Running w/ Mini iPod ???

dr_holistic · January 6, 2004 7:18PM

Today during Steve's Keynote address, he stated you could take the mini iPod running...

I'm curious what apple will do when they have a ton of mini hard drives crashing on them!

The current iPod doesn't stand up to the running test... you jog 5 miles a day and by the end of the month, your iPod has NO "SKIP PROTECTION."

Apple wouldn't even repair the product...

Man I really wish that 4Gb was Flash Memory!!! Especially for that cheap price!

Suggestions??

fran441 · January 6, 2004 7:26PM

Moving to the Digital Hub forum.

nebrie · January 6, 2004 7:38PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr_Holistic

Today during Steve's Keynote address, he stated you could take the mini iPod running...

I'm curious what apple will do when they have a ton of mini hard drives crashing on them!

The current iPod doesn't stand up to the running test... you jog 5 miles a day and by the end of the month, your iPod has NO "SKIP PROTECTION."

Apple wouldn't even repair the product...

Man I really wish that 4Gb was Flash Memory!!! Especially for that cheap price!

Suggestions??

I'm curious as to where you've been. iPods have always had half an hour of skip protection and the new ones are no different. Everyone who has owned one has dropped it at least once with no problem.

bulky cranium · January 6, 2004 11:03PM

Do the MiniPods had Hard Drives? I thought they were flash based?

gerardiki · January 6, 2004 11:11PM

i don't know if i'm reiterating unnecessarily...

but when they opened the exhibit doors at 11am, Steve was running late on the keynote... and the apple guy who was cool with me totally, molesting the miniPod told me that the miniPod's are harddrive based. tada!

if you have a 3G iPod, or prolly even an older one, you'll be amazed at how that "ClickWheel" feels and works!

buonrotto · January 6, 2004 11:34PM

They are hard drive-based, it's a new Hitachi 1" drive, Apple being given priority in the first production runs. The Apple Store page for the miniPods at Apple.com says that they "over 25 minutes of skip protection," in other words, which I believe means a 32MB cache just like the "big" iPods.

paul · January 7, 2004 1:59AM

then why does my 20 gig (old) iPod FREEZE whenever I jog with it unless I am holding it in my hand to keep it from being shook too much?!? (I would otherwise keep it on my waist...)

wrong robot · January 7, 2004 2:36AM

Yeah wtf? in terms of skip protection the new iPod still loses compared to the 'high end' flash market.

I know MANY people that love the iPod, but they are also runners, so they get small CHEAP 32 meg 64 meg mp3 players instead and use those.

I know a few people that have an iPod AND a small cheap flash based player(for running!)

how is apple supposed to be competing with flash based players when the only thing they trump the flashed based players on is capacity, and even that comes at a price(moving parts and less battery life)

I love the new iPod, I think it *looks* GREAT, I think that it's a good concept, but I also feel like this is Cube pt.2

Well, I guess that this iPod will succeed where the cube failed(price) simply because of the *strong* iPod name, certainly a lot of people were waiting for this. And this will probably quell the argument "I have no need for 3000 songs in my pocket"

8)

paul · January 7, 2004 3:34AM

Quote:

You won?t believe how small and light the new iPod mini is until you hold it in your hand. And then you won?t believe how much music it holds?1000 songs (4GB) in a package that?s smaller than a cell phone.* You can navigate effortlessly without lifting your thumb. Plus it?s rugged enough for a back pocket and the new anodized aluminum body is also beautifully colorful, with five to choose from. Priced at $249, it?s the perfect choice where size and weight matter most when it?s time to grab the music you love and go. iPod mini will begin shipping on February 16, but you don?t have to wait until then to place your order at the Apple Store.

I guess we will know a few days after then...

I wonder what kind of box they will come in...

edit: oh its from the apple store newsletter that I signed up to...

dr_holistic · January 7, 2004 2:49PM

My point exactly!!!!

Anyone how runs more that 25minutes a day will soon find that their iPod start locking up or skipping unless you stop running for a few seconds yet to have it happen again.

But for those of you who just read "skip protection" and assume it 100% legit with out getting of the couch and exercising, are miss informed on how the hard drive functions under these conditions.

Then apple warranty won't replace my iPod once I have this problem!

That's why I really wanted a 2Gb or 4Gb Flash Memory... but to no avail it would be WAY TOO EXPENSIVE !!!!

Oh well...

