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Anybody gotten their G4 iPods yet?
- Thread starter nomoment
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Mejilan got his, but he had an apparently frequent bug that is in about 1/3 of all the G4 models where the harddrive makes a load whirring type noise in the headphones every time you switch songs. He said he went to return it on Friday, but I didn't ask him how it went. I assume he'll be on later to explain the problem more thoroughly.
StrikerObi
Member
Meier got his too.
Phoenix
Member
Ryu said:
It is commonly accepted in some circles to never ever ever buy a revision 1 of ANY apple product because usually there are quality control issues at some manufacturing centers that don't get caught until the product is in the hands of consumers. Apple is excellent about replacing any defective product rapidly (they must have faries or magic pixie dust or something because things come back 48 hours later), but in the first revision there are almost always problems somewhere in the production line.
FortNinety
Member
Phoenix said:
IAWTP
But also, a coworker just got his and he says the battery life is fantastic and has had no problems at all.
Also, I wish they were considered 4G instead of G4 for obvious reasons
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
What the heck could you want as far as impressions....
Got it on Wednesday, been awesome ever since. Uhm... the graphics are nice? I honestly don't know what you want to hear.
Well for one, I am unhappy with the battery life. Today was the first time I really got to put it to the test, as I was in the office by myself and well, since 6 in the morning when I left the house to 4 PM when I walked in it was on most of the time. Had it off for about an hour as I walked the project, and then maybe another 45 minutes when I left for lunch. When I got home there was a sliver of juice left on the battery LED read out. All told I did just over 8 hours. I thought they said that they upped it to 12 hours which was the sweet spot for me in terms of battery life. :| I did press forward through songs a lot though, don't know if that affects it. (If so that's shitty)
Other than that it's been great. Two of my friends have G3 iPods and well... there isn't all that much difference in performance other than the On-The-Go playlist. Scroll through your song and hold down the middle/white button on the scroll wheel and the song will be added to your On-The-Go list. Go through your menu to your playlists and scroll down to On-The-Go and all the songs you picked are on there. It's a nice idea, sure, but personally I'd rather make a playlist in iTunes and just send that to the iPod instead of fumbling around through thousands of songs trying to both quickly skim the list to see what I am in the mood for and pick stuff. Unfortunately transferring playlists isn't a function (yet) implemented (other than using the ratings to rate all the songs you want to hear highly), or maybe I'm just a moron and didn't see it.
The buttons being brought down to the wheel makes things nice and easy. You really don't have to take your finger off the wheel to access any features on the device. It's great.
Also, I think it was mentioned in another topic, but this version of the iPod driver or software or whatever it is has a couple of issues. Sometimes It won't let you go forward or back when a song is playing and sometimes certain portions of a song will stay in an infinite loop. It'll probably be fixed in the next version of the driver
This is the first iPod I've really had extensive usage with, my first one I've ever owned, and I love it. Having literally every MP3 I have on my PC was a life-saver at the office today. The ease of getting through the songs/artists/genres/albums is awesome. I haven't put too much time into Calendar or Games or what have you, but that shit isn't important. I'm glad I spent the money, even with these niggling issues, chicks dig it.
Is it just me, or do the Apple ear buds fucking HURT A HELL OF A LOT? Thank God for my trusty sony headphones.
Forwarding through songs DOES affect it. The iPod works by seeing what the next few songs are on the playlist, then loading as much as it can fit into RAM from the HD. This way it doesn't waste power and time by spinning up the HD to load new songs every time. If you're skipping through songs (which I do a lot too), it has to fetch the song from the HD if you go too far ahead. With on-the-go playlists though this won't be such a big problem...
EDIT: Oh and yeah, iTunes does transfer playlists every time you sync. I'm guessing there's one of two things wrong for you. One, either you've got your iPod in Manual mode and not Automatic, so you have to drag whatever songs you want to the iPod to load them, right? Just drag the playlist on to the iPod and it'll appear. If not, it might be just that you didn't re-sync your iPod. Once you plug the iPod in (and if you have Automatic on), it'll sync. But if you then start adding songs/playlists to iTunes with the iPod still plugged in, it doesn't automatically see those changes and sync again. You either need to disconnect it and re-connect it or go to Update Songs on iPod... in the File menu.
EDIT: Oh and yeah, iTunes does transfer playlists every time you sync. I'm guessing there's one of two things wrong for you. One, either you've got your iPod in Manual mode and not Automatic, so you have to drag whatever songs you want to the iPod to load them, right? Just drag the playlist on to the iPod and it'll appear. If not, it might be just that you didn't re-sync your iPod. Once you plug the iPod in (and if you have Automatic on), it'll sync. But if you then start adding songs/playlists to iTunes with the iPod still plugged in, it doesn't automatically see those changes and sync again. You either need to disconnect it and re-connect it or go to Update Songs on iPod... in the File menu.
Well, I went to the Apple Store on Friday, as Ryu said, but apparently, they changed how the Genius Bar works sometime between last night and the last time I had a problem, last September. Yep. I was an early adopter of the 3G 40 (first week) and got fucked there too. That one's battery overheat and flashed itself and the LCD screen the first time I plugged it in to synch. (Got it replaced without a problem, mostly.) Anywho, so apparently now you have to make appointments to meet with the "geniuses" which I guess is better than the random mess lines they had last year.
Well, as I'm sure some of you guys recall from last week, I eBayed that 40gb 3G replacement, for about $367 bucks, then got the new 4G 40GB with a student discount for $369. Rock.
Only, when it arrived, three things became rather apparent:
1.) New Feature: If you unplug the headphones, it will instantly pause the music. Nice.
2.) Design Flaw: The headphone jack is so freaking loose, that the headphones I've been using since my last iPod (Senns PX-200s) doesn't secure properly in the iPod. (Combined with that new feature detailed above, I get the music pausing on my everytime I freaking touch the headphones, by accident or otherwise. Uuuuuurgh. Can't disable the new headphone jack sensor either.)
3.) Design Flaw: The hdd audio defect. This, from some of the forums I've searched through and a couple of articles at www.ipodlounge.com seems to affect roughly a third of the initial run of 4G iPods. What happens, is that when the HDD accesses, either to first load a song, to awaken from sleep, or to buffer in some music mid-playlist, it sometimes causes a strange interference to play THROUGH THE HEADPHONES. Very obstrusive. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens often enough. It sounds like a combination of static fuzz and a distant electonic whine. Hideous.
Just got back from the Apple Store in SoHo NY, and they will be replacing my unit, when a new shipment of 4Gs comes in, early next week.
Well, as I'm sure some of you guys recall from last week, I eBayed that 40gb 3G replacement, for about $367 bucks, then got the new 4G 40GB with a student discount for $369. Rock.
Only, when it arrived, three things became rather apparent:
1.) New Feature: If you unplug the headphones, it will instantly pause the music. Nice.
2.) Design Flaw: The headphone jack is so freaking loose, that the headphones I've been using since my last iPod (Senns PX-200s) doesn't secure properly in the iPod. (Combined with that new feature detailed above, I get the music pausing on my everytime I freaking touch the headphones, by accident or otherwise. Uuuuuurgh. Can't disable the new headphone jack sensor either.)
3.) Design Flaw: The hdd audio defect. This, from some of the forums I've searched through and a couple of articles at www.ipodlounge.com seems to affect roughly a third of the initial run of 4G iPods. What happens, is that when the HDD accesses, either to first load a song, to awaken from sleep, or to buffer in some music mid-playlist, it sometimes causes a strange interference to play THROUGH THE HEADPHONES. Very obstrusive. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens often enough. It sounds like a combination of static fuzz and a distant electonic whine. Hideous.
Just got back from the Apple Store in SoHo NY, and they will be replacing my unit, when a new shipment of 4Gs comes in, early next week.
Also, there are lots of things you can do to secure a longer battery life per charge, live overall. Use playlists. Use them alot. Try not to cycle back and forth through songs much. It's alright to do every once in a while, but not for every freakin' song. You'll kill the battery faster than anything. Don't use the backlight as a default setting. Leave it disabled, and if you do need it, press the Menu button down for 2 seconds. That will temporarily switch the backlight on for up to 15 seconds until after you last press a button, roughly. Very nifty trick.
Try to keep file sizes down. iPods have a buffer of roughly 25 minutes worth of music, but if you. Skipping through songs will force the iPod to flush the buffer and refill it, and hdd access is obviously a drain on the battery. If you have file sizes or song lengths that go beyond the capabilities of the buffer (rare, except for classical works, on occasion) you'll force the iPod to seek the HDD more often.
Try to keep file sizes down. iPods have a buffer of roughly 25 minutes worth of music, but if you. Skipping through songs will force the iPod to flush the buffer and refill it, and hdd access is obviously a drain on the battery. If you have file sizes or song lengths that go beyond the capabilities of the buffer (rare, except for classical works, on occasion) you'll force the iPod to seek the HDD more often.
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
Mejilan said:
They do replacements in store? Awesome, the main office is walking distance to that Apple Store.
Edit: How do I use ready made playlists though?
As for actual 4G impressions. Very positive. I freakin' love the new wheel and the fact that they got rid of the row of 4 buttons above it from the 3G model. On top of that, this is the first iPod that can charge through the USB on a PC, thereby eliminating the need for the (still included) AC Adaptor. Also, the new menu and interface, while a small change, is much less cluttered and easier to navigate. I also understand, as was reported by Time magazine, that this iPod has been completely redesigned and rebuilt, from the bottom up, unlike the last model. Time also claims that there are quite a few undocumented "secret" features that will distance this model from the prior one much more, once those new features become accessible, presumably in a future firmware update.
Like I said, upgrading from a 3G to a 4G, if it can be arranged for cheap, like I did, is a good idea. I'm very curious about the new features, however.
PS - I fiddled with the Diagnostic Mode of the new iPod, and apparently discovered a bright blue colored font, replacing the standard black display. It was brilliant, though it only lasted as long as that portion of the contrast test. Interesting. I wonder if that means something.
Like I said, upgrading from a 3G to a 4G, if it can be arranged for cheap, like I did, is a good idea. I'm very curious about the new features, however.
PS - I fiddled with the Diagnostic Mode of the new iPod, and apparently discovered a bright blue colored font, replacing the standard black display. It was brilliant, though it only lasted as long as that portion of the contrast test. Interesting. I wonder if that means something.
Wellington said:
Well, you have to make an appointment to visit their Genius Bar (2nd floor) at www.apple.com/retail/soho I think is the URL. Then you have to explain your problem, and either get it repaired or replaced, depending on your warranty and the issue at hand. Some problems cannot be fixed, and warrant a complete unit replacement. Out of 2 new iPods, this will be my 2nd time replacing one. Ugh. But, that's Apple's way. Bastards.
As for the playlists. If you've created them in iTunes, synch the iPod up, and it'll show up in your Music - Playlists section, or Browse - Playlists, if you're using an older iPod.
Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
LOL! I am a moron, the new playlist option was right there clear as day. Thanks Mejilan
Fresh Prince
Banned
Mejilan said:
I hope what you're saying is true. If it is.. 'gapless' and delete tracks should be the first things apple talks about.
Fresh Prince said:
The Time article is real. And they specifically mention that the 4G has been built with added functionality not yet available. I wouldn't expect anything mind-blowing, however. They did that with the 3Gs also. Built in Photo and Video Recording support. But not only did you need a software upgrade to access those, but also new peripherals.
As for battery life. I've gotten 11.5 on my 2nd charge. From what I understand, the battery doesn't charge to full capacity until a couple of cycles after the first. So if you're disappointed with your initial battery results, expect them to expand somewhat within the first week or so. This was true for prior models too, btw.
Pack in headphones? Hahahah. Please... they are a piece of shit. I don't even unwrap them. I use a pair of Senns. No comparison. The Genius Bar rep at the Apple Store checked out the headphone jack and agreed there was something wrong with it. It's not standard for the 4Gs, just a problem with my specific unit.
Well, it isn't easy to tell what iPods belong to what shipments. I wouldn't worry about it. Supposedly, only a fraction of the initial shipment is flawed, and if you get the flaw, you can easily get your iPod replaced.
Edit - I thought the gaps between songs was a limitation of the MP3 format, and not something that could be corrected in software...?
For that price, you shouldn't have too hard of a time getting a decent pair of Koss headphones. They too are one of the better "budget" headphone companies available. I used to use a pair before I got my Senns, and they so kicked the crap out of the Apple pack ins. Not even funny.
To those still using USB 1.1 (like me). The 4G models are compatible, and you can synch (very slowly) and charge through USB 1.1 as well.
To those still using USB 1.1 (like me). The 4G models are compatible, and you can synch (very slowly) and charge through USB 1.1 as well.
Fresh Prince
Banned
Not doubting you or Time, just Apple's Marketing Machine
It was in Time's Gadget of the Week thing, I think. Well, like I said, they did something similtar with the 3G iPods, only that wasn't advertised, IIRC. We'll see. Some rumor sites are going insane saying stupid shit like 'OMG, color screen!' and other such nonsense. Personally, I kinda half expect compatability for the Airport Express thing being added via a firmware udpate and a new dock.
Fresh Prince
Banned
Lcd Remote would be nice as well.
Fresh Prince
Banned
What happened to the Warranty?
Apple not offer one?
Apple not offer one?
Fresh Prince
Banned
Wow you really have bad luck with Apple...I think I'm going to wait till Apple get it's shit together.
MrPing1000
Member
I think i'll hold off for a few weeks, just to see how the bugs plays out. Hopefully by then things will be sorted
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
I've been salivating over an iPod. Between the price drop and the battery increase, it's the first time I've considered replacing my Nomad Zen (which, generally, I am happy with).
Regarding gaps between songs-- my Nomad doesn't do that, so it's not a problem with mp3. Do the iPods still?
Regarding gaps between songs-- my Nomad doesn't do that, so it's not a problem with mp3. Do the iPods still?
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