October 6th, 2004 | 
Did you really think I had forgotten to write a review of my recently acquired iPod? Poor reader, I would never let such an opportunity slip from my grasp. I am aware that there are already hundreds of reviews out there (”I luv my iPod! It RoXorZ!!”) but I cannot be content until I voice my own opinion, full of praise and not surprisingly, a bit of nitpicking. What follows is my personal review of the Apple 40 gigabyte, 4th generation iPod, purchased last month at the Apple Store in Santa Monica, California.
The 4th generation iPod, in terms of physical appearances, 
is a strong step up from previous models. In their own respective hay days, each incarnation of the iPod was an improvement over the last, and I think the 4th gen has really nailed a great design. The first generation iPod implemented a button design that circled the scroll wheel. In generations following, those buttons were moved above the scroll wheel and underneath the LCD screen. In the 4th generation, the buttons are completely absent. Apple, realizing the practicality of the iPod Mini’s click wheel, decided to use the same design on the full size iPods. What results is a visually minimal, elegant and well-thought out physical design.
The click wheel makes working with the iPod a simple and natural task. Within a day of use, I was able to perform basic navigation by just feeling the iPod in my pocket. Adjusting the volume was as simple as moving my finger in a circular motion. Pausing and moving between tracks requried a simple click on one side of the wheel or the other. It was nice to be able to do what I wanted without having to take the iPod out into view and futzing with the interface. My one beef with the click wheel is that at times, it may be a bit too sensitive. There have been a few situations, such as when rating a track, that I’ve had to really go back and forth to get the rating exactly where I want it to be. Either the click wheel will overshoot or undershoot, but eventually (2 or 3 seconds) I’ll get it where I want.
In terms of physical size and weight, the iPod pushes the borders of “light”. While it is definitely not heavy, you’ll certainly not forget that it’s in your pocket. In Apple’s defense, the 20 gigabyte is slightly lighter than the 40 gigabyte version, if weight is an issue for a potential customer. The larger capacity model is also slightly thicker than the 20gig, if only by a few millimeters. Either way, both are about the size of a deck of playing cards.
The first thing that most people say when I hand them my iPod is that the unit feels “solid”. Some electronic devices feel flimsy or brittle due to poor design or cheap construction materials, but the iPod feels durable and without physical weakness (smashing it with a hammer or dropping it from a 10 story building notwithstanding). The unit is a very basic brick shape with rounded edges, but it somehow feels very comfortable in the hand - very ergonomic and easy to use without a lot of adjusting in the palm.
If I were to point out one flaw about the general, physical design of the iPod, it would be the mirror-polished backing. I realize that this has been voiced a million times over since the first generation was released, but I have to join that group in saying that while the polished backing does look cool, it begins to smudge the second you pick it up with your hand. The reflective surface is also susceptible to scratches, and since it’s just one slick surface, the iPod can easily be scraped along a desk or coffee table with little resistance. I know something like little rubber stoppers on the back would take away from the minimal, smooth design, but it would definitely help minimize scuffing. A small complaint I realize, and one that deals with an area of the iPod that few people see, but being someone who is ultra anal-retentive about smudges, scratches and blemishes, it’s something that bothers me. If you see me constantly wiping my iPod on my shirt or pants, chalk it up to the nervous tick that Apple has introduced in me.
The iPod is a portable music player. It’s designed and built to be taken out into the world and be your mobile media companion, and it should not be a surprise that it does this exceedingly well.
Many portable devices with LCD screens are crisp and bright when used in an indoor setting but completely wash out when faced with murderous sunlight. Text is illegible, colors cannot be differentiated and the brightness that seemed so defined while indoors is now no match for the blinding sunlight. The iPod, thank God, does not seem to have a problem fighting off natural lighting. I can hold it up to direct or indirect sunlight and text is still legible, remarkably so, even.
The now iconic white headphones that ship with every iPod have both ups and downs. While sound quality is decent through the default phones, they become quite uncomfortable after long use. Everyone has slightly different ears, but in my own case, I have to take the headphones out after a steady 45 minutes of use because of the annoying pain. While at home, it’s much nicer to break out a pair of high quality headphones, which not only offer better sound quality but keep my ears comfortable.
