Apple iPod 30 GB White M8948LL/A (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL

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Product Details

Product Manual [1.39mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009J5W0
• Item model number: M8948LL/A
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,548 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 29, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The super-slim iPod once again redefines what a digital music player should be. It’s lighter than 2 CDs, can hold up to 7500 songs, and downloads music at blazing speeds. Now you can take your entire music collection with you wherever you go.

Smaller than ever (just 0.62 inches thick), this iPod fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and slips easily into your pocket and your life. At 5.6 ounces, it weighs less than 2 compact discs, and even many cell phones.

Once again, Apple turns the portable digital music player market on its ear with hassle-free functionality and stunning, well-considered design that place iPod far ahead of the curve and the competition. Building on the success of the touch wheel (which made scrolling through an entire music collection quick and easy), the new iPod has been re-engineered with a all-touch interface for enhanced durability and sensitivity. With an LCD screen and buttons that feature a backlight for clear visibility in low-light conditions, iPod is designed for easy one-handed operation. So the best way to take an entire music collection anywhere is now even better.

The 30GB iPod model comes with a dock that makes charging and syncing easier than ever--no more reaching around, looking for the right port. An elegant, convenient home base for iPod on a desk or connected to a home stereo system, the dock provides syncing via FireWire or USB 2.0 (Syncing with USB 2.0 (Windows-only) requires optional USB 2.0 + FireWire Cable and free software update, available in June), charging via FireWire and audio line out for connecting to powered speakers or a stereo system.

Designed to give you the best portable digital music experience ever, the iPod delivers the highest sound quality from input to output. iPod supports the most popular audio formats, including MP3 (up to 320 kbps), MP3 Variable Bit Rate (VBR) and WAV, giving you access to a wide range of audio file types. And iPod is the only portable digital music player that supports the AAC format (Mac-only), which features CD-quality audio in smaller file sizes than MP3, so that even more songs fit on your iPod.

The iPod now lets you do a whole lot more in addition to maintaining your contacts, calendar and to-do lists. iPod now includes Solitaire, Brick and Parachute, three great games you can play anywhere (a feature you’re sure to appreciate the next time you’re standing in line or waiting for someone). You can even use your own music as the soundtrack to a game.

iPod also includes a notes reader that lets you download text-based information and read it on the screen. This way you can have the information you need, on everything from restaurant reviews to nightlife guides, and from news articles to exercise routines, at your fingertips.

The iPod features a sleep timer, so you can fall asleep to your music. And with the iPod’s new alarm clock, you can choose either an alarm tone or your favorite music to wake you up.

The new iPod was designed for listening to digital music away from your computer, whether it’s a Mac or Windows PC. One simple connection does it all. A handy new dock connector on the bottom of the iPod enables the device to link to a computer and sync files via FireWire 400 (Mac or Windows) or USB 2.0 (Windows only). The result? Blazingly fast transfer speeds that let you load an album in as little as 10 seconds.

For Mac users, iPod ships with iTunes 4. iTunes 4 supports ripping music into the new AAC format which combines pristine CD-quality sound with smaller files sizes, compared to MP3s. And iTunes 4 lets you share and stream playlists from your personal music library to up to three other Macintosh computers for personal use. Mac requirements are: Apple computer with built-in FireWire port; Mac OS X v10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X 10.2 or later recommended); CD includes iTunes(7) for Mac OS X.

For Windows users, iPod includes the award-winning PC media player MUSICMATCH Jukebox Plus. As you add new songs or rearrange your playlists in MUSICMATCH Jukebox, the music will automatically update on iPod the next time it is connected to your PC. Windows requirements are: PC with built-in FireWire or USB 2.04, or Windows-certified FireWire or USB 2.0 card; Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Windows XP Home or Professional; CD includes MUSICMATCH Jukebox Plus 7.5 software.

The new iPod is also highly customizable. With iPod Scripts, you can create and manage text notes on new iPods with this free downloadable set of AppleScripts. Have a particular set of songs you want to hear? Queue up as many songs as you like in a playlist while away from your computer. Want to customize the iPod interface to fit your musical leanings? Now you can. Just look under settings in the Main menu.

