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PyroWillGOLD Member
HoP's Barman. Trapped aged 6 months
4,437 posts
Location: Staines, United Kingdom


Posted:
I will try my best not to make this rant about the evil corporation of Apple so lets not make it into one so here goes.

Basically my Ipod is fully screwed after only having it since July last year, I sent it back to Apple adn they decided that the problem with my ipod was caused by 'accidental damage, misuse/ abuse' and therefore it is not covered under their guarantee so they sent it back to me, still broken. I dont really knwo how this is possible, true I've had it for 6 months but its not like it's beend ropped, or at least not anymore than how things accidently drop, and certainly not sufficient to warrant it breaking about 7 months, however there isnt really anything i can do, they say I broke it, I say I didnt, in the end they were the ones who the 'thorough' diagnostic. My word against theirs so I dont really think I have any kind of case for argument, or do I?

But anyway secondly assuming I cannot get them to sort it which is looking the case I need a new MP3 player, do I trust Apple again, this is my second Ipod in the last 3 years, if I got a new one and it broke would they do the same again, I dont think I can trust a new Ipod. But that brings me to my next issue.

The third problem is I have about 2500 songs on my Ipod (and therefore music library on my computer) the majority of which are the format of either MPEG-4 or M4A, I think M4A and MPEG 4 are Apple's own format and so if I went with a different brand I'm assuming I couldnt add my old music library and therefore loosing the majority of my songs which I really really don't want. Or am I wrong?

So my question is does anyone know of ways to either convert the formats or any MP3players out there despite apple that support the format? So I dont have to go back to the evil guys and get another Ipod frown

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind

Give a man a fish and he'll eat 4 a day hit a man with a brick and you can have all his fish and his wife

"Will's to pretty for prison" - Simian


Pen DravenUnofficial Lord Of Confusion And Pirate Extrodinaire
1,363 posts
Location: Nuneaton


Posted:
my iPods around 20 months old and bar the battery going in feb theres not really anything wrong with it. Wouldn't say its been abused much as such,, couple of drops and spending most of its time in various pockets.

Some men see things and say why....

I Dream of things that never were and say Why Not....?

Oh No I'm going to get Shot Alive if he finds out - DA wink


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
my ipod has one just mechanical switch including everything - the other 6 controls are all touch sensitive.

i never actually use the mechanical button either cos its the hold switch biggrin

are creative 'touch pads' not just microswitches with a plastic cover?

ipods with the newer clickwheel (4th gen and nano) have 6 microswitches (including the hold switch).

microswitches are pretty reliable these days though and generally outlast the product's extended lifetime anyway and i'm not sure, but i'd guess that they probably have a longer life than touch controls do.


cole.x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


Pen DravenUnofficial Lord Of Confusion And Pirate Extrodinaire
1,363 posts
Location: Nuneaton


Posted:
I never did like the switch from the touch sensitive to the microswitch you got with the gen 4/5 ipods frown thats why I'm glad i got my gen 3 when i did.

Probably too many years or rebuilding knakered joysticks that used the same kind of tech thats done it heh

Some men see things and say why....

I Dream of things that never were and say Why Not....?

Oh No I'm going to get Shot Alive if he finds out - DA wink


NOnactivist for HoPper liberation.
1,643 posts
Location: ffidrac


Posted:
ahh.. so i search once more the pinhole! but i'm thinking i might as well just send it back and get them to fix it given that it's well within the return period, it's still only a week since i got it after all!

as for switches... microphoto only had the on/off/lock button that is mechanical, all the rest are touch sensitive, which i find quite hard to get used to actually. I even found the ipod clickwheel pretty tough going, and could never cope with touch pads on laptops - although have got used to that one now... And generally (until i broke it) it's a pretty sturdy bit of kit with aluminium casing and everything, except for the software, which is very easy to destroy smile

Aurinko freedom agreement reached 10th Sept 2006

if it makes no sense that's because it's NOn-sense.


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
 Written by: cole

are creative 'touch pads' not just microswitches with a plastic cover?



Dunno. I touch it, I don't press buttons, it works smile But I suppose it depends how far you want to take it really, isn't a computer microchip just a massive series of teeny tiny mechanical gates (switches) and ultimately a complex mechanical device?!

