Toshiba to Introduce 60GB 1.8

[MacRumors]

Infoworld reports (http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/06/02/HNappletoshdrive_1.html) that Toshiba is planning to launch a 60GB version of its 1.8" Hard Drives which are currently used in the Apple iPod.

The new 60GB drive should begin production in July or August and has already been ordered by Apple.

The (non Mini) iPod last saw a revision in September 2003 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/09/20030908090240.shtml), which brought the highest capacity iPod to 40GB.

[SiliconAddict]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I have 38GB of tunes. Way too close to the max 40GB the high end iPod holds. Bring this on. There have been two things I've been waiting on.

1. G5 PowerBook
2. 50GB iPod.


If they only bring out #2 this year I'm happy.

WOOT. First post!

[loneAzdgari]

WooooHooo!! That means the rest of the line will also increase in capacity, at the same/lower price level.

[jwhitnah]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Awesome! I hope there are improvements- hard to imagine any. Great news.

[wrldwzrd89]

Infoworld reports (http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/06/02/HNappletoshdrive_1.html) that Toshiba is planning to launch a 60GB version of its 1.8" Hard Drives which are currently used in the Apple iPod.

The new 60GB drive should begin production in July or August and has already been ordered by Apple.

The (non Mini) iPod last saw a revision in September 2003 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/09/20030908090240.shtml), which brought the highest capacity iPod to 40GB.
Good news for iPod followers, like me - I'm an iPod owner myself, and I'm not ready to replace my iPod just yet...but I would like a reason to get mre people using iPods - this is a good one.

[sushi]

Infoworld reports (http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/06/02/HNappletoshdrive_1.html) that Toshiba is planning to launch a 60GB version of its 1.8" Hard Drives which are currently used in the Apple iPod.

The new 60GB drive should begin production in July or August and has already been ordered by Apple.

The (non Mini) iPod last saw a revision in September 2003 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/09/20030908090240.shtml), which brought the highest capacity iPod to 40GB.
Sounds great!

It would be nice to see these drives in some PC laptops -- even two of them! It would be nice to have the extra storage in a small form factor.

Sushi

[Tulse]

60GB seems rather large for the vast majority of music libraries. It's hard to imagine that enough people have such huge collections to make it worthwhile producing.

That said, it may be that Apple could use that space for other things -- video? still pictures? Somethinge else entirely?

[bob_the_gorilla]

Hopefully now we'll have an iPod that can viably hold a few movies, as well as songs. While it's too much to hope that it can play them, too - it's still the ultimate way to take a film to a mate's house to watch :cool:

[russed]

surely this now makes it obvious that the ipod is going to have some form of video capebility and do it properly!

[Windowlicker]

like loneAzdgari said, this is very good news since it's gonna bring down the prices at the lower capasity models. a 40Gb iPod for the money a 20Gb costs now.... yummy! :)

I'm an owner of a G3 15Gber.. i'm very pleased, but the room is still not quite enough, since i've got about 40Gbs of music and now I'm also using it as a portable computer (have osx on it and mail, address book, safari etc synced between my own computer and the pod).

so bring on the 60Gb! Could it also be possible to save some space for something else in PBs if they had these smaller HDs? ...space for a G5 processor maybe?! ;DDD

[stefman]

Great news, but that still means I have to wait till Sept/Nov. for a new iPod...an eternity!!

[ChuckM]

60GB seems rather large for the vast majority of music libraries. It's hard to imagine that enough people have such huge collections to make it worthwhile producing.

That said, it may be that Apple could use that space for other things -- video? still pictures? Somethinge else entirely?

Just to put that in perspective, assuming 1MB/Minute, that is almost 42 straight days of music without hearing the same song over, if my math serves me.

((60,000 minutes/60) /24)=41.666~ :)

[musicpyrite]

This is great news. Now, if only I *had* the bling bling to get one!

[sinisterdesign]

yup yup. i've been holding out for the next rev to update my rev2 20GB. i've been trying to weed through my iTunes for crappy songs that i just don't listen to, but it's finally surpassed my iPod's capacity. :(

60GB should hold me for a while!

i know people use it as a hard drive, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to install Norton & boot from it to repair a wonky startup drive? just a thought. but that's coming from someone that only stores contacts & calendar entries on it so far.

[cgmpowers]

I'll break down and buy the 60 GB iPod because my current one is the 30 GB. I have, as of this morning, 79.06 GB iTunes library. I still have about 30 to 40 CDs of my wife's to rip and store into iTunes. Currently, I have 19,884 songs (that includes a handful of audiobooks & about 500 sound effect mp3s). That's still fairly large.

Christopher

19,884 Songs/Audiobooks/Etc.
79.06 GB
49.2 days of music.
73 Genres
1,557 Artists
1,668 Albums


60GB seems rather large for the vast majority of music libraries. It's hard to imagine that enough people have such huge collections to make it worthwhile producing.

That said, it may be that Apple could use that space for other things -- video? still pictures? Somethinge else entirely?

[reaper]

I'm so far over the limit of my 15GB right now, it's not even funny. :eek: It feels like forever that I've been holding out for the new revisions. 60GB here I come - shoot, maybe I'll throw in a new PB too just for good measure! :D

- reaper

[Sir_Giggles]

I'd like to see this 60GB hard drive used in the next revisions of the powerbook. Any thoughts on how reliable this drive will be? I'd like to see the 12" PB get a whole lot thinner. Or perhaps put 2 of these drives in the PB and get a whopping 120GBs!

[SiliconAddict]

I'd like to see this 60GB hard drive used in the next revisions of the powerbook. Any thoughts on how reliable this drive will be? I'd like to see the 12" PB get a whole lot thinner. Or perhaps put 2 of these drives in the PB and get a whopping 120GBs!


Forget that. If you are going to go with a new drive model for the PB go with either the 7200RPM 60GB drive or the 100GB 4200RPM drive that came out just a few weeks ago. Honestly if some of us already have 40GB to fill up an iPod that means an 80Gb drive isn't going to leave a whole heck of a lot of space left.

[Mantat]

60gig might be too much MP3s for most people but its about the right size to introduce "home on an iPod". SO I guess we can expect it to hit us soon, I just hope we will not have to wait for Tiger to get it...

[macridah]

awesome. I have around 35GB of stuff, but I've been thinking of re-importing the music I have gotten from my CD's or friends CD's to aac 128 or lossless. Currently, it's mp3 192. If I do this, then I'll have even more space.

I would think that apple will add more functionality to iPods. Hopefully we get a color lcd (to view pictures) and more PDA functions. I still haven't added any contacts and other stuff to my iPod, but maybe with more space ... i will.

Can't wait. Come on june 28, come already so I could be in SF attending WWDC.