The 30GB model comes with a wired remote control that lets you fast-forward or rewind a track, play, pause and adjust volume, using just one hand.Additionally, it includes an elegant carrying case with belt clip that protects your iPod from the elements. Clip it to your belt, purse or backpack for hands-free operation.

The iPod’s earbud-style headphones offer a strong 20Hz to 20,000Hz frequency response range for high-quality sound with minimal distortion. Thanks to their Neodymium drivers, these headphones are five times more powerful than digital music player headphones that use aluminum, cobalt or ceramic drivers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but not perfect, July 26, 2003

By	Robert Wales (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

I received a new iPod 30GB for Father's day (Thanks Sweetie!). I've used about a dozen or so prior mp3 devices, and I have noted some issues that haven't been represented in any other review, which I wanted to point out to folks considering buying an iPod.

First off, it's a great device overall. 30 GB is a lot of space and fits my 500+ CD music collection fine. I think the battery life of 8-10 hours is great (my previous device, the Nomad Jukebox, had 40GB, but got 2 hours battery life if I was lucky!) and I like it's looks and size a lot. There are some mildly annoying UI issues but nothing I can't live with. The case, and most importantly the screen, scratch really easily, so you have to be careful how you handle it (it's small enough to put in your pocket--just don't keep anything else in that pocket!).

I'm a Windows user, and I'll add my report that the MusicMatch software that ships with the iPod is disgraceful. I loaded it on three different computers, (moving the firewire card around each time) and it never would transfer music to the device. Finally I downloaded an *older* version of MMJB and got music to transfer. Its own user interface is awful and I really hate that it makes you IMPORT all of your music into ITS library. It's clearly designed for the novice user, with no expert-mode features that accommodate folks like me.

But the biggest criticism I have of the iPod is something that Apple just plain got wrong. There is no support for building [persistent] playlists on the device. This really bothers me. It's apparent that iPod's designers had a built-in assumption that people wouldn't mind being tethered to their computers for playlist management and other things, but not everyone works this way. I tend to not hook my device up to a computer unless I have new music to download, which can be weeks. I really want the device to be usable indefinitely without a computer.

But there's one important thing you can't do very well on the iPod without a computer: Create playlists. Yes, you can add songs and albums to the "on the go" playlist, but there are some serious flaws with that feature's implementation:
a) there is only one on-the-go playlist
b) this playlist is temporary. It is blown away the instant you dock your device (why, WHY? This is such a brain-dead design choice it boggles the mind.)
c) when adding entire albums to this playlist, the album order is not respected. They seem to go in either alpha or random order, I haven't figured it out yet.

This makes it tougher to use the device the way I want. I'd like to be able to string together either a list of individual songs or, more often, entire albums and listen to them. But the albums go into the playlist with the song order wrecked, which is annoying. And having to abandon a list I've already created to be able to create a new one is truly annoying. And it's heartbreaking that, after I've put together a really good mix on the device, it will be summarily discarded the instant I dock. I truly can't understand the rationale behind this one.

So on the whole, it's a good device, the best out there for its combination of size, capacity, and battery life. There are some annoying problems that might detract from your enjoyment a bit if you, like me, find album order important and like to create custom playlists anywhere you are. But even with those flaws I'm glad to own mine.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less battery time than older model but so well worth it! I, May 3, 2003