Another complaint about the default headphones is the occasional crackling sound I hear when air moves past them. The only time I have heard this sound is while biking and usually only occurs when I’m riding downhill at a high speed. The rushing air past the headphones creates a mild static or crackle that can sometimes get frustrating. I have not heard it while running or sitting still.
Speaking of running, the iPod does a fine job of keeping up. I unfortunately can’t take mine out with me often since music screws with my breathing rhythm, but I did try just for the sake of this little review. See what a kind-hearted person I am? I’m sacrificing my body just so I can say, “the iPod, when carried in the hand or in an armstrap, has little to no skip issues, seeing as how the hard drive only spins up every 25 minutes to fill the anti-skip buffer. Keeping the device in your pocket or on the belt could cause skipping and in some cases force a hard reset.” Basically, the iPod fits comfortably in the hand while running and is not noticeable after the first few minutes. Apple is comfortable in recommending the iPod for jogging and other high-impact activities (as long as the iPod is not actually impacting anything itself.)
Battery life, while I have not personally tested it, is supposedly up to over 12 hours in the 4th generation, an improvement of 3 to 4 hours from the last version. From what I have seen, the battery holds its juice well and recharges quickly and conveniently. By convenient, I’m referring to the fact that whenver the iPod is plugged into a computer via Firewire or USB 2.0, the recharge process kicks in. Which means that while you’re plugging away in iTunes, trying to make the most badass playlist your emo friends have ever heard, your iPod is hard at work, sucking up power from your computer’s power supply. Symbiosis at it’s finest.
If I may skip around a bit, I’d like to go back to the headphones. The headphone jack to be precise - labeled the minijack by Apple. An ingenious and very thoughtful design feature dealing with the minijack is the removal and insertion of headphones. If music is currently playing and the headphones are removed, the track will immediately pause. A clever feature designed to keep you from missing that guitar solo from Motely Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood” if your headphones are accidentally yanked from the jack. On the other side, if your iPod is powered off and the headphones are then plugged in, the iPod will boot up to the Music menu. Very quaint features, but ones that made me respect Apple that much more. The pausing of music if the headphones are removed can be turned on and off via iPod’s software.
Your mobile media device should have an intuitive interface with minimal clutter in order to expedite the moving between menus and selecting the music you want to hear. Apple has seemingly put a lot of time into the iPod software interface and may have one of the best out there today.
The menu system of the iPod is dead basic and really does not require much explaining. After a few minutes of acquainting yourself with how things are organized, you’ll soon be flying through menus and playlists with the click wheel. Music menus take precedence over all others, but settings and extras such as games, contacts and the calendar are more than accessible with a simple click of the wheel.
A small, mobile device such as the iPod should not have any glitz such as animations, icons or extraneous filler, and Apple has done a marvelous job of avoiding all such garbage. The iPod’s streamlined and carefully crafted software interface is A+ number 1, probably the best around.
I do not have extensive tools to glean precise test results on audio quality, nor have I tested the wide range of audio formats and sampling qualities that the iPod can play. Honestly, I don’t really care. I do not use the Apple Lossless format, nor the AAC format. WMA can eat a plateful of shit as far as I’m concerned, and apparently Apple feels the same way, seeing as how support for Microsoft’s standard is completely ignored. My preferred audio format is Mp3, ranging in quality from 192kbps to 256kbps. The iPod will accommodate Mp3 files up to 320kbps, so I’m quite content. I have listened to a few tracks at 128kbps and with a nice set of headphones and the lost frequencies are audible, but not detrimentally so.
I will confess that I have also steered clear of Apple’s software equalizer. Mp3 files at a bitrate high enough can hold their own without the support of a built-in EQ. Aside from that, the equalizer sucks up unnecessary battery life, so I have chosen to leave it turned off for the time being.
