Grrrr, iPod mini!

[Jo-Kun]

Also, on an interesting note... someone in my class traded his BRAND NEW silver iPod Mini (w/ approx 300 songs) with another kid's GEN 1 iPod w/ 5gig(looks REALLY REALLY old and battered). Traded just like that? I personally thought that was a good deal for the guy getting the iPod mini. The guy trading his iPod mini said that he needed "more space" to fit "more songs". It doesn't fit that much more songs, does it?

you think this might be a rip off... ok he won't be able to store that much more songs, but since I've read all the nice stories (being sarcastic that is ;-) ) about the new iPod MINI I think the one who gets the 1st gen has the better deal, the Mini looks nicer maybe, but the other one is reliable ok mybe he'll need to switch battery soon... but still he gains 1GB storage and a lot of stability

BTW I want the 60GB coming out soon... (since those disks are released :-d) my 30GB gets to small... I have 38GB of tunes (real GB, not the GB mentioned on boxes of harddisks )

 

[yoda13]

...worry me! After reading the article, it seems as though the problem only surfaces after about 3-4 weeks later. The problem for me is- I get to open it after school's out, and right after that, we go to Europe. So, if the static problems occurs while I'm in Europe, I'm pretty screwed. Also, after the Europe trip, I'm going to be back in Miami. Even if they replace it there, my PowerBook (w/ all the songs on iTunes) is here in SD, so I won't even be able to listen to music! AUGHHHHH!!!!!!!

What are the odds of a iPod Mini developing static? 1/4? It sounds like it's 2/5 of something

I am not sure how easy it would be to put numbers on the amount of people who are having problems. There are definately a number of them to be sure, but there are also at least as many, if not more who aren't having any problems. I can certainly understand your frustration should your mini malfunction while you are vacationing. Having said that, if I were you, I would not bar trouble before it happens and just enjoy my mini, perhpas being a little more careful with it than you normally would, until you can get back home and replace it and reload it easily if it were to malfunciton. I have only had mine a couple of weeks now, but I have used it pretty heavily and have no issues as of yet. Enjoy it, it is a cool little toy

 

[diehldun]

Hmmm...

I just got a call from my cousin who just bought a Blue iPod Mini. His has "sound distortion issues." He is waiting to take it back to his Apple Store (they do not have blue in stock).

 

[yoda13]

I just got a call from my cousin who just bought a Blue iPod Mini. His has "sound distortion issues." He is waiting to take it back to his Apple Store (they do not have blue in stock).

What do you mean "sound distortion issues?" Is he having the static problem? Or is it something else? When does it do it?

 

[diehldun]

Sound Distortion Issues

Apparently relate to the Static problem and skipping

 

[yoda13]

Apparently relate to the Static problem and skipping

I am curious, when did he get this iPod? Was he a really early adopter, or did he only recently obtain his?

 

[diehldun]

What's interesting is the fact that he just got his. Oh no!

 

[yoda13]

What's interesting is the fact that he just got his. Oh no!

This is not good news. I had fervently hoped that the reason that they were taking so long to ship wasn't soley related to the scarcity of hard drives and was also do to the fact that Apple might be fixing this problem. Oh well, I am keeping my fingers crossed. I haven't had any problems with mine as of yet, and I have had it for several weeks and used it a bunch.

 

[Powerbook G5]

I'm not too worried. If it develops an issue, I'll have Apple replace it. Hell, by then I bet my girlfriend will have put a few scratches on it, so why not get a fresh unscratched one after a month. Considering that her cellphone is held together by tape, I am sure that it'll be in need of a new case by then.

 

[yoda13]

I'm not too worried. If it develops an issue, I'll have Apple replace it. Hell, by then I bet my girlfriend will have put a few scratches on it, so why not get a fresh unscratched one after a month. Considering that her cellphone is held together by tape, I am sure that it'll be in need of a new case by then.

I am going to do my very best to adopt your attitude. I just have low tolerance for things that don't work. But you are right and there is no point in worrying about something that hasn't happened yet I have enjoyed it very much to this point and I am going to continue to do so.

