple and it checks the ID3 tags... I did a writeup of it here right when I got it. Just search here in General Hardware for "Creative" and it's probably one of the first 5 in the list. I included pictures of it and the software too.

I wanted to use it as portable storage for school notes etc so I don't have to use Yahoo Briefcase (no CD burners here and I don't trust floppies)

 

[MDE]

dp

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
You have to use creative's software... but it's VERY basic... there's not a whole lot of bloat to it. Then there's the Creative File Manager that allows you to use it as portable storage... you can't put files on it with Windows Explorer though. I know you don't like the idea of having to use Creative's software, I didn't like it at first either, then when I installed it and used it I'm glad that is how it's done because it's so simple and it checks the ID3 tags... I did a writeup of it here right when I got it. Just search here in General Hardware for "Creative" and it's probably one of the first 5 in the list. I included pictures of it and the software too.

I wanted to use it as portable storage for school notes etc so I don't have to use Yahoo Briefcase (no CD burners here and I don't trust floppies)

It's not real convenient for that since you need the creative software... something like a USB pen drive would probably work best.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress

Originally posted by: Jeff7181 You have to use creative's software... but it's VERY basic... there's not a whole lot of bloat to it. Then there's the Creative File Manager that allows you to use it as portable storage... you can't put files on it with Windows Explorer though. I know you don't like the idea of having to use Creative's software, I didn't like it at first either, then when I installed it and used it I'm glad that is how it's done because it's so simple and it checks the ID3 tags... I did a writeup of it here right when I got it. Just search here in General Hardware for "Creative" and it's probably one of the first 5 in the list. I included pictures of it and the software too.

I wanted to use it as portable storage for school notes etc so I don't have to use Yahoo Briefcase (no CD burners here and I don't trust floppies)

It's not real convenient for that since you need the creative software... something like a USB pen drive would probably work best.

Oh well, wouldn't have been able to do that with an iPod either.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
Oh well, wouldn't have been able to do that with an iPod either.

See Here.
We`re trying to find out if it is possible with an iPod, but its moved on to "favourite beers"! lol

 

[MDE]

I could always spend the $70 I save over the iPod on a USB memory key.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
I could always spend the $70 I save over the iPod on a USB memory key.

You'll save more than $70... you aren't gonna get a 30 GB iPod for $330

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Here's a really funny movie about iPods:

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

Apparently the battery goes dead after about 18months and cannot be replaced. You are forced to buy a new one.

I think I'll forget ever buying one of those.

 

[LethalWolfe]

McCarthy,

Yeah, I don't think we are going to agree either. But at least we kept it civil and humorus (assuming people thought our bad puns were funny). I do think the movie was put together well too.

RE your google search: Not trying to down play the battery issue, but there are always defective products and the people who have problems w/their products, due to factory or user error, are always more vocal than those that have no problems w/their product. Going by just what's posted in the General Hardware and Video forums I would think that ATi and Nvidia make some of the crappiest products on earth because almost every thread about them is a user having problems.

RE Lithium-Ion batteries: Completely discharing a Lithium-Ion battery is very, very bad for the battery. Doing it just once could damage the battery and doing it just a few times could kill it. Lithium-Ion's do not have a "memory" and like being recharged frequently. I usually charge mine after they drop to 1/4 or 1/3 below a full charge. So it's use, charge, use charge. As opposed to older batteries where it was use, use, use/drain empty, charge. Also, leaving an Lithium-Ion battery in a charger for long periods of time can damage it as well. Most makers warn strongly against leaving it in the charger for more than 24hrs straight.


Lethal

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
Here's a really funny movie about iPods:

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

Apparently the battery goes dead after about 18months and cannot be replaced. You are forced to buy a new one.

I think I'll forget ever buying one of those.

OMG, please tell me this post is a joke.


Lethal

 

[AmdInside]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
it probaby worked on their side, its possible its your pc.

The Apple diognostics doesn't require a PC or Mac. It is run from the iPod itself without anything attached to it.

