“With more than 700,000 units sold, the industry-leading iPod has received accolades for its small size, ease-of-use, and distinct design. Yet this iconic Walkman for the Digital Age still has room for improvement,” writes James Kim of Tech TV.
Kim continues, “But Apple now seems to have taken a few steps closer to mobile music player perfection with the introduction of its third-generation iPods. Boasting a thinner, lighter, and curvier design, a new user interface, and several key firmware improvements, the new iPod should have no problems building on its success. Add bigger hard drives and more competitive price points and the iPod has never been a more attractive purchase. However, battery life has taken a 20-percent hit, falling from a standard 10-plus hours to about eight hours per charge.”
“The third-generation iPod is a tech treasure. Better firmware and a sleeker, curvier design make this version the best so far, even with a 20-percent decrease in battery life,” Kim concludes.
Full article here.
So what is the real story behind this 20% decrease? Is it because of a change in power requirements due to the newer components? And is it really a 20% decrease? Some of these reviewers make this stuff up as they go along, so I’m skeptical until I hear from a real owner.
Who has one and can comment on this?
I would not worry about it. Did anyone really get 10 hours out of it? My iBook never hit the 5 hour mark claimed. Oh well…
The decrease in battery life is due to the fact that the batter is about half the size of the old one. Power consumption on the unit has only been decreased by about 40%.
I have to disagree with all the positive reviews. I have all three generations now, and have to say that the new one, while nice in some respects, is a huge step BACKWARDS in some respects. First off, the proprietary cable blows big time. Being able to use an industry standard 6 pin FW cable that I could find anyway was brilliant. The new cable makes it just like very other annoying device out there…you gotta have the cable that came with it to use it. If they wanted to save space they should have used a 4pin FW plug. Second, the new buttons are too sensitive and no longer intuitive or ergonomic. Having the buttons surrounding the scroll wheel was pretty much perfect.
The only thing I like about the new on is the lack of sharp edges…but beyond that I’ll take my 20 gig model any day.
Due to the fact that they still have to recharge the unit, using the 4 pin firewire port would have saved zero space.
I have the original 5GB. The first thing I thought after I finished synching (that would be 10 minutes after it came out of the box, since I had already pre-ripped my CDs in anticipation) is how nice it would be to have this thing in my car as opposed to, say, a 10-CD changer: All the music all the time. Now if you want that to happen, you have to:
1) put the connectors on the bottom so it can sit upright in a craddle (useful for stereo connectivity)
2) make the buttons larger so you can see and use them while driving,
3) create a connector that prevents that little whine when you plug in the power cube for charging,
4) allow for more control of the unit through the cradle by simple electronics that do not require firewire.
Result: proprietary connector on the bottom, more friendly to non-computer electronics…
Makes sense, right?