Apple iPod 4th Gen. 20GB MP3 Player

by Apple

Product Details

Supplementary Guide [1.21mb PDF]

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Product Manual [1.49mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• ASIN: B0002IG34W
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,144 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Incorporating the fabulous Apple Click Wheel that was first introduced on iPod mini. Offering up to 12 hours of battery life. Weighing in at just 5.6 ounces. And getting slightly thinner with each new generation. iPod continues to define the perfect digital music player for Mac and Windows.

A musical dream come true, the fourth-generation iPod offers huge capacity, letting you easily slip up to 10,000 songs into your pocket. And enjoy it wherever you go. In the car. On the treadmill. At the office. Around the house.

In fact, the new fourth-generation iPod includes features that make it even easier to access -- and have fun with -- your music. Take, for example, the Apple Click Wheel. With the Click Wheel, you can select playlists, scroll through a long list of albums or artists and choose just the song you want to hear without ever lifting your thumb from the wheel. Feel like mixing things up? Now you can choose “Shuffle Songs” right from the main iPod menu. We think you’ll also enjoy iPod’s long battery life -- up to 12 hours. And with the 25 minutes of skip protection iPod provides, you can jump for joy and the music will keep playing.

A Click in the Right Direction iPod now incorporates the same touch-sensitive Apple Click Wheel that debuted on iPod mini. Without lifting that trusty thumb of yours from the wheel, you can easily select playlists, scroll through thousands of songs, and start the music playing. Want that song to play from the beginning again? A single click will do the trick. Do the iPod Shuffle You can put the Apple Click Wheel to use the next time you want to set your music to shuffle. Right there on the main menu -- where it’s very easy to find -- you’ll find a new option --Shuffle Songs. Everyone’s favorite option for mixing things up, Shuffle Songs randomly plays songs in a selected playlist or your entire music collection. You’ll never guess what’s coming up next, so you’re always surprised by startling juxtapositions -- like a melodic Coldplay song setting up an aria by Caballé. Play Your Music for Hours…and Hours And you can shuffle your way through a lot of songs now that iPod lets you play your music for up to 12 hours on a single battery charge. Imagine: you could fly from New York to Paris and still have hours of listening time left over as you stroll the Champs Elysée. While you’re on the move, iPod keeps you aware of its charge level, and when it’s time, iPod’s quick to recharge. Plug it into your computer or a handy wall socket (via the included power adapter), and you can fast-charge iPod in as little as 2 hours.

Music and More
But, guess what -- iPod lets you do more than listen to music. Much more. iPod provides you with up to 40 GB of storage. True, you’re likely to use a good portion of that storage capacity for your music and audio books, but you’re bound to have a little space left over. You can use the FireWire or USB 2.0 cable that comes with iPod to connect the iPod to your computer and copy files. Word documents. Keynote presentations. Excel spreadsheets. Photoshop files. You name it.

Apple's fourth-generation iPod features song shuffling from the main menu, as well as Calendar, Games, and Alarm functionality.

Where am I at 2 p.m. Tuesday? If you’ve ever forgotten a dental appointment, you’ll be pleased to hear that iPod also lets you take your calendar with you. Many applications -- iCal, Microsoft Entourage and Palm Desktop, to name a few -- export calendar files in vCalendar or iCalender formats, both of which iPod supports. Sorry, Wrong Number Little black address books are so last millennium. Thanks to its support for industry-standard vCard files, iPod lets you store and access all your important contact information -- names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses -- with the spin of a Click Wheel. Play Games You know what they say about all work and no play. Navigate to Extras and you’ll find Games: Music Quiz, Solitaire, Brick and Parachute, four popular games you can play anywhere (like when you’re waiting for the movie to start at the multiplex). Store Text Notes You’ve got playlists. You’ve got To-do Lists. And you can carry both with you on iPod. iPod’s Notes Reader lets you take text-based information such as news downloaded off the web, stock tips, your workout regimen, restaurant reviews, directions, your shopping list with you on your travels. Just transfer it via FireWire or USB 2.0 to iPod from your computer (Mac or PC).

Rise and Shine
Did you know that iPod has a sleep timer that lets you fall asleep to music? It’s true. And if you like to wake up to music or to the sound of an alarm clock, iPod is just as accommodating. You’ll find settings for the Alarm Clock and Sleep Timer in the Extras menu. Both features work very well, by the way, when you connect iPod to a pair of portable speakers.

Product Description

Apple iPod 4th Gen. 20GB MP3 Player M9282LLA Incorporating the fabulous Apple Click Wheel that was first introduced on iPod mini. Offering up to 12 hours of battery life. Weighing in at just 5.3 ounces. And getting slightly thinner with each new generation. iPod continues to define the perfect digital music player for Mac and Windows. A musical dream come true, the fourth-generation iPod offers huge capacity, letting you easily slip up to 5,000 songs into your pocket. And enjoy it wherever you go. In the car. On the treadmill. At the office. Around the house. Features: New include Click Wheel, slimmer case, and easier navigation 20 GB model holds up to 5,000 songs; supports AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (32 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, Apple Lossless and WAV Up to 12 hours battery life when fully charged (typically 4 hours); fast-charge in 2 hours Mac OS X or Windows 2000 and XP compatible FireWire and USB 2.0 interface for fastest digital transfer available Size: 4.1 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.57 inches Skip protection: Up to 25 minutes Display: 2-inch (diagonal) grayscale LCD with LED backlight Weight: 5.6 ouncesIncludes:Ipod EarphonesAc AdapterUSB CableManualSoftware

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice, July 30, 2004

By 

Chris "Chris" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Apple iPod 4th Gen. 20GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

This is my first IPod. It was always the device people talked about so I decided to take the plunge. I have had it a week now and it is very easy to use and has great sound. There are lots of very positive reveiws of the Ipod out there and my only comment is belive them.

