Is it me or are ipods getting worse?

By include
in Hardware Hangout

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include

Posted
Posted (edited)

Like many of you, I am a slave of the Apple corporation. I bought the ipod nano the day it hit the shelves of Best Buy. It suffered a screen crack but was swiftly replaced, and since then - in its new Belkin protective cover - it was a faithful,reliable, durable mp3 player...as it should be so to speak. It was with me from 2005 till 2008 when it was stolen.

Since then, I've owned 4 different ipods, each less durable than the last. One of them performed well but kept locking up so I returned it, got a new one, then lost it at the gym. Next was another nano which locked up in a white screen after I plugged it in one time. Then after that I got the HORRENDOUS fourth gen ipod...it truly is a burden. I actually don't mind going for a jog now without it (unthinkable before). Its battery life is a joke (less than the one before that, whose life was shorter than the one before it - exponentially worse battery life?), its gyroscopic screen orientation thing is incredibly annoying and USELESS, the screen defaulting to the cover-flow system when you leave it on for a while is a terrible feature...it used to default to the SONG screen, on the volume bar, so you can increase it or decrease it just by turning the wheel. Now, whenever I turn the wheel, it just sifts through the songs in the flow...wtf?

I have a theory - and believe me, I have no partisan lean toward Microsoft or anything (I couldn't care less about the rivalry) - but I think Apple have loosened quality control on their ipods (especially on battery life) so as to lower their shelf life and sell more ipods...I might be wrong, but after 2008 my experience with them has been awful....

Edited by include
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Grand Master

shockz

Posted
Posted (edited)

I agree they've had issues.

My first gen iPod Touch was replaced only after I used it a few times. The replacement seems to be working since.

My first gen iPhone was replaced 3 times. The last replacement had a terrible screen. Dead pixels galore, but I was out of warranty, I decided to try one more time and upgrade to the 3G in April this year. So far so good, although as of this week it's starting to randomly shut off. I did a restore and it seems to be working correctly again.

Battery life is terrible though. I can't go a day with out charging... under moderate usage.

I don't think my next phone will be an iPhone.

Edited by shockz
Grand Master

Andrew Lyle Global Moderator

Posted
  • Global Moderator
Posted

Like shockz I have an iPhone, but the 3GS. The battery life is laughable, only giving me a full day per charge, unlike my 2g iPhone that gave me 3-4 days.

As for mp3 plays I've had great success with sandisk sansa player, lasting me years already with no issues, other than the outdated interface and unable to update firmware.

Apple it appears, maybe losing their touch, their last press conference was terrible. Hopefully they pick up their game in 2010 and male better iPods or I can see people like you picking up a zune HD

Grand Master

dead.cell

Posted
Posted

Still got my classic and last gen shuffle (they can shove their new generation of shuffles straight up their ass). Working decent. I've heard plenty of horror stories though.

Honestly, my next purchase will probably be a Zune. Aside from the fact that they look sexy now and have great features, I really cannot stand iTunes at all, much less the limitations.

Veteran

Arpit

Posted
Posted

i really hope my iphone lives out the life of my rogers contract...it's not under warranty any longer and the battery life is laughable though i'm a slave to the device given the extensive usage in phone + music + apps...if the competition really heats up then i'll definitely try something else down the road.

so far so good though, touchwood.

Grand Master

SojIrOu

Posted
Posted

Hmm I've had the opposite experience. My iPod mini & iPod video broke (both through normal usage). My iPod touch 1g however, has worked since launch date. As for the iPod touch 3g I can't comment its still too new. :)

But I must admit the iPods are starting to lack appeal to me. The Zune HD looks so good while the iPod touch 3g looks like it hasn't changed from the 1g 2 years ago.

Veteran

Deathray

Posted
Posted

Other companies are starting to pull away with respect to features and actual real world performance.

As for Apple, their image is suffering, as much as they fight with the same old ads, the way they're dealing with things is starting to ruin their image.

If Apple doesn't accept Google's apps, which would essentially allow Google to silence the FCC inquiry, then Apple is screwed.

