Apple Releases New iPods

[1984]

You are delusional if you think that USB 2.0 is faster than Firewire.

Damn straight. I guess I'll have to post this once on every page. Firewire kicks USB ass.


FireWire vs. USB 2.0 Hard Drive Performance Comparison

Read and write tests to the same IDE hard drive connected using FireWire and
then Hi-Speed USB 2.0 show:

Read Test:
5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 33% faster than USB 2.0
160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 70% faster than USB 2.0

Write Test:
5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 16% faster than USB 2.0
160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 48% faster than USB 2.0


DPReview transfer speed test for Canon EOS 20D

To test the EOS 20D's USB transfer speed we used twelve standard images (six RAW, six JPEG) totaling 76.2 MB and transferred them from a SanDisk Ultra II 1 GB CF card via four different methods. As you can see from the results below the EOS 20D's native USB 2.0 interface performed fairly well managing over two and a half megabytes per second and out-performing a typical USB 2.0 Card reader. However for real transfer speed there's still no beating Firewire or a CardBus 32 PCMCIA adapter (if you're using a Notebook).

Method / Time taken / Transfer rate

USB 2.0 Card reader / 36.6 sec / 2.1 MB/sec
EOS 20D USB 2.0 / 28.9 sec / 2.6 MB/sec
Firewire Card reader / 18.0 sec / 4.2 MB/sec
CardBus 32 PCMCIA adapter / 16.8 sec / 4.5 MB/sec

 

[acedickson]

The new updates and price droprs are great. Now I can't wait to buy an iPod. My edu discount makes the 60GB iPod photo an awesome deal. $419.00 for the 60GB with the edu discount.

I do think the 20GB seems out of place when you can get 50% more storage space and the color screen w/ photo capabilities for only $50 bucks more (40 with an edu discount).

I also don't understand why they took the 40GB iPod photo backward to 30GB. I guess to justify the price drop but either way the iPod photos have become very reasonable in price. I will have a 60GB as soon as work picks up.

Good looking out Apple.

 

[neoelectronaut]

So let's see...

I have a $50 Gift Card so I'll subtract $50 from each price.

Also, my iTunes library is right over 20.1GB, so I'll omit the 20GB iPod...

So which do I get?

30GB iPod Photo = $300
40GB iPod =$350
60GB iPod Photo = $400

I have no use for the photo features as I don't have a digital camera, thus, the only upside to the Photo would be the color screen. (And honestly, is that really all that much better than the monochrome screen?)

So dammit this is confusing. I have a little over 20GB of music now. With the 30GB iPod assuredly being only around 27GB in reality, that may be filled sooner than I like. But do I dare pay $50 more, but give up the color screen, simply for an extra 10GB?

 

[Lacero]

I haven't read through all gazillion posts, but I hope everyone moaning about "USB only" on the iPod mini will realize that it still has a Firewire port.

You just need to supply a cable.

An awful lot of people HAVE a firewire cable lying around. If you don't, you can buy them cheap (it doesn't have to come from Apple, people!), check Froogle, for example.

So, breathe deeply, remain calm, and open wide for the chill pill.

It's just simply OUTRAGEOUS!! that as a loyal mac user, I HAVE TO PAY for a firewire cable!! Apple needs to get their act together. Why should I have to pay for a firewire cable? I have been a loyal mac user for over 40 years, and this is how Apple treats me?!? Oh great, sure Apple dropped the price of the 4GB mini by $50 and added an extra 10 hours of battery life, but still, why are they abandoning Firewire? Are they stupid! As a loyal Mac user, I've supported them with my hard earned money and this is how they treat me? I ask all of you to sign my the petition and boycott Apple products!!

 

[chabig]

He also still hasn't answered my question: Why would you buy a shuffle, if your computer only has USB 1.1?

Ummm...to listen to music on the go?

 

[chabig]

...why are they abandoning Firewire?

I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic. But calm down. Apple is not abandoning firewire (somehow I think you already knew that).

 

[Loge]

You know, I have one simple request and that is to have an iPod mini with a freakin' laser beam attached to it!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

And you can no longer get one made out of the most valuable substance in the world - pure gooooooold !!!

 

[Emerson]

Couldn't agree more

The iPod Photo no longer includes the A/V cable, the special dock, or a firewire cable?