I think by touch we mean you don't physically depress a button, how the touch pad works is irrelevant really, depending on what level it's described I guess?

I just updated the firmware on my creative and wow what a difference! wow It's now a lot less sensitive (one downfall I didn't like very much) and emits a small click like the ipod wheel click when you scroll. I dunno why but that click noise doens't half make it easier to use, I'm now in love with it all over again especially since I reloaded tons of much cooler music cool ubblove

Let's relight this forum ubblove


mcpPLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom


Posted:
why hadn't I found this before?

Save your computer network!

https://www.azzit.de/xbill/

also availible for linux, of course...

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
Non - if you haven't ever been able to detect it at all, then i'd say there's probably something quite terminally wrong with it. Have you tried getting other pcs to detect it, to make sure the problem is with the Zen, not your machine? And have the helpdesk minions not got back to you yet?

from empirical evidence while scrolling, i *think* the scroll bar on my Zen micro works using 5 microswitches top to bottom. But it utilises them pretty cleverly to give the impression of a single seamless scrolling interface. I'd never have noticed if cole hadn't told me.

I don't like any of this microswitchy touchpad business anyway, even now I've gotten used to it. I'd prefer to go completely the other way: huge chunky buttons and levers and switches that'd give me feedback and make satisfying *thunk* noises, but i don't think they make mp3 players like that.

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


NOnactivist for HoPper liberation.
1,643 posts
Location: ffidrac


Posted:
huzzah!! it works it works!! *does happy little dance and promptly drops it* hehe.. kidding. it is back alive! bounce

i'm still not entirely sure what went wrong, i can opnly think that the drivers or something didn't install properly, because player was fine and so was computer (and every other computer i tried on) they just didn't want to work together. But is sorted now, so i can say that the minions were actually quite helpful, they sent me two emails of suggestions, and it tooks roughly two days for them to respons each time, it just seems like months.... none of their suggestions actually made any difference until i completely wiped everything off my computer including uninstalling the hardware and then started it all again from scratch... but yay!! it works!!! so now am clogging up the memory with tunes biggrin

Aurinko freedom agreement reached 10th Sept 2006

if it makes no sense that's because it's NOn-sense.


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
YEY!! bounce bounce2

Let's relight this forum ubblove


polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
So is everyone else stuffing their MP3s players before Play or something?

I got a shiny new Zen Vision:M a couple of days ago, and it hasn't been used yet.

I'm being totally anal about sorting out my music collection (been renaming files and folders, and messing with ID3 tags and album art since thursday). I'm not sticking a random mess of files on a player that looks this good! biggrin

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


NOnactivist for HoPper liberation.
1,643 posts
Location: ffidrac


Posted:
ubblol well it'll probably be worthwhile polarity, but i discovered you can actually edit the id3 tags with the creative software they give you and since i am mostly ripping cds to mine, i'm realying on the lovely people at the CDDB database to have done it reasonably well smile and I'm trying to do it before tomorrow, since i now have to travel two hours on the train to work and back! oh i'm soooo glad it's working! hehe

Aurinko freedom agreement reached 10th Sept 2006

if it makes no sense that's because it's NOn-sense.


polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
I've found that iTunes does a pretty good job of it (At least on OSX, the PC version is crap). I'm mostly using MP3/Tag Studio, as it can do all kinds of funky stuff with screwed up filnames and tags.

I don't trust the contributors to CDDB to be literate or remove their boxing gloves before typing (how can you mis-spell something thats written on the CD cover?!).

I'm just worried that my music may come to more than 30Gb. I could get a 60Gb drive to put in my player, but I'd have to find an extra 2.5mm of space inside umm I'm thinking a bit of rubber gasket between the two halves of the case may work.

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
I found musicmatch to do a great job at ID3ing my MP3s. I don't like if for anything else, but it's great at that.

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
the *best* mp3 tagging tool for me is mp3 tag tool, it embeds id3 information and album art into every single mp3 file, so every cover shows up for those songs on a fifth gen ipod.... woooo

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always


Groovy_DreamSILVER Member
addict
449 posts
Location: Australia


Posted:
 Written by: PyroWill


I will try my best not to make this rant about the evil corporation of Apple so lets not make it into one so here goes.