The relationship between your iPod and your computer is obviously an important one. In the iPod scheme of things, your PC acts as the central storage device for music and the iPod is the device that extracts said music and allows you to take it with you. The software that allows these two devices to communicate therefore plays a vital role and should be flexible, powerful and easy to use and customize.
Apple’s solution to this role is iTunes, the ubiquitous piece of software that comes loaded on all new and recently produced Macs and is now available for Windows users as well. After installing iTunes and using it for a couple weeks with my iPod, I have come to the firm conclusion that it’s crap. I hate it and I despise using it. It’s bloated (20 megs), slow, lacking in flexibility and it looks like garbage. Sure, that brushed aluminum may look nice on your iMac, but on my Windows box it looks out of place and hokey.
The main issues I have with iTunes revolve around the way music is transferred to the iPod and lack of support for multiple machines. I do not want to have to create a playlist every time I transfer music from my PC to my iPod. Sometimes I want to recklessly throw files across devices and playlists quash my desires every time. It’s too suffocating and does not leave the user enough room to operate.
I was saddened to see that I could not hop between my desktop and laptop while using iTunes. Once you begin using iTunes on one computer, the settings are saved and will not transfer over to another machine. If you fire up another computer and attempt to merge new tracks and playlists into the files already on the iPod, iTunes will prompt you to in effect clear everything out and start fresh. Basically, you’re locked to one machine, lest you run the risk of wiping everything out and starting anew with a different PC.
Such behavior is unacceptable. The whole point of a mobile device is just that - to be mobile. When I’m at home, it would be nice to sync up with the music I have on my desktop. When I’m out and about, say on travel or vacation, I’d like the ability to sync with my laptop. iTunes fails miserably at this, and thank God there are third party solutions out there that pick up the slack.
Enter Anapod from Red Chair Software. I will refrain from going in-depth on this piece of software, but I will say that if you are a Windows user who owns an iPod, I cannot recommend this software highly enough. Anapod is basically an iTunes replacement and then some. Offering far beyond the features of iTunes, Anapod is built better, looks better, and offers a multitude of methods for executing a task (i.e. flexibility), putting iTunes to absolute shame.
As I said, I am trying my hardest to avoid gushing over Anapod for paragraphs on end. Perhaps in its own review someday (I’m still actually just scratching the surface of the program), but for now, I will say that it provides my desired requests: flexible methods of transferring music to the iPod (and even back to a PC from an iPod, something that iTunes lacks) and the ability to load the software on multiple machines and sync the iPod with no loss of existing files.
iTunes sucks, Anapod is excellent. It can’t be any more clear cut than that.
The last thing I have to say about communication with a PC is the transfer speed of files. With the utilization of Firewire and USB 2.0, entire albums (ranging from 40 to 85 megs) are transferred over in usually less than 15 seconds. I can’t imagine any media player going with USB 1.1 nowadays, but if one did, I would avoid it like the plague.
I have waited many years for an iPod. Since their induction back in 2001, I have watched by the sidelines with great interest as new generations rolled off the lines and patiently twiddled my thumbs, biding my time until I felt confident enough about shelling out so much cash for my own little white box of desire. Yes, the iPod is expensive, but with this latest generation and price drop, I felt that it was finally the perfect time to whip out the credit card. After my purchase, I was worried that I’d perhaps regret spending so much money on an electronic device, but thus far, I couldn’t be happier with it.
There is a reason the iPod is the portable music player that all other music players are compared to. Apple has put a lot of time and research into the iPod and such a statement is immediately apparent the second you hold one in your hand. There are thousands of fanatics running around out there, claiming how wonderful their iPods are and that there is no substitute. After my own experience, I have to agree.
Casethan ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 2:07 pm )
Gosh, that’s a lot of words.
Ian ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 5:04 pm )
Great review Pat. I have the 2nd Gen iPod and still use it daily from the day of purchase. I like the fact that when I bought it, it was designed to use on a PC. Now I’m mostly a mac user it has no problem Syncing with the mac instead.
iTunes. I love it! I love how smart playlists work so cleanly and automacticly update to the iPod, I love how via wifi both my PC and Mac broadcast their playlists to the rest of the house.
