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spacedhopper
17-12-2003, 13:44
I was tihnking of treating myself to an Ipod today, but does anybody think or know that it will be reduced in price after Chrimbo?

Neil
17-12-2003, 13:45
Hmmm-difficult to say as the IPOD is a very popular piece of kit, which isn't discounted much at all (for obvious reasons)

Try www.easyvalue.com

downquark1
17-12-2003, 13:48
Has that whole battery issue been fixed? If not I'd wait till it is.

spacedhopper
17-12-2003, 14:04
Yeah i think the 3G ones have the battery thing sorted.

What the heck, i think i'll buy me a new toy!!!!

Chris
17-12-2003, 14:18
Yeah i think the 3G ones have the battery thing sorted.

What the heck, i think i'll buy me a new toy!!!!
The battery issue is ancient history. Go buy one now, you are highly unlikely to get a discount as Apple controls its prices very tightly indeed. The only discount I have ever seen was in a branch of John Lewis, which was selling off a couple of 10gb old-style iPods after the new touch-sensitive one came in. Otherwise you might be lucky and get one bundled with an accessory or two, in much the same way as retailers bundle stuff with PS2s but never seem to discount the console itself.

SMHarman
17-12-2003, 15:20
If you have access to a source in the US you can get them over there, the product is universal, so now power supply issues and they are priced at 300/400/500 USD which convert to 172/229/287 GBP so a fair old saving.

My mother in law is getting me one using her apple teachers discount so a 40Gb for 500-10% 450 / 1.74 = £258 cool.

Worked out I needed the 40Gb - Got to Pink Floyd in my music collection and I'm at 17Gb.

Question for iPod users. Does the OS etc take up space on the HDD or can a 20Gb player take 20Gb of music?

Chris
17-12-2003, 16:04
Question for iPod users. Does the OS etc take up space on the HDD or can a 20Gb player take 20Gb of music?
The OS does use HDD space, but not very much at all. This Apple we're talking about, not MS bloatware. :)

spacedhopper
17-12-2003, 21:51
Well, I have got my new ipod and its f-in brilliant. Now all i have to do is transfer my 400 albums to MP3, waaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Lew
18-12-2003, 00:27
I want an iPod, even if it's just so that I can use the FireWire ports on my PowerBook!

Download Failed (1)

SMHarman
18-12-2003, 11:12
Well, I have got my new ipod and its f-in brilliant. Now all i have to do is transfer my 400 albums to MP3, waaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Just a suggestion, but if the only place they are going is to the iPod or another PC/Mac then I would recommend the AAC MP4 encoding. Less space better sound.

spacedhopper
18-12-2003, 11:39
Just a suggestion, but if the only place they are going is to the iPod or another PC/Mac then I would recommend the AAC MP4 encoding. Less space better sound.

itunes - the software that comes with the ipod, by default converts CD tracks to AAC

Chris
18-12-2003, 11:41
itunes - the software that comes with the ipod, by default converts CD tracks to AAC
True, although you can select MP3 or full-quality CD if you want. However, as SMH says, leave it on AAC. The sound quality is noticeably better, and the files are significantly more compressed. Knocks spots of Windoze media.

SMHarman
18-12-2003, 11:54
itunes - the software that comes with the ipod, by default converts CD tracks to AAC

As you and Towny state this is the default, though if you are using it on a PC then you must separately obtain iTunes (I think), the iPod comes with MusicMatch as the PC based software (or did for Mk2).

If you have a solidstate MP3 player that cannot decode MP4 then you would want to make iTunes default to MP3 then you can use the files in both players. You don't want to encode 400 albums twice.

I've 600 albums and 200 singles. I've got to 'P' and done the now musics. It takes time...

SMHarman
12-01-2004, 13:53
The battery issue is ancient history. Go buy one now, you are highly unlikely to get a discount as Apple controls its prices very tightly indeed. The only discount I have ever seen was in a branch of John Lewis, which was selling off a couple of 10gb old-style iPods after the new touch-sensitive one came in. Otherwise you might be lucky and get one bundled with an accessory or two, in much the same way as retailers bundle stuff with PS2s but never seem to discount the console itself.

Seems the issue can still make it to the broadsheets though.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-960449,00.html


Apple acts after battery of iPod complaints
From Chris Ayres in Los Angeles



USERS of AppleÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s iPod music player, alarmed at reports that the unitâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s non-replaceable battery will be useless after 18 months, were reassured last night that a solution is at hand.



Apple said that a replacement service would soon be available in Europe, as it now is in the United States.

