Apple iPod user reviews (20GB; third generation)

Pros Sound quality

Cons everything else

Summary I regret the day that I ever purchased an ipod. It has been nothing but a problem and a headache since I got. It has broken 5 times and I have sent it in 5 times and nobody at apple offered me an explanation at why it kept doing this. I use my ipod mainly in the car. So when I finally asked what could cause their product to break down, the best answer they could come up with was that the ipod wasn't designed for use in the car, and the adapter I was using was the cause of all of the problems. I know for a fact that I was being lied to because the head phone jack has nothing to do with the hard drive. The people at apple should not have put this product on the market until they worked all of the bugs out of it. Heed my advice: Do Not waste your money on this piece of garbage.

Pros Intelligent synching, minimal user prompting required, support for different Plug 'n Play connections (USB 2.0 and FireWire), cross-platform functionality (Windows and Mac), no real learning curve

Cons Low battery life, easily-smudgeable casing, Windows doesn't automatically recognize it as a USB device in Windows Explorer

Summary This may just be the single best MP3 player to have hit the market. When I purchased the device, I was fully expecting to have to plug it in, open iTunes myself, then manually tell the program to move my songs over from my computer. Instead, I plugged it in, it opened iTunes on its own, moved the songs over, then named itself after me. Apple is making me a believer...

The interface on this device is amazing, and also helps protect the longetivity of its solid-state components. The scroll-wheel, one of Apple's selling points (made popular on their iPod Shuffle, and ported over to current 4th Gen iPods), is very touch-sensitive. I can glide my finger over it without having to apply any pressure at all, and the device scrolls through menu options, increases/decreases volume, and allows me to pick my music in a variety of different ways. Sometimes I might want to listen to an entire album from beginning to end, sometimes I want to listen to a particular kind of music, and sometimes I just want to listen to my music collection. I can make a playlist out of an album OR I can pick the album from a list of albums. I can put my iPod on shuffle and have hours of no-repeat music playing.

Many of these features require one to do some small bit of record-keeping in iTunes, insuring that songs are listed in the genre the user prefers, that each song has an album title, and that each song title is exactly as the user wants it to appear. Frequently, at least for genre snobs like myself, iTunes will ascribe to a particular song or artist a genre that isn't quite accurate. A few quick clicks and keystrokes, though, and the problem is fixed.

I love the way my iPod looks, but unfortunately the front acrylic cover gets surface scratches easily (usually easily buffed off by just breathing hotly on it, then wiping it with one's shirt), and the back chrome-silver heat dissipator gets finger smudges on it when you look at it cross-eyed, affecting the aesthetic in a negative, albeit negligible in the grand scheme of things, way. Apple, as well as many third-party vendors, make covers available for the iPod, but those, as well, affect the aesthetic pleasingness of the device.

These minor complaints aside, this is a highly-recommended piece of machinery. Apple's costs have often been prohibitive, keeping them from the greater market share that Microsoft enjoys. However, their reputation for extremely bug-free and intelligently-designed products precedes them, and the $300 for a 20 GB iPod becomes worth it when you see just how easy it is to use and how much you'll love having the majority, if not all, of your music collection with you at all times.

Pros I love iTunes, iPod's are simple and stylish.

Cons Mine breaks too much.

Summary I like iPods, but the particular model I have breaks too much. I've had mine a couple years, it's broken 3 or 4 times, once I managed to revive it, one or twice I sent it in, and it is currently busted. As my luck would have it one time my computer had to be reformatted when my iPod broke, so I lost my 1,000song+ library.

I like having an iPod, but I'm thinking about investing in a different model, one that's more reliable. Any suggestions?

Pros Quality, and solid features

Cons None Really

Summary This is one of the best product I've purchased...I now have the silver 6GB Mini as well. I've been pleased overall the proformance. The style is great as well as the sound. No regrets in buying the IPOD. These players will be great collector items in the near future