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mbperk · 08:50 PM

Not sure if I should start a new thread so I here is my take on a new 15GB:

Background, had first 5GB, then upgraded to 10GB slimmer model when they came out.

I suggest you go out now and buy one of these. So much better than my old 10GB. I was surprised of how much smaller it was compared to my old 10.

Love:

Size, Size, Size!
New Buttons (Easy to accidently hit buttons. ie I can simply rub across my shirt, and they start clicking) Press the and hold the menu button and the cool backlight works.
Screen (Much Better Contrast)
Software Box (Says Enjoy on the Face of it..how cool)
Did I mention the size? I am still amazed of how much smaller/lighter it is.
You can listen to music while the iPod is plugged into the firewire port now. I do not remember being able to this before.
Dock: When I first picked it up I was expecting it to be light as a feather, but It is very heavy so that it will not tip over. Very nice.

Gripes:

Metal Backing: Still picks up prints, and would easily scratch. I wish they would offer a plastic backing for those who want to carry it without a case.

Well that is all I have for now. I will have some pics up this afternoon.

**EDIT** When you scroll through a song/book it now displays progress bars.

AssassyN · May 2, 2003, 12:24 PM

Very nice! Sounds like you're enjoying it! So I'm betting it has software version 2.0 loaded on it?

BTW, are you going to the SouthPoint Apple Store in Durham tonight for the iPod party?

mbperk · May 2, 2003, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Very nice! Sounds like you're enjoying it! So I'm betting it has software version 2.0 loaded on it?

BTW, are you going to the SouthPoint Apple Store in Durham tonight for the iPod party?

Yes 2.0 is on there. Another thing I noticed is that when you press the select button three times when you are listening to a song or in my case a book 4 or 5 large dots appear where the progress bar is. I did not want to mess up my place so I did not press them to find out. I guess they are various bookmarks.

And I will not be able to make it tonight. I wish I could, but I have other obligations.

I will be going tomorrow, I just hope they still have some shirts left.

AJ · May 2, 2003, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by mbperk:
Yes 2.0 is on there. Another thing I noticed is that when you press the select button three times when you are listening to a song or in my case a book 4 or 5 large dots appear where the progress bar is. I did not want to mess up my place so I did not press them to find out. I guess they are various bookmarks.

And I will not be able to make it tonight. I wish I could, but I have other obligations.

I will be going tomorrow, I just hope they still have some shirts left.

That enables you to rate the tracks "on-the-go"

AJ

mbperk · May 2, 2003, 01:19 PM

Originally posted by AJ:
That enables you to rate the tracks "on-the-go"

AJ

Nice. Thanks AJ.

andretan · May 2, 2003, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by mbperk:
Love:
You can listen to music while the iPod is plugged into the firewire port now. I do not remember being able to this before.

Hmm? What do ya mean?

Busemann · May 2, 2003, 02:35 PM

Originally posted by andretan:
Hmm? What do ya mean?

It means that you can listen to the iPod even when its connected to your Mac. You couldn't do that with the old ones.

geekwagon · May 2, 2003, 02:47 PM

Originally posted by Busemann:
It means that you can listen to the iPod even when its connected to your Mac. You couldn't do that with the old ones.

And thank God for that. The dock would be pretty useless if you couldn't. I was really hoping for this feature.

aaanorton · May 2, 2003, 02:57 PM

mbperk, could you give this a whirl? Try docking the iPod and plugging the dock's sound-out to your computer's sound-in port and play music through your speakers. I'm really interested to know if this works or not.

andretan · May 2, 2003, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by Busemann:
It means that you can listen to the iPod even when its connected to your Mac. You couldn't do that with the old ones.

I thought you could with the old iPod?

Can anyone confirm? Thanks.
I might be wrong

sanford · May 2, 2003, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by andretan:
I thought you could with the old iPod?

Can anyone confirm? Thanks.
I might be wrong

Nope. You could play it while it was plugged into the AC adapter, but not while plugged to the Mac. That's good news. Amen.

I'm shuttling off to the Apple Store tonight and see if I can't be the first to get a new 30GB there. Free T-shirt, too. The 30GB is not quite as slim as the 15GB, but believe it or not, I need the space to hold all my music.

Anomalous · May 2, 2003, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the review. Sounds good. Now all I need is some money...

laseca · May 2, 2003, 06:53 PM

...

aaanorton · May 2, 2003, 06:56 PM

Originally posted by laseca:
Nonsense. I just connected my 5GB iPod to my PowerMac via FireWire, cranked up iTunes 3 and it plays all the music off my iPod no problem. I don't have the same MP3 files on my PowerMac's hard drive so iTunes is definitely playing them off my iPod.