Though, I want iPods to get left behind. They have become to mainstream, and when that happens technology slows down. This little company knows where these players are headed, and the iRiver H340 blows the iPod out of the water for me. My father recently purchased the H340 and I never knew how advanced they were until I had a play. When a player can become a host via USB that is damn cool. That means cameras, USB storage devices, iPods ;) can contect directly and pull data threw.
Also, thumbs up for a company supporting open source for once; OGG support is a cool feature.
So yes I love my iPod too, but are they too mainstream now that they only care about catering for the widest audience? Does that mean they won’t want to keep up with the “compact music player race”?
Once again, good review Pat.
egarc ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 8:05 pm )
“The larger capacity model is also slightly thicker than the 20gig, if only by a few centimeters.”
I think you meant millimeters.
patrick ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 8:25 pm )
oooh. good eye. thanks for catching that one. at least it wasn’t inches to feet, though.
patrick ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 8:52 pm )
Ian:
A previous coworker of mine owned an iRiver media player. It did everything the iPod could do and then some. And while that is obviously a big plus, I almost look at in a negative light.
I’m one of those people who like devices that do one thing and do it well. Gadgets that try to cram in as many features as possible give me the heebie-jeebies, because there’s really no clear focus. It may be able to do many things, but can it do them all very well? Plus, it’s just one more thing that could break.
I’m not saying that the iRiver falls victim to such a common flaw; I’ve never used one beyond the 5 minutes I tried my coworker’s. I’m just giving the general example in support of the iPod. Apple made a media player without a ton of features - a device that plays Mp3s and then a few little odds and ends as an afterthought (games, contacts, etc.) I know it sounds like a basic task, but it seems like a lot of companies derail and go into feature overload.
This problem also bleeds into design. The more you try to cram into a device, the more buttons, wheels and overstuffed interface you’re going to have to deal with. Since the iPod is so ridiculously basic, the physical body and software interface remain refreshingly clean, something I’ve always been attracted to.
But I do agree that once something becomes the unquestionably dominant player in a market, the higher the risk it runs of stagnating. In the last few months, there has been a low buzz from industry-watchers predicting that companies that have been nipping at Apple’s heels are becoming more and more of a serious threat. If Apple does not start innovating (beyond small aesthetic changes and minior improvements), they could lose their edge in the market.
Ian ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 9:41 pm )
For you and me, and the millions of others out there who use the iPod to carry only their music collection around with them is the perfect solution.
There are times when I stand back and look at my gadget repository. On a daily basis I carry to and from work the following:
Laptop
iPod
Mobile Phone
Digital camera
PDA (up until my Dad sat on it)
Carrying that much around is not only heavy, expensive but is it also redundant?
That much is fine for a 5 minute walk to and from the car but what about when your travelling around Europe?
Something that plays music and copies your digital photos directly from your camera to a portable hard drive would have saved me quite a bit time and money.
I know the iPod has plug-in devices that allow this, should you have to pay extra for this convenient feature?
I guess this is the age old problem technology faces daily.
If you asked me right now to choose between a gen 4 iPod or a coloured, image viewer, music player, host reader, I would have to seriously think about it. If the iPod didn’t get so damn popular and leave the older gens for dead (no more firmware upgrades) I would be happy to get another iPod in the future.
But like you said, even though the current market share of iPod users love the simplicity, technology in this field is moving along rapidly, and no way will Apple leave it at that. When Toshiba starts building 100GB micro-drives and peoples music collections can’t grow any larger, they will need to start thinking of new ways to fill the capacity. Whether that means, movies, I don’t know but I strongly doubt they will say “hey 40’s enough for them, leave it at that.”
Jon ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 10:56 pm )
Hey Patrick,
Be careful riding your bike with headphones on!
Not a combination likely to enhance your safety.
Jon
patrick ( Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 at 11:25 pm )
Good points, Ian. I do agree with you on an objective standpoint. I think it all comes down to specific personal preference. In my own case, I’m still waiting for my terabyte media player.