The idea of the iPod Photo is so that you can "bring your pictures with you" and display them on TV, etc. This is going to confuse customers, and what about retailers? It's going to be difficult to explain to a customer that you have to purchase every previously included "accessory" seperately now. What are the chances they [CompUSA, Best Buy, etc] are going to have the special A/V cable and dock in stock anyway? Very confusing.

Remember, not everyone lives close to an Apple Store.

So instead of $469 (edu) for

iPod Photo 40GB
A/V Cable
Dock
Case
Firewire Cable
Firewire Charger

Its $440.20 (edu) for

iPod Photo 30GB
A/V Cable ($17.10)
Dock ($35)
Case ($26)
Firewire Cable ($17.10)
Firewire Charger ($26)

Doesn't seem like a "deal" to me. For another $28 you got 40GB instead of a 30GB, and the convenience of not having to order everything seperately.

Right now the best deal around is the ipod photo 40 gb in the sales section, $349 (edu), and yet get the dock and all of the other accesories. Apple is just being sneaky and lowering the prices by not including as much.

 

[1984]

iPod Inc. It's time.

 

[1984]

Ironic --> www.firewire.org

 

[Surreal]

USB 2.0 gets 480 speed at maximum and in bursts. firewire was designed for consistently high transfer rates. usb 1.1 is still used mainly because it is cheap and it is right for mice and printers and other devices that have relatively short bursts of information to get to another device. while neither protocol gets the advertised speed all the time, usb's average and consistent speed is lower than firewire's.

USB used to have specific numbers up, but this paragraph is evidence to my point that firewire is faster for continuous data trasnfer. (i know "continuous" is ambiguous. i mean large files or large amounts of data moved at once.)

Q7: So how does USB compare to IEEE-1394?
A7: While the two serial buses seem similar, they are intended to*fulfill different market and cost needs. 1394 has the potential to move*more data in a given amount of time, but is considerably more expensive*than USB due to its more complex protocol and signaling rate.*Applications that are best suited for 1394 are high quality consumer or*professional video streams and other high bandwidth entertainment*applications; all higher end consumer devices. USB is appropriate for**high and low bandwidth computer peripherals such as mass storage,video,*audio, scanners, printers, keyboards, and just about any peripheral.

USB.org where i took the paragraph from.

not including an ac adapter truly bothers me. but not including a firewire cable confuses me because firewire is superior when there is a lot of data to use and, since ipod are used as hard drives, it is strnage not to include it. firewire has been standard in apple computers since the g3s, while usb 2 is pretty new. costs are cost..and it isnt like an ipod is cheap to begin with, but i wonder what that means for apples support of firewire.

 

[tomjleeds]

I haven't read through all gazillion posts, but I hope everyone moaning about "USB only" on the iPod mini will realize that it still has a Firewire port.

You just need to supply a cable.

An awful lot of people HAVE a firewire cable lying around. If you don't, you can buy them cheap (it doesn't have to come from Apple, people!), check Froogle, for example.

So, breathe deeply, remain calm, and open wide for the chill pill.

How many times, the iPod does not have a Firewire port! It only has the dock connector, which requires an Apple-specific cable!

 

[lasuther]

The same mentality they had with the mac mini and still have with the iPod accessories.
Apple is trying to bring out cheaper products by milking those people that have always been paying premium for their items. I just think it's bad business policy from the customer focused view.

I look at it differently. Apple is not trying milk people by selling extra accesssaries. They are meeting the demands of their customer. Apple realizes that the Mac Mini user is someone who has a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. So why should they sell Mac Mini's with something the customer doesn't need?

The iPod user doesn't need a FW cable. USB will work fine or they already have a FW cable. Apple is just making sure you don't pay for something you don't need. If you need a FW cable, then get one. Most people don't.

lasuther

 

[acedickson]

So let's see...

I have a $50 Gift Card so I'll subtract $50 from each price.

Also, my iTunes library is right over 20.1GB, so I'll omit the 20GB iPod...

So which do I get?

30GB iPod Photo = $300
40GB iPod =$350
60GB iPod Photo = $400

It sounds like the 60GB would be best for you IMHO. You'd have alot of room to grow and it's a much better deal than it was yesterday....$200.00 cheaper in your case. You could save another $40.00 if you know someone in school and get the edu discount. Then you'd be looking at $360.00 + tax. The color screen is nice for the album art too.

