Customer Reviews

Apple iPod 10 GB White M8709LL/A (1st Generation)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I started looking into MP3 players about two months ago and initially purchased a Rio Jukebox 10. Although the Rio was a nice unit with decent sound, it was larger than I wanted, had a difficult to navigate menu system, and wasn't exactly feature laden. I had never checked out the iPod because I own a PC and didn't think it was compatible. I was reading an article recently about some third party software that made the iPod work with PC's and then became very interested. Well I took the plunge, downloaded the free software(EphPod)and I am absolutely thrilled that i did. The EphPod software is excellent and other developers are working with Apple to produce additional software options for PC owners if ephPod isn't your cup of tea. Other than the software, the only other thing you will need to make the iPod work with your PC, is a firewire card (IEEE1394 $20-$50.) to plug the iPod into.

Amazing! This thing is half the size and weight of the Rio, has twice the battery life (over 10 hours), and has an interface that is easy to use with one hand. I can carry my entire CD collection around all the time and hardly notice it's there, except for the terrific sound of course.

WOW, is about all that's left to say. This is the unit I was looking for all along. My hats off to the developers at Apple.

I'm sure that I have over 1000 CDs and several hundred records. This collection isn't very convenient to use, manage or keep track of. I like to take music with me most places and my PC and Mac drives are stuffed with MP3s. I'm also pretty much into gadgets so mp3 players punch all my buttons.

I've owned the original Rio. Kind of cute but what good is it that it only holds about an hour's worth of music. Constantly reloading the player is a pain.

I've tried various portable CD players and my CDs take a beating from getting carried around, left in the car. I've tried copying the CDs to take copies, but it's too much work and hard to keep track of them.

I've tried a few minidisc players. Great concept, bad execution. The haven't been durable. The atrac conversion makes no sense - why cant' you just copy over mp3s?

I have the Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox. Lousy software, poor batteries (they die and have to be thrown away because they lose rechargeability). Slow USB connection. Unit is too big and heavy.

Enter the iPod. Finally, small, simple elegant. Easy to use software. It helps that I've got PCs and a Mac. itunes does the best job of ripping of any software I've tried. The iPod itself follows a simple organizational scheme. I can't fit my whole collection on it, but the firewire is so fast the entire ipod can be loaded and reloaded in a short period of time. The iPod is the one to beat. To those who complained about sound quality - you didn't listen very well. The included headphones are just so so, better headphones make a difference. Also, the included equalization is pretty rudimentary but it can be used to make adjustments. I think the sound quality is better than the Nomad or my minidisc players.

It is hard to believe, but the iPod only came out last October. Seems to me that I've been using one for years, but clearly that is not possible. I think it shows how much a part of my listening habits the iPod has become.

Prior to owning an iPod, I had a couple of other MP3 players, but always found them clumsy and unsatisfying. Apple's iPod was very easy to learn, very intuitive. I have handed it to a couple of people and they have likewise had little trouble getting it to play music.

The downloading of music via the firewire connection is just one of the highlights. I plugged the iPod in, and after a couple of initial set up questions, it was ready to go. Integration with Apple's iTunes is tight, and the uploading to the iPod was soon under way. I filled the 10 gig hard drive in around 15 minutes, if I remember right.

I take the iPod almost every where. In my car, I connect it to my car stereo via a cassette adapter, and think it makes for safer driving than fumbling around for CDs or tapes. The iPod contains dozens of albums, and with its one-handed operation and large type read out, a new selection can be chosen with minimal driving distraction.

I recommend the iPod without reservation.

I got the iPod about 3 months ago, and it has held up to the most important of my standards-- it hasn't broken. I drop it on the sidewalk every few days, but it never even skips. I really appreciate the durability.

I've had my 10GB iPod for a day now. It's an amazing little device. Plugged it into my PC, and within minutes I had 1,300 songs on it, and a few large files with room for plenty more. Transfering the files to a friends computer was a snap, and listening to it in my car, on a tape adapter it sounds better than my MP3 CD Player. The dial and general control of everything is weird for the first few minutes of use, but after just a few hours I had no problems controlling it without having to even look at the screen. If you're looking for an amazing MP3 Player, go for the iPod. The fact that it can be used as a firewire hard drive is extremely convenient and it just sounds so good.

