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Ipod poll discussion!

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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,633
So I'm pretty interested to see how this poll turns out.

Personally I am on my 3rd ipod, as my first two just up and died. Didn't drop it, didn't get it wet... nothing! Just fucking ceased functioning one day.

Only thing that has saved me is my extended futureshop warranty, where for 3 years I keep getting new ones when the old one breaks. Now I have a video, so that's sweet... but I'm really wondering if ipods just break all the time?

Is apple just a hype machine that has managed to gloss over the fact that these things only last like five minutes?

They only have a 90-day warranty now, and that just aint much... could this be the achilies heel of the ipod?

Discuss!!

May 17 2006 3:01PM
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MacMahoooon
Posts: 9009 - Karma: 3,305
IPods are the epitomy of good marketing and perfect timing while entering a growing market.
May 17 2006 3:03PM
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Melvs
Posts: 15174 - Karma: 480
Min stoped working after a season of skiing with it, I took it apart, played with the insides, and broek it further. I sent it back and got a brand new one and just paid shipping. This one has *knocks on wood* not had any issues yet.

However, for skiing, I think something with a flash based storage drive would be far better then a hard drive with moving parts, because skiing + tiny moving parts = breakage.
May 17 2006 3:03PM
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nealpgards
Posts: 1254 - Karma: 12
I have a sad iPod story. Last winter after a long day of shredding some east coast ice I went inside my condo and took a nap in my bed....

About an hour later I woke up and went to open the door (near the foot of my bed) to let some air in. As I am over there, I look down to see my iPod floating in a nice cold cup of orange soda.

At this point I was just like how the fuck did my iPod get in there??? It must have fallen off the foot of my bed and landed in there. However, that is just my best guess. Still today it is a mystery of how it got in there. I was pretty pissed but luckily it was a 2 year old 3rd generation 10 gig and not a video.

Now that the 10 gig is gone I bought a refurbished shuffle for 50 bucks from apple and it works well. I just make a playlist of 120 songs and change it up once and a while and it works for me.
May 17 2006 3:08PM
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Mat.
Posts: 7167 - Karma: 94
ive had mine for a long ass time and never had any problems with it....

oh god watch it break now after having said that.
May 17 2006 3:10PM
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Liam.
Posts: 5172 - Karma: 21
mine broke but i have like a year warrenty...it like would freeze if i clicked to many buttons.....
May 17 2006 3:10PM
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CBROOKS
Posts: 4979 - Karma: 10,708
i had a 2nd generation for 2 years, then i was playing soccer in a parking lot and it fell out of my pocket, hit the cement, and i proceded to stomp on it with my heel, no knowing it had fallen out. That was the end of that. I have had a video since december and no problems so far.
May 17 2006 3:13PM
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matthasaurusrex
Posts: 5160 - Karma: 185
Something you should know about Ipods :


they are NOT washerproff.
May 17 2006 3:13PM
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EastcoastAR5
Posts: 2721 - Karma: 15
i have a 2001 first generation which is still going and kicks ass.

i also have a video which is cool and has not given me any trouble really, although i have to reset it everytime i dont use it for like a day, and it just goes on like nothign happend.

BUT i also own an apple computer and they cannot be touched. i agree ipods are rediculous and know many friends that have had them die. Moral of the story, apple is a great company but i dont think they are the best when it comes to there music players.
May 17 2006 3:16PM
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MacMahoooon
Posts: 9009 - Karma: 3,305
fair enough that yes a percentage of a certain product will fail over its expected life cycle. But looking at our current poll...over 62% of peoples IPODs have failed. In general product acceptable failure rates are under 2-3% after which time recalls are considered. So theres a bit of a gap there. Consider this...A car company builds 1 Million cars of a certain model. Built to ipod standards that would be 620,000 vehicles that fail. Totally unacceptable.
May 17 2006 3:17PM
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snoopy
Posts: 5240 - Karma: 30
i had a mini for two years, and then one day, it was dead.

Thankfuly to Joe at Customer Service, i got a new nano back, of which i sold.

