12/31/01

Why iPod is not ready for prime-time, a follow-up.

I'm a bit worried that people will read Taylor B's rant and actually believe that the iPod is the "turkey" that he makes it out to be. That would be too bad, because they'd be missing out on the other side of the story. I won't try and gloss over the whole 90-day warranty fiasco. I think it's too short, too. But you can either bitch and moan about it and settle for a lesser mp3 player, or just go get the $30 warranty at CompUSA. Heck, word around the user forums at various sites is that CompUSA will sell you the warranty even if you didn't buy the iPod there! That $30 replacement warranty is unbeatable. I'd rather have that than a standard 3-year warranty from Apple, even if it were free. Much as I hate CompUSA, they get the thumbs up on this one. And what of this "unparalleled" 8 meg RAM buffer on his beloved cd-r mp3 player? That's pretty good...it's a quarter the size of the iPod's skip-protection buffer, though. No mention is made of battery life.

What other player of similar size and capabilities has a 10-hour battery that recharges as you update the music library, with no separate power cord needed? Hmm...none. And what is your time worth to you? In the time you spend burning *one* mp3 cd (on an average 8x burner like those included with some Macs, without verification) I can just about fill up the full 5 gigs on the iPod. You'd have to burn 7 or more of those cd's to have 5 gigs of music to carry (separately from the player, I might add). That's another half-hour plus. (I won't even discuss how long it'd take to fill up 5 gigs over USB. *yawn*)

And what if two songs that you'd like to listen to consecutively are on two different cd's? You could either burn a new cd, or swap disks. With a couple of button presses on the iPod, I'm there already. Oh, and the player he mentions that can resume playing (even in the middle of a song!) That's pretty cool. The iPod can do that, too. And with firmware updates, it can only get better. Ahh well, that's enough for now.

Liked the site, keep up the good work,

Mike

In my very honest opinion, Taylor B has one or two valid points about the iPod. Pauses between songs and lack of EQ settings on the unit are both "inconvenient", but only at best. I've listened to many MP3 players, portable CD players, and portable MP3/CD players. Those devices do one thing - play music, and usually not very well. With CD players, the infuriation of batteries going dead, buying new batteries and a skipping disc being my top pet peeve. The choppy audio of the early Rio MP3 players, and lack of Mac compatibility for most of them. He obviously favors MP3/CD players. They have all of the flaws of both the average MP3 players AND portable CD players. Another fact that has always bothered me about them is the fact that an MP3 Audio Disks really don't hold that much more music than a 64MB equipped MP3 player - AND they still tend to skip. Why would I willingly want to burn through an 8-pack of double-A's every two weeks AND waste my hard earned money (and time) burning custom MP3 discs that can not be used on my home stereo? How much does he spend on blank CDs each week anyway? That's an economic waste - not to mention potentially toxic for the environment (rechargeable batteries or not - it's still toxic when they eventually will not hold a charge). I have had my iPod for a little over a month now, and it is far better than any other music device I've ever used or listened to. It has been a joy! I have more than 3/4 of my entire CD collection on my iPod. That's 831 of my favorite songs, with 53MB to spare for encrypted or secure documents to be carted around. There is nothing quite like having nearly my entire collection of favorite music ON DEMAND while waiting for a bus on my way to work. Also, the most recent update for iTunes allows you to edit play lists on the iPod itself, without being dependant on a local copy of a play list (thank you Apple).

Secondly, you can change the EQ settings for more than one track at a time in iTunes. Ever hear of keyword search and shift-select?

Thirdly, The bud earphones are not "crap" (in my opinion). I've purchased and heard MANY different manufacturers of headphones (and many kinds), and in-ear headphones by Labtech take the cake on being the dullest I have ever had the (dis)pleasure of listening to. I tag them as better then most. If you want to spend $20-30 on headphones, be my guest.

My fourth point - battery life. I have yet to see the iPod's battery be totally drained. In fact, I have not seen it hit the half drained mark once. I will likely never see it get totally drained - unless it gets damaged. Fifth point - if you are afraid of something you own getting damaged due to daily use, then you are likely not meant to use it in the first place. I have dropped my iPod exactly twice, and both times on carpet when I was not paying attention (the second time while playing). In both instances, it came through without a scratch. The iPod (in my opinion) fits perfectly in my hand. It is unlikely that it will be dropped. I think it would probably survive an impact against concrete, if it hit one of the metal corners - but I admittedly am hesitant to try myself. And lastly, there is the sneakernet capability of the iPod. On Christmas day I was visiting a relative who is also a Mac user. They had been having problems with their iMac. I set up a bootable system/repair disc on my iPod, and used it to boot from - in addition to transfer several necessary software updates they did not have access too (as they only have a 56K internet connection and I didn't have an Ethernet crossover cable).