And I thank you for your concern Jon. I did think about the whole safety thing before I popped in the headphones but decided that I’m reckless enough and not being able to hear probably won’t change anything. At least now when I get plowed over by that public transit bus, I’ll look stylish with my white earbuds.
Jake ( Thursday, October 7th, 2004 at 1:28 am )
I liked your genuinuity…if that’s a word! Go, hate your iPod for your own reasons! Er, I mean, your iPod+iTunes (you know, however they are marketing those damned things these days!) I hated mine too! no gapless playback! what? my disco mixes? my operas? destroyed beyond contempt? I have to rip them again as one long un-indexable track? POSH!
criticize, criticize…and choke on all the long words! we need them. who’s gonna keep them young whippersnappers in shape?!?
Jake
ThisIsMe ( Thursday, October 7th, 2004 at 2:27 am )
My wish for the planet is that people get a life. I don’t mean to be mean, but puh-leez! Choose a device of your liking, play music to yourself and then, maybe, just maybe you can get over yourself(s).
Pete West ( Thursday, October 7th, 2004 at 6:24 am )
I think all this portable music-player stuff is over-rated. Who needs a music player(?) - I just walk around singing softly to myself! Works for me - haven’t been mugged yet … whereas I hear iPods are highly sought after. Brickbats for iRiver - there’s no originality in just adding “i” to the front of everything - couldn’t they come up with their own letter? Apple kicked off the trend signifying a close personal relationship to the user - it is part of their core philosophy in designing products … the same cannot be said for the other companies.
patrick ( Thursday, October 7th, 2004 at 9:30 am )
i think those reports of people getting mugged for their ipods were very localized. say, like in new york and london.
wasn’t there also a story of a guy who bashed in the head of an attempted mugger with his ipod? see, it may be highly sought after, but it can also be used in self-defense.
Kreamy ( Monday, October 11th, 2004 at 10:33 am )
Weeell i need something that will last the wilderness lol!
i mountain bike, camp, hike, skii, go dune buggying etc.. and the iPod just wont cut it, its far too fragile for me!
So far i was doing great on my Archos AV140. I loved the movie capability and the rugged pad protectors on the side until recently sum1 literally ran into me at the mall and it fell 2 stories and smashed. lets just say so did the person that ran into me.
Seeing that i wasnt willing to spend another $500 on a high tech system i wanted something more economic and possibly even smaller! i saw the iPod mini, i tell you i was not impressed, for a b/w player the battery sucked, the anodized aluminium was just crying out to be scratched, and for the 4GB memory i might as well remember the songs im gonna take with me… not worth $250 at all!
I then saw the archos Gmini. This nifty little thing measures to about 3/4 the size of the 4G pod, has a larger bluelit display and a whopping 20gb of memory, just enough to fit my 18gb library and some files! The gmini also featured high (12) battery life and the ability to view images in black and white on the high resolution screen. Now the interface some people may not like; especially techidiots who cant handle more than iPods click-return menu’s but i loved the explorer look of it. The system has been dropped on multiple occasions and only has minute dents on the hard plastic to show for it!
i HIGHLY HIGHLY reccomend this. Don’t buy iPod… Unless your incapable of being different from the majority of imbeciles.
Kreamy ( Monday, October 11th, 2004 at 10:43 am )
in response to #11
I believe the ‘i’ for apple products stands for internet. As iMac was the first consumer computer to come ready straight out of the box, the iBook followed shortly.
Once the i picked up people could just tell its a mac, along came the iPod.
iRiver however has nothing to do with such. The company was established before the iPod, and did not start by creating HDD mp3 players, but Discmans, and then flash players. The company makes extremely high quality products at rediculously low prices and made a name for itself amongst the best in a matter of weeks. if Apple had any real competition it would be from iRiver, not creative, not archos, not dell or anyone else.
patrick ( Monday, October 11th, 2004 at 10:42 pm )
I agree that iRiver seems to be the most formidable opponent to Apple so far. Dell’s offering of the Jukebox has been amazingly quiet since its release. I don’t think it’s a bad product, but I do think there are much better choices out there.
