I dropped my iPod 3 feet onto concrete...

torifile

I nearly had a heart attack. $400 down the drain! Just archived about a gig worth of stuff. It fell on the bottom right corner and then bounced and hit the upper left corner. I just got the thing 2 weeks ago. I picked it up and it looked ok. Tried to turn up the volume and nothing happened. The indicator moved, but no increase in volume.



But there was barely a scratch on it. I realized that my headphones weren't plugged in and that's why I couldn't hear it! I spent about 5 minutes looking for where it landed and finally I found it, but it's no worse for the wear. If I didn't know that I dropped it, it would be unnoticeable. That's good engineering. How many other mp3 players could have handled that without any problems? A Rio? It would probably have broken in a couple of pieces. Another reason the iPod's worth my money. But I don't recommend dropping it to test its durability.

eman

Glad to see how durable it is.

buonrotto

note to Apple:



two words:



"belt clip"

eman

[quote]Originally posted by BuonRotto:

<strong>note to Apple:



two words:



"belt clip"



</strong><hr></blockquote>



Yeah, that would be good.

logan cale

I would pound myself to death with the remains of my iPod if I broke it. But I don't have an iPod, so I don't have to worry about that. I hope I get one soon.

cdhostage

Almost as durable as my Pismo.



I dropped it down a flight of stiars while it was running. It didn't even hurt the hard drive.

logan cale

I dropped my Pismo off a table once. Not even cracked.

eman

Apple's so good at making such durable computers and everything. Hopefully I don't ever do it, but if I ever drop my iBook I won't get that worried.

macaddict

I am still in awe of the Macintosh IIsi. That thing is build like a tank. The steel frame looks like a windowless skyscraper!

torifile

Well, I let my girlfriend borrow my iPod for a couple of days and when I got it back the DISPLAY WAS ALL SCREWED UP!!! I thought that the drop had some lingering effects. I showed it to her and she didn't see anything wrong with it. I pointed to the display (the contrast was shot to hell, like it had been left in the cold too long) and said "Look". She still had no idea what I was talking about and then I realized: I had my polarized sunglasses on! I had just gotten them over the weekend. If you want to freak someone out, make them look at their iPod display with polarized sunglasses on. It was freaky.

cdhostage

[quote]Originally posted by torifile:

<strong>Well, I let my girlfriend borrow my iPod for a couple of days and when I got it back the DISPLAY WAS ALL SCREWED UP!!! I thought that the drop had some lingering effects. I showed it to her and she didn't see anything wrong with it. I pointed to the display (the contrast was shot to hell, like it had been left in the cold too long) and said "Look". She still had no idea what I was talking about and then I realized: I had my polarized sunglasses on! I had just gotten them over the weekend. If you want to freak someone out, make them look at their iPod display with polarized sunglasses on. It was freaky.</strong><hr></blockquote>



So the iPod uses funky polarization on its faceplate. Funny.

code master

All LCD displays should do that... chances are you could take the main polarizer from the iPod, flip it front-back-wise and you could get light text on dark background like a calculator display (looks cool on calculators)



CD

torifile

I guess my point was missed. I was just saying that I thought that there was some unseen damage to the iPod's display as a result of my dropping it. What made it so funny was that I could see it, but my girlfriend couldn't. It just freaked me out a little.

ghost_user_name

I dropped my Visor once. It went dead in my hands. Took me about 5 minutes to figure out that the spring that connects to the battery got bent flat and all I needed to do was bend it back.

odinn5

I sell sunglasses and polarized lenses do that to most LCD screens. If you have a pair and want to see your screen turn the screen or your head (preferebly the screen as you look kinda goofy with your ear on your shoulder) at a 90 degree angle. The screen will clear up, might be kind of hard to read at that angle but if you are not up to the challenge.. take off your snglasses. A notice to all aircraft pilots, please ask your friendly sunglass salesperson if the sunglasses you are about to buy are polarized or not. It is always nice to see your gauges.

groverat

I was baffled at the release of the iPod and remain baffled at the lack of a belt clip or some other means of securing that $400 to your person.



A bit of an oversight.

torifile

[quote]Originally posted by groverat:

<strong>I was baffled at the release of the iPod and remain baffled at the lack of a belt clip or some other means of securing that $400 to your person.



A bit of an oversight.</strong><hr></blockquote>



It wouldn't be 1000 songs "in your pocket" if it had a belt clip, now would it? Apple's about the style of the thing, and a belt clip is too geeky. I know I wouldn't want one on my iPod.

eman

[quote]Originally posted by torifile:

<strong>



It wouldn't be 1000 songs "in your pocket" if it had a belt clip, now would it? Apple's about the style of the thing, and a belt clip is too geeky. I know I wouldn't want one on my iPod.</strong><hr></blockquote>



It would be if the belt clip was removable.

composer

I'll bet you the smart engineers at Apple had thought of the belt clip but probably realized that it would compromise the durability of the unit, as built-in belt clips require suspending the weight of the unit (and any impacts it receives) on a relatively smally area. Probably why most cell phones don't have built-in clips, but have "S&M" (leather) outfits that spread the force for the entire unit.

gordy

[quote]Originally posted by torifile:

<strong>

...a belt clip is too geeky. I know I wouldn't want one on my iPod.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Me either. A drop-in case would do, but I wouldn't want to walk around, sit, jog, or anything else with a $400 device dangling to my side.

groverat

Well something for God's sake!



That thing is $400, I'd want a little more security.