Since its introduction two years ago more than two million people have bought an iPod, which can store up to 10,000 songs in a high-quality format. However, buyers labelled it a rip-off because its power source stopped working shortly after the warranty ran out. The news came as a shock to the 730,000 or so people worldwide who bought the players in the run-up to Christmas, often as pricey gifts.

Some distraught iPod users in the US have been told by AppleÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s customer service agents simply to throw away their $499 (£269) pride and joy and get a new one. In Britain, the same top-of-the-line iPod model costs £399.

Two New York-based iPod buyers, Casey Neistat, 22, and his brother Van, 28, were so outraged that they made a short film of their experiences with the Apple telephone help-desk.

A San Francisco law firm, Girard, Gibbs & De Bartolomeo, is also thought to be filing a class action lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit will claim damages on behalf of any American who bought an iPod assuming that its rechargeable battery would last longer. Apple executives, however, point out that all batteries eventually run flat and that frequency of use will affect the iPodâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s lifespan.

The Neistat brothersââ‚ ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ film, which can be found at www.ipodsdirtysecret.com, shows Casey Neistatââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s call to customer services, in which the agent, Ryan, tells him bluntly to buy a new iPod.

The brothers, both artists in Lower Manhattan, claim that nearly one million internet users have watched the film online and that they have been deluged with thousands of e-mails from angry iPod buyers.

†œWe got close to 1,000 e-mails the first couple of days,ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â Casey Neistat told the San Jose Mercury News, the newspaper for Silicon Valley. †œA lot of people were in my exact position and had to buy the new iPod.ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â

Apple has, however, changed its US policy on the iPod battery, offering an expanded warranty for $59 and also a $99 battery-replacement scheme, which involves users sending their devices to Apple in the post. It is also possible to buy conventional external battery packs. Consumers can also attempt to change the iPodâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s internal batteries themselves using kits available on the internet.

Several unofficial sites supporting the iPod have sprung up in the wake of the Neistat brothersââ‚ ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ film. One of them, www.ipodbatteryfaq.com (faq stands for †œfrequently asked questionsââ‚ ¬Â), says that the iPodââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s internal lithium ion battery is good for between 300 and 500 charges.

According to the site, a fully charged iPod battery should give eight hours of continuous use †” although that is with some iPod features switched off. Some users have complained that battery life falls to as little as one hour after a year.

A battery that lasts for four hours or less could be considered defective and replaced under AppleÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s warranty plan, the website says.

Chris
15-01-2004, 11:22
Seems the issue can still make it to the broadsheets though.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-960449,00.html


Apple acts after battery of iPod complaints
From Chris Ayres in Los Angeles

I came across a similar article in the Daily Mail (print version) at the end of last week. These stories can hang around on the newsdesk for weeks (even months) and still get run on a slow-news day if the News Editor decides it doesn't look dated. Timesonline may well have picked it up from the Mail. However in this case I think it's probably the introduction of Apple's battery replacement programme in the UK this month that triggered the story.

I should add that we've had our original 5gb iPod for 2 years and the battery appears to be as good as ever :)

downquark1
15-01-2004, 11:28
Towny - your back!:)

SMHarman
15-01-2004, 13:42
I came across a similar article in the Daily Mail (print version) at the end of last week. These stories can hang around on the newsdesk for weeks (even months) and still get run on a slow-news day if the News Editor decides it doesn't look dated. Timesonline may well have picked it up from the Mail. However in this case I think it's probably the introduction of Apple's battery replacement programme in the UK this month that triggered the story.

I should add that we've had our original 5gb iPod for 2 years and the battery appears to be as good as ever :)

It was in the hard copy times also. About Page 8 fairly prominent in the top corner with a good sized headline. I noticed it in another persons paper on the train.

My 40Gb seems to struggle to last 6 hrs (though thats with a 5 second backlight and a good bit of hopping about at the moment, so I think that is reasonable). Certainly thinking of getting the addon battery pack for the 12 hr flight I'm taking later this year (or can you plug it into an EmPower port on a Plane - I guess you could via a Laptop, but I'm not taking one).

Whats the betting the replacement batterys will be £99 over here (compare to $99 in the US @ 1.8 = £55)!

Chris
15-01-2004, 14:09
Towny - your back!:)
Hello - yup, back at my desk after a 2-week Christmas holiday, a week-long trip to Miami and a nasty stomach bug that delayed our trip home from Glasgow by three days this week!

Ready for some more healthy conversation and lively debate :D