In short, Taylor B's complaints about the iPod are short-sighted, or nit-picky at best. If he wishes to waste money on blank CDs and/or batteries, he can be my guest.

Daniel S.

More about the Compusa warranty for the iPod

Following the advice of your website, I went to purchase an extended warranty on the ipod from compusa. Firstly I was offered a 2 year PDA warranty for 99.99 then a 1 year warranty for for 29.99 for an item that costs 399. I held out for the manager, we went to your website and finally they gave me the two year carry-in replacement warranty for a mass storage device for 29.99. The sku for this is 277449. By the way the warranty is transferable with sale. Thanks ipod-zone for telling me and the compusa staff about this great deal.

John C

Gallery

In order to expand our gallery of pictures, we are now opening it to other Macs or devices (did you say iPod?). It is currently a Cube gallery. If you want to send a picture of your config, we will publish it! Please just send small jpeg files so that it does not take ages to load!

12/24/01

Why iPod is not ready for prime time

Taylor gives us his point of view about the iPod and its missing features.

I have a lot of experience testing various CD-R based MP3 players. Most of them are seriously flawed. For one reason or another they don't work as promised. Most of them provide minimal or NO Macintosh support. The original Rio 500 is still the best RAM based player for the Mac. But it has a maximum capacity of only 128 MB (64MB inside plus 64MB maximum swapable Smart Cards). Great for jogging, but not for long car trips.

I have found the little publicized TDK MOJO CD-R player http://www.tdk.com/mojo/index.html ($149 at Fry's) to be quite a wonderful Macintosh compatible player. It has an 8 minute RAM buffer for that eliminates any skipping problems. The best priced CD-R player that also fulfills Macintosh compatibility is the RioVolt SP90 "Jr." http://www.riohome.com/products/riovolt_sp90.htm (currently on SALE for only $80 at Circuit City - regularly $100) . It has the unique capability to RESUME at the exact place where you previously stopped the player - even in the middle of a song.

Like everyone in the Macintosh community, I was initially excited about the iPod announcement. But as a long time portable MP3 player owner (Rio 500 and TDK MOJO) and evaluator (numerous trys at Fry's returned), I remained skeptical about its promise. I wanted one, but I only wanted one which performs ALL necessary functions. So my partner gave me one for Christmas which she bought with me in tow at the Apple Store in Glendale. During the buying process I asked if we could buy a repair/replacement warranty. This is after all a CONSUMER ELECTRONICS product for which these type of comprehensive warrantys are considered to be an additional profit center for resellers. I was told NO. This made me even more skeptical about the iPod's future. If the iPod is going to be such a wonderful, reliable and lasting product, why would the engineering-reseller (Apple) in effect tell the buyer of a $400 player that "you're on your own after 90 days when it comes to fixing anything that might go wrong with it." Then the Apple Store employee explained that if I opened the iPod's box I would have to eat 10% of the iPod price ($40) if I decided to return it by January 5th. So I got the iPod sealed in it's beautiful cube-like box and the Christmas gift return for the $432 (inc. 8% CA sales tax) cash form and put it in the garage not to be opened until I could find out WHY I should risk the $40 that I am going to want to keep it with NO WARRANTY. So on my next visit to Fry's I asked if they sell a repair/replacement warranty for the iPod. After all, I know they sell such warranty's for almost everything they sell. They said "NO, not for the iPod." They couldn't tell me why not. But one would have to be brain dead not to understand that Apple is not backing up its boasting with it's bank. Then I went to CompUSA where I asked the same question. They said "SURE". $30 for 2 years NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS - UNCONDITIONAL replacement ONLY. The CompUSA employee told me I could deliberately break it in the 23rd month and get a new one "if they still exist" - no questions asked. That's $1.25 a month for peace of mind with regard to any form accidental or even deliberate breakage - 4¢ a day.

I was almost ready to return my Apple Store unit for cash and go buy one at CompUSA when I decided to test drive the unit they had on display at CompUSA. The included ear pods are CRAP. This is when I discovered the damn thing has NO EQUALIZER. Are they BRAIN DEAD at Apple or what?!! You can't play a portable music anything without an equalizer! Even the most primitive portable CD players have a bass booster and most have several presets to choose from. The Rio 500 has both presets and customizable treble and bass tone controls. When I phoned the Apple Store in Glendale to confirm this, the employee told me I could attach an equalization setting from iTunes to EACH SONG. Oh yeah, that's a brilliant scheme. I think I'll just go back and do that to the the 5000 songs I have already encoded from my vast CD collection over the past 2 years. Besides, that wouldn't solve the problem of always needing to adjust tone controls for different listening situations (different headphones, car stereo, home stereo) and songs.

