[Tony De Luca]

I was about to buy an iPod today at the Apple Store in Tampa till I asked about replacing the batteries. The guy told me that they where designed to last 9 to 11 years. Ya whatever. Anyway I asked how do you get them replaced and he said that apple would replace them during the 90 day warranty period. So I said what if they go bad a year from now? He said the iPod was a non repairable item after the the 90 day warranty. Does this mean you can't repair it after that? That's correct according to two different people at Apple's tech support. Now let's see this is the most expensive mp3 player on the market, and it can only be repaired for the first 90 days! What makes this so different from other 90 day warranties is that Apple claims that after the 90 days have past, the iPod becomes a non repairable item. I'm sorry but if that is truly the case Apple can keep it! What happens at 100 days when is falls out of your pocket? Ok, lets say that is how it works then for $400 bucks don't you think it deserves at least a 1 year warranty? I can go out and buy a 6 gig player for $249 that is repairable at any time at my own expense. Steve and his yuppie friends may be able to afford to throw out the iPod after 90 days, but I sure can't. Think about it. Think about how much money they save by selling a product once and then having no responsability for it later. Would you buy a car that was non-repairable after the warranty ran out. Not me. It would be one thing if this was a $150 product but I believe this kind of mentality is unacceptable for a product that cost more than some of the very high end DVD players on the market! I think Steve has flipped his wig. If you buy an iPod from Steve under his plan your really renting it! Say you drop it and get a really deep scratch across the LCD, that will be $400.00 to fix. Say the hard drive fails in six months, that will be $400.00 to fix. I have owned 12 Apple computers since the first Mac, but I think I'll just sit this one out!

If they tell you it costs more to fix than to replace I don't buy that either. It only will cost more to fix than to replace because they don't want to bother with it! I agree that many other companies make items that cost more to fix than to replace, but those items almost never cost more than $200.00 bucks! I'm sorry but this is one item Apple can keep. I'm really getting tired of these big companies taking advantage of the very people that have supported them for so many years, and I'm not afraid to say so. If you like the iPod then buy it, but just remember under Steve's plan your really renting it!!!!! I even spoke with an Apple product specialist who told me that if the iPod fails after the 90 day warranty you simply buy a new iPod.

The iPod is a slick little player, but unfortunately not a very accurate one. I borrowed a friends and after several A+B tests with my reference CD player, I am sure that Apple has significantly boosted the treble response of this unit to help the high end of there ear buds. The reason I say this is after hearing my Sony e888lp earbuds on the iPod there is no doubt that something is going on here. The sound is almost metallic and screechy when I use the iPod and as smooth as a bell with my Nakamichi player. I sure hope Apple plans to update the firmware with an equalizer in the near future or audiophiles better look elsewhere.
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[Braver]

I wonder what exactly happens after those 90 days that makes it non-repairable

jeez, sounds like they didn't even bother with a real support group. just give em a new one if it breaks down in 90 days (waaay short warranty period!) and after that, the customer is screwed.

sounds like something Micro$oft would do.

 

[tvhead]

I bought the 2 year replacement warranty from CompUSA for $30. Frankly, wouldn't you be happier now if it costs more to fix it than give you a new one? With the warranty, I'm hoping it will fail so I can get the new versions.

That's strange that you noticed that the treble was boosted, because someone in the iPod forums analyzed the output and graphed rolled off treble. Still not flat.

I'm no audiophile anyway, otherwise I wouldn't be listening to MP3s.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Maybe you heard the sales rep wrong, or the sales rep had just killed himself by putting his foot in his mouth sooooo hard.

 

[MacDEF]

Funny... I saw this same exact rant posted in several other forums/websites.

While I agree that 90 days is ridiculously short, for $30 you can get a 2 or 3 year full replacement warranty from CompUSA -- even if you didn't buy it there. Considering that the iPod will surely be upgraded with lots of other (read: non-MP3

) features in the next 2 years, I call that the best investment you could make

As for the treble boost, I think it's a problem with your earbuds, not the iPod. Think about it -- why would you need to boost the treble for earbuds? Earbuds have such small drivers that they already tend to sound treble-heavy. My guess is that your friend had boosted the treble on the songs when he was listening to them on his computer -- those EQ settings get transferred to the iPod.