Kreamy ( Thursday, October 28th, 2004 at 2:18 pm )
Slightly off topic but the Creative Zen Micro looks like it can crush the iPod mini lol… shame it wudnt work on my mac
Michelle ( Saturday, November 27th, 2004 at 11:44 am )
i’ve owned and used a creative product that crapped out on me inexplicably and their customer service has been bacisally useless. that’s $250 that’s been sitting in it’s box in a closet for over a year. worthless.
Doug ( Thursday, January 20th, 2005 at 9:54 am )
“The pausing of music if the headphones are removed can be turned on and off via iPod’s software”
Hi Patrick, I stumbled on this site, read the review and shortly after, proceeded to buy a 4G, 40GB iPod. I guess I’m missing it (or maybe it’s cuz I’m a Pod noob) but where exactly does one turn off the auto-pause “feature”? In iTunes? Is there other software, aside from the update (and iTunes of course), that I should’ve installed?
Stillwater ( Tuesday, April 12th, 2005 at 10:13 pm )
I’ve been trawling the web for comprehensive reviews of 4G iPods and the iPod Photo. Why oh why, has no one commented on the most important thing in a d-a player- the SOUND QUALITY?? I currently own a 2g iPod and the sound quality is absolutly atrocious. Granted, a pair of $200 headphones might address that, but that’s beside the point.
If you put my 2g iPod beside the iRiver H-series players, using the same *.mp3 file and the same pair of headphones, there is NO WAY an impartial person would say that the iPod sounds better! The iRiver H-series has better highs, thicker lows, and plenty of mid-range… even with crappy headphones.
I’ve yet to buy an iRiver H-series, primarily because it’s too chunky and heavy. The less intutive interface doesn’t bother me that much, but the size and weigh of the device sure does!
Anyone care to get geeky and do a comprehensive review of the 4G iPods’ sound quality?? Go nuts and give me the hard stuff- any electrical engineers out there?? The more transistors and farads you mention, the better :)
ipodn00b ( Thursday, August 18th, 2005 at 10:35 pm )
I know I might not get a reply but can someone tell me if I can just copy my music folders (which also contain data files) to the ipod using this software while retaining their original file names and the like? (Just like a normal USB drive) I have tried with itunes but it places them randomly inside some wierd hidden folder with random alphanumerical folders. It’s crap. I want to transfer music to ipod then delete off my PC. Then when I need to, transfer the files back to PC just like originals. This is what is holding me back from getting an ipod.
patrick ( Friday, August 19th, 2005 at 9:40 am )
Hi, ipodnoob. I would email you, but I figured that wasn’t a vaild email address.
To answer your question, yes, you can transfer files and folders to your iPod and have them retain their original filenames and paths. It just won’t be “playable” in that format - it’s a storage device in that mode. Just go into “My Computer” (if you’re on a PC) and you’ll see the iPod as a Removable Drive. If you double click it, you can view, add and remove any kind of file types you want, plus drag them on and off the machine and put them onto others.
iTunes won’t let you copy music off the iPod through its interface, but if you use it as simply a storage device, it’s easy to get files on and off.
If you want to get music on there and still have the ability to copy it off the iPod and on other machines, I’d recommend using Anapod Explorer from Red Chair, or ml_pod - a Winamp plugin. There are many other programs you can use (I still hate iTunes), but these are the two I’m familiar with.
ml_pod:
http://winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=138888
Robert Reinink ( Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 6:09 am )
I must say the programm is a bummer and works for me.
The only one thing that bothers me (and if I would have know’n this up front I wouldn’t have bought Anapod) is the fact that I have 2 Ipod’s and I can only sync one Ipod with Anapod
I tryed to install Anapod on a second PC to sync the other Ipod but it wouldn’t let me activate on a second PC.
That is to bad for a family with multiple Ipod’s on Board
And so far no solution from Red Chair
My 2 cents
patrick ( Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 9:27 am )
Really? I was able to sync both of my iPods with Anapod (a Shuffle and the 40gb). They do require you to use the Universal edition to do so, however.
And I’m not a fan of their activation scheme. Sometimes I had to activate the same iPod on the same PC every once in a while.