 

[diehldun]

I'm not too worried. If it develops an issue, I'll have Apple replace it. Hell, by then I bet my girlfriend will have put a few scratches on it, so why not get a fresh unscratched one after a month. Considering that her cellphone is held together by tape, I am sure that it'll be in need of a new case by then.

So even if there are scratches to it (cosmetically), Apple will replace it? Wow...

 

[mkrishnan]

Foolish me thought it couldn't take that long to fill up my mini as I was leaving for work. It took about 15 minutes, then I changed my mind about the automated playlist iTunes will generate for the mini, so I reloaded it with my own selected playlists. So another 15 minutes, and now there's only 89 MB left on there. I think my collection may be too big for a mini, sadly...

Wow...that's a long time! It only took that long to load 10+ gigs on my iPod 3G. But I totally got it while i was home from work for lunch (I was home from work for lunch cuz I knew it was coming, but that's a side story ) and I was filling it, and sitting there going, "fill! fill! fill! I gotta go back to work!"

When iTunes automatically picks songs to fit on it, does it pretty much auto-fill the Mini? I gotta do housekeeping on my recorded radio shows cuz otherwise I'm going to need this feature on my 15GB soon.

 

[diehldun]

Wow...that's a long time! It only took that long to load 10+ gigs on my iPod 3G. But I totally got it while i was home from work for lunch (I was home from work for lunch cuz I knew it was coming, but that's a side story ) and I was filling it, and sitting there going, "fill! fill! fill! I gotta go back to work!"

When iTunes automatically picks songs to fit on it, does it pretty much auto-fill the Mini? I gotta do housekeeping on my recorded radio shows cuz otherwise I'm going to need this feature on my 15GB soon.

So in that way, iTunes automatically picks what songs? What if I want to choose what songs I want in the iPod?

 

[yoda13]

So in that way, iTunes automatically picks what songs? What if I want to choose what songs I want in the iPod?

It is no problem, all you have to do is click on the iPod button at the bottom of the iTunes window to bring up the iPod options and you can choose which songs and playlists you copy over, or at least that is what I did.

 

[diehldun]

Then, what's the purpose of the iPod doing that automatically? Does it organize it so that it's most efficient (space?)

 

[yoda13]

Then, what's the purpose of the iPod doing that automatically? Does it organize it so that it's most efficient (space?)

Well, I think one of the main purposes of it is that a lot of people have way more music than the mini can hold, so by having this function, it allows people to quickly sync their minis without having to go through all of their music. So it is kind of a time saving feature, at least to my way of thinking. As far as it being more efficient in using space, I wouldn't think that it is, but I am not for sure. You still have the same amount of space. I am not sure how it goes about selecting what songs it puts on there. At any rate, I like to know exactly what is on my mini, so I set it up manually

 

[mkrishnan]

Well, I think one of the main purposes of it is that a lot of people have way more music than the mini can hold, so by having this function, it allows people to quickly sync their minis without having to go through all of their music.

Yeah, I think the basic idea is that before the Mini, a lot of iTunes users had 10-20 gigs of music (I think when they did a MacPolls, the avg. amount came out to around 2500 songs, which would be slightly over 10?). So most full-size iPod users sync their whole library (I've still got about 600 MB left ). But most mini users have more than 4 GB of music. So I guess it just omits things with zero playcount for the whole album, etc....

There are prolly a good number of users who wouldn't want to wade through 4000 songs to decide which ones to include. I probably would, but that's another matter.

 

[sketchy]

Yeah, I think the basic idea is that before the Mini, a lot of iTunes users had 10-20 gigs of music (I think when they did a MacPolls, the avg. amount came out to around 2500 songs, which would be slightly over 10?). So most full-size iPod users sync their whole library (I've still got about 600 MB left ). But most mini users have more than 4 GB of music. So I guess it just omits things with zero playcount for the whole album, etc....