 

[AmdInside]

Originally posted by: McCarthy
AmdInside - Didn't say, are you sure you got the same iPod back? Did it take 7GB transfers before a month ago or you just started transferring that many then? After talking to them again are you sending it back in for more service or...? What disk error did you get? Always do it with the same mp3 set or different sets...wondering about a corrupt mp3 as unlikely as it may be. Strangely enough after looking at iPods during participation in these threads I'm tempted to buy one and am even more curious what the error is you're getting. mp3-CD's turning out to be more trouble than it's worth for me. If it's a bad HD you have that sucks, but if they exchanged and you got a different one back it wouldn't explain the problem short of incredibly bad luck.

Though I'd buy a used one, not just because their support sounds like a pain, but because when I see 'no user serviceable parts' that's my cue to open it up and look inside

Yes, I am sure I got the same iPod back. When it was brand new, I could transfer large collection of files back and forth all day long. It was only a couple of months ago when this problem started occuring. After talking to them, they are sending me another box to ship the item back to them and marking down my comments in the computer so that the technician carefully inspects the iPod when they receive it.

The PC gives some kind of "cyclic" error message when I am transferring files. I don't transfer MP3 files. Although I have quite a lot of songs on the iPod, I also use it to transfer work programs from work to home and back. When I ran the diagnostics (this is done on the iPod with nothing else attached to it), it gave a HDD error and the location of the error so it is probably just a bad hard drive. Hopefully Apple will replace the hard drive and that will take care of the problem.

 

[Jeff7181]

Zen NX has a replaceable battery

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
I could always spend the $70 I save over the iPod on a USB memory key.

You'll save more than $70... you aren't gonna get a 30 GB iPod for $330

20GB iPod is $370 after a student discount (the only one I was considering, best balance of price\extras in the iPod line) so I will be saving $70 (assuming I don't find the Nomad cheaper than retail).

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: MonkeyDriveExpress
I could always spend the $70 I save over the iPod on a USB memory key.

You'll save more than $70... you aren't gonna get a 30 GB iPod for $330

20GB iPod is $370 after a student discount (the only one I was considering, best balance of price\extras in the iPod line) so I will be saving $70 (assuming I don't find the Nomad cheaper than retail).

Newegg has the 30 GB Zen NX for $265... that's where I got mine

*EDIT* Oh... it's out of stock now... either way... keep an eye out for it, that's a damn good price... maybe check zipzoomfly.com since their prices are usually similar

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
Apparently the battery goes dead after about 18months and cannot be replaced. You are forced to buy a new one.

If you belive that then you`ll belive anything.
I know several people who`ve had iPods for over 2 years, and they`re still working.
The chances are that the ppl who made that "mistreated" the battery, or more likely, it was a fluke that they got a dud battery. And iPods batterys can be replaced. You just have to know where to buy them.

 

[bigpow]

Of course it sucks!

What would you expect from the rotten apple co.?

They want you to:
1. buy their overpriced - undervalued products
2. buy their upgrades (read: fixes)
3. give them free money (for the supports)

Go figure!

Sorry to hear it, but I hope you learn a lesson.

 

[McCarthy]

OMG, please tell me this post is a joke.

Please tell me too! Gack, guess he didn't read the middle part of the thread. Must cede a point to you Lethal, he took it literally.

About Lithium-Ions and discharging...learned something new. Not that I don't believe you, just strange that I didn't run across that last night. I'll go look again. If nothing else I and hopefully a few others reading the replies will get longer life out of future batteries. Oddly enough one of Apple's recommendations is to run the battery completely dead in certain situations if the unit is locked up and their tips page for getting the most out of your battery says nothing about not letting it run down other than saying to charge the unit every 18 days or so. Even there it was phrased in such a way as to sound like "so it's ready to go when you want tunes" rather than "so your battery doesn't go kerput"

Guess I'm coming around to your way of thinking more about the video. If someone were to graffiti "Chrysler's unreplacable valve stem seals leak after 80,000 miles" on Caravan posters I wouldn't take that to mean my van was going to start smoking and using oil right at 80, but it'd make me pay attention to the possibility and maybe find out ways to delay it (or care for my iPod battery better). Guess some would take it as a deadline.

