Ipods Dirty Secret

[mudbone]

I read an article about these guys, Neistat Brothers, on the Net. I am not pro or con Ipod but this is fairly interesting.

mud-:D

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

[Dave]

Great one mud! :laugh:

[Sckott]

Proprietary battery, huh? There's ways around that, but it's not worth it. I've been inside the Ipod. It's not pretty....

A lot of "chip" MP3 players die within 18 months too, if you check out the reviews on Amazon, the same thing's happening... People get pissed and write bad reviews on public websites.

Apple DID spend truckloads of money marketing the Ipod in urban and city areas. Boston's full of it too! Ironic still this movie is shown in the Apple Quicktime compression scheme.

Priceless.

[Sckott]

http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/11/20031114112233.shtml

Replacement program is mentioned. It would have been simpler to have designed a user-replaceable battery much like cordless phones.

Just FYI peeps.

[Dave]

$99.00 to replace a battery! Yikes! :sigh:

[RetroSmith]

Well, one thing I can tell you is that today, if you know where to look, you can get just about any battery. Its having the tech knowhow to open up the IPOD and replace it thats hard.

I found a replacement battery for a 1968 SONY reel to reel VIDEO recorder.
These things are out there!!

[JakeLA]

There are a couple of places online where you can get a replacement iPod battery for $50. One place I found simply by typing "ipodbattery" into my browser's address field. You'd think these guys would have done the same thing before making their little movie.

[Sckott]

You still have to pry the unit open, and it can take "practice" to get right. Otherwise, you can ruin the chassis trying to get into em. Some people don't wanna crack their Ipod open to find they ruined it.

If these units were $100 with replaceable parts, you can bet there would be no worries. There's also reports from people with good battery charging etiquette that the new batteries don't last long either... It's a shame because 80% of the unit is built intelligently and it sounds great.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by Sckott
Proprietary battery, huh? There's ways around that, but it's not worth it. I've been inside the Ipod. It's not pretty....


A player. With a rechargeable battery. That can't be replaced without spending at least $50 and having doing major surgery on the player. :rolleyes: That just killed ANY chance of me ever buying one. :rolleyes: Use a pair of friggin' AA batteries like any common Walkman player does. :rolleyes: My AA Eveready NiMH rechargables have lasted a couple of years already. :goodie:

I'll stick to my MD walkman, or my CD walkman that lets me play MP3 discs. For the one or two times a year I use a portable, that's fine.

I smell planned obsolescence here. :rolleyes:

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by mudbone
I read an article about these guys, Neistat Brothers, on the Net. I am not pro or con Ipod but this is fairly interesting.

mud-:D

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

The link to the .mov file is dead now. :( Probably went and exceeded their bandwidth quota or something.

[JakeLA]

i've had mine for two years and the battery charges the same as always. I bet a lot of iPod owners with "battery" problems just need to reset the software.

Also, for the $99 Apple charges for replacing the battery they actually just send you a new or refub unit. Since Apple's refurb units are indistinguishable from brand new, that's not a bad deal. I wouldn't mind my iPod battery dying every two years if I could get a brand new one for $99.


"NOTE: iPod equipment that is sent in for battery service or service requiring other repairs will be replaced with functionally equivalent new, used, or refurbished iPod equipment. You will not receive the same iPod that was sent in for service."

[Ted Bell]

The way these things go, in 2 years they'll probably have a 150 gig model that plays movies at half the price of the current one.

[mudbone]

Originally posted by Ted Bell
The way these things go, in 2 years they'll probably have a 150 gig model that plays movies at half the price of the current one.

Good point, Jay, and probably cheaper than the battery!

mud-:D

[b&w]

There is nothing "secret" abut the fact the batteries in the IPOD are proprietary, only last a limited number of cycles, that replacing them yourself is difficult and basically not going to happen for the average consumer. This fact is well publicized on the Internet and in some written paper reviews I have read on the unit. On the other hand this fact is obviously not clearly mentioned in any of Apple's marketing jargon, in an average sales pith, and not in most of the "glowing best new thing sense the wax cylinder" reviews the unit gets. It's not an apple secret conspiracy, but it is definitely planned obsolescence so they can sell more hardware. Perhaps they took a page from thier part owner Microsoft and said, we should make the IPOD last about 2 years just like the windows operating system. Unlike a computer system per say, the only money they are going to make on these units is one time when they are initially sold. There is no capability for residual income via software like on a conventional computer, thus why would they want to make something that would last a significant period of time?

[petzi]

Originally posted by -=Rudy=-
The link to the .mov file is dead now. :( Probably went and exceeded their bandwidth quota or something.