Bottom line

iPod cases

Geoffrey R snt us comments about the JRHill case for iPod

Dear fellow iPod owners - I received yesterday the JRHill $40 see-thru window case. The design is flawed: the window and round opening fit poorly, with the opening bulging out at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, and the seams sewn to the outside, which looks chintzy. They should have fashioned this piece to be sewn inward to hide the seams giving a more finished look. The piece came in a pouch envelope that allowed the contents to get crushed and warped by whatever had impacted the package. The coup d'grace was the application of UPS 3rd day service to a shipment of only 60 miles! This is always an overnight service! The use of this UPS 3rd day service confirms to me the simple truth that someone(s) not paying attention to detail... I do have a strong recommendation. I also ordered the Waterfield Designs $20 iPod case made of fabrics and neoprene, complete with a belt clip system. This arrived via Airborne Express in a hard box in perfect condition from Ca. days before the JR Hill which had been ordered at the same time. Further, the shipper followed up with personal e-mail messages that complemented the attention they wanted to show for their business. The Waterfield case was ideal and attractive, affordable and well executed. I can highly recommend it to anyone looking to protect their investment. I cannot say this for the JR Hill, which prompted my wife to comment that the unit had been rushed into production to meet burgeoning market demand. I can see her point.

Geoffrey R

Ken W sends us comments about the OWC case.

Hi, I was reading your "A week with the iPod" and noticed that you had some readers submit links for iPod cases. I just ordered and am awaiting the arrival of a case from Other World Computing. The case seems quite nice and retails for less than some of the others listed. I've provided a link for the manufacturer below.

Ken W

Readers comments about the iPod warranty and the Champagne speakers

Hey On the site you're telling people to drop you a line about warranties in other countries than USA. In Denmark, you get 2 years of 'warranty' when you buy a product. But it does not cover accidents, only failures that are Apple's fault (such as if it suddenly does not work anymore).

Christian

I read with interest you thought on using the HK speakers with an iPod. I saw just that setup when I was in a Mac retailer in NYC last week. Sound was really nice with good stereo sep. bass etc. Great site keep up the good work viva la Cube!

Barry S

12/20/01

Use your iPod as a PDA: Address Book->iPod lets you manage your contacts on the iPod!

Rich Goldman has written a script that lets you use your iPod as a PDA. You can browse your Entourage/Outlook contacts on your iPod! Why have a Palm if you can use an iPod? You first have to run the script. Then you plug in your iPod to sync up (the contact files are hidden in a MP3 file, using ID3 tags... that's the trick...). On the iPod, you have to browse under Artist, and find "Adress Book". You can scroll through the list of contact names and select the name of the person in order to see the information about that person. This little piece of software still has some bugs, but is very promising!

iPod Forum

We have opened our iPod forum. It is available here. You can post all your questions about iPod there. You can also send us your articles, we'll be happy to publish them!

More comments about the iPod warranty

Scott, from CompUSA tells us about his store extended warranty policy:

Hello, My name is Scott, I'm a salesperson at a CompUSA. The iPod does in fact only come with a 90-day warranty. What CompUSA offers, for a price is a 2-year replacement plan. I don't know what Apple does under the 90-days, if they replace it or fix the unit. CompUSA would not repair a product like that. At my store, I have been selling a 2-year replacement plan for $29.99 on the iPod. If the item goes defective, or if they even drop it and break it by accident, CompUSA will replace the item with one of equal or greater value. That means, if in 4 months a customer's iPod breaks, they can come in and get a replacement iPod immediately. The iPod is a $399 item. In my store, we've sold those replacement plans on over 3/4's of the iPods that have been sold.

Speakers for your iPod : Harman Kardon Champagne Special Edition

The Champagne Special Edition is a compact, high-performance speaker system for design conscious users. It features Harman Odyssey Series loudspeakers.Soft push-button volume and mute controls are located on the right satellite speaker, and the bass and treble controls on the subwoofer. It is sold on the AppleStore for $169. The Champagne speakers are not listed as compatible with the iPod, but they should work with it since they have a standard sound-plug and not the USB plug that you find on the SoundSticks.

A week with the iPod.

