[jrbdmb]

Having filled my 4G iPod 20 GB with many more songs I wish I could load, it is now time to upgrade / update. My first choice would be one of the iPod Classics. I have at least 35 GB of music, not including many classical albums that I haven't ripped yet, so the 160 GB Classic is an interesting option.

My concern is that the reviews on the Circuit City website (where I would purchase the iPod with a 10% off coupon) show a relatively high number of failures for the 160 GB model. Has anyone else here seen / heard of any particular reliability issues with the 160 GB Classic?

(Note - not interested in the Zune as I prefer the longer battery life and equalizer in the iPod.)

 

[Dyoel182]

Why not go with the 80gig which seems to have less problems?

 

[jrbdmb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyoel182 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why not go with the 80gig which seems to have less problems?

I probably will anyhow ... but if I start ripping a sizeable portion of my classical collection plus and start copying some of my old LPs I could eventually fill up the 80 GB. The 160 GB Classic would definitely "future-proof" me for the forseeable future.

 

[Arainach]

Voluntary review sites are inherently biased - people are MUCH more likely to leave a review if they have a negative experience than a positive one. I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[NeObliviscaris]

Im very happy with my 160gb.

Only once the HD spun for no reason, and yeah. With the latest firmware its less laggy etc, and its nice to use.

The only thing that annoys me, which is probably iTunes fault, is it always downloads the update but stuffs it up, which inturn stuffs up my iPod and it needs to reync my 15,000 122GB library - this annoyance leads to another, when I sync, it stops every 1000 songs or so, so you have to sit there and do stuff, and keep checking on it.

Otherwise, I'd get it, its a nice iPod to use, and 160GB will make a huge difference in comparison to 20GB!

 

[murfy]

I've found the latest firmware to be a a little slower when scrolling - main menu or coverflow, but apart from that my 160gb hasn't been too bad up until now.
Plenty of people have complained about the 80gb as well. Maybe more people have spent the little extra for a 160gb and that's why there are more returns/complaints on that site?

 

[zumaro]

Basically the classic is a relative dog of an iPod, and I think it doesn't matter if it is the 80 or 160 GB version. The forums are full of more complaints than with any earlier iPod model, and they aren't esoteric strange complaints about specific hardware setups, but rather about the basic functionality of the firmware itself. If you are a power user of the iPod (sad concept really)then you would not have failed to notice any number of small faults, battery drains, non display of icons and photos, sluggish performance and iTunes freezes.

So far there have been 3 firmware updates trying to cure these faults, which shows you how widespread and serious they are. The latest firmware update has cured many of the most blatant problems, but there is still the feel of a substandard product, with many small faults in the interface, and transient errors in the operation of the device itself (files quitting playing, random resets etc etc). Not to mention Apples blatant lockout of third party accessories, forcing people to repurchase games.... the list goes on, adding up to a very unsatisfactory experience with this iPod for many people. Jumping in now you will have avoided most of the worst faults, but many still remain.

 

[J.D.N]

I have had my 160Gb Classic since September and never had a day of trouble. I have ~90Gb of music on it and it copes fine. I downloaded another update today, which can only mean good things.

I have never experienced any freezes or glitches or miss displayed icons and i use it everyday for up to 8 hours.

 

[epaludo]

The 1.0.3 classic firmware update fixed all major bugs. It's running smoothly now ...

 

[Dyoel182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epaludo /img/forum/go_quote.gif The 1.0.3 classic firmware update fixed all major bugs. It's running smoothly now ...

Thats what I heard as well.

 

[tomjtx]

I bought my 160gb classic in Sept. as well and I have had 0 problems with it.

It is a breeze to use and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

 

[Lindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro /img/forum/go_quote.gif Basically the classic is a relative dog of an iPod, and I think it doesn't matter if it is the 80 or 160 GB version. The forums are full of more complaints than with any earlier iPod model, and they aren't esoteric strange complaints about specific hardware setups, but rather about the basic functionality of the firmware itself. If you are a power user of the iPod (sad concept really)then you would not have failed to notice any number of small faults, battery drains, non display of icons and photos, sluggish performance and iTunes freezes. So far there have been 3 firmware updates trying to cure these faults, which shows you how widespread and serious they are. The latest firmware update has cured many of the most blatant problems, but there is still the feel of a substandard product, with many small faults in the interface, and transient errors in the operation of the device itself (files quitting playing, random resets etc etc). Not to mention Apples blatant lockout of third party accessories, forcing people to repurchase games.... the list goes on, adding up to a very unsatisfactory experience with this iPod for many people. Jumping in now you will have avoided most of the worst faults, but many still remain.

Nice summary of almost everything I found wrong with the TWO that I went through. Finally, I got my money back and spent it on a previous gen (5.5) 80GB video. Much happier customer now. The Classic was to be my 5th iPod, and it just didn't measure up to the performance of the others that I've owned.

They messed up with the Classic. I'm not a beta tester. I'm a retail customer.

 

[Dyoel182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindy /img/forum/go_quote.gif They messed up with the Classic. I'm not a beta tester. I'm a retail customer.

I still havent seen those problems in person though, even in Classics that were bought on the release date.

 

[zumaro]

Well mine was bought on the release date and it has ALL those problems. And probably if people bothered to look they would also have noticed all of the minor problems such as wrong track counts, missing game icons, wrong timezone information, faulty backlight timings, faulty search function etc, even if their use of the ipod or particular setup never revealed the chronic functionality problems. Just because it worked for some does not mean that this isn't the most dysfunctional iPod ever. Apple wasn't one by one responding to the odd customer complaint, as it released its 3(!) firmware updates so far - updates which finally have cured the most chronic problems. Believe it or not even Apple seemed to think that the problems were real.

 

[fhuang]

i have a harddisk noise problem through lineout. seems like it's going away but it's still here when using iems(super-fi pro and se210). i guess i'm the only one here having this problem. i don't have any harddisk noise problem with two of my 4th gen ipod