BTW, I'm bringing Etys, KSC-50s, and Senn MX-500s with me today to test out the iPods at Macworld Expo; I'll post some thoughts later.

 

[Nezer]

Quote:

Originally posted by tvhead I bought the 2 year replacement warranty from CompUSA for $30. Frankly, wouldn't you be happier now if it costs more to fix it than give you a new one? With the warranty, I'm hoping it will fail so I can get the new versions.

In that case you should send it to Joe Bloggs when your ready for a new one. If anyone can "break" it it's him!

 

[tvhead]

Quote:

My guess is that your friend had boosted the treble on the songs when he was listening to them on his computer -- those EQ settings get transferred to the iPod.

As far as I know, eq settings do not transfer over from itunes to the iPod yet. Well, the settings may transfer over as part of the tags, but the iPod will not translate it yet.

 

[Tony De Luca]

I compared the origional CD on my $600.00 Nakamichi CD player with the 256 bit version on the iPod and there is definately something going on in the high end region. My Sony's sound extemely smooth on the Nak very faithful to the origional sound. When we switched over to the iPod the high end is suddenly brightend considerably. Both players were in sync for the most part. As for the equalizer settings they don't transfer from iTunes to the iPod, so that theory is out of the equation. Has anyone else tried this kind of on the spot A/B test with the iPod? If so, please comment.

 

[tvhead]

Tony,

I'll give 256kbps a try. I only encode at 192kbps VBR, and I find the opposite to be true. On my mx500s, CDs seem to have slightly harder edged highs, that is a bit fatiguing on my ears. All I know is that I can listen to music all day long without a problem with the mx500/ipod combination.

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Quote:

Originally posted by tvhead As far as I know, eq settings do not transfer over from itunes to the iPod yet. Well, the settings may transfer over as part of the tags, but the iPod will not translate it yet.

EQ settings in iTunes ARE transferred to the iPod, and are used for playback. Double check the settings in iTunes before blaming the iPod for bright playback.

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tony De Luca As for the equalizer settings they don't transfer from iTunes to the iPod, so that theory is out of the equation.

Tony, as I mentioned to tvhead already, you're wrong about this. The EQ settings in iTunes carry over to the iPod for playback. Set the EQ in iTunes to "flat" before transfer, and see if the same behavior occurs.

 

[Tony De Luca]

I have read and was told by Apple that the EQ settings do not currently tranfer over to the iPod from iTunes, at least not with the 1.02 update. I will give that a try though. Like I said this iPod was a freinds unit but I'll transfer my own songs and see what happens.

 

[tvhead]

Quote:

EQ settings in iTunes ARE transferred to the iPod, and are used for playback. Double check the settings in iTunes before blaming the iPod for bright playback.

Russ,

I remember checking to see if the EQ settings transferred a while back and didn't notice a difference in the sound. The users in the iPod forum concur with me. I'll check again. The relative volume adjustment did transfer over though.

Where did you get the information that the eq did?

BTW, EQ settings is one of the most requested features in the iPod forums.

Oh yeah, I'm not blaming the iPod for bright playback. Actually I don't think it plays bright. I don't even set the eq in iTunes. I'm saying that the iPod, at this moment, does not use the EQ, so it should play flat.

 

[Tony De Luca]

I tried the EQ setting again and still get no change. The volume changes seem to work but that's it. I'm going to hook the iPod up to my stereo sytem and a/b the origional CD to the mp3 playing through my Crown preamp. This way I can switch between the sources on the spot. I will return with my findings! True the signal will be going through some $5000 worth of audio gear but then again it is the most expensive MP3 player on the market. I would expect it to hold up well. I certainly expect the screechy high end to come back down to earth.

 

[citroeniste]

What exactly does the iPod do that the Archos 6000 doesn't, anyway? I looked at them both, and couldn't see any reason to buy the iPod except for looks. (And the Archos is probably the second-best looking HDD MP3 player.) Both can be used as external HDD's, and you can get a 20GB Archos for less than the 6GB iPod.

Moreover, my new 6000's batteries last forever, long enough in fact for an Atlanta to Frankfurt flight with juice left over. (More than 7 hours.) At least, that is, using the line out to a Total Airhead. With the volume pot it might not be as long-lasting.

NP: JD featuring Ludacris, "Welcome to Atlanta"