iPod Had lots of problems w/ ipod mini, have ipods gotten better?

[amycishere]

I'm thinking of buying one of the new ipods when they come out. However, when I purchased a 2G ipod mini, it kept skipping all the time. I even sent it away to be "fixed" by Apple and they said there was no problem. Kept right on skipping with the slightest of movement. After about 6 months, I just gave it to my sister. I have heard from people that there were problems with the ipod mini.

Can anyone tell me honestly, have they improved?

 

[mkrishnan]

Mmm, I think yours might have been atypical, to be honest, Amy. Either that, or you have corrupt music files. My third generation full size iPod (i.e. older than your Mini) withstood four hours of continuous running (me running, that is) during a marathon without a skip. In hundreds and hundreds of running miles, I think I remember it skipping maybe just a couple of times. Sometimes if the files are messed up, though it might skip a lot because of that, but it isn't due to a hardware defect. In that case you really just have to rip the files again.

Anyway, though, perhaps look at the Nano (or possibly the Shuffle). They definitely will not skip unless you have corrupted music files, as they have no hard drive to begin with. I very recently got a second generation Nano so that I can use the Nike+iPod kit (so I stopped running with my old full-size, finally), and I really love it.

Perhaps in particular look at the Apple refurb store for good deals on the Nano. That'd be my recommendation. But also try to keep in mind that everyone ships out a bad product once in a while, Apple included. Most Minis didn't have the kind of issues you describe. It's pretty unlikely (although not completely impossible) that you'll get hit by lightning twice.

 

[amycishere]

Thanks so much!