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Apple 5 GB iPod (M8697LL/A, July 2002 Version)

Apple 5 GB iPod (M8697LL/A, July 2002 Version)

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wow. It's really cool. Too bad Apple isn't.
Review: Amazon.com edited this review heavily, taking out prices so it would not interfere with quotes on it's own merchandise. However, it will not allow me to delete the review now that they changed it and posted it. I will continue to edit it this way until someone takes it down. Perhaps I should try pornographic language?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If your a yuppie with a wallet deeper than the oceanitsgreat
Review: Apple iPod is a total waist of money. No way is it worth more than 200 dollars. If you want a good mp3 player you can get one for less than 200. The Arthos 10gb studio jukebox holds 2x the standard capacity of the ipod 5 and costs 1/2 as much. Also the firewire is a pain in the behind its just more money you have to throw away. Get another brand that is designed for windows. The only thing i liked about it before i replaced it was the LCD with 6 lines that was hot. But that doesnt add up. Dont buy it save your money for something better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A whole new window
Review: Brilliant. Finally the best Mp3 player in the world is available
for us Windows users out there. The connection is easy and the speed is blinding. I seriously recommend buying the 5Gb model as you will save [money]and there are not that many people out there who would be able to store more then 1000 songs. I am thouroughly pleased with my iPOD and I have not had even one little problem. This is definitely money well spent for all the Windows users out there who have been waiting for a quality Mp3 player. And now those gleaming Apple owners haven't got anything to gleam about anymore. OHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: Cetainly the most clever music gadget ever conceived!
After a decade and a half of using portable cassette players (sony walkmen), the Ipod is just the cat's meow for the portable music afficionado--gym-habitual person!! I love this gizmo--it totally revolutionizes workouts. Of it's 1000-song capacity, I've put 483 songs on it so far, and the random playlist capacity puts songs together that will never cease to haunt me and please my heart and soul. The rechargeable battery is certainly an improvement over paying for duracells. Also available is an adapter for the car (which essentially puts my 400 cd collection in the car on long trips!!) I promise you, you won't be disappointed with the 5 gig Ipod for windows....remarkably engineered portable music heaven! Thank you, Apple!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: iPod wonderful, MusicMatch horrible, Ephpod solution to MM
Review: Do I recommend to iPod, despite the price? The answer is a loud Yes. This product is wonderful. Holds more music then you may ever need. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. If you're the type that needs to read instructions before even attempting to figure things out, well guess what, even you can use this product. The sound quality is great; the size is petite and easy to put anywhere, whether it's your pants pocket or your shirt pocket. The carrying case may seem skimpy but it actually does a good job of protecting the iPod. The case is similar to the hard plastic cases for cell phones where you slide the iPod out to make any adjustments but the case stays strapped to your belt. The remote is great to, again intuitive in use and after only a use or two you'll have no problem hitting those buttons without looking.
When it comes to listening to all those songs on the iPod you have many search options such as search by song, album, and singer. Add all the playlists you want to make listening to what you want even easier. If I have any complaint, it is the shiny chrome surface which is perfect for fingerprints and smudges but after a day or so of use, you will get use to it and no longer notice.
By the way, you want the firewire card the iPod requires and the reason is simple - speed. USB would take 8-10 hours to transfer 10 gigabytes of music, firewire only takes an hour or less.
So you have this wonderful piece of Apple hardware but what about the Windows software - MusicMatch? Well, it stinks. That is putting it mildly. To add songs to your play list you first have to add songs to the MusicMatch library, no big deal there, but no instructions on how to do it either. So you have your songs in the library and you want to change them so after you have the iPod hooked up you click "Sync" and after thirty or so minutes you have 1000 plus songs on your iPod.
So where are the problems? Well after you fire your iPod up you notice some strange things like the same artist listed five times or the same album showing three times. Looking carefully you will notice the difference is only a character or two so Pink would be listed Pink, Pin, and Pi. So you think, aw man, my iPod is defective, but if you check out your MusicMatch library you will notice that it lists the singer the same way. So you correct those entries using the "Tag" option. But guess what, when you look at the album titles, artists, song titles and genre you notice that so many of them have errors, usually the last character missing from each field. Suddenly you don't have to fix dozen or so titles but quite literally your entire library of 1000 plus songs times four fields, using the tag option. On top of that, there is no guarantee that MusicMatch will transfer those changes to your iPod. The fix according to MusicMatch is to add a space at the end of every entry, and this works but again to have to do this to 1000+ songs for four different fields is a time-consuming proposition. Supposedly a fix will be out for this problem but considering what a basic thing it is to read a text field and duplicate that information there is simply no excuse for it.
Also, another problem is that the syncing. By syncing the iPod you would think that meant I added a new album to my collection and after hooking my iPod to the computer, just that album will be added. Nope, MusicMatch deletes your entire library from the iPod and re-adds it, in the process adding the new album. Also, before even doing this you have to tell the library to add this album. It does not automatically add it even though that album is in the same directory that the library is compiled from.
A final problem is there is a feature that allows volume leveling so that all the songs have the same volume when played. Sounds like a cool feature till you realize that for MusicMatch to make the changes to level the volume it actually alters the file on your computer then transfers it. So you can't revert back to the way it previously was and also as a bonus, all that information about album, song title, genre and artist are now gone and the only way you can change them is to use MusicMatch's tag ability because the Windows property section no longer contains those fields.
So to sum up, iPod wonderful mp3 player, quit simply the best on the market. MusicMatch, a joke of software that cannot do something as simple as read text fields properly. My recommendation? By Windows iPod, marvel at it. Take that iPod disc that comes with it and toss it back in the box. Instead, use a search engine to find Ephpod. It is a free program that makes transferring music to the iPod a pleasure. It actually reads the tags right and when it syncs, low and behold, the program only adds the new stuff without deleting everything from the iPod and adding it again like MusicMatch does. Also it supports audible, calender, and contacts easily. Basically, it is everything that MusicMatch should have been. Did I mention it is free? So get your iPod, get Ephpod, and you are ready to go and enjoy this wonderful piece of hardware.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Apple iPod -- Best Gizmo I've ever owned
Review: Great piece of electronics. Wouldn't change a thing about it. Interface, sound quality, looks are all fantastic. The small version (1000 songs) is plenty for me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 5GB's might not be enough for you...
Review: I absolutely love my iPod. I mean LOVE it! I use it everyday approximately 7 - 10 hours a week, and I've had it for months. It sounds great. It's small. It's awsome. Many other good reviews have already been writtien about the iPod's features and supposed bad points. I'd love to refute some complaints I've read, but I'm going to limit my review to whitch amount of GB's is needed for this unit.

