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hm-one · Jul 21, 2004, 02:34 PM

I just picked it up at the Valley Fair store, they seemed to have quite a few. Surprisingly the Palo Alto store didn't have any?!

Anyway first impressions:

Theh ipod feels more 'solid'. It actually feels sturdier than my older 15 gig or maybe that's just in my head. The clicking sound while scrolling sounds slighty different with a lighter sound than the 3g. The click wheel is very nice but it's going to get some time to get used to as I'm so familiar with the 3g touch buttons.

The backlight is a blueish/white color that isn't as blue as some of the later generation 3g ipods. Same number of games. I'm downloading my music as I type and I'll let you know more once I get to play with it.

wataru · Jul 21, 2004, 02:36 PM

Oh boy, yet another 4G iPod thread. You couldn't have used one of the million existing ones?

hm-one · Jul 21, 2004, 02:55 PM

calm down there werent any threads about people who got them so i made a new one. get over it

emdash · Jul 21, 2004, 03:02 PM

Sooo... do the words/symbols in the click wheel really light up when the backlight comes on, as that picture on Spymac indicated?

If so, are they blue/white, not red?

Thanks.

johnzoidberg · Jul 21, 2004, 03:10 PM

I ordered my iPod Monday morning, and FedEx dropped it off here today. Here are my impressions of my 4G 20GB:

I like the Click Wheel. The clicker seems a bit quieter than past models, with a softer "click" sound coming from the internal speaker. Actually, it sounds like a "snip" rather than a "click". Anyway, scrolling action is just as flawless as 3G iPods. The screen has a very white backlight, with a hint of purple. The screen seems SLIGHTLY sharper than my 3G 15GB iPod. I think the screen is a larger version of the ones used in the minis. They look exactly alike in terms or pixel/background color and sharpness. The reduction of thickness is not really noticeable from my 15GB, partly because it's only a millimeter. It does FEEL thinner, though. just barely. The Click Wheel feels a bit stiffer than the wheels on the minis I've held at the store.

The Shuffle Songs feature on the main menu does not turn global shuffling on (songs and albums) and off, like the menu option in Settings. What it does is create a temporary Now Playing list of all your songs on the iPod (with the exception of audiobook files) and plays them in a random order. Select "Shuffle Songs" again and it reloads all the songs on the iPod in random order again.

The symbols on the Click Wheel do not light up. The picture was a Photoshopped image. It would have been awesome if they did light up, though. Oh well.

The Click Wheel itself is a light, matte grey. I was hoping it would have that anodised aluminum finish, like the Hold button or the trackpad on my Al PowerBook G4.

hm-one · Jul 21, 2004, 03:11 PM

nope, they don't light up. if they did it would be really slick looking. in my opinion it even looks a tad bit cheap the way the clickwheel is made but i'm sure it'll grow on me. it sort of looks like a piece of smooth grey cardboard floating on top of the ipod!

i'm not complaining it's a slight cosmetic feature that i'm sure most people wouldn't care about. the 3g red-lit buttons look cooler though. if they could have incorporated that into the click wheel then this thing would look spectacular.

still, i'm loving this thing

johnzoidberg · Jul 21, 2004, 03:18 PM

Originally posted by hm-one:
it sort of looks like a piece of smooth grey cardboard floating on top of the ipod!

Yeah, it looks a bit awkward. It's growing on me, though. The reason it looks like it's floating is the way light is refracted in the clear layer of plastic, and that the wheel is opaque. It seems to elevate (visually, not physically) the Click Wheel above the plastic face.

I guess I was used to the 3G iPods.

ort888 · Jul 21, 2004, 03:39 PM

Originally posted by johnzoidberg:
The Shuffle Songs feature on the main menu does not turn global shuffling on (songs and albums) and off, like the menu option in Settings. What it does is create a temporary Now Playing list of all your songs on the iPod (with the exception of audiobook files) and plays them in a random order. Select "Shuffle Songs" again and it reloads all the songs on the iPod in random order again.

That's so stupid. Who would want that? I was upset about not being able to have this feature on my 3G iPod but now I could care less.

What I really want is a way to set my playlists to play with shuffle on, but have my albums play with the shuffle off. It's really frustrating having to go to the main menu and click through about 3 menus to turn shuffle on or off and it's pretty much impossible to when driving.

Apple should offer much more options for the iPod interface. I have a feeling that they are trying to hard to keep it really simple. They should try doing it lie the old simple finder on OS9. Allow a way to switch it over to a more feature rich interface, or keep it simple for the less technicallly inclined users. Everyone wins.

badtz · Jul 21, 2004, 04:08 PM

can this iPod [finally] play MIXED CDs without gaps??

anti-sleep · Jul 21, 2004, 04:48 PM

That's an inherent problem with mp3's, the iPod can't help it.

badtz · Jul 21, 2004, 05:22 PM

Originally posted by anti-sleep:
That's an inherent problem with mp3's, the iPod can't help it.

is it the same with AAC?

how can players such as winamp play it without gaps? [and iTunes, sort of]

and why couldn't apple incorporate this in the iPods software?

anti-sleep · Jul 21, 2004, 05:33 PM

They can never actually fix it, but they can hide it fairly well by using the crossfade playback feature.

I agree, that would be a very nice feature for the iPod.

HotSoup · Jul 21, 2004, 06:07 PM

Please post some pictures if ya can, dude...

mdc · Jul 21, 2004, 06:45 PM

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...postid=2091684
pics, i created a new thread so there is a jpg orgy warning.

ug.mac · Jul 21, 2004, 08:13 PM

I'm in Vancouver, Canada, I've ordered my 20GB 4G iPod at July 19, but current status is still "Open", "Est ship" date is today (21, july), so maybe they going to ship my iPod tonight?? Btw, I've requested laser engraving, did it gonna takes more time before shipping?

Any idea?

uG.mAc

hardcat1970 · Jul 21, 2004, 08:25 PM

I got my 40 gb in apple soho today and the backlight is blue. I thought someone mentioned it that the backlight is the same as previous generation, but the 4G ipod is definitely blue.

funkboy · Jul 21, 2004, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by ug.mac:
Btw, I've requested laser engraving, did it gonna takes more time before shipping?

It usually does I think.

I ordered mine today (July 21), and it will ship out on or before July 23rd, or so the order status says. Can't wait to get it - got a 20GB model. My first iPod, so I'm stoked.

I was going to order it from Amazon to get the $50 gift certificate, but Amazon's expected ship date was September 23rd... yes, September. Guh. No thank you.

ug.mac · Jul 21, 2004, 08:52 PM

Thanks, funkboy,

But there is one thing strange:

I order this iPod by using educational discount, plus shipping and laser engraving is CAD$428.00, final price is CAD$490.06 plus PST/GST, this price is same to the price in email from Apple store; but when I login to my account @ apple store, total price of my order is CAD$489.16. So I check my credit card online statements to find out how much exactly, guess what? My balance is ZERO, but available credit reduction is CAD$502 dollars, and there is NO transaction record.

This is my first time order stuff from Apple store, so is this normal?

uG.mAc

macaddict0001 · Jul 21, 2004, 11:32 PM

they don't charge your card until they ship it.