Never ever try to take on Google... the only company that can remotely try is Microsoft due to its sheer size and influence

Mentor

include

Posted
  • Author
Posted
i really hope my iphone lives out the life of my rogers contract...it's not under warranty any longer and the battery life is laughable though i'm a slave to the device given the extensive usage in phone + music + apps...if the competition really heats up then i'll definitely try something else down the road.

so far so good though, touchwood.

If you're with Rogers, you have much more immediate concerns than your iphone!

Veteran

bob_c_b

Posted
Posted
Other companies are starting to pull away with respect to features and actual real world performance.

As for Apple, their image is suffering, as much as they fight with the same old ads, the way they're dealing with things is starting to ruin their image.

If Apple doesn't accept Google's apps, which would essentially allow Google to silence the FCC inquiry, then Apple is screwed.

Never ever try to take on Google... the only company that can remotely try is Microsoft due to its sheer size and influence

Really, what market does Google dominate outside of search? :rolleyes:

Rookie

glitch13

Posted
Posted

I think hes right, I had 2 shuffles. the first one was made up of much better stuff than the second one.

I origionally payed 80 dollars for the first shuffle when it came out at Compusa,and then later 32 dollars for the second one at best buy. *you could litterly FEEL the differance in the buttons, and ear phones*

Mentor

zagor

Posted
Posted

an iphone owner.

A piece of plastic. Would have been much better and durable if they were to use aluminum or some other metal..or carbon fiber :-)

I am just glad MS released the zune hd and I hope they will really provide formidable competition to apple. It will be even better if they make a phone out of it. Competition is always good for you and me (it is even good for fanboys). Do you hear this fanboys?! competition is good even for you guys!

Hopefully my next iphone/zunephone will be made out of carbon fiber, will have OLED screen

and, the screen will be covered with transparent aluminum...hahaha :-)

Veteran

gnuman

Posted
Posted

Include you are right Apple is lacking in its quality control. I've taken so many calls of iPod touch 2nd gens not turning on it isn't funny. I have my 1st gen for over 2 years and works fine. No issues whatsoever.

If you wanted a disaster Apple product, look no further than the iPod Mini. Those HDDs used to crap out quickly.

Grand Master

DrCheese

Posted
Posted
Really, what market does Google dominate outside of search? :rolleyes:

:/

Advertising

In the UK a big fuss was made recently as Google took the top advertising crown from the TV company that's held it for nearly 50 years (ITV) That's no mean feat.

Grand Master

DrunkenMaster

Posted
Posted

I replaced the battery myself in my 5th G iPod video after getting less than 5 hours on the original Apple one - yes, I fully charged it before first using it. I wouldn't complain about the actual ever-day use. Just the battery sucks.

I just bought the new shuffle. Its probably the most practical MP3 player I've had for running and working out.

But there's an overall lack of build quality throughout the entire iPod line. I'm not surprised of the iPhone problems. Frankly, its one of the reasons I'm shying away from buying another iMac - I had nothing but HW problems after 3 years. I ain't going to pay $500 for a mainboard.

Proficient

JoeyF

Posted
Posted

My first iPod was a first gen Nano. It worked perfectly, battery life seemed to go on forever, never froze. Eventually though, the 2Gb of space ran out, so I replaced it with a gen2 touch.

My touch has been nothing but problems - the battery life is a joke, and the battery will run down quickly when I'm not even using it. It also freezes frequently, and commonly gets this glitch where it doesn't output any sound.

The only reason I've been using iPods was because I had multiple iTunes gift cards, and all of Apple's music was DRM'd back then. My next MP3 player probably won't be an iPod.

Grand Master

_bobcat_ Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

I've had a Shuffle since spring 2007 .. it's still works well and looks almost new.. but when using it with Windows 7 & iTunes, it's become really slow and crappy.

I've had an iPod Classic since early this year. I think the build quality of it is good but I am disappointed in two things.

Firstly, the back of it: shiny only looks good when it's in pristine condition, it's a bad idea for a portable object like an MP3 player if you can't make it really hard and scratch resistant. I would blame this on design rather than build quality though.

The second gripe is the wheel, the sensitivity of it blows. It's hard to use and get it to land on the track you want, and sometimes it just doesn't recognise that you are trying to use it at all.

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