Works fine for me...

[pdenny]

Originally posted by JakeLA
i've had mine for two years and the battery charges the same as always. I bet a lot of iPod owners with "battery" problems just need to reset the software.

Also, for the $99 Apple charges for replacing the battery they actually just send you a new or refub unit. Since Apple's refurb units are indistinguishable from brand new, that's not a bad deal. I wouldn't mind my iPod battery dying every two years if I could get a brand new one for $99.

Thanks for the rational and informative post, Jake. It's amazing how all this new technology is elevating our expectations and tempers to unrealistic levels. My first iPod, an original 5G, became unusable after 18 months not because of a DOA battery but rather a known problem with weak solder points on the Firewire.

Those looking for iron-clad guarantees might consider CompUSA's $39 2-year no-questions-asked warranty.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by pdenny

Those looking for iron-clad guarantees might consider CompUSA's $39 2-year no-questions-asked warranty.

Now THAT'S a good upgrade plan! :D Just before time runs out, make sure the battery's good and dead, turn it in, CompUSA sends it back for replacement, and you get a new one! Beats $99. :)

Anyone know what kind of battery it uses? NiMH? Lith Ion? I'm lucky to get 18 months out of a Nextel battery, and they're all Lith Ion.

[GabeG]

Originally posted by pdenny



Those looking for iron-clad guarantees might consider CompUSA's $39 2-year no-questions-asked warranty.


While not an iron clad guarantee, one should check out this (http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_ZenXtra/features.asp). Much more user friendly company, bigger hard drive and also does .wav files (like the ipod). It may not be as sexy, but it's cheaper and unlike Apple, Creative allows retailers to discount.

[pdenny]

Originally posted by GabeG

While not an iron clad guarantee, one should check out this (http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_ZenXtra/features.asp). Much more user friendly company, bigger hard drive and also does .wav files (like the ipod). It may not be as sexy, but it's cheaper and unlike Apple, Creative allows retailers to discount.

Thread crapper :D ! Hey wait...this whole topic is a crap.....

[metalbob]

I have had my IPOD for almost a year now (the original 10GB Windows version) and knew going in there were potential battery problems. I did upgrade the software and all seems to be OK. I usually only use it a few times a week, so at the beginning, the batteries would die after letting it sit dormant for a few days.

Some documentation online I had read about a year ago stated that batteries of this type have a specific amount of charges to them (like 500 or something) and I figured it would take me forever to hit that number. There was some crazy way of explaining it. If I find the link, I will post it.

Either way, I am glad I bought the 4-year extended warranty from Best Buy for this unit. I have a feeling I'll need it. Most people swear off the warranties, but I have had BB replace an entire computer (their mistake in repair) and upgrade me to the now famous Pioneer 563-A DVD player because of them. It is sometimes worth the extra money. Only a few dollars a year.

[Sckott]

Yes, the battery, which is an A4H Lithium Polymer (Sony type), does have "memory" to it, meaning, you need to run it out, recharge, repeat several times before the capacitence gains strength.

More info:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20021003/ipod-02.html

[boead]

Originally posted by -=Rudy=-


That just killed ANY chance of me ever buying one. :rolleyes: Use a pair of friggin' AA batteries like any common Walkman player does. :rolleyes: My AA Eveready NiMH rechargables have lasted a couple of years already. :goodie:


Agree 100%!!

I have a 2 year old NOMAD that used 4 AA batteries. Creative supplie dme with two sets (8 total) of batteries with it and they are still fine.

I was considering a new iPod or Zen player, the iPod is out!! I never much liked apple anyway.

[boead]

Originally posted by JakeLA
the $99 Apple charges for replacing the battery they actually just send you a new or refub unit. Since Apple's refurb units are indistinguishable from brand new, that's not a bad deal. I wouldn't mind my iPod battery dying every two years if I could get a brand new one for $99.

And what do you think they do with your broken one?

They refurbish it and send it to the next guy (just like the one you just got)for $99 plus s/h.

And you think thats a good deal?

[pdenny]

Originally posted by boead


And what do you think they do with your broken one?

They refurbish it and send it to the next guy (just like the one you just got)for $99 plus s/h.

And you think thats a good deal?

And your evidence of this is?

[Pug]

Originally posted by -=Rudy=-


The link to the .mov file is dead now. :( Probably went and exceeded their bandwidth quota or something.

I just watched it this morning. It still works.

This is disappointing. I was thinking about buying an iPod, but not anymore.

First OSX, and now this....man is Apple slipping! :realmad: :realmad: :realmad: :realmad:

Sean