 

[Lacero]

How many times, the iPod does not have a Firewire port! It only has the dock connector, which requires an Apple-specific cable!

The dock connector is both a firewire and USB port combined. Not just physically since the 3G ipods. Many companies sell the dock connector port.

 

[RichP]

I just went to the apple store (SoHo) and purchased an "old" 60GB photo. Its discounted to 479 (450 with student discount), comes with the dock, the case, and the firewire cable. Get them while they last!

also..they have shuffles..the 512s anyway (and yes, I had to grab one of those too!)

 

[LaMerVipere]

Ironic --> www.firewire.org

Wow. How hilarious and sad at the same time. &

 

[jettredmont]

(1)FireWire cable sold separately


Um, I don't think so. Apple wants me to upgrade my B&W do they. Firewire has always been Apple's pride and joy. Why do something like this?

Umm, that's exactly the point, isn't it?

For someone *upgrading* unless the dock connector has changed (which it hasn't), there's no need to get yet another Firewire dock cable.

Same, of course, for Windows users. No need for another cable which you most likely can't connect to your computer anyway.

As these are the two areas where Apple is seeing the most iPod growth, by far (face it; if you're a Mac user who hasn't updated your Mac in 2-3 years [since USB 2 became standard on all new Macs] then you're probably not going to be spending the change on a new iPod), this makes sense. Easy, low-impact cost savings, passed down to you and I, the customers.

Finally, the Firewire cable's not all that expensive, and if you want a dock (personally, I couldn't live without it; my iPod would get lost in the clutter of my desk if it wasn't standing upright!) then that's all you need to get as it includes the cable too.

Stop complaining. Some very nice updates. And my 40GB 4G is now a collector's item!

 

[Lacero]

I just went to the apple store (SoHo) and purchased an "old" 60GB photo. Its discounted to 479 (450 with student discount), comes with the dock, the case, and the firewire cable. Get them while they last!

also..they have shuffles..the 512s anyway (and yes, I had to grab one of those too!)

The new iPod photos probably had some under the hood improvements that may come to surface in the coming weeks. I would hold off on the enthusiasm until then.

 

[1984]

How many times, the iPod does not have a Firewire port! It only has the dock connector, which requires an Apple-specific cable!

Bingo! You can't use just any Firewire cable. You must use the Apple cable which features a Firewire connector on one end and a Dock connector on the other. Now I can understand not including the cable on the iPod mini but not including it on the iPod Photo is just ridiculous.

 

[Kingsnapped]

I bought a 4g 20gig pod two weeks ago to replace my 3g 10gb. I can't wait for this weekend when I can get to boca and return that for the 30gb photo.

...shoulda watched the buyer's guide...

 

[DM5]

So Apple drops the price by $150 on the photo ipods, and people complain now that they have to pay an extra $20 if they want a firewire cable? It's still $130 cheaper over all! Anyone ever think that they probably left out the A/V cable and dock because most users don't need them? and the ones that do can still buy them and end up paying less then they would of payed before for a photo ipod. Get real and stop complaining, if you dont have a firewire cable and want one, then order it. It's only $20 more. I'd rather pay $420 (edu) for a 60gb ipod and then an extra $20 for a cable then the $570 (edu) that it used to be!

 

[Jalexster]

It's 'only' 15 minutes for a full update even then. What if you do a partial update, if that is an option? That might make it worthwhile.

But he complaied, because he does full updates everytime.

 

[1984]

I just noticed something. The color of the lettering on the clickwheel now matches the color of the case. They all used to be gray regardless.

 

[Jalexster]

SNIP
The point is, the iPod has come and, eventually, it'll go. Obviously it won't 'go', but other manufacturers will catch up (as Creative are beginning to do) and the iPod won't dominate the market as it does today (plus the market probably won't be so lucrative in future).
SNIP

HERETIC! DIE!

Obviously I'm joking. I just hope that Apple saves its cash, so that it can contine to support itself and continue to make great products after the iPod boom it over.

...

Now I'm a heretic! I MUST PUNISH MYSELF!
<Falls down 42 stone steps>