iPod: Old vs. New

objra10 · October 21, 2003 11:30PM

Alright, in all honesty, I'm an iPod idiot. I've never owned one, but I'm looking forward to buying my first here this week! My question is this:

What would I lose buying a second gen 10GB ipod vs either a 3G 10GB or 20GB? The reason I'm considering it is because Best Buy is selling them at clearance at $159 and for that price I think I'm willing to sacrifice what there may be that I will be missing.

I guess since I don't really know what I'll be missing though I feel I could use your input so that I can make a more educated decision.

telomar · October 22, 2003 1:45AM

From memory you'd lose all the contact and address book features. You'd lose the on-the-go playlists, which I never actually use but anyway. Main thing is you'd miss out on any future firmware enhancements or accessories. Somebody that has owned an old one should probably clarify though since I've only had a 3G one.

luca · October 22, 2003 3:03AM

Advantages of the old 10 GB iPod:

* Mechanical buttons are easier to use than touch-buttons

* Battery life is slightly better

* Cheap

* Real Firewire port is used, so you don't need to use a proprietary cable

Advantages of the new iPods:

* Thinner and lighter

* On the go playlists (I never use them)

* On the go ratings (I use these all the time!)

* Touch-sensitive controls if you like those (I don't)

* Most importantly, continuing support from Apple

* Dock connector provides wide range of accessories

* More games (I never use them)

* Nicer backlight, although the old ones don't really need a backlight for the buttons since you generally find them by feel anyway, not by sight.

Old iPods can still store contact information and calendars. There are a number of software features the new ones have that the old ones will never have (even though it would be easy to add them

): On the go playlists, on the go ratings, extra games, customization of the main menu, and all the available accessories make the new ones very tempting.

I think if you just want a basic, cheap iPod, an old 10 GB for $170 is really tough to beat. If you want the new features and are willing to give up the wonderful mechanical controls (I think the mechanical buttons beat the touch buttons hands down, although I do like the touch-wheel), then the newer iPods might be right for you. There are just three factors that are keeping me from changing out my 3G 10 GB iPod for an older one - I love on the go ratings, I already have a really nice carrying case for it, and it's still under warranty for about six more months. Otherwise I'd actually go for the older iPod.

cosmonut · October 22, 2003 7:03AM

If you just want to be able to play music, the older iPods will do. If you want to be able to use some of the newer features you will need to get a newer one.

vistago · October 22, 2003 12:25PM

Could you post a link to where it is on sale - curious myself....

johnq · October 22, 2003 1:10PM

New iPods are so nice. Just wait and save to buy a low end new one.

Unless you try to eat frenchfries or potato chips while using your iPod, the new touch controls should work fine. They just don't like much oil on them, so keep a hand clean. But I realize this isn't always possible. Then you'll need to wipe it off a bit.

The arrangement of buttons is better in the new iPods.

Cradle is good, plus you can use it with just a cable to the firewire port. (The cable that comes with the cradle that is).

Slimmer. Nicer feel.

Old iPods -feel- like the harddrive cases that they are. New iPods feel like a more complete thing, it feels like a music player. Kinda subjective I guess.

It's like a quality music flask.

objra10 · November 18, 2003 11:51PM

thanks.. got my 20GB 3G iPod two days ago. I LOVE IT! I gotta admit, I never could have imagined how much I would be addicted to this thing. I'm curious though - no where can I find out what the hard drive speed on this thing is?!?! does anyone know what the RPM is? I'm curious because since I only use about 5GB of music space, I'm interested in using this as a support disk for digital media (yes I'm getting the reader).

i'm more concerned about video. Is it 4200? 5400? probably not 7200 huh?

luca · November 18, 2003 11:53PM

It's 4200 RPM. I don't think there is such thing as a 1.8" 5400 RPM hard drive, yet. Even if there was, there would be no reason to use it in an iPod, until it becomes completely mainstream.

objra10 · November 19, 2003 12:28AM

thanks.. I was just curious. interesting how there's no where that it indicates that information. This helps me know that it's not practical for video support (storing captured files on the road). thanks!

rolandg · November 19, 2003 9:59AM

Got my 20 Gig iPod last week - cute little thing - but how do you clean the surfaces from all the fingerprints they collect?

matsu · November 19, 2003 4:45PM

I was excited about iPods untill I began my recent round of christmas shopping. Visited Best Buy and Future Shop, both had iPods on display, both iPods were hopelessly buggered! At the local BestBuy, it didn't work at all, while at th local Future Shop the scroll wheel and buttons only worked some of the time. Yes people are animals, but it still didn't leave me confident about buying the iPod.

matsu · November 20, 2003 7:01AM

Tonton, you need to get your ass out of that opium addled den of latent communism and back to the USofA, the spicy thai-curry infusions are making you jumpy.

I'm sure the iPod is better than what I've seen, but going all the way back to the first generation, that's 3 for 3 with non working display iPods. It's like the folks at Best Buy/Future Shop are trying NOT to sell the things purposely.

The retail torture test may not be fair, but more often than not, the rest of the wares on display at the computer store recieve the same abuse and they still work. When I was at the Future Shop, I didn't find one fubared Stereo or PDA; out of the 40 or so display cameras, only one was fooked, all the laptops were working properly (not always the case there, I'll admit)

The point is, plenty of consumer goods get abused just as badly as iPods, but so far, I've only found broken iPods with such regularity that it makes me wonder about them.

Does Apple need better retail management in Canada? I think so. Could the iPod be better built? Quite possibly.

nshirkey · November 20, 2003 7:00PM

Don't forget that for those who don't own one yet, the iPod is VERY cool. I bet the iPod gets played with 20-30 times more than the other devices you mention.

Kind of like saying the chocolate cake looked pretty mangled to me, but the spinach still looked to be in good shape.

iPod: Old vs. New

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