[brap]

I'd love to see two of these in the 12" PB, pity it'll never happen :-/

[stoid]

With 60GB I could re rip from CD some of my favorite tracks to Apple Lossless Codec to give me a better quality song on the go! :D

[AirUncleP]

Home, Home on the Road. It's Coming. 60 gigs makes it more viable.

[stoid]

I'd love to see two of these in the 12" PB, pity it'll never happen :-/

I wouldn't say 'never'. Technology is always advancing, always getting better, faster, smaller, (and hotter). It may not be in the next revision, but I'd wager that at some point in the not terribly distant future these smaller drive will start appearing in laptops. Remember though that these drives are even MORE expensive than the 2.5 inch drives that laptops currently house, so for right now it's cost prohibitive. It would be awesome if Apple would RAID together two 40GB drives and you'd have a ultra fast 80GB internal drive at about the same physical size as current laptop HDs!

[Penman]

I'll break down and buy the 60 GB iPod because my current one is the 30 GB. I have, as of this morning, 79.06 GB iTunes library. I still have about 30 to 40 CDs of my wife's to rip and store into iTunes. Currently, I have 19,884 songs (that includes a handful of audiobooks & about 500 sound effect mp3s). That's still fairly large.

Christopher

19,884 Songs/Audiobooks/Etc.
79.06 GB
49.2 days of music.
73 Genres
1,557 Artists
1,668 Albums

I know how you feel I have a little over 140GB and I still have 2 boxes of CD's to import...

[Ted13]

60GB seems rather large for the vast majority of music libraries. It's hard to imagine that enough people have such huge collections to make it worthwhile producing.
I didn't realize I had a huge collection, but with 27GB in iTunes I have barely one quarter of my CDs in my library, and my gen2 20GB iPod has been full for a long time.

Not to mention the other uses I have for it: in terms of portable HD storage and possibly video functionality.

Bring on the 60GB iPod -- I can't wait to get one.

[brap]

I wouldn't say 'never'. Technology is always advancing, always getting better, faster, smaller, (and hotter). It may not be in the next revision, but I'd wager that at some point in the not terribly distant future these smaller drive will start appearing in laptops. Remember though that these drives are even MORE expensive than the 2.5 inch drives that laptops currently house, so for right now it's cost prohibitive. It would be awesome if Apple would RAID together two 40GB drives and you'd have a ultra fast 80GB internal drive at about the same physical size as current laptop HDs!

True, true - they'll probably be the norm in a couple of years; but with the spectre of G5 PBs arriving fairly soon, my favourite form factor may die a neglectful, overheated death.

Sure it's cost-prohibitive for the base model, but a BTO option would cover both those with deep, and those with deeper pockets very well...

[SiliconAddict]

60gig might be too much MP3s for most people but its about the right size to introduce "home on an iPod". SO I guess we can expect it to hit us soon, I just hope we will not have to wait for Tiger to get it...

Heh. Honestly I wouldn't trust the iPod to store my home directory. I've read about too many failed iPod to trust it with my home directory. That and someone stealing your iPod is a heck of a lot easier then stealing your PowerMac or *book.

[bob_the_gorilla]

Honestly I wouldn't trust the iPod to store my home directory.

Agreed. I'd quite like the space to have a carbon copy there though - for backup and portable use :)

[MrToast]

I seriously doubt that the iPod will ever be used for video. The screen's too small.

Where I see the iPod heading is your computer in a pocket: It'll stay about the same size, probably end up with a G4 chip inside (once we get the G7), have about a .5 TB hard drive, and some sick mad nasty FW 32000 port.

Then you load your entire computer on it, go where ever you want, then just leech off some monitor.

Oh yeah, Bluetooth's grandchild too.

MrToast :cool:

[loneAzdgari]

and some sick mad nasty FW 32000 port.

It never ceases to amaze me how Mac fanatics come up with these weird names, lol.

[Ted13]

I seriously doubt that the iPod will ever be used for video. The screen's too small.
If that was the only way it could be used for video, you would be right. But that's not how it would be used -- it would feed external display devices.

Indeed you can use it that way right now: copy a few DVDs to your iPod, and then plug in to any Mac and play them using Apple's DVD Player.

It's a practical thing to do on trips -- instead of carying DVDs with you, or filling up your PowerBook/iBook HD with them, you can copy them to you iPod and play them with the iPod attached to your *book.

[Macmaniac]

I hope Apple incoporates the 60gb HD into the iPod at the $500 rung, and maybe move the 40gb HD into the $400 iPod, this would make the iPod a much better value! Apple should keep aggrisvely pricing and updating the iPod to maintian dominance.

[JW Pepper]

Using my Mac for video editing means I just can't spare the space to fill up my HD with CD's. I really think that is the main floor of the iPod. It would be nice if you could opt to just copy the CD's to the iPod without having to keep a copy on the Mac.

As things stand I use a Mini Disc.

[virividox]

aha my music collection could sure use a new ipod ;)

[PPC970FX]

I need 12h minimum of battery, why don`t apple get that?? But most people don`t have over 5Gigs of music. But I would not say no to a 60 + Ipod (gen4?)

[mrsebastian]

let the rumors fly of the videopod ;)

[Soire]

Two questions:

If they're announced at WWDC would they be available for immediate delivery? I thought that unless its a totally new product Apple ships them upon announcement.

And secondly, would somebody please list or explain the different music encoding formats that Apple supports (and those it doesn't). I'm not too familiar with the new lossless format, and with what size it takes up.

Thanks, I need something to keep my mind pre-occupied until then. :D

[ChrisFromCanada]

Prediction:

it will be able to connect directly to DV video cameras, record TV shows, and output video, but, will not have a built in color screen.

Think about it you record to it to the camera, bring it home and edit right to the iPod HD save it then connect it to a TV for presentations. Plus you can use it as a DVR!

[Sir_Giggles]

With 60GB I could re rip from CD some of my favorite tracks to Apple Lossless Codec to give me a better quality song on the go! :D

The difference you hear between 128Kps AAC and lossless is only possible if you have ears like an owl and you are listening to it on a $20K sound system. Otherwise, the quality difference is completely lost by the time it comes out of your earbuds. That is of course, on the go means you carry your 100 lbs. hi-fi system on your back.

[bob_the_gorilla]

Using my Mac for video editing means I just can't spare the space to fill up my HD with CD's. I really think that is the main floor of the iPod. It would be nice if you could opt to just copy the CD's to the iPod without having to keep a copy on the Mac.

As things stand I use a Mini Disc.

Actually, you can do that - BUT trust me, that's one of the worst ideas in the history of bad ideas. It's too easy for stuff to go wrong with them. The number of people who complain on the Apple discussion boards who've managed to lose their music from both their computer and an iPod, it's painful. There's so much more to go wrong with just an iPod.