Now i am ipodless, thinking about the video..
May 17 2006 3:17PM
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willbski9
Posts: 2014 - Karma: 31
I love my ipod and apple has cleared up any problems I've ever had. The thousands of hours that it has kept me occupied makes up for the problems I've had in the past.
May 17 2006 3:18PM
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ninjea
Posts: 2083 - Karma: 28
wow, reading all of this just makes me happier that i got a sony. same stander as the ipod mini except its cheaper and has a 6gig hd. with a 1 year warrenty. i've skied with it, i've worked out with it, haven't hit it yet, almost got stolen (but that has nothing to do with the matter at hand). and its still like brand new. and i find the navigation to be much easier
Click for larger image
May 17 2006 3:28PM
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wrenegade
Posts: 6631 - Karma: 41
extended warranty is the way to go. bought a 20gb black/white w/3 year warranty, about 1 year 1 month in it died, now I've got a 30gb video. unfortunately they break, but i still love mine.
May 17 2006 4:08PM
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BobYohan
Posts: 3001 - Karma: 375
its not the most durable product, but apple has great customer services and warranty and that definitely counts for something. if you'l notice, in almost every case mentioned here as well as the people ive talked to, apple has replaced the broken product with a new or even upgraded model. my ipod proke down but they replaced it even though the warranty was expired. i give them a lot of credit for being a company of reasonable people that helps out their customers because thats is kind of rare, it seems like everyone these days is just out to screw you.
May 17 2006 4:17PM
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BobYohan
Posts: 3001 - Karma: 375
i.e. bell mobility who recently sold me a brand new phone that was defective, then refused to replace it because it was the manufacturers responsibility. and the manufacterer wouldnt replace it because apparently it passed all their tests. fuck bell.
May 17 2006 4:18PM
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pierceme
Posts: 1483 - Karma: 11
my friend got a brand new ipod video and less than three days later he dropped it and the screen cracked and apple told him they wont send him a new one. I have a dell DJ though and it pretty much kicks ass. The outsides metal so its not gonna crack by bumping it into things or even dropping it. Ive dropped mine probably ten times, skied with it alot this season and work out with it a lot and its been fine for the year ive had it now. The only problem ive had is that twice its frozen up on me but it has a little reset hole in the bottom that u just stick a paperclip in to reset it.
May 17 2006 4:19PM
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AtomicTweaker
Posts: 2341 - Karma: 16
im on my 3rd and if it breaks again im screwed b/c my 90 day warantee is up
May 17 2006 4:22PM
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swTroyanchick
Posts: 2616 - Karma: 9
I m on my third too.. i noticed that the ipod earphones brake pretty fast..
May 17 2006 4:25PM
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timmi
Posts: 12874 - Karma: 3,460
im on my third. first one fell out of my pocket, 2nd i got knocked over, both times put big cracks through the screen
this one, will just randomly freeze or stop playing a song. if they dont replace it. im never going back with apple.
May 17 2006 4:26PM
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invisman
Posts: 736 - Karma: 60
If he dropped his own iPod, why should Apple replace it? It was his fault, not the fault of their manufacturing.
May 17 2006 4:31PM
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Skipig25
Posts: 10729 - Karma: 256
they break in large numbers, which is not acceptable for a product. If you have to buy a new one. If 620,000 cars broke, we'd be pissed. The thing is, apple warentees them. My brother is on his 4th iPod, but the last 3 were all sent from apple for his not working. He didn't drop it, get it wet, etc. It just stopped. But they sent him a new one. That makes it OK in my books, even if they don't work.

On my iPod, the screen shattered, cuz somebody stepped on it, and they wouldn't fix it so I had to buy a new one. But that wasn't their fault, so I can't really blame them
May 17 2006 4:37PM
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jackelliott
Posts: 344 - Karma: 86
i got the 3 year warrantee on mine because i knew they were notorious for breaking, and sure enough about a year into use it broke, but they fixed it for free.
May 17 2006 4:45PM
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Jib_This
Posts: 8272 - Karma: 9
my nano is the shit. Doesn't break, doesn't ever not work, the battery is OK, no issues. Seems like you're all getting unlucky. Sure, they might not be the single most durable piece of electronic equipment out there, but I've had no issues, other than the shit earbuds that come with it.

2-3% would be an acceptable failure rate, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the iPod falls within that. When your player has cornered something like 80% of the market, a 2-3% failure rate is gonna give you a high amount of shitty units. Then, take account that the iPod is actually a collection of other consummables like processors, hard drives, LCD screens, usb ports, headphone jacks, and software, that each have a 2-3% failure or "we fucked up making it" rate, and the picture becomes even clearer. Apple doesn't make the shit that goes in an iPod, they just pay other people to make components, then pay other people to put them together. Each step introduces a possibility of problems, and those possibilities all build on each other.

