Rating: 
Summary: Great for a year and a half..... then you need a new one.
Review: Batteries are the achilles heel for Ipod. Why would apple knowingly release a product that fails after a year? Piss everyone off? Bad Apple!
Rating: 
Summary: beware!
Review: Before you shell out $400, keep in mind that the iPod's recheargable internal battery is fixed, that means that as with any other Li-ion battery, after approx 300 cycles you are left with an expensive white, apple-branded paperweight, since you CANNOT replace the battery. But of course by that time you may be already hooked to it and then you will buy another iPod and make Apple richer, thats their business strategy. If you have had a laptop for a while you know what i am talking about, after 1 year of use you usually need to replace the battery cuz it doesn't last too long.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the price premium anymore
Review: Bought one of these to replace my first generation iPod with a dead battery instead of coughing up the $99 apple wanted to replace the battery. Theres really not a whole lot in the way of improvements in my eyes between this and the earlier iPods. I ended up returning it after a week, mostly because I was also in the market for an external HD, and this player doesn't support that.
This unit is still the leader in terms of size, but it is lagging pretty far behind the competition in terms of battery life, features, sound quality, and value. I'm sure Apple can just float by for another year or two in this manner, as this unit was at one point the best personal MP3 player, period. This is obviously not the case anymore, but, like other Apple products, people will be willing to buy nearly anything with the Apple logo regardless of the competition.
Still a solid contender, but by no means the undisputed champion anymore. If size and style aren't your only considerations there are better products elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could be better
Review: By now we all know what the iPod is and what it does - but just in case you don't, it's a device similar to what the walkman was 20 years ago that plays music from an internal hard drive instead of a cassette tape. You can currently get an iPod in 3 different sizes, 15, 20, or 40 gigabyte hard drives (not including the new mini iPod which holds 4 gigs). It will play several different file formats, not just mp3s. You can play full quality (16-bit) wav or AIFF files, as well as AAC or Audible files. The unit can also be used as a standalone hard drive. This is all controlled from a simple touch-sensitive interface that allows you to scroll through your songs in a very organized way - either by song name, artist name, album name, or according to your own playlists. You will control the songs uploaded into the iPod from a computer, either a Mac or a PC, and Apple limits you in your ability to upload a song from an iPod onto someone else's computer (i.e. it knows which computer is yours). This is to prevent illegal file sharing. It works well in general, and will hold thousands of songs. The exact number it will hold depends upon the quality of the files you import into it. I have the 15 GB model, and I mostly use full quality AIFFs or the highest quality MP3s and I've barely gone over halfway. By the time I fill the thing up, I'm sure they'll have something else for me to buy. There. Now that's out of the way I can get on with the opinion side of things. It's an overall great product that has helped revolutionize the way we listen to music, some of it good, some bad. Most of my complaints about the iPod center around its lack of features, rather than current features that don't function properly. The unit seems to offer very little compared with the technology that's available today. Why isn't the screen in color? Why doesn't it offer more PDA-like features? These are incredibly inexpensive features to install and would make it a far more valuable piece of equipment. Why doesn't it communicate wirelessly with Airport systems? Why isn't there an easier way to manage playlists from within the iPod itself, not just from a computer? Why isn't there a touch screen/stylus interface for even easier, less cumbersome usage? With all the technology coming to life today, the iPod seems to be remarkably less than what it could be. I also find the problem of non-sharing between computers to be annoying. While I appreciate and agree that such elements should be controlled, cars still drive over 70 miles per hour - we leave it to the consumer to decide not to speed and break the law. Apple shouldn't decide for us. I'm a songwriter and I store song ideas in my iPod to take to writing sessions. The problem? When I want to leave a copy with a co-writer for him to work on, I can't because the iPod won't let me transfer a song to a computer that isn't mine. Here is a completely legal transaction being blocked by Apple's stringency. It can be very annoying. I'm looking forward to what Apple does in the future with this device. Hopefully they'll make it more functional, incorporating the current and inexpensive technology available right now.
