iPod reliability

[jav]

My son is asking for an iPod for Christmas, but I caught
a snippet of conversation between him and his sister
regarding the reliability or lack thereof in the various
models of iPods.

Is there a significant difference in reliability for better or worse
in the various models of iPods (nano, Mini, regular, etc.)?

[Todd H.]

"jav" > writes:

> My son is asking for an iPod for Christmas, but I caught
> a snippet of conversation between him and his sister
> regarding the reliability or lack thereof in the various
> models of iPods.
>
> Is there a significant difference in reliability for better or worse
> in the various models of iPods (nano, Mini, regular, etc.)?

The nano had a pretty widely publicized problem with the fragility of
its screen that you might want to look into--I think apple claims to
have fixed that? The mini I believe has been discontinued and
replaced by teh nano though. The regular one is bulky compared to the
nano, but I just enjoyed a lovely car tirp accompanied by it.


--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."

[dorokusai]

"jav" writes:

My son is asking for an iPod for Christmas, but I caught
a snippet of conversation between him and his sister
regarding the reliability or lack thereof in the various
models of iPods.

Is there a significant difference in reliability for better or worse
in the various models of iPods (nano, Mini, regular, etc.)?

The nano had a pretty widely publicized problem with the fragility of
its screen that you might want to look into--I think apple claims to
have fixed that? The mini I believe has been discontinued and
replaced by teh nano though. The regular one is bulky compared to the
nano, but I just enjoyed a lovely car tirp accompanied by it.


--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."

I own the IPod Mini and haven't experienced any problems whatsoever. I'm just a single voice but there you go.

[[email protected]]

We have had 6 iPods in our family.

4 have failed within a year.

We will not be buying any more.

[jcon]

jav wrote:
> My son is asking for an iPod for Christmas, but I caught
> a snippet of conversation between him and his sister
> regarding the reliability or lack thereof in the various
> models of iPods.
>
> Is there a significant difference in reliability for better or worse
> in the various models of iPods (nano, Mini, regular, etc.)?

I've had an iPod 60 Gb photo for about nine months, and
my son has had a 5 Gb mini for about 4. We're both
pretty hard on things, and no problems so far.

The only weakness is that the screen does scratch
easily, so definitely get a good cover.

One would think that the nano, being flash based, would
be more reliable, but I've heard of some problems.

Personally, I had horrible luck with regular MP3 players,
so for me, the iPods are a big step up so far. Also, the
control interface and the software are just so damn nice
and easy to use that it's hard not to fall in love with them.

I have a friend who's been an absolute iPod addict
from the very beginning. He listens to it constantly
and is a avid cyclist, so he's very hard on it. IIRC, he's
had two fail over the last several years, but he's always
had the extended warranty, so he's never lost out. They
always gave him full credit toward the latest model.

Normally, I don't buy extended warranties, but the iPod
is probably a good case for one.

You might check www.epinions.com. Generally, iPods
seem to do pretty well, although the nanos haven't been
around long enough to say a lot about reliability.

[Kai Howells]

On 2005-11-07 07:14:13 +1100, "jav" > said:

> My son is asking for an iPod for Christmas, but I caught
> a snippet of conversation between him and his sister
> regarding the reliability or lack thereof in the various
> models of iPods.
>
> Is there a significant difference in reliability for better or worse
> in the various models of iPods (nano, Mini, regular, etc.)?
>
ipods tend to be reliable, if they're treated properly. remember that
they all (except for the nano and shuffle) have a hard drive in them.
moving parts. very fine tolerances. you've got the read head flying
above the platters at a height on the order of a few air molecules -
you don't want to do anything to disturb this, or it will break.

do get the AppleCare with them, unless you plan to treat it rather gently.

or, go for one with no moving parts, like the nano or shuffle, and not
have to worry about it.

[rod]

between my brother and myself we have had 2 of three ipods fail within
one year all were the 20GB 4th generation click wheel :( probably
will not buy another