The whole point is to have the iPod playing the music, not the computer.

mbperk · 08:51 PM

Finally loaded some pictures. By the way I thought it would be cute to have my 11 month old daughter hold the iPod for a couple of shots...bad idea. First thing she did was put it in her mouth, and her teeth scratched the front. Newman!!

New iPod Pics

mbperk · May 2, 2003, 08:49 PM

Originally posted by aaanorton:
mbperk, could you give this a whirl? Try docking the iPod and plugging the dock's sound-out to your computer's sound-in port and play music through your speakers. I'm really interested to know if this works or not.

Sorry aaanorton I do have the the correct cables to pull this off. I wish I did, as I would like to know if this works too.

Anyone?

SwarmyCurve · May 2, 2003, 09:06 PM

Those were some funny photo's!

I'm getting the 15G model in about 1 month exactly as a graduation gift from my parents. My other gift is for them to pay for my college, lol!

There is one thing I don't quite get (I have little experience with the iPod)... Is charging with the dock much faster than doing it just over firewire or something? Additionally, how useful is the remote? These are old questions, I know, but I might as well ask here.

mbperk · May 2, 2003, 09:35 PM

Originally posted by SwarmyCurve:
Those were some funny photo's!

I'm getting the 15G model in about 1 month exactly as a graduation gift from my parents. My other gift is for them to pay for my college, lol!

There is one thing I don't quite get (I have little experience with the iPod)... Is charging with the dock much faster than doing it just over firewire or something? Additionally, how useful is the remote? These are old questions, I know, but I might as well ask here.

Nice presents. I am not sure which is faster for charging, but I would think they are the same as long as your mac does not go to sleep.

As for me I never used the remote with my 10GB. But I may with this one since the buttons have been moved, and I can no longer press them through the case.

riverfreak · May 2, 2003, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by sanford:
Nope. You could play it while it was plugged into the AC adapter, but not while plugged to the Mac. That's good news. Amen.

Actually, this is only partially true. It is true that the old iPods couldn't be played when connected to your computer's firewire port. However, the iPod itself still mounted, launching iTunes. From there you could play anything, which would then play through the computers speakers/sound out.

riverfreak · May 2, 2003, 10:21 PM

Originally posted by mbperk:
Nice presents. I am not sure which is faster for charging, but I would think they are the same as long as your mac does not go to sleep.

I've found that with my original 5gb and now a 20gb, that charging is substantially faster from the AC adaptor.

No statistics, just an overall sense.

aaanorton · May 2, 2003, 11:40 PM

Originally posted by riverfreak:
Actually, this is only partially true. It is true that the old iPods couldn't be played when connected to your computer's firewire port. However, the iPod itself still mounted, launching iTunes. From there you could play anything...

...through iTunes. Which, unfortunately, misses the point of having the iPod play the music instead of your computer.

aaanorton · May 2, 2003, 11:43 PM

Originally posted by mbperk:
Sorry aaanorton I do have the the correct cables to pull this off. I wish I did, as I would like to know if this works too.

Anyone?

That's cool. The point is partially moot now anyway, as I went out and bought my 15GB from the Pasadena store an hour ago.
Thanks anyway. I'll post back after I test this.

Jayman20 · May 3, 2003, 02:18 AM

Thanks for the review, those are some great pics. I also upgraded from the 10 slim to the 15. I was amazed at the size difference as well. I didnt think much of it looking at the specs on paper, but it really appears to be quite a bit smaller. The only thing I was dissapointed with was the belkin FM transmitter. I was really expecting a bit more out of this device, but from what I read FM transmitters in general aren't all that hot so it might be normal

ngrundy · May 3, 2003, 04:25 AM

out of intrest does the dock have only 1 firewire port or does it have 2 or does it have the same time of connector as the iPod itself has?

just trying to work out if i'm going to need a firewire hub or an extra cable or anything to make it all hook up to the powerbook with the disk drives i have on it already.

zac4mac · May 3, 2003, 09:54 AM

The dock has 3 connections - one in the bay for the base of the 'Pod, one at the back for the cable and an audio out 1/8" mini jack.

The new cable connects to either the 'Pod's bottom port or the dock and has a FW connector on the other end. The new connector has "ears" on the side like the ADC connector on a Cinema Display to release it. I didn't see them at first, but felt them.

Wow, somehow my "language" pref changed from English to Dutch. Glad it wasn't Chinese or something. I can halfway figure out Nederlander...

pjmurphy · May 3, 2003, 10:13 AM

my first impression was just how small and light this thing really is!! (I have the 15gb).

However, after taking it to the gym and using it for a day, I have to say the sensitivity of the buttons is excessive!

The lightest brush and they are activated!! Kinda annoying.. I will have to adapt but keep this mind..

