Good product, lousy service (PC Version) (Apple iPod 5 GB)

Member Name: phypher

Product:	Apple iPod 5 GB
Date:	26/06/03 (2216 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good, good capacity

Disadvantages: obsoleted quickly, battery life uncertainty, windows users treated 2nd class

I recently purchased the 10GB Windows version of the Apple iPod. Mainly due to recommendations from a colleague at work, and when i received it, i found it extremely simple to set up, and had music on the move within the first couple of hours. I had a firewire port on my PC already so it was just a case of connecting it up. The newer ones have USB2 as well as firewire though.

The software that came with the iPod for the PC is called MusicMatch, and it fills the need for transferring the MP3 files to your iPod, but I would recommend you get a hold of an application called ephPod as the transfer speed difference between the supplied software and ephPod has to be seen to be believed. It is at least 2 to 3 times faster.

LOOKS

The iPod looks great. The clever no-moving-part touch wheel for controlling the menu options is great, and you find yourself sitting admiring the little white marvel every now and then. The underside of the iPod though does tend to scratch easily, but you can purchase protective iSkins or use the case that came with it. problem with that case is you cannot use the wheel or see the screen.

FEATURES

To be honest, i think the older iPod that I have is poor on the features front. Playlist management is all through the PC-based software, and not the iPod, and musicmatch was not really great for it i found. I found that the software was sneakily making multiple copies of files to get playlists to work. Again, the ephPod software made the playlist creation/management a heck of a lot easier.
There is a game, (breakout kind of thing) which I have played once, and never went back to.
Contact management is included (allegedly) but again, this cannot be controlled from the iPod, and is done by exporting the contacts from MS Outlook or similar.
Although there are pre-set equaliser settings for the iPod, they are not customisable, you are stuck with Apples choice of settings. They suffice, let
us say!
The supplied remote control on my iPod is decent enough. it does what it needs to do and nothing fancy.
The screen can be backlit which is handy at night, but watch the battery power drain.

SOUND

I find that the sound quality I get from the iPod is fine. I usually use it on the bus, and it covers the noise of the other passengers so that will do for me. The supplied headphones are earbud ones, which don't really agree with me, but they are decent enough. They are white as well, so they kind of stand out from everyone elses.

CAPACITY

I have not managed to fill the 10GB disk in my iPod. I have close to 1500 songs on it, and have about a third of the space free. The 10GB is now the base model as well so it is feasible to get up to 3 times that amount now (scary how quick it is advancing)

PROBLEMS

I have not had that many problems with the iPod. it has needed rebooted once or twice, but it usually comes back pretty quick.

One major problem looming is the fact that the battery is allegedly not replaceable. I have found one web site that say they have developed a replacement one, but this involves either taking the iPod apart yourself, or allowing this company to do it for you. Not a brilliant feature Apple!!! (Don't think this affects the new ones to be fair). It is actually not very good at reporting available battery power either as it jumps about from zero to full depending on if you are doing anything with it.

NOW THE SERVICE

I was most disappointed to find that only 8 weeks after I bought my iPod that Apple launched the new range, a vastly improved, thinner, larger-capacity model at a lesser price than I paid. The new models have a docking cradle as well as an improved user interface , USB support, and on-iPod playlist management.
it was disappointing that they did not mention this when I wa shopping for it (i bought direct from Apple and they are
built to order, so it is not like they needed to get rid of huge amounts of stock before the new ones).
Also, they have released no firmware update for the Windows version of the older iPod to bring it in line with the new ones, so 10 weeks after forking out approx. £400 on it, my iPod is obsolete. Not fantastic.
Mac owners have had a firmware update, but the website says that the Windows version is coming soon (originally said early May).
There is an on-line petition to try and remind Apple that people that bought the old one are still out there, and deserve to be treated right, so I will update my review if Apple do come back with an updated firmware.

IN CONCLUSION

From a techy point of view, i think my iPod has been surpassed now. There are better featured MP3 jukeboxes out there (Creative Zen for one), but remember I am commenting on the older iPod and not the new one. I like the iPod, it is not too heavy, does what i need to do, but it is expensive.
Apples disinterest once they have our money, especially to Windows users, is very disconcerting and annoying though and probably pushes me towards not recommending the iPod, unless unlike me, you don't care if you don't get a firmware upgrade every six months.

Summary: