iPod

I have now had my iPod for 2 weeks, I wanted to leave it this long so I could get a real feel for what it's like. In this time there has been ups and downs, mostly ups luckily.

One of the 1st things you realise after turning on your iPod is just how simple it is to find your way around. My Zen Micro isn't complicated but this is simplicity itself. The 1st gripe I have is with iTunes, it is very cluncky, especially if you have a large library of songs. I added my songs to iTunes before my Ipod arrived and it took a very, very long time. Windows Media player took less than half the time. Once my songs were imported into iTunes it is again very simple to use, but I do then have another major gripe, this was one of the reasons I resisted buying an iPod for so long.

iTunes can't automatically scan folders for new songs, to most people this isn't a problem but the way my music is organised it becomes a big hassle. I have to manually import folders and tracks, this can take a long time. The strange thing is when you 1st start iTunes and import a folder it can take several minutes to import the dozen or so tracks of that album but if you then import another folder that will be slighty quicker until after importing several albums it will only take a few seconds. But as generally, I would only get one album at a time (not made of money) it would take me several minutes to import it into iTunes!

I have one final gripe after 5 days of using my iPod, I left it synchronising while I watched some TV. When I came back to it, I found it had switched itself off and I couldn't turn it back on. It was already plugged into my USB port so it had power. I tried plugging it into the main and pressing every button, but to no avail. After lots of swearing I went to Apples site and looked at the troubleshooting it mentioned this exact problem and there were several combinations of button presses that could un-freeze it. The 3rd one I tried did the trick (Menu & Select).

Since the freezing, I have had absolutely no problems. After getting my gripes out of the way it may sound like I think its crap. Far from it, it is probably one of the best purchases I have made for some time (along with Camera, TV, Laptop). I like how it integrates Podcasts into iTunes and the iPod, if you have listened to 9 minutes in iTunes then sync the iPod, you can continue listening exactly where you left off. You can do this with audiobooks as well.

It also appears to sound slightly better than my Zen Micro which was supposedly a good sounding player, saying that my ears are crap.

The end result is I'm listening to even more music than before (if thats possible). Listened to about 500 songs last week. Nearly all of which are being recorded on Last.fm.

My advice to anyone would be go and buy one, even if you're are someone who is useless with Technology and gadgets you will be able to operate an iPod and transfer music to it.

Pros: Simple interface, integration, good design, podcasts.
Cons: no scan for new music, no Napter equivelant on iTunes yet.