A Fixed One or a New One? Buying Your Second iPod
I’m back into the market for an iPod. After two and a half years of iPod bliss, my friend is finally on its last days. After some 500 battery charges, my 2G iPod has started to not give me the full effort I had grown to rely on day in and day out. In fact a full charge does not even last my hour commute to work in the morning. All my careful plans to whack my iPod were for nothing. I came to the realization that I need to make a serious decision really really soon. Immediately each model in the Apple iPod line started competing for my attention. After some serious consideration, the field has been limited to 2: The 60GB iPod Photo and an option not even in the iPod line—the iQ Battery Replacement Program from iPodResQ.
Let me first note, I am not interested in taking part in Apple’s “iPod Out-of-warranty Battery Replacement Program”. This is only because I am attached to my actual iPod and the idea of getting a refurbished iPod that looks like my original only different, seems too much like I traded in my Grandma and got back a replicant. Sure the replicant Grandma can baked me a decent apple pie, but do the hugs feel the same?
So these 2 options have been fighting it out in my head for over 2 weeks now. Let’s listen in to their conversation…
New Battery: Photo, you are a perfect example of Apple adding stuff only because they can. Why would anyone care about seeing a full color album cover? It’s about the music: always has been always will be.
iPod Photo: Notice I’m called an iPod not a Music Pod or a Tunes Pod. I am just the newer, better model that is one step closer to the ultimate dream of Steve Jobs—the portable media hub. Besides, I can display Greg’s photos too. He takes a lot of digital photographs.
New Battery: Yes, he takes lots of digital photos but that’s why he carries his Powerbook everywhere he goes. He leaves viewing photographs for things that can actually display things so you can view it. I’ve seen photos on you my friend, and you can’t really make out anything. You are one step closer to the “dream” but you aren’t there yet which makes you just an in-between step. You need to go back to the drawing board. And don’t forget to take your proprietary cable with you.
iPod Photo: Just because Greg will get to keep your body, he will lose your pure Apple soul. iPodResQ will replace your battery with a third-party battery. You need to just embrace the fact that Greg wants to move with the times. he doesn’t want to be like those owners of 1980 Toyota Corollas who are driving with AM radios and no air conditioning. Sure, it runs great but sometimes, the technology of the present catches up with you. I have 60GB of space! On-the-fly playlists! More games than just Bricks! And let’s not forget about all the 3rd party accessories Greg has not been able to buy because of your ancient connectivity.
iPod Mini: Uh guys? Sorry to interrupt, but what about me?
New Battery: Get out of here! And take your Girlie iPod back to the Sorority house! And stay right there in your seat 4G iPod. You only come in 20GB and because of it, Greg might as well stay with me rather than spend $299 for you.
iPod Photo: At least there’s one thing we agree on.
New Battery: I might be older than most but I represent the last model with an intuitive interface. 3G? Those 4 buttons were a poor excuse to change up the design and generate hype. And this trackpad-less interface just doesn’t seem right to me. Look at me. You scroll in one place and you execute in buttons. Sometimes people get it right the first time. I’m a perfect example of that. And notice how I don’t have any scratches on me? I’m perfect. I just need a new lease on life. Oh and I can get 4 battery replacements before I spend how much you cost.
iPod Photo: Greg spent $500 on you 2 years ago. He’ll spend $449 on me now. See Apple was tricky. $450 sounds expensive but $449 sounds like a deal. Don’t worry he won’t throw you out. He can still use you as a hard drive.
As you can see, I have a decision to make. And I don’t know which way to go. So I am seeking help from readers like you. Should I spend the $79 and give my trusted friend a new lease on life or should I spring for the 60GB iPod Photo?
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It all comes down to space for me….I bought a 40GB last September for $449…now the 60GB is the same price with colour screen and photo capability….I don’t see the photo capability and colour screen as a full step forward for the iPod, it’s only a half step….I have 8500 songs so the 40GB is big enough…I don’t need the other 20GB…if I did and had the money I would upgrade….
I just do not need the space….
You got a 2GB…if you got more songs than space I would go for the 60GB now….I don’t think there will be any major enchancement on the iPod to warrant a full step until next year…maybe voice recorder and FM tuner built in before xmas…if thats important to you…u can get those as add-ons from Belkin now….
Size is one consideration, but for me the biggest reason that I upgraded to the 4G iPod is the one that Apple hasn’t ever mentioned: They increased the backlight on the 4G and that makes a world of difference. Keep the 2G, they make the best harddrives.
Personally, I would hook up my old iPod in my car with a Belkin Charger with Line-Out to either a wired FM modulator or Audio-In jacks on the head unit.
Now you have your music library with you for those long hourly commutes.
As for an iPod replacement, I know you’ve ruled it out, but you could then reconsider an iPod Mini with the longer battery life - set up a smart playlist to transfer over your favorite tunes (if you haven’t already, this is a good way to rank your music) and now you have 6 GB of music for 18 hours for when you’re not in your car.
