[zaguar]

Well, my birthday last year. I knew nothing about iriver, iaudio, creative. All i knew was ipod. So, i had saved up and i bought one. I was great, except for the battery life (like 4-5 hours, sometimes 3). After 3 months, the inline remote broke. The connector was dodgy.

Then, after 6 months, the ipod broke. The hard drive was screwed. I got a RMA

Then, 2 weeks later, the ipod broke again. Hard Drive. RMA time.

Then, 2 months later, ipod broke again. Hard Drive.

They were all 3g ipods BTW.

Whats the big deal about the ipod. Maybe i was unlucky, but gee, 3 ipods in 8-9months isnt great. What's the general failure rate for HD players like karma, h320, zen touch etc. 5%? 10%? 2%?

UPDATE: I FORGOT! The power charger thingo broke, and had to be replaced after the second ipod broke down.

 

[steel102]

you don't want to know what used to happen to the karma...

 

[proximal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zaguar What's the general failure rate for HD players like karma, h320, zen touch etc. 5%? 10%? 2%?

Definitly below 5%. I remember reading that the Karma's is under 1%, although that only counts people who actually call Rio (which I assume only occurs during the warranty period). You're either really unlucky, or not using your iPod in a typical manner.

 

[baaron]

The karma is just over 1%. Pretty scary, eh?

EDIT: Got this bit of info from one of the Rio devs over at riovolution.

proximal: Exactly. This only counts people who call Rio. Look at all the busted ones on eBay, Head-Fi, riovolution, etc.

 

[Csidinim]

On the upside, it sounds like you got really good turn around times for your RMAs, to have it back with some time left to wear it down again in 2 weeks.

 

[proximal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by baaron proximal: Exactly. This only counts people who call Rio. Look at all the busted ones on eBay, Head-Fi, riovolution, etc.

That's not really a good sample to extrapolate from either. Especially Riovolution, since most people find their way there only if they have a problem (I know I did- skipping with FW 1.13). The actual figure has to be higher than what Rio is seeing, but not as much as you would think from reading user reviews, etc.

zaguar, what are you using now?

 

[zaguar]

i dont use anything lol. Thinking of an iriver/iaudio flash player, but my sister has an ipod mini.

 

[jpr703]

You're way outside of normal failure rates. You might want to do some searching over at ipodlounge to see if there's anything you're doing that might be contributing to the drive failures.

 

[Alexhifi]

Stop dropping your iPod!

I haven't had issue yet....

-Alex

 

[Cyclone]

damn... you and rockit should meet up and exchange stories about how many times your player has died.

 

[fr4c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclone damn... you and rockit should meet up and exchange stories about how many times your player has died.

mmm rockit and his Zen Micro problems...i remember that

on the other hand, i think you just had bad luck with your iPod(s). rarely do i hear people complaining about HD failures, and when they do its usually because of accidental bumps and drops. my 3G of two years is still going strong.

 

[LFC_SL]

Unlucky. Seriously, don't drop Ipod or for that matter any HD player. What did u find of Apple's infamous after sale care?

 

[RunsWithScissors]

my 2 year old 2G 10gig ipod still has 8 hour battery life on the original battery and has never once given me any problems or glitches - it just plain works. I use it every day with headphones and in my car with AUX connection to the car deck.

Maybe its just the 3G that have problems. They don't make 'em like they used to?

 

[zaguar]

Apple was fine. They tried it out for 2 minutes, then sent it to sydney, and i had a new one in three days.

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zaguar Apple was fine. They tried it out for 2 minutes, then sent it to sydney, and i had a new one in three days.

Do you run with it? Or do any other activity that shakes the unit?
HD-based players don't react well to jostling, shaking or back and forth movements.
As for battery life, limiting back-light use, not having the clock turned on and limiting browsing can all improve battery life.
I'll second ipodlounge.com forums... not a bad place to start troubleshooting.