i never ended up with a Mini so this is my first experience with the click-wheel. I have to say that it's the most efficient control I've used to date. all functions can be accessed with one finger (thumb) and it never has to leave the wheel. wheel feels like it will last. Much better than the v.3 buttons, IMO, i really didn't like thier sensitivity though apple seems to have tweaked them a little better through subsequent firmware updates.
I appreciate the minimalist design. smart and simple.
there are still some points that really should be addressed.
1) track, album, artist names that don't fit on screen still do not scroll when they are selected. every other player I can think of has this "feature" by now.
2) EQ should be have be user-customizable with a 4 or 5 band freq selection. again, just about every other player has this.
3) user should be able to delete artist, album, or track from the player itself
4) Apple should provide software to manage music that does not require a full install on the PC. for PCs at work or school, it is often the case that you need admin priveledge to install an app like iTunes. Something like Ephpod, which i was able to run directly from the drive of the iPod v.2 making it unnecessary to install anything on the target PC. However, i tried to use Ephpod, and it is not (yet) compatable with v.4. It will trasfer tracks, but it cannot save the database file (some change in the format, it makes an error).. so they don't show up on the player's library.
and of course volume is not adjustable while in any menu since there is only one controller. not really any way around it with the current configuration, though it's not that much of an issue.
5) i would like to be able to view more detailed track information, like on the Rio Karma. including the iD3 tag comment field.
6) I would prefer that when adding items to the on-the-fly playlist, they would be "nested" .. like with Creative's OS. So that if you add an Artist or Album, the Artist or Album name is displayed in the playlist instead of simply dumping all the tracks in there.
7) the games are retarded. if they must, how about some classic arcade games that used a wheel-based controller, like the old Atari game Tempest.
8) I miss having a dedicated Main Menu button like other players, or a custom-assigned button like the karma
9) playback of sequential tracks is not gapless. there is a fraction of a second between tracks that is noticeable when playing something like a DJ mix.
perhaps holding back a few things for v.5? sigh...
also, i'm not too thrilled about the ultra-scratchable polished-steel backside of the iPod. yes, it's pretty at first site. not for long. an aluminum or magnesium based plate that's finished to resist scratching would be much more practical. Zens are good at staying new-looking as is the iHP and DJ.
some positive things:
1) the screen contrast is one of the best I've ever seen. soooo much better than v.2 iPod. backlight is bright.
2) smallest 40gb DAP. gotta like that. iHP-140 appears 30%+ bigger. iPod v.4 40gb is smaller than my 10gb v.2 even.
3) the center select button is once again mechanical. like that better.
4) price is more reasonable now, and in-line to within 10% of other brands of the same capacity. neither 20gb or 40gb model includes a case, which i think is unreasonable. especially considering how easily it scratches. a simple play-through case should not cost them more than $5-10 a piece in the quantity that Apple would require. For a "premium" player, a case should be included. However, I did receive a case and remote today due to the Monday morning mix-up on Apple's website. The case is just like the one for the v.3 iPods... badly designed and very much overpriced ($40?). The sides and top of the player are still exposed, there's no window for the screen or controls, the clip does not swivel, and generally it doesn't feel like it would protect the player much if it were to fall. i don't much use in-line remotes, but the one for the iPod is OK by me (I don't need the LCD screen and all). same design as previous generations.
5) sound quality is good as ever. no complaints.
6) i really like the wake-to-alarm feature. so i can go to sleep listening to it (with headphones) without fear of not being able to hear my regular alarm clock. I wish more players had this, AFAIK, only other one is the Zen NX/Xtra.
7) charging by USB is very, very handy. literally no need to carry around the wallwort anymore. all the PCs at home/work/friends have USB but firewire is still rare.
8) dock isn't changed from v.3 but it's my first time having it. nothing fancy but i like it. heavy and stays in place. iPod connects effortlessly. 3.5mm analog line-output is fine by me.
9) headphone output is still strong for US iPods, at least
also, iTunes could be better. I mainly use it by just dragging directories from Explorer to iTunes and it loads them. That's good, but removing items is not as easy. You can't tell it to select everything from one album or artist to delete. You have to manually select all those tracks and then delete them. there should be an option on right-click to remove all from that artist or album.
one thing of note, i had a problem getting the iPod to work on my PC after installing the software from the iPod's CDROM. I just went with all the default options during install, and when it was all done, and I connected the iPod, iTunes would say "iPod update complete" and disconnect it. I couldn't get past that to load tracks or anything. Tried many times. I uninstalled it all and tried again, and I noticed that at one of the last dialoge boxes, there was checked option for it to update the iPod if needed at iTunes startup. After unselecting that, and finishing the install, it worked fine. Has anyone else had a problem with this?
can't comment yet on battery life. havn't been keeping track. i've never used the included earbuds on this or my other pod so can't comment on them either. i don't care about WMA compatability so that's not an issue for me. all my tracks are EAC/LAME rips. i don't plan on using lossless either, though it's an appropriate feature to have.
overall, I'm pretty happy with it. The OS isn't much of a change over v.3, but lots of new stuff over my v.2 (which has been reassigned to my gf).