[bob_the_gorilla]

The difference you hear between 128Kps AAC and lossless is only possible if you have ears like an owl and you are listening to it on a $20K sound system. Otherwise, the quality difference is completely lost by the time it comes out of your earbuds. That is of course, on the go means you carry your 100 lbs. hi-fi system on your back.

Not true - have you ever actually compared? 128kbps loses a load of midrange bass, you'd be surprised. Plus, it's not high enough quality to eliminate compression arefacts. Check out Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes on iTMS, for a good example, if you don't believe me. The heavy-bass intro sounds laughably bad.

Of course, if you listen on PowerBook speakers, you couldn't tell. But, they're pretty crap, it's undeniable. Only the 12" has anything like decent sound...

[SiliconAddict]

Not true - have you ever actually compared? 128kbps loses a load of midrange bass, you'd be surprised. Plus, it's not high enough quality to eliminate compression arefacts. Check out Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes on iTMS, for a good example, if you don't believe me. The heavy-bass intro sounds laughably bad.

Of course, if you listen on PowerBook speakers, you couldn't tell. But, they're pretty crap, it's undeniable. Only the 12" has anything like decent sound...

Can I ask. What bitrate does the diff start to become indistinguishable? I ask because I have my entire collection ripped at AAC\256bps\48Khz (With the exception of any orchestral music that is ripped and 320kbs.) and I can't tell the diff between the AAC file and the CD. Then again I don't have the world's most sensitive hearing so maybe I'm missing something. :p

[Flowbee]

Heh. Honestly I wouldn't trust the iPod to store my home directory. I've read about too many failed iPod to trust it with my home directory. That and someone stealing your iPod is a heck of a lot easier then stealing your PowerMac or *book.

I'm guessing it would be a *copy* of your home directory that would sync to your computer. So if your iPod blew up, you'd still have your home directory on your computer. I would also imagine that you could turn on filevault for your 'home on the iPod.' Otherwise, like you said, it would be too risky.

[Penman]

The difference you hear between 128Kps AAC and lossless is only possible if you have ears like an owl and you are listening to it on a $20K sound system. Otherwise, the quality difference is completely lost by the time it comes out of your earbuds. That is of course, on the go means you carry your 100 lbs. hi-fi system on your back.

That's just not true. Forget wacky audiophiles. Play some bass heavy music that's been ripped to a 128 AAC and listen. The bass just isn't there.

You may not be able to hear a difference, or see the difference between a DVD, TV and movie theatre image. Lots of us can though and I can hear it on my soundsticks.

As for earbuds - it depends on what you have. Apple's are truly horrible. Others aren't and some are excellent. Bass isn't that major when your listening through headphones though and that's why I keep my files in 2 formats - lossless for the house and AAC for portability.

128's pretty nasty sounding through speakers...

[Wonder Boy]

damn thats a lot of music. i cant even com close on my 30giger. though i could use another 30gigs of external hard drive space.

[fpnc]

...128kbps loses a load of midrange bass, you'd be surprised. Plus, it's not high enough quality to eliminate compression arefacts. Check out Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes on iTMS, for a good example, if you don't believe me. The heavy-bass intro sounds laughably bad...

That hasn't been my experience when comparing the original CDs to files that I've encoded in AAC at 128kbps. I do notice some loss in what I'd call the clarity or transparency in distant background sounds, but the bass line is nearly unaffected.

One thing that can make the bass seem weak is a simple change in the volume level. You really need to pay close attention to the relative volume levels when comparing two different audio sources. Very slight differences (which can have nothing to do with the encoding) can cause pretty significant changes in the perceived quality of the material. For most people if you turn the volume up even slightly they will say that the bass sounds "better." Similarly, if you turn the volume down, well, you get the idea. That's one reason loudness controls exist.

In fact, I'm not certain that you can accurately compare two different audio sources that may contain volume output changes without using instruments to calibrate the average sound levels. You can try to do it by ear alone but that can be difficult and error prone. The other option would be to run both copies of the music through a high-quality normalization function. But even normalization can introduce problems if it isn't done correctly (normalizing to a single peak sample can make a slight mismatch worse that it was to begin with).

In any case, what sounds good or bad to you is the only important issue and the technical details are unimportant for most. After all, beauty __is__ in the ear of the beholder. Thus, if you are happy with your "solution" that is all that matters.

[DaBuzz]

I'm too lazy to check the specs...but is this drive the same size as the current 40GB?

While I will, of course, by a 4G iPod, I hope I don't have to also buy (and wait for) 3rd party cases. If somehow it could fit in the same size as a 40GB, that would be most welcome :)

Edit: I didn't mean to put that thumbs down...at first glance I thought it was a question mark! LOL

[bob_the_gorilla]

Can I ask. What bitrate does the diff start to become indistinguishable? I ask because I have my entire collection ripped at AAC\256bps\48Khz (With the exception of any orchestral music that is ripped and 320kbs.) and I can't tell the diff between the AAC file and the CD. Then again I don't have the world's most sensitive hearing so maybe I'm missing something. :p

At that kind of level, the difference is pretty small. It's what I personally rip at, and whilst I wouldn't call myself an audiophile, I like to think I have slightly better ears than many.

I used to be satisfied with 128kbps MP3, like everyone else. But, as soon as I actually compared and realised how much was missing, and heard the "digital flutter", I began to notice it a lot more in my music. Now, I'm not saying every song needs it - some compress much better than others. But, I'm pretty happy with my 256kbps AAC collection. You'd need better equipment than I have to really tell the difference. Though, orchestral music still sounds muddy with any kind of lossy compression, whatever the bitrate. But that's probably in my mind :)

[jbembe]

I could finally autosync my entire library instead of by selected playlists only!!

Yippeee!

[wrldwzrd89]

That hasn't been my experience when comparing the original CDs to files that I've encoded in AAC at 128kbps. I do notice some loss in what I'd call the clarity or transparency in distant background sounds, but the bass line is nearly unaffected.

One thing that can make the bass seem weak is a simple change in the volume level. You really need to pay close attention to the relative volume levels when comparing two different audio sources. Very slight differences (which can have nothing to do with the encoding) can cause pretty significant changes in the perceived quality of the material. For most people if you turn the volume up even slightly they will say that the bass sounds "better." Similarly, if you turn the volume down, well, you get the idea. That's one reason loudness controls exist.

In fact, I'm not certain that you can accurately compare two different audio sources that may contain volume output changes without using instruments to calibrate the average sound levels. You can try to do it by ear alone but that can be difficult and error prone. The other option would be to run both copies of the music through a high-quality normalization function. But even normalization can introduce problems if it isn't done correctly (normalizing to a single peak sample can make a slight mismatch worse that it was to begin with).

In any case, what sounds good or bad to you is the only important issue and the technical details are unimportant for most. After all, beauty __is__ in the ear of the beholder. Thus, if you are happy with your "solution" that is all that matters.
I don't encode CDs, but I do use 128Kbps AAC for all files I encode (usually because I converted them from some other format). I can't tell any difference between the AAC and the original AIFF, either on my iPod or my iMac's speakers.

[legion]

Sounds great!

It would be nice to see these drives in some PC laptops -- even two of them! It would be nice to have the extra storage in a small form factor.

Sushi
IBM X40 uses 40GB 1.8" drives.

[fabsgwu]

With that capacity, more people might consider using the Apple Lossless audio format for their CD's. You could get much better audio quality with room to store the larger files.

[socbyset]

Prediction:

it will be able to connect directly to DV video cameras, record TV shows, and output video, but, will not have a built in color screen.

Think about it you record to it to the camera, bring it home and edit right to the iPod HD save it then connect it to a TV for presentations. Plus you can use it as a DVR!

I sure hope so. I've got some divx movies at work that I've been loading on my ipod so I can take them home to copy to my powerbook and then burn them onto CDs so I can view them on my DVD player. Wouldn't it be nice if i could just plug the ipod into the TV thereby cutting out several steps in that process. With 60 gigs this scenario becomes closer to being feasible. One could store almost 100 700mb movies.

next step: the Apple iFilms Movie Store! One can hope.. Although didn't Jobs throw cold water on the ipod-video idea? Dininformation, maybe?

[cobraverde]

I bought the 30GB the day it came out last year, and I told myself I would only replace it when it was doubled. I have enough music -- music that I could actually want to hear at any given moment -- to fill up a 60GB iPod as it is. To everyone who says it's too big, I know there are plenty of people like me out there who look at their iPod as an archive, not just a "favorites of the week" device. People who DJ with them, for example, or who go to college and don't want to bring 500 CDs with them. I can't wait for the 60GB, and I'll be cheeky and say I wish it were going to be even bigger.

What I AM worried about, however, is a dramatic change to form factor and/or versatility. I read somewhere that Jobs said the iPod is a music player and will stay a music player, and I hope he meant that. Using it as an external hard drive is great, I've transferred photos and design work on it, but as far as video out and all that stuff... I dread to see the beautifully simple iPod loaded with additional output jacks and buttons. I also hope they don't switch to the iPod Mini-style scroll wheel, as has been rumoured before.

As far as I'm concerned, the major changes I'd like to see is in iPod software. Here's what I want:

1. Variable text size -- I'm sick of so many artist, song, and album titles being cut off. If the 'Contacts' and 'Notes' sections can support smaller text, so should the menus.

2. More song info available. Some people enjoy making full use of iTunes' detailed tagging system, entering in composer and comments, etc. I love noting the date of a recording, and I wish that all that info on my MP3s could be viewed with the iPod.

3. I'm sure this is a fantasy, but I've always wished that the iPod could crossfade tracks, and I mean PROPERLY, not like iTunes which merely brings the level of one track down and then brings the next one up before it's finished. I want a track to be able to start a few seconds before the end of the previous track, actually overlapping, with NO change in volume (or at least close enough to eliminate gaps between tracks that crossfade on CD -- I know you can rip them as one track, but come on, this often isn't practical)

Those are the main things. There are many other little features I wish were included, but if the above three came to be then the iPod would be even more perfect.

cv

[Viv]

I'll break down and buy the 60 GB iPod because my current one is the 30 GB. I have, as of this morning, 79.06 GB iTunes library. I still have about 30 to 40 CDs of my wife's to rip and store into iTunes. Currently, I have 19,884 songs (that includes a handful of audiobooks & about 500 sound effect mp3s). That's still fairly large.

Christopher

19,884 Songs/Audiobooks/Etc.
79.06 GB
49.2 days of music.
73 Genres
1,557 Artists
1,668 Albums

Wow respect! i only have 36gb and i was waiting to replace my 30gb if they did a 60!

Viv

[kcmac]

60 gigs is awesome. I just wish they could meet the demands for the products they have now. This endless race for bigger is nice but it is tiring waiting for things supposedly on the shelf today.

[KLFloyd]

Cool...always nice to see new iPod's coming up the line.

I'm still more than happy with my 2nd Gen 10GB iPod and still have about a year left of the AppleCare warranty left and don't plan to upgrade by then. But at the rate the hard drive upgrades are going 40 GB should be about mid or even low end by then. More hard drive space is always welcome.

[Clive At Five]

60 gigs... fantastic. What about people like me who don't have the money to own hundreds upon hundreds of CDS or the massive iPod to hold them?

I, unlike every other mac-follower, have never owned an iPod. I've wanted one since they first appeared, but, like I said, I have no money. Finally now I'm in a position to buy one and want to wait for the 4th Generation iPod. The problem? Apple Insider said that Apple wont ship new iPods until September due to these 60 Gig drives. This is an incredible annoyance. For someone who has been waiting almost three years to buy an iPod, the extra four months are incomprehensably long.

Hearing report after report that the 4th Gen iPod would be released at WWDC and knowing Apple's tendency to say "You can buy one today!" for a few of their products, I was hoping I could score myself an iPod on June 28th.

Maybe they'll just delay shipping on a 60 Gig model, but I doubt that.

-Clive

[iLilana]

seriously need to come down

[aclose72]

I, unlike every other mac-follower, have never owned an iPod. I've wanted one since they first appeared, but, like I said, I have no money. Finally now I'm in a position to buy one and want to wait for the 4th Generation iPod. The problem? Apple Insider said that Apple wont ship new iPods until September due to these 60 Gig drives. This is an incredible annoyance. For someone who has been waiting almost three years to buy an iPod, the extra four months are incomprehensably long.
-Clive

what's wrong with the 3rd gen iPod? or the 2nd gen for that matter? they are both great products. if you don't need the extra storage size but are itchin' to own an iPod then what's holding you up?

just curious.

i just got the new 15" 1.5GHz PB w/ 40GB iPod, but i haven't opened the iPod yet. (i've had it for almost three weeks...)

[Clive At Five]

I never said I couldn't use the capabilities of a 4th gen iPod. Video... color screen (+ more). If I've waited this long, I'm not going to skimp on features. I'd like an iPod that isn't a year or more old. After saving up the money, I'm not going to cheat myself out of all the innovations that everyone else will have access to.

-Clive

[bob_the_gorilla]

Why wait for the next gen? Because, like the dockable iPods can use the voice recorders, play Apple Lossless and other things that the old ones can't, the next gen iPods will have features upon release or afterwards that the old ones don't.

[JGowan]

It would be nice to see these drives in some PC laptops -- even two of them! It would be nice to have the extra storage in a small form factor.You would NOT want to see these drives in laptops. While they serve up music quite handily, the are no where near as powerful as the typical 5400 RPM Harddrives in laptops. I don't know how fast they are, but I know they couldn't be of any use in laptops.

[SiliconAddict]

Maybe they'll just delay shipping on a 60 Gig model, but I doubt that.

-Clive

Clive, I feel for you and don't take this the wrong way but I hope you are completely, utterly, and totally dead wrong. ;) I'm going on a cross country trip from MN to PA starting July 5th. I pray Jobs makes the announcement right then and there so I can enjoy muy music on the road. :cool:

[cgc]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I have 38GB of tunes. Way too close to the max 40GB the high end iPod holds. Bring this on. There have been two things I've been waiting on.

1. G5 PowerBook
2. 50GB iPod.


If they only bring out #2 this year I'm happy.

WOOT. First post!

You said "#2" uh huh huh huh...

[JGowan]

Home, Home on the Road. It's Coming. 60 gigs makes it more viable.What is "Home on the Road"?

[manu chao]

I wouldn't say 'never'. Technology is always advancing, always getting better, faster, smaller, (and hotter). It may not be in the next revision, but I'd wager that at some point in the not terribly distant future these smaller drive will start appearing in laptops. Remember though that these drives are even MORE expensive than the 2.5 inch drives that laptops currently house, so for right now it's cost prohibitive. It would be awesome if Apple would RAID together two 40GB drives and you'd have a ultra fast 80GB internal drive at about the same physical size as current laptop HDs!

You could already try out how fast that would be, just build a RAID out of two iPods. This guy has build RAIDs with floppies and smart media cards:
http://ohlssonvox.8k.com/fdd_raid.htm

[SiliconAddict]

What is "Home on the Road"?

If he's talking about what I think he's talking about its.....

somewhat officially called "Home on the iPod"

You can take your iPod to another Mac, plug it in, and the Mac would log onto your home directory as if it was part of that computer. It was a rumored feature of Panther that never did make it to the gold code. Pure guess but I think Apple may have gotten cold feet at the though of people losing data if their iPod died that and they had bigger fish to fry with Panther.
Maybe Tiger will see this feature actually be released?

[socbyset]

You would NOT want to see these drives in laptops. While they serve up music quick handily, the are no where near as powerful as the typical 5400 RPM Harddrives in laptops. I don't know how fast they are, but I know they could be of any use in laptops.

If anyone is interested, the 40gb toshiba drive runs at 4,200 rpm has a 15ms seek time.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.aspx?Path=/818200000007000000010000659800001516/81820000011d000000010000659c000003fd/8182000001c8000000010000659c00000599/8182000001df000000010000659c000005c1/8182000007fa000000010000659c00001aae

update: I believe some Sony VAIO subnotebooks are using this drive.

[Pegano]

If anyone is interested, the 40gb toshiba drive runs at 4,200 rpm has a 15ms seek time.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.asp...000659c00001aae

update: I believe some Sony VAIO subnotebooks are using this drive.
Interesting. I was just about to ask the same question.

[titaniumducky]

yup yup. i've been holding out for the next rev to update my rev2 20GB. i've been trying to weed through my iTunes for crappy songs that i just don't listen to, but it's finally surpassed my iPod's capacity. :(

60GB should hold me for a while!

i know people use it as a hard drive, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to install Norton & boot from it to repair a wonky startup drive? just a thought. but that's coming from someone that only stores contacts & calendar entries on it so far.

You already can. Connect your iPod, mount it by allowing it to act as a firewire HD, install OS X on it, and choose it as your boot volume. It's just another HD to the Mac. Install whatever you want on it. BOOM! You're done.

[iChan]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I have 38GB of tunes. Way too close to the max 40GB the high end iPod holds. Bring this on. There have been two things I've been waiting on.

1. G5 PowerBook
2. 50GB iPod.


If they only bring out #2 this year I'm happy.

WOOT. First post!

I have a feeling that someone is telling fibs. If you had an iPod, or any common sense, you'd know that the actual formatted capacity of Hard Drives are less than the quoted amounts. Therefore, a 40GB iPod only holds 37.25GB of Data...

therefore, how can you hold 38GB of tunes on there?

(I know you might manually manage your song list, but that is not what you said. and how would you decide on which .75GB of music to leave behind. If that was the case, your tunes would already exceed the capacity of your ipod)

I don't know. Your comment really riled me up for its obvious inaccuracies.

PS. does anyone actually 'need' that much capacity for music? even a recent study showed that 1,000 songs is optimal for most people.

[SiliconAddict]

I have a feeling that someone is telling fibs. If you had an iPod, or any common sense, you'd know that the actual formatted capacity of Hard Drives are less than the quoted amounts. Therefore, a 40GB iPod only holds 37.25GB of Data...

therefore, how can you hold 38GB of tunes on there?



I don't have an iPod. Hence the reason I've been waiting. Nowhere in my post did I ever claim that I had an iPod. And yes I'm aware that a hard drive is never the actual amount advertised. I never did the figures. I always assumed it was at least above or dang close to the 38GB range. Its a moot point anyways. I have been holding off buying an iPod since I converted my CD's last October when iTunes for Windows was released.

As for your optimal comment. *Sighs* The iPod is a successful product for numerous reason. One of the bigger ones is that we can carry not part but all of our songs with us. I refuse to accept this optimal BS. I want all my music with me. If I'm in the mood for something out of the norm I don't want to have to drag out my laptop to get ahold of a dang track. Its all or nothing as far as I'm concerned.

[pkradd]

A very bad idea. Hasn't anyone noticed how slow these drives are compared to the current laptop ones? They will never be used in the Powerbooks as they simply cannot spin as fast as the larger drives (which means slower access).

[dopefiend]

They will never be as fast as they cannot spin as fast as the larger drives.

Well, you can't say never.

One day they will be.

[SiliconAddict]

Well, you can't say never.

One day they will be.

More likely one day everything is going to be solid state. Screw spin rates. Hard drives are now the slowest components in a computer. If/When we get past needing moving parts in our mass storage device we will see computing take on a whole different dimension.

[aswitcher]

60 gig...iPod at Home or whatever its called is definetly on the cards for Tiger. I hope they figure out an elegant way of handling it with synching to machines with larger HDD - some sort of graohical and logical partitioning or selection system about what goes on the pod. iDisk on steriods.

Multiple computer "accounts" on one pod would be useful for soem as well.

Wish they would build in bluetooth or even wifi into a pod. Maybe next year or 2006...

[rogo]

Rotational speed is fine on these drives. And their smaller platters allow for faster seeking.

There is no reason one of these couldn't be used in a new, super-sassy 12" Powerbook... the machine that could bring me back to Mac if it existed.

[SiliconAddict]

Rotational speed is fine on these drives. And their smaller platters allow for faster seeking.

There is no reason one of these couldn't be used in a new, super-sassy 12" Powerbook... the machine that could bring me back to Mac if it existed.

4200RPM drives are painfully slow. I went from a 40GB 4200RPM to a 60GB 5400RPM and the speed diff IS noticeable.

[killmoms]

Is a 5400RPM drive standard in PowerBooks now? If so, I really wish I had the balls to open up my PowerBook and install one of those IBM DeskStar 7200RPM 80GBs. This thing is nice, but it'd be nicer if hitting the swap file wasn't so damn painful.

--Cless

[dopefiend]

Is a 5400RPM drive standard in PowerBooks now?
--Cless

Nope, 4200 is standard.

[sushi]

IBM X40 uses 40GB 1.8" drives.
Thanks!

Personnally, I prefer this computer:

http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/pcmm1h3w/text/p2.html

What I meant to say in my first post, was that I wish some small laptops would have 2 of the 60GB HDs so that I could have a total of 120GB. Now that would be nice.

Sushi

[sushi]

You would NOT want to see these drives in laptops. While they serve up music quite handily, the are no where near as powerful as the typical 5400 RPM Harddrives in laptops. I don't know how fast they are, but I know they couldn't be of any use in laptops.
I would beg to differ.

They are already being used in some laptops. Seem to work okay.

Sushi

[sushi]

A very bad idea. Hasn't anyone noticed how slow these drives are compared to the current laptop ones? They will never be used in the Powerbooks as they simply cannot spin as fast as the larger drives (which means slower access).
It all depends on what you are using your laptop/Powerbook for.

This particular computer works fine:

http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/pcmm1h3w/text/p2.html

Sushi

[sushi]

More likely one day everything is going to be solid state.
Agreed.

Wonder how big (size and capacity) the initial ones will be?

Sushi

[rdowns]

As for your optimal comment. *Sighs* The iPod is a successful product for numerous reason. One of the bigger ones is that we can carry not part but all of our songs with us. I refuse to accept this optimal BS. I want all my music with me. If I'm in the mood for something out of the norm I don't want to have to drag out my laptop to get ahold of a dang track. Its all or nothing as far as I'm concerned.

I'll second that. I have about 10GB of music (my entire collection minus the songs on CDs I didn't want) and love having it all with me everyday. I listen to things I didn't bother looking for in the endless CD racks and have rediscovered a lot of music from years gone by. I use it at work everyday and my staff always comments on my diverse collection and tastes and they rarely hear songs repeated.

So you can keep your optimal BS studies and buy what you want. I'll take my entire collection to go and the CDs stored in the basement.

[sushi]

4200RPM drives are painfully slow. I went from a 40GB 4200RPM to a 60GB 5400RPM and the speed diff IS noticeable.
Again, it all depends on what you are doing with your computer.

In some cases anything less than a 7200, is slow.

In other cases, anything faster than a floppy is okay! Well not really. But hopefully you get my point. :D

Sushi

[rog]

I think this pretty much guarantees the updated G5s will come out next Tuesday.

[bob_the_gorilla]

Is a 5400RPM drive standard in PowerBooks now? If so, I really wish I had the balls to open up my PowerBook and install one of those IBM DeskStar 7200RPM 80GBs. This thing is nice, but it'd be nicer if hitting the swap file wasn't so damn painful.

--Cless

Got a 12". Did it - plonked an 80GB 5400RPM drive in the beast. It wasn't difficult, just time consuming. There were photos from a guy on the net who's done it - very useful. Made a big difference, too - startup time's dropped considerably.

[ifjake]

yeah i'm itching to put one of those 7200 RPM drives in my laptop. i doubt it'll happen anytime soon. it would definitely increase the life on my powerbook. if 60 GB means the cheaper iPod will have a higher capacity or the lower capacity iPod a cheaper price, great. but i'm waiting for good battery life. (and money to actually buy it. all talk.)

on the speed note of the smaller drives in a laptop, say 60 GB was all you really needed. now i'm not sure what this RAID thing is, but i'm going to make something up. just have a second copy of your hard drive at all times on the second drive. then not only are you better off if something bad happens, you've got two different drives searching for the same data. maybe saving wouldn't be any faster, but retrieval should be quicker right? (refer to the previous sentence about me knowing nothing about it).

[mrwilly123]

yeah i'm itching to put one of those 7200 RPM drives in my laptop. i doubt it'll happen anytime soon. it would definitely increase the life on my powerbook. if 60 GB means the cheaper iPod will have a higher capacity or the lower capacity iPod a cheaper price, great. but i'm waiting for good battery life. (and money to actually buy it. all talk.)

on the speed note of the smaller drives in a laptop, say 60 GB was all you really needed. now i'm not sure what this RAID thing is, but i'm going to make something up. just have a second copy of your hard drive at all times on the second drive. then not only are you better off if something bad happens, you've got two different drives searching for the same data. maybe saving wouldn't be any faster, but retrieval should be quicker right? (refer to the previous sentence about me knowing nothing about it).

yes. thats raid

[bob_the_gorilla]

Well, it's a bit more complex than that. There are different amounts of mirroring... And they result in different speed gains, including, in some case, when writing, too.

[adamjay]

i'm still digging my 80GB Archos ($420) and its only about half an inch bigger than the ipod.. c'mon apple... catch up.

[SiliconAddict]

Agreed.

Wonder how big (size and capacity) the initial ones will be?

Sushi

Probably only big enough to handle the OS and a few apps. I think for the forseeable future any RAM disk is going to be used for active data while any mass storage such as video, audio, game files will remain on a standard hard disk. There is only one company I know of that is currently doing this:

http://www.go-l.com/desktops/machl35/architecture/index.htm

Scroll down to PuRAM:

PuRam™ - The future, today.

Introducing the first desktop computer configurable WITHOUT a system hard drive. The Operating system and system files reside on a PuRam™ solid state flash disk with near zero latency and seek times, and burst transfer rates at up to 7.0GB/s I/O, capable of over 150,000 I/O requests per second, all with an average of 0.0% CPU utilization. This translates into an effective desktop business productivity of up to 100 times faster than the fastest available hard disk design at any price or configuration. These are non-volatile units just like a regular hard drive with a permanent storage cycle. There are no more virtual memory or swap file delays (since they are as fast as RAM), and there are no more System Disk Defrags (memory is random so it does not need defragging). Windows boots-up in seconds, load your games and apps in seconds, and start any program virtually instantly. Also moving, copying, or working on large files has literally no slow-down affect in the blistering fast computing speed. Furthermore, PuRam™ Drives are extremely resistant to shock, vibration, and temperature variations, while providing unprecedented performance and superior durability. Allied to our CacheFlow™ technology, the PuRam™ Drives give your audio, video, CAD, graphic, gaming, industrial, or scientific applications the most, compelling and unmatched data through output speeds. Absolutely like no other.

Two problems with this. 1. I have yet to see anyone buy one of these systems for good reason. Insanly expensive. 2. They are forcing, forget bleeding edge, gushing edge technoloegy into a computer that no one short of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs can afford. This tech isn't ready for prime time yet. But by 2010? Count on it. When these drives hit mainstream computers I really do beleve it is going to change computing just as the hard drive changed computing when it came out.
We all owe our entire computing expierance to the hard drive. Its ugly, its slow, its a packmule, but its allowed us to do some pretty dang impressive things with our computer. I mean who could have imagined how much porn a person could store....oops I said to much ;) :D

PS- I've gotten 2 MP's from people who don't believe that I have 38GB's of tunes. Why is it so hard to believe? Between my days at Napster, the various P2P sites, and now iTMS and allofmp3.com for the albums that iTMS doesn’t have 38GB isn’t a whole heck of a lot of music. :confused:

[Porchland]

surely this now makes it obvious that the ipod is going to have some form of video capebility and do it properly!

The success of the iPod mini just the way it is -- 4 GB -- along with the news of the 60 GB drive highlights the two separate directions this market is going right now.

First, people are buying the mini in droves and NOT complaining that it's too small. (I recently took my 15 GB iPod off auto-pilot and started paring down a lot of the extraneous s***. There were bands in my artists list that I had never listened to, and scrolling forever and ever was getting old.) A thousand songs is plenty for day-to-day playlists. People are adding and deleting as they go.

Second, Moore's Law is going to keep growing these hard drives, and Apple is going to find more uses that take up space.

I think this dual market is going to further differentiate in the next few years.

[Tap]

heh....am I the only person in here that has a MP3 collection significantally larger than any iPod offered?? I'm at 395.3GB right now and it wouldnt suprise me at all if I reach and/or pass 400GB in the next few days...maybe a week.

60gb drive = WIN

Most of the stuff I listen to can easily be 120MB+ for one MP3 so the mini-iPod wasnt going to cut it for me. I get enough new music that the extra storage space will be nice so I can space out updating the unit rather than another 4gb ever or day or whatever.

I just recently won an eBay auction for a 40GB iPod but the seller hasnt shipped and it looks like he never will (scammers can choke on a buck of cocks please). Thankfully I paid via Paypal with credit card so even if they don't recover money from his account I can still do a chargeback on my Visa and make PP eat it. (i'm not a big fan of Paypal, dont get me started)

Anyway as I was saying, bigger = :) I just hope it will...

1) Cost $500
2) Not have a bunch of extra *crap* that doesn't help make it a better AUDIO player. (ex: color,video,toenail clippers, PEZ dispensor)
3) Come out Septemberish?? (wishful thinking)
4) Maybe beef up the battery (yeah yeah I know) to the larger size that was in the 2g models (larger mAh in older bats right?)
5) **this is in my dreams** Come in a flat-black color :) I'd even settle for a shiny-black.

I've been waiting forever to finally buy an iPod, hopefully the 60GB will be a hot-ticket. Note to any Apple employees that would be willing to use their employee discount to buy a 60GB model and then pass the savings along to me, just let me know :)

Tap

[mrwilly123]

i remember when, in the early days of napster (only 5 years ago?), i was content with a teeny mp3 player that had two 16 mb cards i could swap in and out to play a full album, compressed and crappy-sounding (probably 64k mp3)

now ive filled my 15 gb ipod, 1000x the capacity of my original mp3 player and with my headphones, wont settle for less than 256k aac.

its crazy!

[dontmatter]

heh....am I the only person in here that has a MP3 collection significantally larger than any iPod offered?? I'm at 395.3GB right now and it wouldnt suprise me at all if I reach and/or pass 400GB in the next few days...maybe a week.

60gb drive = WIN

Most of the stuff I listen to can easily be 120MB+ for one MP3 so the mini-iPod wasnt going to cut it for me. I get enough new music that the extra storage space will be nice so I can space out updating the unit rather than another 4gb ever or day or whatever.

I just recently won an eBay auction for a 40GB iPod but the seller hasnt shipped and it looks like he never will (scammers can choke on a buck of cocks please). Thankfully I paid via Paypal with credit card so even if they don't recover money from his account I can still do a chargeback on my Visa and make PP eat it. (i'm not a big fan of Paypal, dont get me started)

Anyway as I was saying, bigger = :) I just hope it will...

1) Cost $500
2) Not have a bunch of extra *crap* that doesn't help make it a better AUDIO player. (ex: color,video,toenail clippers, PEZ dispensor)
3) Come out Septemberish?? (wishful thinking)
4) Maybe beef up the battery (yeah yeah I know) to the larger size that was in the 2g models (larger mAh in older bats right?)
5) **this is in my dreams** Come in a flat-black color :) I'd even settle for a shiny-black.

I've been waiting forever to finally buy an iPod, hopefully the 60GB will be a hot-ticket. Note to any Apple employees that would be willing to use their employee discount to buy a 60GB model and then pass the savings along to me, just let me know :)

Tap

What, you are NOT telling me you have nearly 10 times as much music as I have. That's inconcievable! Are you storing in in DVD audio format or something? holy crap.

[Tap]

What, you are NOT telling me you have nearly 10 times as much music as I have. That's inconcievable! Are you storing in in DVD audio format or something? holy crap.

Heh, I DVD audio, these are just MP3s backed up onto CDRs.

Archive Stats:

Diskspace: 395.3GB
Total duration: 4972.3 Hours
Average bitrate: 190kbps
Volume count (CDs): 580
Folder count: 3326
File count: 10915

I tell myself if there is ever a fire I know what i'm going to grab first.....too bad the 580 CDs are held in a bunch of 64cd wallets/cases. I decided to do that because then if I were to lose one somehow I wouldnt take such a hit like if I were to have it split into a couple 264cd wallets.

95% of the CDs are "long-strategy" dye based (TY media). Not too sure at this point how much that will make a difference 5 or 10 years down the road but i'm sure by then CDs will be what old 5.25" floppy disks or punch cards are like today.

Best part is the collection is keyword searchable, makes finding stuff MUCH easier. :)

Tap

[legion]

Second, Moore's Law is going to keep growing these hard drives, and Apple is going to find more uses that take up space.

What the hell does this mean? Moore's Law (which really isn't a law but Moore's observation) has to do with transistor count. Hard drives have to do with power, cooling, areal density, rotational speed and platter count. There is no connection between the two.