I own the 20GB. It was the biggest I was aware of when I decided to buy an iPod. Let me assure you--it's more than enough memory. I have mp3's on the thing that have been on there since the day I bought it. I have yet to exaust its capacity yet. In my mind, the 10GB would have been an adequate amount, while 30GB is excessive and unnecessary. 20GB is plenty, folks. The only way I could see 30GB being absolutely necessary is if you're absolutely sure you need 30GB. I admit, if I were buying my iPod again, I would go for 30GB; that's just my nature. But it's completely unnecessary. 20GB is a dream. 5GB leaves you wanting.

Enjoy!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: think twice
Review: I bought my ipod new 1 year and 1 month ago and it has simply stopped working. After days of trying everything in the knowledge base and being blown off by the 'applecare' staff I went to an authorized apple repair service who told me to just forget about it and buy a new one and save the repair expense. He also said to be sure to get a case for it and handle it very carefully because if you happen to drop it or even lay it down on a hard surface with too much gusto, kiss it goodbye. It was swell while it lasted but I can spend a lot less on a disposable product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING!!!
Review: I have found, after owning the iPod for about 2 weeks now, that it is the best mp3 player out on the market right now. People complain about MusicMatch, which isn't great, but it works. These people are impatient. You only need to go through your playlist and edit id3 tags, and then everything works. It takes me about 20 mins to download my whole music library (650 songs), which whould take until the next millenium on a USB. Also, Breakout is included for user enjoyment. I love this!!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Ipod for windws is horrible
Review: I just recieved the iPod for windows for christmas, it was the worst gift that i recived this year, and it was supposed to be my favorite. It took days to get the hardware to work, and then the software wouldn't install. Using music match Jukebox 7.1 is stupid. You can't get it anywhere anymore and it wouldn't install from the disk. They should have makde the plug-in for 7.5 also. I just could not get it to work and it was a waste of time. Now I'm getting a new mp3 player by a company who makes their own programs and i'm never buying anything form apple again. Windows users should all be advised that Apple doesn't care about us. Don't buy the iPod.


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