Re: My Review of 30GB iPod

Sorry, long post.

>The buttons will take some getting used to, placement-wise. I don't
>really know why the got rid of the 4-button surrounding the scroll wheel
>setup, but I think it has to do with these new backlit buttons. Perhaps
>they couldn't get the backlighting in the previous setup.

My guess is that it has more to do with they being touch pad, but who 
knows. Ugly anyways, I like them around the wheel. Very useful. Very well 
thought. So, Apple, one point less here.

>Speaking of the buttons, and the scrollwheel, they are all touch
>sensitive. They will also take some getting used to. The buttons don't
>move when you touch them, they just respond to whatever command - 
play,
>pause, menu, etc.

My question is, are they too sensitive? Right now, I don't have to lock my 
iPod while I carry it inside my jacket or shirt pocket. I can snip a finger and 
skip songs or change the volume. I wonder if a new iPod would get false 
presses just by cloth contact/pressure.

>The dock is great. It's rubberized on the bottom so it doesn't slip
>around. I think its mildly annoying that they didn't ship an extra cable
>out with the thing so you can charge it.

I thought they did. Another point less.  :-(

>Right now if I need to plug it
>into a/c power when I go on the road I need to reach around to the back
>of the computer to remove the cable since it's no longer a standard
>firewire cable.

OMG. An extra annoyance. Lame.

So the dock has a male custom plug for the iPod and a female custom 
plug for the cable. Why can't it come with firewire & USB connectors (and 
include it with the 10Gb iPods)? I prefer this idea over a custom cable.

I _hate_ this custom cable idea. Before USB, each portable MP3 player 
out there had its own custom interface, and that was a shit. I liked the fact 
that the iPod used a standard firewire cable (plus, you could use it to 
charge the thing. Clever). Right now, I have a cable at home and another 
one at work, so I only have to carry the iPod and the earphones. I can 
charge and transfer songs on both places. With the "new" approach, you 
either have to carry the cable with you (and reach to the back of your PC), 
or purchase an extra custom cable, at Apple prices. Plus shipping, I don't 
see a lot of iPod accesories available here in Spain. A 3+ years step 
backwards. Five points less on this.

And be ready to purchase another cable if you pretend to use USB. But 
not a standard one.

>With the new iPod
>desktop manager software, you can unmount the ipod and use it 
regularly
>without having to remove it from the firewire cable.

That's the 2.0 firmware, not the PC software. Well, probably the desktop 
manager lets you unmount the iPod, but it's the firmware the one which 
doesn't lock the UI on the "OK to disconnect".

>In the box: iPod, headphones w/slipcovers, software/documentation, 
soft
>case, dock, 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable adapter, redesigned
>firewire/iPod power/data cable (1394 to proprietary apple design - 3rd
>party engineers, please make an adapter), plastic covers for data/power
>port.

And power adapter, right? Is it the same model than before?

>If you all have any questions that I haven't answered here, I'll be
>happy to answer them if posed to the group.

What about battery life? I noticed the Apple specs state 8 hours playing 
time. I thought that, after past battery issues, they simply were being more 
realistic. But I read in ipoding that in order to make the new iPods thinner, 
they used a smaller battery model. Sheesh. Yet they say "Battery life varies 
by use". Well, based on my usage experience, I think I would be getting 
around 4-6 hours out of that (assuming they won't be screwing it up on a 
later firmware release). Point less.

The new iPods have some good things (thinner, lighter, upto 30Gb, lower 
prices, OTG playlists) but serveral steps backwards (buttons away from the 
wheel, custom cable, shorter battery life). Well, you can't have it all.

And that without saying that 1.3 is the last firmware released ever for "old" 
models. Less than one and a half year old, and my 5Gb is a shiny piece of 
computing history. Should I put it on the self, next to my ZX Spectrum? 
Sigh.

Antique, but iPod!

Eduardo Delgado
[email protected]



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