Ray, one of our readers, has been using an iPod for a week. Here are his thoughts :

After a week of using an iPod- and I mean constant use- I have a few comments to share.

First the negatives:

Now, the positives:

Now, some comments about the future of this device: Interface and the OS/software. Its still hard sometimes for me to fully grasp that this isn't just a hard-wired device. Because it does its job so simply and elegantly. But I see new functionality being added with software upgrades in the not too distant future. Some things I'd like to see are: when playing, have a modifier key allow the wheel to control the song position in addition to the normal volume control. some kind of equalization feature. I see no reason why the OS can't be upgraded to incorporate this feature. Most portable players have some kind of EQ support, even if it is just a bass boost. Or failing that, the equalization settings saved for individual songs in iTunes could be kept when songs are loaded. the best of all would be both of these options. How about a cross-fading feature like iTunes has? I don't see why it couldn't mirror the iTunes settings. some kind of rudimentary 2 bit visualizers that run on the display. Why not? Other apps. things such as organizer programs, games, etc. are all theoretically possible.

Summary: Although I was very wary of spending $400 for a mp3 player, the advantages of this device over any of its competition grow more compelling daily. I can't say that about any of my other personal electronics. Unless you count my iBook, that is...

12/19/01

Comments about the 3 months warranty of the iPod

Michiel posts comments about the warranty in the Netherlands :

Hi! I really liked your iPod article. Too often people write only the good things, while we (the non-ipodding-but-wanting-an-iPod audience) need to know what it's like to actually have one. off course the scratching is a problem, however, for me, it's not. This kind of thing is just another consumable to me. I've never treated my Palm V kindly; no case, no screen protector. It works none the less and that is good. I rather like the idea of my things having tangiable signs of me enjoying them, even though it diminishes their resale value. I promised myself an iPod if I pass all of my exams this college year. I sincerely hope the iPod will last longer than the Cube (which I also covet, but my G4 533 is nicer). Anyway, in the Netherlands or Holland, the warranty is also one year by law. Could be that it's a European law, dunno. Cheers and keep up the good work.

Loren, our yesterday's columnist also has something to say about the iPod warranty :

Interesting about France. I just fail to see any computer device with a 90 warranty now days. That part is clearly a little less than a bad joke. And what is even more ridiculous, is building something that does appear to be repairable????? This was more like sticker shock to me. I just can't believe Apple would build much less sell a non-repairable item. This means to me anyway, that it will eventually come back to get them. As I said in the review many people have sent their units in for repair already, and have been shocked by the fact the returned units were not the ones they sent in the first place. This is where I think Apple is going to get a backlash eventually. Bad idea, bad timing, and ridiculous warranty!!!!!!! What is Uncle Steve thinking?????? Hey it's a great device and a great idea, as I said I love mine. Question is, after 90 days and it breaks what is the recourse???????? I bet I know!!!!! But, at that point my answer to me anyway, is no thanks not again. And interesting that some CompUSA stores are allegedly giving extra warranty time on the Ipod for a price. Just what is it, they will allegedly fix when it breaks?????? We shall see!!!!!

12/18/01

Review of the iPod

One of our readers, Loren, sent us a review of the iPod:

The iPod is a true joy from the two unit box it is packaged in to the elegant case that it is surrounded by. People who have complained about the price, are most likely those who would never buy it anyway. $399.00 for this small gem is a bargain indeed.

Now this having been said before I take you on a tour of the Ipod, let me say what I believe are just a few things wrong with the Ipod. First off if you already have some type of music player, I would strongly suspect you neither need nor really want the iPod.

Next up, is the fact that like the Titanium Apple laptop and the iBook for that matter, the iPod can easily be scratched and no the scratches do not go away. This gives very good reason to ask, just why Apple has not come up with some type of carrying case for the iPod. To this I can answer that there are some around, but, alas they are neither plentiful nor to my knowledge at the moment what you would call real bargains. Last on the agenda of complaints, this little turkey is known for freezing up, and this bad habit that it has, will happen more than you wish. At least until Apple puts out a new firmware update for it, and that has been posted on Apple's Web Site to happen any day now.

Turning on the iPod the first time will require you hook it up either directly to the back of your computer or by hooking it up to the external charger device, which by the way you will love. No flimsy cables involved here. Just the firewire cable which is of generous length to work with. Once charged and ready to go, you can install (if you have not already) iTunes so that you can have the benefit of the iPod driver being installed. You will need to be running Mac OS 9.1 or better. Booting up and getting into iTunes it will automatically see your iPod and if you have MP3's already in a library, it will then transfer them directly to the iPod..