[Windowlicker]

Is a 5400RPM drive standard in PowerBooks now? If so, I really wish I had the balls to open up my PowerBook and install one of those IBM DeskStar 7200RPM 80GBs. This thing is nice, but it'd be nicer if hitting the swap file wasn't so damn painful.

--Cless

i can tell you it's not a big job. you just have to open the screws from the bottom of the book. then slide the bottom towards the "release display" button and it will detach. and there you have the HD.

here comes the tricky part: there's one screw you have to open in order to get the HD easily off (and the other back into the slot).

...damn. i wish I had some photos of this. i probably wouldn't start doing it based on my instructions, but if you find a walk-through somewhere on the net, i'd go for it (in case you really have the need for the drive - this operation voids your warranty).

[G4-power]

O.o
I'm so eager to wait for WWDC, if we get some iPod updates, in addition to other rumored updates (PowerMacs, iMacs etc.) :D
In mid-July I'll have money for a low-end iPod and some accesories, so I hope that I'll get more for my money than I would now. 60 GB high-end sounds good, and that'll make maybe 20 GB/30GB low-end model?
iPod mini would be nice but my music library has already outgrown it (4.02 GB) :o Now I've also realised how small amount of music really the around 1000 songs is, 'cause Party Shuffle is giving me same songs...NEED iTMS in FINLAND NOW!! :p

[Windowlicker]

PS- I've gotten 2 MP's from people who don't believe that I have 38GB's of tunes. Why is it so hard to believe? Between my days at Napster, the various P2P sites, and now iTMS and allofmp3.com for the albums that iTMS doesn’t have 38GB isn’t a whole heck of a lot of music. :confused:

huh? what's so unbelievable in 38Gbs? Not to boost or anything (or well... :rolleyes: ), but i for one have around 150 CDs (that's something like 100Gb) of mp3s and about 30Gbs of mp3/aac on HD :P that's so much I don't even listen to all of the stuff (in fact there's some major garbage on those backup CDs too), but I'm certainly not surprised if someone has even more.

[Windowlicker]

NEED iTMS in FINLAND NOW!! :p

todellakin! sitä on saatu odottaa jo turhankin pitkään...

(=indeed! we've waited for too long already)

[½win½lin]

Isn't there any decent iPod feedback?

Recent iPod related polls:
What is the condition of your iPod?
Which iPod Ad do you Like Most?
Your favorite iPod Mini Color?
Are you considering buying a iPod Mini?
Which of these colored iPods do you most want Apple to make?


About time for a most wanted feature on the iPod poll (emailing this in...)
1) 20 hr battery life
2) 60 Gb hard drive
3) Colour Screen
4) Video playback
5) PDA

I can't be the only one who wants longer battery life over more capacity. The battery life on my friend's iPods barely outlast that of my iBook!

60 gigs? Schmixty gigs! Unless Apple get the battery life reliably into the 20 hour region, I will certainly not be considering the iPod for a music player - it may have a great interface and cool styling and smart software but it's nothing but a fancy paperweight for the majority of a long haul flight, train journey or road trip.

Mind you, the added weight of those extra 20gigs does help prevent an unfolded map flying all over the back seat...

[gotohamish]

60GB seems rather large for the vast majority of music libraries. It's hard to imagine that enough people have such huge collections to make it worthwhile producing.

That said, it may be that Apple could use that space for other things -- video? still pictures? Somethinge else entirely?

As with many things Apple, it's about the added value, and also simply the fact that you can!

I have 60GB og music on my mac, but even with a 60GB iPod, I'd only put a bit on, otherwise there's too much to filter through. I'd keep the rest for portable files, photos, DVDs perhaps. That's when it becomes an even better product.

[nagromme]

iPod feedback? Send it where it counts :)

http://apple.com/feedback

Also, ThinkSecret claims Apple/Steve is furious over the Toshiba leak:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/toshiba.html

[AidenShaw]

... install one of those IBM DeskStar 7200RPM 80GBs...

Note that the Hitachi GST 7200RPM drives top out at 60 GB (http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/hgst/?epi_menuItemID=1ae1841f0c9f113aa5a8f2b6aac4f0a0&epi_menuID=0f34be57a7adb6fd25ad4e8060e4f0a0&epi_baseMenuID=22f0deefa8f3967dafa0466460e4f0a0).

The 80GB is a 5400 RPM model...

[amnesiac1984]

The difference you hear between 128Kps AAC and lossless is only possible if you have ears like an owl and you are listening to it on a $20K sound system. Otherwise, the quality difference is completely lost by the time it comes out of your earbuds. That is of course, on the go means you carry your 100 lbs. hi-fi system on your back.

Each to his own, I for one happen to be able to easily tell the difference on both my pioneer amp + gale speaker combo and my shure e2c (£50) headphones. Some people do indeed have ears like owls.

[frankly]

Got a 12". Did it - plonked an 80GB 5400RPM drive in the beast. It wasn't difficult, just time consuming. There were photos from a guy on the net who's done it - very useful. Made a big difference, too - startup time's dropped considerably.


Startup time??? On a PowerBook???

Who shuts down their PowerBook?

Frank

[frankly]

i'm still digging my 80GB Archos ($420) and its only about half an inch bigger than the ipod.. c'mon apple... catch up.

Before you start talking trash at least back it up with some facts. Which model of Archos do you have? Because you seem to be stretching the truth a bit.

Frank

[frankly]

iPod feedback? Send it where it counts :)

http://apple.com/feedback

Also, ThinkSecret claims Apple/Steve is furious over the Toshiba leak:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/toshiba.html

That is a lame article. This is nothing like the time ATI spoke too soon. Anyone who has been following the iPod knows that the capacity is going to increase when new drives become available. This isn't some big secret for Apple to be upset about. The whole article was corny if you ask me.

Later, Frank

[frankly]

This is great news. Now, if only I *had* the bling bling to get one!

You do realize that the iPod would be the "bling bling" and not the money needed to by the iPod??? Don't you?

[frankly]

I think this pretty much guarantees the updated G5s will come out next Tuesday.

doh!!!

[Soire]

So what are the odds that they release, or even announce anything iPod related at WWDC?

I'll try to hold out until then, but if september is the earliest there will be an update, I'm gonna have to get a 40giger now. ...please let there be something by the end of the month! :rolleyes:

[Trowaman]

So what are the odds that they release, or even announce anything iPod related at WWDC?

I'll try to hold out until then, but if september is the earliest there will be an update, I'm gonna have to get a 40giger now. ...please let there be something by the end of the month! :rolleyes:

Between now and WWDC, I'd say 1/4

As for now and Late August/Early September, I'm saying 9/10.

These are just guesses, I have no scientific backing to hold these numbers up.