Basically my Ipod is fully screwed after only having it since July last year, I sent it back to Apple adn they decided that the problem with my ipod was caused by 'accidental damage, misuse/ abuse' and therefore it is not covered under their guarantee so they sent it back to me, still broken. I dont really knwo how this is possible, true I've had it for 6 months but its not like it's beend ropped, or at least not anymore than how things accidently drop, and certainly not sufficient to warrant it breaking about 7 months, however there isnt really anything i can do, they say I broke it, I say I didnt, in the end they were the ones who the 'thorough' diagnostic. My word against theirs so I dont really think I have any kind of case for argument, or do I?

But anyway secondly assuming I cannot get them to sort it which is looking the case I need a new MP3 player, do I trust Apple again, this is my second Ipod in the last 3 years, if I got a new one and it broke would they do the same again, I dont think I can trust a new Ipod. But that brings me to my next issue.

The third problem is I have about 2500 songs on my Ipod (and therefore music library on my computer) the majority of which are the format of either MPEG-4 or M4A, I think M4A and MPEG 4 are Apple's own format and so if I went with a different brand I'm assuming I couldnt add my old music library and therefore loosing the majority of my songs which I really really don't want. Or am I wrong?

So my question is does anyone know of ways to either convert the formats or any MP3players out there despite apple that support the format? So I dont have to go back to the evil guys and get another Ipod frown



Ipods are rubbish. I had one, which then broke within the year. Got it replaced on warranty. It broke again. Got it replaced AGAIN on warranty. A day after the warranty expired, it broke for the third time.

Never again *shudder*.

Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
So is this thread about problems with iPods or what? Cos I haven't been following it, and now I really don't want to sort through 10 pages to find out it wasn't helpful.

Basically, I want to get an mp3 player. I don't want to get an iPod. So don't bother telling me how wonderful they are, I really don't want one. I have been told an iRiver or a Creative Zen are the way to go.

I want one that I can dance and spin while listening to, as well as ride my bike. Possibly run, but I really don't go for runs that much.

I was initially told to check out the 1G iRiver flash, because it is flash. However it doesn't hold much, and I'd prefer one with a screen so I can pick my songs. So how much are harddisk ones likely to jump? How much does it damage them? What do you guys find?

Thankies biggrin

Rougie
ubblove

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
ms RG:
in my experience, harddisk mp3 players don't jump at all when jogged. But if they receive a sharp shock, like dropping them onto the pavement, they can get very upset.

iRivers and Zens are both cool. i think the Sony ones tend to be quite pretty too, but don't know much about them.

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


Neon_ShaolinGOLD Member
hehe, 'Member' huhuh
6,120 posts
Location: Behind you. With Jam


Posted:
I had a Sony NW-HD3 and that was VERY resiliant and compact. Even a Zen Vision and iPod feel like bricks in comparison. Dropped the Sony a number of times and it still carried on like a trooper.

That was until it fell out of my pocket as I slammed a car door shut.

Only problem with Sony is the provided ripping software which only rips to ATRAC format. You can still put mp3 and wma files on it but the software only copies a CD to ATRAC. Once you get your head around the software it does feel more organised in its uploading than using iTunes or WM which I found faster but less organised (in that it often tries to upload the entirew contents of my harddrive, including my 'personal' videos)

"I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
*blows dust off thread*

Right, now that I'm having a few problems with my Creative I thought it only proper to raise them here. Some I'm sure I've mentioned but I'm too lazy to double check.

1) Dodgy connection to earphones - My fault I spazed it really hard into the floor landing connection first while the 'phones were plugged in frown
2) On/off button fooked. Again my fault trying to take it apart to *fix* it when all it needed was a quick reset rolleyes
3) The battery life is starting to deminish. I'd never noticed before as it had always been magnificent on long journeys and such. But I went to Tenby last week and after a three hour drive there, a three hour drive home, various playings while we were there I got home with virtually no battery left frown I'm guessing now that I have around 12-15 hours battery compared to the easy 20hours+ it used to get.
I think I have contributed partly to it's diminishing battery, I mostly use it in 10 minute batches on my way to/from work and have to leave it standing so the autoshutoff turns it off because of 2) mentioned above.
Also, I tend to leave it on charge overnight. Never thinking this to be a problem I've been told that this practice apparently 'cooks' the battery eek I'm not sure if there's any truth to that, surely a simple cut off would prevent any over chaging when the units are left plugged in....would creative really be so silly as not to inlcude something so simple into their design??