Nice try mini iPod!

shetline · January 7, 2004 2:57PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr_Holistic

The current iPod doesn't stand up to the running test... you jog 5 miles a day and by the end of the month, your iPod has NO "SKIP PROTECTION."

You're somehow under the impression that you can break an iPod in such a way the the skip protection goes away, but that the iPod will otherwise continue to function, albeit in a more shock-sensitive way?

That makes no sense. If you crash your iPod's hard drive via jogging-induced trauma, the iPod will cease to function completely. No playback of any sort is going to happen after that.

satchmo · January 7, 2004 3:44PM

As a runner myself, there is litte (or should be little) jarring of your upper torso. An iPod used with an armband should not jostle around as much as say one attached to your hip or in a belt pack.

I know, not really the definitive answer, but just my 2 cents.

thegelding · January 7, 2004 4:21PM

so maybe the armband would work then??

cuz i'm in the same situation as paul...

i like to run for about an hour...my iPod freezes and at about 20 minutes everytime...i have to stop, reset/reboot and then i can run for about 20 minutes till it freezes again...this happens if i use the belt clip or a waist case,

if i run with it in my hand the whole time it "usually" won't freeze, but then i have sweat all running down my arm and icky stuff like that

i will wait to see from other runners if this smaller iPod doesn't skip when used with an armband...if so, i will likely get one (hopefully the 2 gig model for under 200 bucks...don't need 4 gigs to run...not that good yet!)

g

buonrotto · January 7, 2004 4:33PM

the iPod and iPod mini are of course going to have a harder time with skipping than a lfash player. A flash memory player doesn't have any "reading" or caching to be done. it's all on a chip. The trade-off: you get about 10 songs of decent quality on the player at a time. The iPods have to read from their drives, like a car CD player has to read from the CD.

As far as losing skip protection, it doesn't make sense. Data is cached on a chip to be played back without having to read from the hard drive, which is senstive to skipping and has the potential to crash the head (though highly unlikely nowadays). In order to lose skip protection, you owuld have to lose the data chae, and your iPod probably wouldn't work at all, and if it did, its hard drive would be spinning at all times.

The hip/belt placement does jar the iPod more, and I would think/hope that a snug armband would reduce the amount of jarring blows. I wonder if the basic transfer of inertia/momentum would be solved though.

1seaside1 · January 7, 2004 9:47PM

Wow! I wonder what I'm doing right because my (old) 5 gig and (new) 15 gig have never locked up while running. I hold it in my hand.

It does freeze if I just let it sit around for a day or two with out using it though.

buonrotto · January 7, 2004 9:55PM

My 15 GB 3G iPod never locks up when it's in my hand. However, it locked up when it was clipped to my waist early on, after it ran out of buffer (about 20 minutes into the run). I tend to have poor form and bounce up and down a lot too. Holding it in my hand has worked otherwise, though I'm temped to buy an arm band for it.

[cleaned this up a lot]

paul · January 7, 2004 10:26PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1seaside1

Wow! I wonder what I'm doing right because my (old) 5 gig and (new) 15 gig have never locked up while running. I hold it in my hand.

It does freeze if I just let it sit around for a day or two with out using it though.

yeah, I'd rather not have to hold it in my hand

and you don't have to let it sit around.. next time it freezes hold the menu and play buttons until it restarts (yes even on the touch-sensitive ones...)

failedmathematician · January 7, 2004 10:48PM

I too run all the time with my 1st gen iPod. I've never had any problems... several hundred runs logged now. I just hold it in my hand. I run 25 to 40 minutes at a time.

I guess the massive bulk of the original iPods is why my upper torso looks like the Hulk's now 8) . Oh wait

.

escher · January 9, 2004 12:34PM

As an aspiring runner I have the same concerns with the HDD-based nature of the iPod mini. Personally, I would rather pay $250 for an iPod mini with 1GB Flash memory rather than a 4GB HDD. Considering that the 1-inch HDD in the iPod mini is essentially an IBM MicroDrive, which are Compact Flash size, I wonder whether a hardware hack would be possible. Could we swap the 1-inch 4GB HDD for a 1GB or 2GB Compact Flash card? I eagerly await take-apart pictures of the new iPod mini.

Escher

pscates · January 9, 2004 12:39PM

The solution is simple: stop running. Jeez...

kesh · January 9, 2004 2:12PM

Ahh yes... the iPod Mini and a Segway were made for each other! Killing jogging one product at a time.

Running w/ Mini iPod ???

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