The silver isn’t horribly girly…
Unfortunately, my commute is by foot and train so no power source to use. I could of course use that Solar-powered contraption everyone is talking about…
Smart playlists are an added benefit of buying a new iPod. And the silever mini is the least girly. But it’s still girly
Why isn’t the 30 GB photo a consideration? If I were in the market now, that’s where my money would go. As it is I’ve got the 40 GB photo. Perfect amount of space to hold a 21 GB music library (which needs to be edited) and all my full resolution photos.
I like to hold all my photos high res and tunes on my iPod as a second backup. There’s another justification for you to go photo.
I would consider the 30GB Photo if I wasn’t too consumed with buying the biggest bang for my buck. When I bought my 2G 20GB, it was the best I could possibly get. And it at least gave me the comfort in knowing I bought the model furthest away from being outdated. That would be my thinking with the 60GB. If I spend $400, why not just spend $449 and be current for 6 months longer?
Hey Greg,
Before you send your ipod off to have the battery replaced, have you tried zeroing the iPod’s HD? I am finding that most of the time disk fragmentation causes the ipod to spin the HD much more than normal and will consume your battery considerably.
Use the disk utility to zero all data, then restore the ipod with the ipod updater found at apple.com/ipod. Put your songs back on it and test how long the unit will play for. Try not to change any songs while it is playing; just let it run through a long playlist to get an idea of what the state of the battery truly is.
Let me know how it goes for you.
Well, Apple sells the new iPod photo with an adaptor to download pics from your camera and, so the ads say, it can now display those pics, as the first Ipod photo could not. So, if you don’t edit your photos when you take them, which requires your laptop, then the iPod photo would make for a lighter load. Of course, for a little more money you can get the highly rated Epson P2000 which has a superior screen and photo handling capability, plays video and MP3s.
I suspect that, as is usually the case, if you get a new iPod, your needs will expand to include what it can do for you, including digital photos and access to all those cool iPod add-ons. In the end, it comes down to what you need now and what you may need in the near future and, of course, how much money you can afford to spend.
I forgot to mention that the P2000 can handle camera RAW images; I suspect the iPod photo cannot. This will matter only if you shoot in RAW format. If you do JPEG or TIFF, then the iPod might suffice.
At the expense of sounding completely girly <bg>... I swear that since I bought my 1G shuffle, I’ve used my old 20G way less than I used to, and I’m a music producer with ear-buds practically surgically sewn into my ear canals.
I dig taking the shuffle in the car because it seems less fragile than the big old guy, but I have to carry the 20G around for business because my entire production music library is on there. I wish the damn battery would die already so I could justify a 60G.
Greg, get the 60G - that way you won’t have as much envy when the 80 and 120’s come out.
I’ve got a 40GB photo - love it to bits. The colour screen is beautiful, I love the aqua interface.
Why not consider the “old” 40GB model? It’s the same as the 60, just a smaller HD. You get a ton of stuff (av cable, firewire dock cable, iPod photo-sized carrying case and dock), which would be expensive to buy separately. And it’s only a relatively measly $379…
Hi,
my vote is to buy the iPod photo AND keep your baby for the time being as is. If money is no object then that’s what I’d do.
Believe me then the decision about what to do with it will be easier. I ended selling my “baby” via ebay after I had a mini and a 20 gig 4th gen.
I lived with all for a while, trying to use all for different purposes, but a new iPod is a new iPod.
Hein sight is a wonderful thing. My uncle had a 2G he purchased from Best Buy, but he was intelligent enough to enroll in the 3 year extended plan. And he is now the proud owner of the exact model you are eyeballing, Greg. And all for the price of the $79 enrollment fee and and additional $50 to cover the selling price difference, of the two models. Of course sentiment can play no part in economy.
Makes me squerm too, thinking about missed opportunities like that. And it sound like you are just avoiding what is going to happen anyways. So enjoy your next iPod, and iPod after that, and iPod after that…...............
Here’s some news for the fellow who doesn’t believe in the halo affect of the iPod, from MacFixIt: “CBS MarketWatch reports that Apple’s stock was upgraded to “overweight” by Morgan Stanley, which believes the conversion rate to Mac computers within the company’s iPod customer base is roughly double what the market expects. Analyst Rebecca Runkle introduced a $60 price target, raised her 2005 earnings estimate to $1.31 a share from $1.07 and her 2005 revenue forecast to $16.9 billion from $13.9 billion.”
You have to make a decision. I lived in London and spent 3 hours a day on bus, tube, or train. If I didn’t have my iPod and a book I’d have gone postal in about a week.
Ask yourself if you’ll get any added value out of pictures (and remember, anything other than music kills the battery in minutes). Otherwise forget the pretty display. I just loaded up my playlist(s), hit random play, and stuffed it in my computer bag. Never looked at it again.
I’m pretty sure you can get (better) replacement batteries online for about 50 bucks. Why not gamble the fifty and try to replace it yourself? If you do it wrong, you’ve justified buying a new one! If you do it right, you’ve saved 400 bucks!
Sounds like a win-win.