So now I'm thinking about putting it into semi retirement and getting a new one. The old zen can become a home music box plugged into my stereo/pc speakers, or take permentant residence in my car. Now I have the new firmware it can be a very convenient and very portable/bashable 20gb remote USB harddrive on any pc or mac so now the battery is going I don't know how long I have left so want to make the most of it which daily use just isn't going to do.


So I've been looking around, and, surprisingly for me, I don't think I'll buy a new one! eek Really I here you ask? Yep! But for very good reasons:


1) My phone contract is due for renewal soon, I can get a new mid range phone with a free 30gb video ipod for a £30/month contract. Now that's a super bargain in anyones money seeing as I'll be getting a new phone anyway!!
2) Hard drive phones like the samsung 8gb or the Nokia 4gb are becoming more common place. Also Super size me flash phones like The Sony W950i with 4gb of flash memory are awesome!

The Nokias even come with a 3.5mm headphone jack ubblove so you don't even need a silly dongle to get any decent sounds out of them. (although the standard sony walkman phone phones are pretty damn awesome for freebies)
Also the Sony/Ericson and Nokia really are beautiful, especially the sony ubblove

So what do I do? Get a mid range phone with some memory and get a free ipod, get a top range phone (althought still free with contract) and get a harddisk in it. Or just look for a phone I like and get another 2nd hand mp3 player like I did last time that will last me another 2 years.

I'll miss having 20gb+ of space for tunes but that's only an advantage on a super long journey or to save me being lazy and actually manage my onboard music collection a little more often.

Whaddya reckon guys? shrug

Let's relight this forum ubblove


Pen DravenUnofficial Lord Of Confusion And Pirate Extrodinaire
1,363 posts
Location: Nuneaton


Posted:
For me personally I don't do Convergence when it comes too electronics. A phone is a phone and i like it that way and an mp3 player should also do just that.



Plus of course if your listening to tunes a lot the phone battery will run out quicker so you'll either need to keep a charger with you or sort something else out. Nothing worse that being out and about but with a phone that's flat when you need it.



Just my two cents and lookie,, i didnt say buy an ipod once biggrin
EDITED_BY: Pen Draven (1155645352)

Some men see things and say why....

I Dream of things that never were and say Why Not....?

Oh No I'm going to get Shot Alive if he finds out - DA wink


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
I would never waste money buying an ipod wink

Personally I think convergence works well, a camera on my phone has given us some awesome pics that just wouldn't be possible without a handy good quality pocket cam, but that's a really good point about the battery life. A car charger would certainly be a nessecity.

Now if I could get a W950i AND a free ipod I'd be a well happy chappy smile

Let's relight this forum ubblove


Pen DravenUnofficial Lord Of Confusion And Pirate Extrodinaire
1,363 posts
Location: Nuneaton


Posted:
ubblol you say that now wink

And ok I'm going to eat my words and agree about the phone cam bit,, because i find myself agreeing heh,, but i still standby the battery life if your going to use it as a music player,, that and how naff most phones have been on the ui when it comes to easily choosing and playing songs,, as lets face it,, no matter how good the player,, if the ui sucks then it just becomes pain trying to live with it.

Sounds to me like getting a phone AND an iPod is definitely the best way to go,, its only a shame I've still got 5 months left on my contract or else I'd be nudging you to find out who's doing that deal wink

Some men see things and say why....

I Dream of things that never were and say Why Not....?