Rating:
Summary: Piece o'crap
Review: Can I give this zero stars? This thing is garbage. It crashes all the time. Apple thinks they're so freakin' clever and give us this stupid gadget and no on/off switch. Supposedly, you just hold play to shut it off. Fat lot of good that does, because the cheap piece of $h!t will drain anyway and then freeze again. For another oh-so-clever interface, try and find a reboot button. Oh, you have to slide the hold button back and forth. Well, I've done this about 2500 times and it STILL doesn't work. This is the most poorly made consumer product I have ever had the misfortune of buying. Get anything else. Even humming or whistling a tune is more reliable than this crash-happy paperweight. STAY AWAY, FAR FAR AWAY!!!! Oh, and for that arrogant Apple user who told Windows users to quit complaining and buy a MAC, he needs to get a grip. Apple understands that they're not gonna stay afloat on their tiny piece of driftwood if they have to rely on the 12 or so people in the world who are Mac-Owners as their sole source of business. So they suckered us in with an inferior product that they promise is compatible. Just go away, Apple, and take your cheap a$$ toy products with you.
Rating:
Summary: LCD Of terror
Review: Coat your ipod lcd in a 2 inch sheet of plexiglass. Mine broke within 2 weeks and they cost more to repair than a new ipod. Beware.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Perfect, But Best in its Class
Review: Compare the iPod to any other portable mp3 player in its class (meaning the price and storage capacity). The iPod beats them all in the areas of:
1 Durability (hard drive harder to ruin than on other players)
2 Ease-of-use (intuitive interface)
3 Aesthetic appeal
4 Highest quality audio output (great equalizers)
5 High Quality backlight
6 Useful palm-like organizer (but could be better)
7 Built-in compatibility with iTunes, audible.com, and other audio services Unfortunately, the battery life could be better. I also have a complaint about the syncability of the iPod with multiple computers. The ease-of-use is also a downside, as the iPod does so much for you, if you do something unexpected, like sync with two computers, the results can tend to be unpredictable. Nevertheless, the quality of the sound (it seems like you can get a louder output on the iPod than other players, which may contribute to the shorter, but acceptable, battery life) is better than other players. The size and ergonomics are the best. The price is a little higher, but justifiable considering the benefits. Finally, my recommendation is to understand the player's downfalls before you purchase. Realize that this is a hard drive and even though it is better at standing up to a beating than others do not shake it vigorously, throw it, drop it, or put it in water. Just like any piece of electronics, especially those with precisely moving parts, it will break. I do not normally advocate buying a warranty, but in this case BUY THE LONGEST WARRANTY YOU CAN. If you use your iPod or any other similar player, the chances of you dropping it or it breaking from normal wear-and-tear are high. The warranty will be cheaper than replacing the unit. With all of those warnings etched upon your mind, go ahead and make the purchase. It will drastically increase the personal value of your music collection by making it more useful than ever to you. You will not regret this purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Overpriced hyped toy
Review: Doesn't support WMA, overpriced. Better choices-Gateway's 20GBplayer for $100 less. The Samsung Napster player for the same price but with recording capabilities and fm tuner and transmitter for car playing.
Rating:
Summary: DONT BUY THIS OVER PRICED JUNK
Review: DONT BUY THIS ITEM! IT DOESNT EVEN DESERVE THAT ONE STAR! LITSEN THE IPOD IS EXTREMELY OVER PRICED YOU CAN GET A Creative Labs Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox FOR $350 RITE NOW AND 40 GB FOR $300 DONT THROW AWAY YOUR MONEY FOR THE SAME THING. IPODS MAX GB IS 40 AND ZEN IS 60 SO YOU GET 20 GB MORE FOR OVER $100 LESS. I REPEAT DONT BUY THIS ITEM IT IS OVER PRICED AND NOT WORTH IT. GET THE Creative Labs Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox.
Rating:
Summary: Works great with windows
Review: Easy to use interface. Great sound (better than my old portable cd player). I can carry around an enormous amount of music with me in a small device - this has made it a life changer for me. Good battery life (I get 8-10 hours from mine) and it charges quickly. PC owners should know a couple of things about the iPod. First, although you can connect to your PC via USB 2.0, the iPod doesn't charge when connected this way. If you hook up via firewire, it does charge the iPod. This was a good enough reason for me to add a cheap firewire card to my computer. Secondly, forget the MusicMatch software that the iPod ships with. Go to the apple website and download iTunes instead. It's slick and easy to use, and is great for more than the iPod (making playlists to play from your computer, burning mix cd's, ripping cd's, moving between different audio formats).
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