By A Customer

The new Apple 30 gig iPod rocks! I had a 20 gig but had to return it because it wouldn't recognize my laptop computer on a regular basis. The 20 gig is the exact same price as the new 30 gig model and the 30 gig comes with a new docking cradle and new touch sensitive design buttons that enable you to truly operate the ipod one handed. No moving parts anymore, the famous scroll wheel is still there and works very well enabling you to browse thru your music quickly. The new model also enables you to cue up songs on the go, unlike the older model which you had to make your playlists on the computer. The design is sleek and sexycrazycool. Plus 10 more gig of storage for programs or tunes compared to the old 20 gig model. They had to sacrifice a little battery life to make it lighter and smaller,(weighs less than 2 CDs) but you still get 8 hours of music on a full charge and 2 weeks standby. The warranty is one year on defects, after 180 days of ownership you are responsible for shipping costs. You do not want to drop this - it's basically a hard drive that buffers about 25 minutes of music so you don't experience skips when walking or moving. If you run or jog longer than 25 minutes, you don't want to use your iPod for that. I recommend throwing away the earbuds, though they did improve them noticeably and getting Sony's Fontopia earplug type for $ on Amazon. They are noise cancelling and extremely awesome with the iPod. I love the packaging of the iPod and now you don't have to select Mac or Win, whatever you plug it into it recognizes. You get the software for both OS, Music match for win and ITunes for macs. You need a firewire port or a USB 2 port for the fastest transfer. A lot of people have knocked the Musicmatch software but if you take the time to go through the tutorial it works fantastic and I have xPlay which everyone touts as the best as well, but prefer the Musicmatch to xPlay or ephpod, which is buggy (the beta is the only one you can download at present). Learn the Musicmatch if you have a Win pc and you will be able to do everything. The supertagging feature in Musicmatch saves time and comes in handy. By the way Apple's new music store charges only 99 cents a song, and though you have to have a Mac to use it, it will be available for us Windows users soon. the iPod is the cadillac of any digital music player, and don't let anyone tell you different - it's the gold standard that other companies are trying to beat, but they have a long way to go. The iPod sounds and works excellently and stores 7500 songs on the new 30 gig model. I quickly became addicted and it's well worth the investment if you like music and portability. I also recommend the Creature speakers by JBL (cool looking) and the Transpod automobile adapter and FM transmitter in one, if you dont have an automobile CD player, this is a great option for CD quality sound, and cheaper than a lot of CD players in luxury cars. I also like that you can hook up the iPod to your stereo as well, get one you wont regret it. The iPod may be expensive but for some of us it becomes a necessity very quickly, and if I lost mine I would immediately replace it without batting an eyelash - its that addictive and superior to other players. It's truly an awesome gadget and an excellent gift idea - anyone would be delighted to open this!

57 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Awesome product, if you can get it to work, June 8, 2003

By	"prymel" (Anaheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased the 30 gig Windows iPod the day it hit the market, blissfully unaware of all the problems encountered by owners of previous versions. My experience getting the thing working was a moderate hassle, but I'm happy to say that it's working great now, and it's simply the most incredible little machine! However, I can understand and sympathize with those who have had difficulty getting the software and hardware to interact. Apple definitely is not terribly interested in the concerns of Windows users.

As many iPod owners have experienced, the Musicmatch software for Windows is terrible. The software simply won't work with my Gateway PC (later I learned from an Apple drone, as others have pointed out, that the software is only confirmed compatible with Dell and Sony PCs sporting a specific Firewire card). That's unacceptible to advertise a product for the PC without making it crystal clear that it will only work with a limited number of specific machines. Apple should rethink their marketing strategy for Windows users, or figure out how to refine the iPod so it works cleanly with any Windows-based system.

However, the freeware product Ephpod came to the rescue. This is a simple to use, easily installed program that interfaces beautifully with the iPod on Windows, and does the job of Musicmatch perfectly. I've now uninstalled Musicmatch, and I've had no problems since. Ephpod manages the transfer of your music library effortlessly and cleanly.

Now that the iPod is up and running, I can't imagine how I've lived without it. I have around 700 CDs, and it's incredible to be able to carry around the bulk of my collection on such a small, inconspicuous device. The user interface is nice, it's easy to catalog and access your songs, and it fits right inside your shirt pocket. Simply awesome.

I have a few additional nits. First, the earbuds that come with the iPod aren't the greatest soundwise, so other headphones are recommended. Second, the advertised battery life is up to 8 hours, but I find the iPod drains the battery much more quickly. I'm hoping the Belkin battery pack will fix this problem. Third, the iPod consistently requires resetting for various reasons. The manual states that this resets everything to factory settings, but that's never happened to me, every time I reset, all my previous settings remain. Perhaps that's a function of using Ephpod, I'm not sure, but restting has never created issues for me (besides irritation). Finally, the touch pads for scrolling the menus, while nice, are a tad sensitive, and take some time to get used to. However, this is just a small annoyance, and, on balance, the touchpads are pretty slick.

I feel the pain of those Windows users that have struggled with iPod, but there is hope, perhaps, for those who persevere. Because of the issues that exist, I've rated iPod only 3 stars, there is lots of room for improvement. But now that I'm up and running, the resultant music-listening experience is definitely 5 stars.