Oh No I'm going to get Shot Alive if he finds out - DA wink


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
I doubt Dunc is interested in good UI - he's used to a creative player so anything is going to be better than that. wink

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


sketchGOLD Member
Empirically random...
431 posts
Location: Lincoln, United Kingdom


Posted:
well, instead of a phone that can hold a couple of songs, they should make an mp3 player that can make a couple of phone calls wink

"This dark place planet Earth, orbits one star,
Come from afar, far away state of mind,
open up your third eye, black helicopters in the sky"


NOnactivist for HoPper liberation.
1,643 posts
Location: ffidrac


Posted:
i love the idea of a super gadget that can do eveything at once, but until they think up a better battery thing, it would probably have about 30seconds power.

If you're not going to buy a new player for definate, then i think you should go for the one with the free ipod... because a mid range phone probably already has a digital camera and video and whatever, and yes the mp3 look nice, but do they sound good or hold much music... i think not... plus it would be really annoying if you got stuck in a situation where your phone would be really useful, but the battery had died because you were playing mp3s, like for instance, locked out of the house... (this is a hypothetical situation, not experience, FYI my phone does nothing but make phonecalls, send texts and is a tiny portable gallery for pete fowler screensavers...)

as for the creative battery thing, i wonder if i fried my battery already, i seem to charge it up every couple of days, but i'm not sure if that's the amount i listen to it - all the way to work and back is nearly 3 hours per day... which makes 6, but then it never completely dies, but gets to a point where it will die halfway through the morning trip if i don't recharge it, and i wonder if that's what fried it... I got some replacements today actually, because they were on offer, but not sure if they're the right ones... shrug anyway ramble ramble, take the free 30Gb!! You can be pro-ipod if it's free, it's perfectly reasonable smile

Aurinko freedom agreement reached 10th Sept 2006

if it makes no sense that's because it's NOn-sense.


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
With regard to sound quality comments, I have a SonyE K750i now and through the headphones the sound is as good as any other stand alone player. Also the UI is pretty good as it's a one click button on the side of the phone to open the media player which takes you straight into the song list. I can't see their new phone being any slower to get into tunes and looking at the pics I think it has the same function button on it so......
I don't think battery life will be as major a problem as we might expect, my mate has a the current SonyE walkman thing and has over 100 tracks on it which he can play all day before needing a recharge. But obviously I'd hate to have listened to music all day, and then find myself out and about somewhere unable to use my mobie.

 Written by: cheeky boy

I doubt Dunc is interested in good UI - he's used to a creative player so anything is going to be better than that



The Creative UI is just fine Mister! tongue spank

 Written by: Me

I'd never waste money buying an iPod
 Written by: Pen

You say that now wink





Maybe I was a little ambiguous on that, I'll rephrase; I'll happily take one for free or maybe take advantage of a super reduced bargain or a 2nd hand even superer bargain but if I'm buying a brand new player I'll always be looking outside of the apple market. (and Sony market, their walkman ATRAC rubbish pisses me off)

 Written by: Pen

its only a shame I've still got 5 months left on my contract or else I'd be nudging you to find out who's doing that deal



Just google phone deals mate, they're everywhere now. Some of the offers I've seen have even offered the choice between a free 30gb ipod, an xbox 360 OR a PSP with your phone! eek

Let's relight this forum ubblove


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
its your lucky day dunc...

https://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1959

wink hug

if you're thinking about dumping your current mp3 player because it's battery life is only '12-15 hours', don't go for a mp3 phone!


cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
Great, now we'll be able to get phones twice as expensive as all the rest wink I bet they'll be sooper purdy tho ubblove





I'm not looking because it has 12-15 hours of life now, it's because if I keep using it as I do it'll soon be les than 12, then less than 9 and this time next year probably sweetFA and I'll be moaning just like all those ipod junkies out there. I want to keep the convenience of a battery powered harddrive for as long as I can without having to worry about it dying on me.
EDITED_BY: Dunc (1155754385)

Let's relight this forum ubblove


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
By the way - I know this isn't anything to do with what Dunc is talking about, but 2 and a half years after I got my iPod the battery was down to about 2 hours life (I've used it a LOT over that time). I got a new battery for £4, it took me 5 minutes to change it and now it's just as good as new smile

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
hmmm.....I wonder if my battery is interchangeable?

*goes to ask google*

Let's relight this forum ubblove


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