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ipods SUCK.

M

MacVM

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 1, 2005
92
0
I've had my ipod for a little over a year now. From day one, it has been babied with a $50 case and has been used MAYBE once a week. For some time now, I've been getting the battery charging icon with a triangle that has an exclamation in it. I've been trying to charge it on my ibook, as well as someone else's, it just doesn't hold it's charge! I've tried resetting it and that worked once, but to no avail and now it refuses to do even that. I called apple tech last night and the guy tells me, first of all, I'm out of warranty. Secondly, it's probably a hard drive problem, so I might as well "just get a new one." I was appalled. Why would I pay $300 again for a product that I know is deficient? Besides, who can afford that?!? HELP ME. :confused:
 
MacVM said:
I've had my ipod for a little over a year now. From day one, it has been babied with a $50 case and has been used MAYBE once a week. For some time now, I've been getting the battery charging icon with a triangle that has an exclamation in it. I've been trying to charge it on my ibook, as well as someone else's, it just doesn't hold it's charge! I've tried resetting it and that worked once, but to no avail and now it refuses to do even that. I called apple tech last night and the guy tells me, first of all, I'm out of warranty. Secondly, it's probably a hard drive problem, so I might as well "just get a new one." I was appalled. Why would I pay $300 again for a product that I know is deficient? Besides, who can afford that?!? HELP ME. :confused:
Click to expand...

Don't buy a new one, you can trade it in for a replacement for $60 at any Apple Store. Or you can look into a $25 battery replacement at most Apple (iPod) Authorized Resellers, like CompUSA. Also, you could take it to an Apple Store and have a Genius look at it. They don't care if you are in warranty or not, they just want to help. Ever since Apple started the stores, that has been my primary source for help with hardware issues.

Good luck.

TEG
 
Or you could flog it on eBay — broken ones still go for a surprisingly large amount of cash. I agree the situation is far from ideal though.
 
ipods far from suck, hard drives and batteries suck! it is actually easier than youd think to replace either component
 
speakerwizard said:
ipods far from suck, hard drives and batteries suck! it is actually easier than youd think to replace either component
Click to expand...

This is generally the case. Most people treat their iPods like they would a cell phone and toss it around, not realizing that it's a bit fragile. I'm not saying that this is this guy's problem, but most people don't understand the concept that it's essentially a computer.

And so iPod sucks cause you've had one problem with it? Well then automobiles suck, PCs suck, your cell phone sucks...pretty much everything. Fancy that.
 
The Apple tech told you it was a hard drive problem? What a bunch of bologna.

Just buy a new battery from somewhere. That'll fix the problem (although it's odd that it failed so quickly -- did you follow Apple's battery recommendations?). I purchased mine from Otherworldcomputing for under $30. It's a bit tricky to install, but well worth it.
 
Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions, guys, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, there aren't any Apple stores in my state to get help from the Genius bar, and I don't know how soon I can get to one in the next state over. Should I be looking to replace the battery then?

By the way, "ipods suck" was a way of me expressing my frustration, perhaps inadequately, but are you really making a fuss over that?
 
MacVM said:
Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions, guys, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, there aren't any Apple stores in my state to get help from the Genius bar, and I don't know how soon I can get to one in the next state over. Should I be looking to replace the battery then?

By the way, "ipods suck" was a way of me expressing my frustration, perhaps inadequately, but are you really making a fuss over that?
Click to expand...

Well the title is kinda headline grabbing! :)
 
have you tried charging it with the USB charge block and not through the computer? sometimes that works when the computer doesn't.

if you are unwilling to spend the big bucks on a new one (they're very nice by the by), spring for a new battery. based on your description, it is most likely not the hard drive.

that said, if you can manage to get to an Apple store, you should do that first.

the title is a bit off-putting.
 
MacVM said:
By the way, "ipods suck" was a way of me expressing my frustration, perhaps inadequately, but are you really making a fuss over that?
Click to expand...

Then why not just say "My iPod SUCKS"? More factual, less flamebait.
 
MacVM said:
Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions, guys, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, there aren't any Apple stores in my state to get help from the Genius bar, and I don't know how soon I can get to one in the next state over. Should I be looking to replace the battery then?

By the way, "ipods suck" was a way of me expressing my frustration, perhaps inadequately, but are you really making a fuss over that?
Click to expand...

Yes, because most people who start a thread with that title are typically trolls who have no idea what the hell they're talking about.

It would've been better to have a title that just simply stated what was at hand in a few words...something like 'My iPod has battery issues..."
 
I really hate it when people name their threads with such childish statements. You sound real intelligent saying that the iPods "SUCK." :rolleyes: If you want real help, then at least sound somewhat smart.

I cannot stand ignorance.
 
Also, I've personally purchased from this site and was very pleased:

iPod battery

They even have a video tutorial on how to open up and replace the battery on your model of iPod. Good luck!

edit: The site above appears to only service up to 4G though there are others that can provide newer models with battery replacements.
 
Ok. First of all ipods dont display a triangle over the battery icon if the battery is low/empty etc. Its obviously telling you there is something wrong with the battery. If it was just a flat battery the icon would go red and would diminish accordingly.

You cant blame Apple for you not knowing what your device is telling you. RTFM!