One thing that I did not see mentioned anywhere until I got it was the firewire connrection is 6 pin. If you have a 4 pin connection (commen to laptops) and don't have USB 2 you will need to get an 6 to 4 pin adapter ($2-$3) to synch your Ipod. It would be nice if Apple just threw this in.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow...that's all I can say., August 8, 2004

By 

D. J Nelson "cordria" (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Apple iPod 4th Gen. 20GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

**UPDATE** - You can't use the Calendar, Notes, or many of the other functions like email, weather, or news story downloads without the software called "ipodsync". It's about $15 from www.ipodlounge.com or www.shareware.com, and works like a charm. (PC users) ipodsync auto-connects to Microsoft Outlook. Very cool and extremely easy to use. Wish it came with the ipod though. I'd recommend looking at it. - **UPDATE**

I recently upgraded my Mp3 player from a 3+ year old Intel to this new 4G ipod. And all I can say is WOW!!!

But, all the other reviews just RAVE about the good points, so I'll focus more on what I don't like about it - and a few things I love.

First of all, there are no cases for it. No jogging clip, no nothing. So, until something comes out that can accommodate the wheel, you have to carry it. (Something will probably come out within a few months)

The fancy, shiny aluminum back is pretty, but I had mine for a grand total of about thirty minutes before it was COVERED in fingerprints. Not a huge deal, but the ipod starts to look shabby fast.

Also, the "hold" button that prevents you from pressing buttons when you don't mean to is REALLY hard to use. It's flush with the surface and it takes a fingernail to move. I've also found that with the ipod stuck in your pocket, the hold button sometimes moves back! Then your songs switch without warning.

Don't buy this thing for the games or the "notes". Those are silly add-ons that a $50 pda can do MUCH MUCH better. But, the games are a great diversion.

One last thing - lose the earphones. Something of such poor quality as those should not be in this box. Spend $10 at Walmart and get a better pair.

Some good points, though - first and foremost is that wheel. When I read "click wheel" I thought you actually had to press buttons. NO! You just run your finger along it. Very, VERY cool, if just for that.

The box is just fun to open. When you receive yours, take a moment to enjoy.

The battery also works well. I've had mine on for eight-nine hours with perfect sound the entire time.

Included USB2 and FireWire cables are VERY nice. The fact it holds 5,000+ songs, cool. The fact that I uploaded my 800+ songs into the ipod in the time it took me to fill my old 128mb Mp3 player with the included USB2 cable? PERFECTION!

4/5 stars for the few bad points listed above, as well as for the fact that the ipod dock isn't included (like it is in all 3G and the 40GB 4G ipod also available - but GET ONE. It's worth every penny) I DEFINATELY RECOMMEND THIS IPOD!

As for the 40GB vs the 20GB option? I'd say don't spend the extra $100 if you don't need it. 5,000 songs is a LOT. I'm a music-aholic and I own only about 800.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars [4.5] Definitely the iPod that I have been waiting for..., July 29, 2004

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Apple iPod 4th Gen. 20GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

Although I tend to purchase electronic fads quite quickly, the iPod was something I didn't jump into immediately. For two reasons, the complaints of previous versions (battery life) and the second, being the price. Many of you who are probably reading this have probably perused ipodlounge and the reviews on Amazon.com to get an idea of which to purchase among the variety of music players out there. I'm not going to give a review because as you can see, there are quite a number of good reviews to read out there but perhaps the reason why I finally gave in, may change your mind into purchasing the 4th generation iPod.

* Longer battery life - This is definitely important for me. I read about tests going as far as 13 hours. That's just great! I need something that can last 6-8 hours a day.

* 3rd Party Support - Although the third party support is expensive, I'm not really sweating much because if you own a Mac and are used to buying software and hardware, you know how things are already. But there is very good 3rd party support with the iPod which you don't really see for the other top high-end digital music players. I was just stoked that I no longer have to deal with having an MP3 player and those cassette players to listen to in my car and get all tangled and stuff. To have a recharger allow you to listen to your iTune via radio without that cassette adapter....cool!

* Reputation of the company - Yeah, I'm into trendy things and the fact that people are willing to spend the extra money for convenience is great. For me, it's not much more of the fad or the advertising campaign but the fact that I need something that integrates well with my choice of music store and music software which is iTunes. Also, reading about the crowds in Tokyo and a major magazine coverage over this device is really cool!

* Bells and Whistles - I like the fact that you can use the iPod as a storage device and 20 GB or 40 GB is great! There are games but I'm not used to playing solitaire with the click wheel. If I wanted games on a portable system...that's why I have my Power PC or GBA SP for. But the fact is...the extras of having to read text books, storage for files and also those games are pretty nifty.

Anyway, considering an iPod is a hard thing for people because of the cost issue. It was nagging me yesterday when I bought one. 20GB and accessories or 40 GB with dock and no accessories...either way, I was going to spend $400+. Can you justify spending $400 on a music player? I realize that for the convenience, I could and it's been more than a day of owning a 4th Gen and I'm happy.

Just a word to the wise that many stores are offering specials of trying to rid all of their older iPods and third gen's for the same price but with Applecare support or with more accessories. Don't do it. The new technology with the battery life of the 4th Gen is more than worth it and it's the same price for what they are selling the older versions for sans the Applecare but I highly recommend purchasing the 4th Gen [note for newbies, 4th gens do not have the vertical buttons under the screen /Also refer to this page if you need the model number of the 4th gen iPods: http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html]

All in all, I'm happy with this purchase and if you are a considering buying the 20 GB or 40 GB 4th gen IPOD, I really do believe it's a great choice.