Ableton Forum

anything apple doesn't tell you on the site, i've never had an mp3 player before, trying to decide how useful it is, might want to use it also as an external sample library, but basicly i'd like to know which one you like and why and how are you using yours\

peace

Old-school full-size firewire 10gig pod here, never had any problems in....4 years? More? Never done anything too fancy ie instal Linux OS etc etc on it but do use it a LOT as a hard disc as well as its main use as music player. Super handy in this regard. About using it as a sample library-not sure about the disc speed, also given the relative expense of the pod, there are better portable bus-powered firewire solutions for much less.

my 2 groats

I just got my first Ipod, a 30g video and it is FUCKING AWESOME.

No use as an external drive, the seek speed isnt that great, and the new gen are not Firewire compatible (I dont know what the hell they were thinking there.)

But the Video feature is AMAZING. Ive been converting avi's and divx movies and they work great. conversion takes a while, but who can argue with a good quality tv show at 35 MEGS???

The quality is SHOCKINGLY good, though I dont know how it may look on a tv screen. But its the perfect addition to my car, as I dont have those cool video screens in all the headrests.

3rd gen 20 gig iPod here. It's seen a lot of use, had it for about 3 years and at this point the battery only holds about 4 hours of charge but I can't really complain. I used to take public transportation everywhere, so like I said it has seen very heavy use. And Apple will replace the battery for a modest fee. I've even dropped in onto concrete a few times. Still works.

I use mine for listening to music while on the go, and transporting files to and from school. Despite the haters I can say it was worth every penny I paid for it.

@computo - I bought my wife a 30 gig video for x-mass. the battery life isn't so hot with hers, we are considering taking it in to be looked at/possibly swapped out for a new one. How is the battery life on yours? hers is getting about 4 hours fully charged - I know when mine was new it got a solid 8 hours of play off a full charge.

Just got my wife a 30 gig Video iPod (5th Gen)


I am not an apple user, nor have I ever used iTunes

but it's a damn nice product


if we have any charge issues, i'll post here


we don't even have a USB 2.0 port... so that kinda sucks

thanks for posting up...

i got an 4gig nano for christmas, and trying to figure out whether to up it to a 30gig or 60?... or even if it's worth upgrading at all, i can't open the box until i decide , so i wonder. so i wont be using it as an external sample drive and thats no big deal, i'm wondering in real world practice if the nano will be enough space? 4 gigs for the music i listen to as well as a stash for tracks that i'm working on and demos. and i don't know what to do with the video feature i don't even watch tv but it might be good for video tutorials or something? like spectrasonics or production technique vids
are there anymore insights out there???

its common knowledge on the net that the nano scratches easier than all the other ipods.

i think the reason they ditched firewire was because it was keeping them from making them smaller

i sometimes use my 4gb mini to hold samples if i dont feel like being attached to my external drive (which must be attached to the wall). are there any FAST bus-powered hard drives? (usb, firewire, whatever)

i have had the 4 gig mini for a while, and it would take me several DAYS to listen to all the music i have on it. sure, overkill and ad-driven consumer acquisition lust requires me to want a 30 gig, but the mini has suited me just fine!

the ease of use with iTunes makes it pretty damn easy for me to switch tunes out when i feel the need for change, but so far i couldn't be happier.

I have 4th Gen iPod, 60 gig.


Only real complaint is that none of the iPods can playback gapless audio... ie, they can't playback mixed CDs unless you save the CD as one long track... thereby losing the ability to skip and see track titles.

This is a problem for all iPods, though.... not just mine.

subterFUSE wrote:I have 4th Gen iPod, 60 gig.


Only real complaint is that none of the iPods can playback gapless audio... ie, they can't playback mixed CDs unless you save the CD as one long track... thereby losing the ability to skip and see track titles.

This is a problem for all iPods, though.... not just mine.

yes. agreed. tis annoying, and something i have worked around (albeit slightly tediously) by pasting them altogether in soundforge. thank gawd for SF, tho...

i was once lurking around on the iTunes forums and found a reference to a way to link such tracks in iTunes, but since then have not been able to find one word about it. anyone have a handy dandy memory of such a function, or was it all a lovely dream?

I think the video feature offers some onstage potential, as a secondary vj source...

But, Im to understand that the standard a/v out (the 1/8" headphones) has REALLY bad decompression, and cuts the frame rate way down. but you can use a dock, which has s-video out.

I bought the 30, just a few days ago, I like it. My business partner bought a Creative for $199, 6 Gig compared to 30 Gig, no photo or video.... ugly..... I don't really see the competition.
Oh and I've already scratched the surface a bit, I'm rough on portable items, it's plastic? what do people expect?

my wife gave me a 30 gig ipod vid for xmas, didn't really ask for it, i said it would be nice a couple months ago. digging it for music, as a perfect worst-case scenario backup for a gig, and i guess it'll be cool for pics,
but video on that little screen? gotta download it through the full-size sreen containing computer anyway....hmmm....i'l have to think about the possibilities i suppose...
d

Apple's really got it made with the iPod brand name they've created. It's really an icon.

Competitors like Creative and iRiver make comporable products that are often less expensive and have more features (such as audio recording, radio, etc), but eeeeverybody just automatically just gets iPods. iPods are good products, but there are other worthy options out there! I'm quite happy with my Creative Zen Micro (basically a direct competitor to the iPod mini, but was cheaper, has radio, can record from mic and the radio, and I think it looks cooler). I've had it for a year and a half. good stuff.