Over the last 20 years I have used every type of portable music player ever made, Walkmans, Discmans, MD and MP3/CD and the Apple iPod is the best one yet. Let's start off with the storage capacity of the iPod, they come in 5, 10 and 20Gb models. On my 10Gb model I currently have 155 songs ripped at 256k VBR, which is indistinguishable from CD quality and which takes up about 1.5Gb of space. So, assuming that all other things are created equal I can put 900 songs on this at excellent quality. Assuming 3 minutes per song thats around 45 hours of excellent quality audio. Not too bad for something the size of a deck of cards. The user interface is almost intuitively obvious, scroll through menu selections and playlists with the scroll wheel, select menus with the "menu" button, skip forward and back and select tracks with the other buttons.
Synching up with your Macintosh is trivial, connect the firewire cable to your Mac and plug it into the firewire port on the iPod. iTunes launches automatically and you can sync playlists and download music to the player. Download speeds are incredibly quick, it took about 5 minutes to put 1.5Gb of music on the player.
The size of the player is perfect, it fits into a shirt or pants pocket or you can purchase an optional belt case.
The downsides of the iPod are the stainless steel back, which is really cool but quickly picks up fingerprints and the fact that there is no way to replace the battery. Once your iPod battery has gone dead you are apparently supposed to throw the unit away. I would think that for a company such as Apple, which prides itself on thinking differently, that they might try to come up with with something that isn't going to end up in a landfill in a few years.
The iPod is pricy, but the prices are dropping and for the money you get the best MP3 player in the business.

What a terrific MP3 player!
I would recommend a case for the Ipod. ...While I don't want to repeat all that has been said...the fast download, easy sync with iTunes, the iPod itself being so well designed... one cannot help but compliment Apple for making such a fine piece of equipment. I bought the 10 GB version, have 562 songs downloaded, and have 7 GB's left! A triumph! Just a note, the headphones that come with the unit feel uncomfortable and are a little too large for my ear. Use another pair of headphones. ...

I finally made up my mind to buy an iPod, and it is the best MP3 device that I could ask for -- and I have had several others including the RIO 64MB, and the nomad jukebox 6GB.

One thing to be aware of with this model is that this is the older 10GB model and I was both pleased with the iPod and disappointed at the same time. I kept looking through the box for the wired remote and case (being a true geek the temptation to clip anything to my belt is great) but they were nowhere to be found.

I had foolishly bought this model thinking that it was the newer, lighter iPod with the wired remote and the case. This is a great MP3 player and probably the best value of all of the iPods, but I would have paid the extra few dollars to get the newer one.

Pros

* Very small and portable compared to other players of the same size
* Clear and easy-to-use buttons and menus
* Firewire is nice and fast for large transfers
* Charger is integrated into firewire; there is also an AC adapter
* Bought this to work with my PC; works great with Adaptec's firewire... Con'sObviously cost
* Earbuds are a bit large for me
* Not impressed with quality of earphones
* No radio tuner; such a simple function would have made the player just that much better
* Doesn't support M3U playlists
* Might be difficult to implement, but if it could support foreign languages
* Wish it had USB2.0 for inter-compatibility with PCs

I bought my 10GB iPod two weeks ago and have loaded 1200+ songs onto it already (128 bit compression) and the thing is barely half full. I've also managed to figure out how to use it with a Windows PC... this wouldn't be the easiest set-up for inexperienced computer users. Note that the third-party software to hook an iPod up to a Windows PC requires Win98 SE or higher... if you have basic Win98 or Win95 you're out-of-luck.

Also, one problem which Apple needs to address is the fact that it freezes if you've using it while jogging or engaging in other physical activity and the memory buffer (20MB, about five songs) has been depleted because of constant jostling. Rather than re-loading the buffer when you stop moving the iPod, it has a tendency to freeze up (requiring a full re-start). Hopefully Apple will fix this problem soon.

All in all, a great, revolutionary product.