“The Apple iPod is the player against which all other players are compared – and rightly so. The design was startlingly original when it was introduced, and it still feels fresh. The touch-sensitive scroll wheel surface is a brilliant application of laptop technology, and it vaulted the iPod to the forefront of consumer electronics user interfaces. The 40GB version we tested is slightly larger (6.1 ounces, 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.8 inches, HWD) than the 15GB and 20GB versions, but it’s still among the smallest players in the high-end category. But be warned: You do pay a premium for the iPod’s reputation, style, and interface, compared with other players,” writes PC Magazine’s Bill Machrone giving the top-of-the-line player in Apple’s market-dominating iPod line just 4 out of 5 stars.
MacDailyNews Note: This will come as great surprise to PC Magazine readers: you get what you pay for, guys and gals. Same with personal computers.
“Do note that the iPod’s battery (which gave us just over 7 hours of runtime on a charge) is not meant to be user-replaceable. So when it stops holding a charge (figure two years’ worth of typical use), you’ll need to send it to Apple or a third party for a replacement (at a cost to you of $50 to $100). The iPod is still the cream of the crop when it comes to the interface. But you’d have to value style and function highly to pay the price,” Machrone writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sticker price hangups have virtually come to define the Wintel user; never mind the price they pay afterwards. You want the cream of the crop? Then buy the cream of the crop. Mac users seem to be able to grasp this concept more readily than Windows users. As with Macintosh, with iPod you get what you pay for.
I have a suspicion that the upcoming 4 Gen iPods will have a user replaceable battery and somewhat longer play times. Even though they are supposedly slimmer, it’s possible that the drives will be embedded in the circuit board rather then being attached with a ribbon connector, which takes up a lot of space. We’ll know soon enough I guess
Wow I guess better late than never…
pkradd. a suspicion? don’t you mean, a hope? not to be a pessimist or anything, but no one knows anything except that they will be slimmer.
…and, though i do absolutely love my iPod, it does piss me off that, while my sony discman gets 32 hours on two double a’s, my iPod needs to be charged almost daily. and, it’s a lot easier to replace double a’s. for that reason, i understand the lack of a fifth star
My boss always says that you “make your money up front.” Meaning that when you buy a house, car, etc. getting a good deal when you are buying means that you will make more money later. (I.e., he bought a custom conversion van at the end of the year when the dealer had like 50 of them left on the lot. When he sold it, he sold it for more than he paid for it. Yes, it was more than he wanted to pay for a car, but he realized its resale potential. Therefore, he “made his money up front” even while paying more than he planned for a new vehicle.)
Mac users–and my boss is a Mac user–realize that you make your money up front. When you purchase a Mac, you spend a little more initially knowing that they money you spend on repairs and upgrades will be minimal compared to all the fools who can’t pass up the idea of a $399 beige box.
i totally agree macdailynews; nothing is free, you get what you pay for. you cannot sell $400 pcs and pretend the they possess high end quality.
pc magazine does get it right though, the value of the ipod is the interface, and design. other companies use the same hds but their players are poop, and further they are only marginally less expensive.
Now if I could only replace the hard drive in my mom’s iBook.
i have an ibook. u can replaced the hard drive.
Maybe you can replace an iBook hard drive, Mac Beth, but it’s not a user-serviceable part and it’s too easy for someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing to screw it up.
Well, the “premium” you pay isn’t that much. Dell sells the junk 20GB DJ for $251 (after 10% discount on their site), while you can get a 20GB iPod for only $48 more than that…
TommyBoy…You did say “if I could only” so you were referring to your deficiency rather then the iBook…so I just presumed you knew it was replaceable.
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So in other words – It is much better but it costs more – DUH!