Armed with your songs newly installed on it's spacious 5 gig. hard drive you are now ready to play your music. Here is where the fun really starts. Think you are limited to only using the headphones???? Wrong, wrong, wrong. You can attach any external PC speakers that use the standard type audio plug that has been around for years now. Heck you can even attach the Monsoon 700 speakers and Sub-Woofer for truly enjoyable sound at it's best. All the instructions you will need to get going are on a handy fold out map, included with your iPod. By the way Apple certainly includes a software disk with iTunes and the iPod driver. All you need to get up and running. I will not go into tremendous detail here except that the iPod's screen has a backlight option if you want it, and the screen is a total of six lines. And yes it is readable in the direct sunlight. Tested that right off the bat, and it does work. Now I want to touch on a couple of more problem areas that are not good at all.

The iPod has a wow short warranty of 90 days. You may or may not be able to get more than that from the dealer you buy it from but, you won't get more from Apple. 90 days, thats it folks, period!!! Next on the agenda is the one problem I feel is very offensive in fact I would say terminal in this case. If you buy or look at an iPod, take a good close look at the machine. It is not user fixable, now take another look. Guess what????? I doubt that it is manufacturer fixable either. I could be very wrong here but, I still think this worth mentioning. If it is not even manufacturer fixable, then this is one of the first types of this type of product that Apple has built, and if this is true it could lead to huge head aches for both Apple and the consumer who buys the Ipod. I base this not on pure speculation but, rather on the facts that many people are writing back that the iPods they have sent in for service have come back being entirely different units than they sent in. Cute but, I swear by all this will come back to haunt Apple in a big way. No excuse for this at all. Please do understand the iPod is not a toy nor should it ever be treated as a toy. All in all a machine that is worth it, if you do not already have an MP3 player or the like, or if you want to be part of the stylish crowd.

Other than that, I will await to see what Apples sales figures will be on this puppy. However, my betting money hedges on the fact that I believe like the Cube, this one will be gone in a rather sort orders time. I just fail to see a big enough market for it, and the shortness of warranty and also the fact that it be well not be repairable leads me to think, it will go the way of the Cube but, in an even shorter time table. If you decide to get one by all means enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine. However, I will tell you the obvious reason I bought mine. I listen to music 18 hours a day and that is darn near a complete fact. I will let you figure out why but, the iPod has a very special place in my hardware world and does very nicely in it.

Loren

Readers comments

Tadd gives us his point of view about the iPod headphones

For $170 on the web you can get Sennheiser HD590 headphones. I strongly recommend these for iPod users. I picked these by sampling a dozen sets of headphones using my iPod as an audio source. Tadd

Nancy makes comments about cases to protect your iPod.

2 Companies have plans for a case for the iPod.

http://www.jrhillandcompany.com/ is planning 2 types of leather case; one with a see-thru window and one without. http://www.marware.com/iPOD.html is featuring 2 types of neoprene, in 5 colors.

Both companies are accepting preorders, but won't have them for Christmas. we use a Color Game-Boy case on one (!) of ours; several types of Palm pda cases will work, but I didn't want to put adhesive on the back o' my pod! I did use Belkin PDA screen overlays to protect the display. The ones for the 500 series (F8E713) are the right width; you just cut them in half, and they leave no residue when removed. I got mine at staples.

Happy Holidays! Nancy

iPod warranty

The iPod has a 3 months warranty only.... well not everywhere... In France the Apple warranty is only 3 months long, but according to the law the warranty has to be 1 year...Lucky French people!.What about your country? Drop us a line!

12/13/01

Welcome to the iPod-Zone!

We have decided to open a new part of the Cube-Zone to help the iPod users. If you have any usefull information, you can e-mail us!

QuickClip for iPod

With the help of Quickclip, which is an adhesive plastic clip, you can now add a clip to your iPod ( Quickclip also works for PDAs, cell phones or GameBoys). It is quite cheap (not more than $10) and easy to use. You just have to stick its adhesive side on the iPod and your iPod can be clipped to your belt.

XPlay public preview is available!

XPlay public preview (formerly XPod) is available. This piece of software allows you to use your iPod with Windows Me, 98SE, 2000 and XP. The iPod can be used for cross-platform file transfer. The iPod songs can also be played under Windows. XPlay also allows you to transfer your PC-based MP3 collections to the iPod for on-the-go listening. A is now available.Ê All you need is an iPod and a Windows Me, 98SE, 2000 or XP computer with a FireWire port.

XPlay features are the following :