Try reseating the battery to see if it does anything. If it still plays up replace it with a new battery. You are out of warranty so you cant complain (you can moan however) if you wanted longer warranty you should of bought it. Things like these are non-foreseeable and as such you cannot blame anyone.
 
stuartluff said:
Ok. First of all ipods dont display a triangle over the battery icon if the battery is low/empty etc. Its obviously telling you there is something wrong with the battery. If it was just a flat battery the icon would go red and would diminish accordingly.

You cant blame Apple for you not knowing what your device is telling you. RTFM!

Try reseating the battery to see if it does anything. If it still plays up replace it with a new battery. You are out of warranty so you cant complain (you can moan however) if you wanted longer warranty you should of bought it. Things like these are non-foreseeable and as such you cannot blame anyone.
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't think you paid very much attention to my original post. I wasn't aware of what the icon meant, hence, I called Apple. I never said it was a battery issue because I didn't even know what the problem was. I told him that it looked like a battery icon with an exclamation contained in a triangle on top of it. I didn't blame Apple for not knowing what was wrong with it, I was disgusted with the suggestion that I should just buy a new one. Anyway, the post was not meant to sound argumentative or troll-ish (whiny, perhaps, but never trollish :p ). I just wanted help with my product, and I'm glad that some people have been able to provide some very valuable feedback. Thanks a lot, guys keep 'em coming.

PS How, then, do I go about changing it to my ipod sucks? And yes, I think I'll keep the "suck", even if I do come across as "ignorant." :)
 
MacVM said:
Actually, I don't think you paid very much attention to my original post. I wasn't aware of what the icon meant, hence, I called Apple. I never said it was a battery issue because I didn't even know what the problem was. I told him that it looked like a battery icon with an exclamation contained in a triangle on top of it. I didn't blame Apple for not knowing what was wrong with it, I was disgusted with the suggestion that I should just buy a new one. Anyway, the post was not meant to sound argumentative or troll-ish (whiny, perhaps, but never trollish :p ). I just wanted help with my product, and I'm glad that some people have been able to provide some very valuable feedback. Thanks a lot, guys keep 'em coming.

PS How, then, do I go about changing it to my ipod sucks? And yes, I think I'll keep the "suck", even if I do come across as "ignorant." :)
Click to expand...

I didnt say that you said it was a battery issue. Im just saying its quite obviously a battery problem. I didnt mean to sound harsh but after reading back my post it can be seen as though I am. So apologies for that. :)

Try reseating (not resetting) the battery. It could just be a loose conenction or something trivial. Theres no point in paying ********s if you can sort it yourself.

Regarding the sux bit. If you go up to your original post I think you can edit it there ;)

Hope it works for you (the ipod i mean).
 
Thank you, Stuart, I appreciate it. :) As for my ipod, it's up and running for the time being. I took Pianoman's fabulous advice and dug out my usb wall adapter and charged it that way. It seems to be doing well, so let's hope it stays that way!
 
TEG said:
Don't buy a new one, you can trade it in for a replacement for $60 at any Apple Store. Or you can look into a $25 battery replacement at most Apple (iPod) Authorized Resellers, like CompUSA. Also, you could take it to an Apple Store and have a Genius look at it. They don't care if you are in warranty or not, they just want to help. Ever since Apple started the stores, that has been my primary source for help with hardware issues.

Good luck.

TEG
Click to expand...

im curious how this works. i have a mini, if i took it in for that what would they give me? and how broken does it have to be to do this?
 
TEG said:
Don't buy a new one, you can trade it in for a replacement for $60 at any Apple Store.
Click to expand...

TEG,

Could you or someone else explain this to me? Are you saying that Apple will give you $60 as a trade-in toward a new iPod, or are you saying that your old iPod plus $60 gets you a new (or maybe refurbed) iPod? Sorry to be coming in late on this, but I am interested in what you are saying here.
 
For reference, I bought my iPod photo 60Gb in April 2005, I use it quite a lot on battery (couple of hours a day), and no problem so far, the battery time is pretty much the same as before.

So, problems after one year are not normal, and I'm glad you found a way to fix yours :)

However, when I use the USB wall adapter to load the iPod and listen to music at the same time, there is some slight interference, and a whine in the background, on the speakers. (The whine is not there when playing on battery). Hm, maybe my speakers suck...
 
KevKaos said:
TEG,

Could you or someone else explain this to me? Are you saying that Apple will give you $60 as a trade-in toward a new iPod, or are you saying that your old iPod plus $60 gets you a new (or maybe refurbed) iPod? Sorry to be coming in late on this, but I am interested in what you are saying here.
Click to expand...

I was told in February by a Mac Genius that I could bring in my iPod (or just the serial number if they don't have any of my model in stock) and they will replace my existing iPod with a refurbished one of the same generation and size. I even watched several people doing it. I believe that all you must do is mention it, it is not advertised.

TEG
 
well the fact that you only use it once a week means that you don't REALLY need an ipod and you could probably do with a mp3/cd player or an fm tuner. you should get one of those. they're cheap, you dont have to buy a $50 case and you can replace the batteries for $4.99.
 
I'm on my third iPod, the first one just died suddenly and couldn't do anything, luckily it was within the warranty period so I got a new one! the battery on that one died after a year or so but I wanted to upgrade to a new model and just needed an excuse so even though I was a bit bummed I bought a new one!!

and tough I agree that sometimes you'd wish apple made their iPods a bit more long term usable (it is my belive that most iPods start loosing batery time after a year) I would live with out it!! but on the other hand I use my iPod every day - often for the full duration of the batery...

so in my oppion iPods do not suck - the battery does!
 
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