Other than that.. another gorgeous Apple creation!

AJ · May 3, 2003, 12:35 PM

Originally posted by pjmurphy:
my first impression was just how small and light this thing really is!! (I have the 15gb).

However, after taking it to the gym and using it for a day, I have to say the sensitivity of the buttons is excessive!

The lightest brush and they are activated!! Kinda annoying.. I will have to adapt but keep this mind..

Other than that.. another gorgeous Apple creation!

Hold switch is designed to negate this entirely...

cambro · May 3, 2003, 01:12 PM

How about battery life?

Is that any good in comparison to the old ones? Do you get 8 hours? How about battery life when off and not plugged in or on?

pjmurphy · May 3, 2003, 01:30 PM

uuhh, yeah AJ, the hold switch is the obvious solution however I was simply noting that the buttons are extremely sensitive..

re: battery life. haven't really monitored too closely..

misc · May 4, 2003, 11:10 AM

Originally posted by zac4mac:
The dock has 3 connections - one in the bay for the base of the 'Pod, one at the back for the cable and an audio out 1/8" mini jack.

The new cable connects to either the 'Pod's bottom port or the dock and has a FW connector on the other end. The new connector has "ears" on the side like the ADC connector on a Cinema Display to release it. I didn't see them at first, but felt them.

Okay, but lets say I have two firewire ports on my computer. One for my DV camera and one for a CD-RW. My CD-RW is only on when i'm burning CD's so I can't plug the dock into the port on the back of that and my camcorder doesn't have another port. Does the dock have a port on the back so I can plug the dock into my computer and then the CD-RW into the dock?

zigzag · May 4, 2003, 11:32 AM

Originally posted by misc:
Okay, but lets say I have two firewire ports on my computer. One for my DV camera and one for a CD-RW. My CD-RW is only on when i'm burning CD's so I can't plug the dock into the port on the back of that and my camcorder doesn't have another port. Does the dock have a port on the back so I can plug the dock into my computer and then the CD-RW into the dock?

No, the dock only has one FW port.

Don't know if it will work when chained to another device.

dlefebvre · May 4, 2003, 11:44 AM

Does the iPod (old or new) support crossfades? Let's say you worked many hours on your ultimate playlist with custom ins and outs crosfades and all, will the iPod take that in consideration? Or will it just play the songs without crossfades?

I'm about to get a 15gig before my trip to Europe. I carried a CD player last time and i don't want to do this ever again.

off/lang · May 4, 2003, 12:29 PM

I just got my new 15 gb iPod last night (upgraded from gen 2 10gb).

New features that really make a difference:

1. Size. It is so thin!
2. The DOCK is so handy. So handy.
3. Playlist on the go. (One complaint about that: it is only cleared when you sync the iPod with iTunes, it would be nice to be able to clear it on-the-go too).
4. You can now rate songs on the iPod (click the center button twice and you'll get to the stars, then just scroll up or down to rate). I was slightly annoyed this wasn't on the 10gb.
5. The ability to promote items to the main menu is cool.

It is well worth the upgrade!

Blackcrayon · May 4, 2003, 12:47 PM

Originally posted by off/lang:
I just got my new 15 gb iPod last night (upgraded from gen 2 10gb).

New features that really make a difference:

1. Size. It is so thin!
2. The DOCK is so handy. So handy.
3. Playlist on the go. (One complaint about that: it is only cleared when you sync the iPod with iTunes, it would be nice to be able to clear it on-the-go too).

It is well worth the upgrade!

You can certainly clear the On-The-Go Playlist. Once you add a song, if you enter the playlist there is an option to "Clear Playlist"...

I've messed around a bit with the hypertext notes feature.. Pretty cool (although not yet sure how I can personally use it

I created a simple page with a link to another page (you select links as you scroll with the scrollwheel).. And on the second page created a link back to the first page, and a link to a song... Everything worked fine.. I could see it being used for some sort of miniature kiosk or someting... Or maybe a way to implement a decent (better than Contacts) way of cataloging Lyrics... With links to the actual songs...

off/lang · May 4, 2003, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by Blackcrayon:
You can certainly clear the On-The-Go Playlist. Once you add a song, if you enter the playlist there is an option to "Clear Playlist"...

You're right, silly me.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 4, 2003, 07:34 PM

Did the old iPods come with that neat little bag also? I don't mean that belt clip bag.

mbperk · 03:11 PM

I loaded up some new ones that compare the old 10GB (slim model) vs new 15GB with 2 CD jewel cases. Funny thing is the new 15 is actually slimmer than the 2 cases as Steve pointed out. Maybe he meant the new 30 was the same as 2 CD jewel cases. Check them out.