I appreciate the minimalist design. smart and simple.
there are still some points that really should be addressed.
1) track, album, artist names that don't fit on screen still do not scroll when they are selected. every other player I can think of has this "feature" by now.
2) EQ should be have be user-customizable with a 4 or 5 band freq selection. again, just about every other player has this.
3) user should be able to delete artist, album, or track from the player itself
4) Apple should provide software to manage music that does not require a full install on the PC. for PCs at work or school, it is often the case that you need admin priveledge to install an app like iTunes. Something like Ephpod, which i was able to run directly from the drive of the iPod v.2 making it unnecessary to install anything on the target PC. However, i tried to use Ephpod, and it is not (yet) compatable with v.4. It will trasfer tracks, but it cannot save the database file (some change in the format, it makes an error).. so they don't show up on the player's library.
and of course volume is not adjustable while in any menu since there is only one controller. not really any way around it with the current configuration, though it's not that much of an issue.
5) i would like to be able to view more detailed track information, like on the Rio Karma. including the iD3 tag comment field.
6) I would prefer that when adding items to the on-the-fly playlist, they would be "nested" .. like with Creative's OS. So that if you add an Artist or Album, the Artist or Album name is displayed in the playlist instead of simply dumping all the tracks in there.
7) the games are retarded. if they must, how about some classic arcade games that used a wheel-based controller, like the old Atari game Tempest.
8) I miss having a dedicated Main Menu button like other players, or a custom-assigned button like the karma
9) playback of sequential tracks is not gapless. there is a fraction of a second between tracks that is noticeable when playing something like a DJ mix.
perhaps holding back a few things for v.5? sigh...
also, i'm not too thrilled about the ultra-scratchable polished-steel backside of the iPod. yes, it's pretty at first site. not for long. an aluminum or magnesium based plate that's finished to resist scratching would be much more practical. Zens are good at staying new-looking as is the iHP and DJ.
some positive things:
1) the screen contrast is one of the best I've ever seen. soooo much better than v.2 iPod. backlight is bright.
2) smallest 40gb DAP. gotta like that. iHP-140 appears 30%+ bigger. iPod v.4 40gb is smaller than my 10gb v.2 even.
3) the center select button is once again mechanical. like that better.
4) price is more reasonable now, and in-line to within 10% of other brands of the same capacity. neither 20gb or 40gb model includes a case, which i think is unreasonable. especially considering how easily it scratches. a simple play-through case should not cost them more than $5-10 a piece in the quantity that Apple would require. For a "premium" player, a case should be included. However, I did receive a case and remote today due to the Monday morning mix-up on Apple's website. The case is just like the one for the v.3 iPods... badly designed and very much overpriced ($40?). The sides and top of the player are still exposed, there's no window for the screen or controls, the clip does not swivel, and generally it doesn't feel like it would protect the player much if it were to fall. i don't much use in-line remotes, but the one for the iPod is OK by me (I don't need the LCD screen and all). same design as previous generations.
5) sound quality is good as ever. no complaints.
6) i really like the wake-to-alarm feature. so i can go to sleep listening to it (with headphones) without fear of not being able to hear my regular alarm clock. I wish more players had this, AFAIK, only other one is the Zen NX/Xtra.
7) charging by USB is very, very handy. literally no need to carry around the wallwort anymore. all the PCs at home/work/friends have USB but firewire is still rare.
8) dock isn't changed from v.3 but it's my first time having it. nothing fancy but i like it. heavy and stays in place. iPod connects effortlessly. 3.5mm analog line-output is fine by me.
9) headphone output is still strong for US iPods, at least
also, iTunes could be better. I mainly use it by just dragging directories from Explorer to iTunes and it loads them. That's good, but removing items is not as easy. You can't tell it to select everything from one album or artist to delete. You have to manually select all those tracks and then delete them. there should be an option on right-click to remove all from that artist or album.
one thing of note, i had a problem getting the iPod to work on my PC after installing the software from the iPod's CDROM. I just went with all the default options during install, and when it was all done, and I connected the iPod, iTunes would say "iPod update complete" and disconnect it. I couldn't get past that to load tracks or anything. Tried many times. I uninstalled it all and tried again, and I noticed that at one of the last dialoge boxes, there was checked option for it to update the iPod if needed at iTunes startup. After unselecting that, and finishing the install, it worked fine. Has anyone else had a problem with this?
can't comment yet on battery life. havn't been keeping track. i've never used the included earbuds on this or my other pod so can't comment on them either. i don't care about WMA compatability so that's not an issue for me. all my tracks are EAC/LAME rips. i don't plan on using lossless either, though it's an appropriate feature to have.
overall, I'm pretty happy with it. The OS isn't much of a change over v.3, but lots of new stuff over my v.2 (which has been reassigned to my gf).
Funny thing about that..not sure if it was here or on the Riovolutions forum, where someone said that it won't be until Apple gets gapless implamented, when the reviewers will actually recognize gapless playback in the DAP world as a significant technological step foward..when ironically enough, the Karma had it since day one ! Mob rule spose' ..sad really, but seems logical enough to stand true.