There are prolly a good number of users who wouldn't want to wade through 4000 songs to decide which ones to include. I probably would, but that's another matter.

I walked in to the Short Pump apple store and picked one up two weeks ago -- no waiting or lists. -- they have some blue and silvers ones in stock. no waiting. I also have a 20 GB model and find little use of it now. I used to DJ and have over 40 GB of music.. you have to ask yourself -- do I really need all that stuff with me? I find that 4 GB of music is more them I need. If I was driving cross country I might want more stuff, but for the gym and driving around 4 is enough for me.

Dave

 

[diehldun]

Yeah, I think the basic idea is that before the Mini, a lot of iTunes users had 10-20 gigs of music (I think when they did a MacPolls, the avg. amount came out to around 2500 songs, which would be slightly over 10?). So most full-size iPod users sync their whole library (I've still got about 600 MB left ). But most mini users have more than 4 GB of music. So I guess it just omits things with zero playcount for the whole album, etc....

There are prolly a good number of users who wouldn't want to wade through 4000 songs to decide which ones to include. I probably would, but that's another matter.

How long does it take then for each song on the iPod mini? 1 minute?

 

[yoda13]

How long does it take then for each song on the iPod mini? 1 minute?

I assume that you are talking about how long it takes to sync each song to the mini. If I am wrong about what you mean, I am sorry, but it took me something less than ten minutes to sync my mini, and I put about three or so gigs worth of my music on it. I was really surprised at how quick it synced for me, I was expecting a longer time.

 

[diehldun]

Pardon my ignorance...

but if they say that the battery on the iPod mini has X many hours (recharching cycles), then how do you sync the iPod? (In other words, what if you just want to leave the iPod on the dock because it looks nicer than on the desk, and you can sync with the PowerBook, does that mean it automatically charges? (even if I don't want to))

Because when I get home, I don't want to leave it on the desk (knowing me, it will somehow fall off) or on a clip; I'd prefer if it was resting on the dock. then, I can easily transfer stuff from the PowerBook to the iPod. But then, if I do that everyday when I get home, it'll charge and the battery will not last as long...

What to do

 

[yoda13]

but if they say that the battery on the iPod mini has X many hours (recharching cycles), then how do you sync the iPod? (In other words, what if you just want to leave the iPod on the dock because it looks nicer than on the desk, and you can sync with the PowerBook, does that mean it automatically charges? (even if I don't want to))

Because when I get home, I don't want to leave it on the desk (knowing me, it will somehow fall off) or on a clip; I'd prefer if it was resting on the dock. then, I can easily transfer stuff from the PowerBook to the iPod. But then, if I do that everyday when I get home, it'll charge and the battery will not last as long...

What to do

I believe that the iPod only charges on the dock when it needs to, once it is at capacity, it quits charging. There is a meter that displays on the screen of the iPod that blinks if it is charging and is solid when its full and done charging.

 

[diehldun]

I believe that the iPod only charges on the dock when it needs to, once it is at capacity, it quits charging. There is a meter that displays on the screen of the iPod that blinks if it is charging and is solid when its full and done charging.

That's good. I thought it would still be charging, even if it didn't need to, and would thus waste battery recharge cycles.

 

[yoda13]

That's good. I thought it would still be charging, even if it didn't need to, and would thus waste battery recharge cycles.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about that. I leave mine on the dock all the time. When I got home today, it had been drained nearly all the way down and it charged it back up and now it is just sitting there on the dock. The battery meter is no longer indicating that it is charging. It is just sitting there. So I wouldn't worry about it at all. Enjoy the little beast

 

[mkrishnan]

How long does it take then for each song on the iPod mini? 1 minute?

There's kinda an overhead issue with syncing. Meaning in my experience, syncing any less than ~5 new songs on a full player takes almost same time regardless of the number of songs. But a sync with just a few new songs takes a minute or less, depending on whether you have an AV program that tries to scan your iPod for virii on sync or you have iSync set to try to tooth your cell phone and update the iPod's calendar.

If you don't do either of those, def. <1 min.