Still though that goes to consumer mentality, same people that can't apply some thinking to graffiti are going to fall for $255 refurbs, $99 battery exchanges, $400 paperweights... Then again if they can't be bothered to think about it why should I worry for them.

Funny Apple story occurred to me today - I once dug a sad looking MAC SE out of the mud where it'd been tossed when a foreclosed house was cleared out. House had sat empty for years so the computer couldn't have been used for as long. Took it home, wiped the mud off, was going to make it into an umbrella stand or something equally useless, but decided to plug it in to see what sort of explosion it'd make. It booted, the desktop came up, and to my amazement the clock was still accurate to the minute. All the while dead bugs were sizzling and some apparently non critical PCB was smoldering, could hear sparks arcing and smoke was billowing out the back...and the little ah heck of a computer was oblivous to it all, patiently waiting for me to open an application.

Maybe that's why I'm having trouble with the concept of Apple intending to make disposable hardware, which seemed to be the intent behind the design original iPod and supported by their begrudging help for out of warrenty support. They didn't used to make junk, don't think they do now, wonder now if their support was always this way.

 

[MDE]

One Apple product isn't necessarily indicative of another. I could come up with a story about a Packard Bell 486 that is STILL running to this day (which it is).

 

[abaez]

I feel sorry for apple because of exactly what happened in this thread earlier, newbie computer users looking for an mp3 player and seeing that video and just brushing the ipod off.

Second while what happened sucks, it is not indicative of all apple's support. Here is a post from the big refurb ipod thread in hot deals:

Wow... after over a month of waiting, I finally have the iPod from the order I placed in September... and quite a story!

I was one of the first to post about receiving the refurb $279 10gb 3rd gen iPod in horrendous condition. After reading the rest of the posts since that time, it seems to me that Apple had, at least briefly, been sending out what was likely unrefurbished, perhaps merely re-packaged, iPods which had been customer returns. Interestingly enough, I hadn't even tried to turn the unit on before I called Apple CS to complain about the appearance of the unit. They had told me that my only option, if I was unhappy, was to return it for a refund. Later that day, as I was mulling my options (i.e. keep it, or don't), I decided to turn it on to see if it was in decent mechanical/electrical condition. Turns out that it wasn't at all -- it was completely DOA! Having another iPod in the family, I'm very familliar with their operation. This one wouldn't even accept a charge.

Doubly frustrated (isn't there a person who is supposed to hand-check these refurbs before they're sent out?), I called Apple again to complain. I managed to get escalated up to the point where I was speaking to someone who could act on my complaint. After hearing the story of the dirty, DOA iPod, I was put on hold a while and just when I thought they had forgotten about me, I was reconnected to be told that they'd be sending me a *brand new* iPod!

Obviously ecstatic (I was just hoping for another shot at a refurb!), I waited a week for a shipping label to arrive (never did - I had to call them back, only to find out that I had the option of receiving an emailed return shipping label), waited for the them to receive the defective iPod, and then waited for my replacement -- which was being shipped from, no kidding, China (the Airborne tracking number even says that the point of shipment was Shanghai!).

Imagine my surprise when I opened the box this morning to find a ... 20GB 3rd gen iPod!

A pain-in-the-neck? Sure. Would I order a refurb product from Apple again? Perhaps one not in such high demand. Am I satisfied with the result? You bet.

Thanks, Apple, for turning this potentially disaterous situation into a pleasant surprise!

Edit: member JeffSpam posted it

 

[grant2]

possibly user abused iPod as fact in regards to the lifespan of all iPods.

How does a user "abuse" poly-li-ion battery? I don't see how it's possible.

 

[grant2]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

How do you misuse a battery anyway?

I'd say running it down until it doesn't have enough juice to even power on the unit would be misuse.

Why would you say that? (about li-ion batteries i mean)