I love being overly complex!
May 17 2006 5:05PM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
isnt creative sueing apple?
May 17 2006 5:07PM
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SteveStepp
Posts: 9529 - Karma: 20,647
i dropped mine in the toilet
May 17 2006 5:08PM
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actchill
Posts: 2114 - Karma: 259
my mini is sick, its been steped on with a ski boot, run over with a lawn mower(broken screen but still plays great), droped in the dog bowl, tons of drops, in the lake on time, and fallen on it still works.

my nano, its been lovingly cared for for about 1 week, and is now dead.
May 17 2006 5:22PM
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KillerMonkey
Posts: 6436 - Karma: 109
Every company has outrside people make the parts for their mp3 player. So you can blame it on the outside companies for the inside parts. Plus there should be quality control. Anyway just from the poll on the front page there are more already more people with broken ipods then non broken ones. I think that qualifies for your "we fucked up" scenario. Given that this is a site where most people probably ski with their Ipod therefor upping the chances of it breaking is higher, but that still doesnt account for the greater than 50% of people who have broken their ipods. I have a creative zen touch which i got 2yrs ago. It came with a 24hr battery life and is now down to 14 which still kicks apples ass. The creative is a fucking rock. There is literraly a 1cm dent in the side and it still works. This thing has never malfunctioned on me. One downside is that there is no itunes but i would much rather have a working mp3 player than some itunes program. ipods are officially crap. No one in my school believes me and thinks there ipods are superior because they look cooler and have the brand name.
May 17 2006 5:22PM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
mines been fine since march, i dont ski with it though
May 17 2006 5:23PM
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KillerMonkey
Posts: 6436 - Karma: 109
Because people want a sturdy mp3 player, not one that will break when it drops just a few times.
May 17 2006 5:25PM
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forfun
Posts: 4916 - Karma: 66
ive gone through 5 in 1.5 years
May 17 2006 6:25PM
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eastAR5
Posts: 15084 - Karma: 730
i dont know what u guys are talking about i dont have a case for mine and ive dropped it to cement & floor about 8 times, taken hard falls with it in my pocket all winter and nothin is wrong with it. almost 2 years old
May 17 2006 6:29PM
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wntrwill
Posts: 2609 - Karma: 11
i'd be interested in the actual number of ipods that break due to manufacturing defects, not user fuck ups. I bet its actually not that large of a number. For the amount of units that they sell there isn't much complaint. Everyone I know here at school has an iPod and the number of them that have broken them is quite small.
May 17 2006 6:38PM
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DannyMac
Posts: 2837 - Karma: 65
I bought the 3rd generation 20 gig ipod back when it first came out for 300+ dollars and after a year it just wouldn't show up on my computer and the battery would not hold a charge

apple couldn't fix it and offered me 50 dollars toward another ipod
so i spent over 300 for an ipod that broke in a year and they want to give me 50 to spend on another 200 or so dollar ipod / what a fuckin absolute joke

if you have a broken one best bet is to send it to an outside source(look online), i got a new battery that is sick like 950mh but it still has trouble adding new music which sucks
May 17 2006 6:38PM
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DannyMac
Posts: 2837 - Karma: 65
most of the problems were with the 3rd and 4th generation ipods and they were battery and software problems not from dropping the ipod
May 17 2006 6:40PM
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Maxfreeride
Posts: 1185 - Karma: 13
im on my second, only because i had the very first one that was 10 gigs and i needed a bigger one, first one still works, because they are mass producing ipods, the components are becoming of less quality. and yeah i bet that a lot of ipod problems are partly from the owner
May 17 2006 6:47PM
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flippintricker
Posts: 2408 - Karma: 9
who listens to ten thousand songs anyways?
May 17 2006 7:02PM
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robbieA
Posts: 1371 - Karma: 30
my ipod works fine except some minor things like freezing every once in a while...but i had a dell before and still have it and its like 2 years old and works like new
May 17 2006 7:14PM
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St.Steezy
Posts: 4228 - Karma: 20
I bought a nano, 5 days later the flash drive broke. I brought it back to costco and got my money back.
May 17 2006 8:05PM
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Xave
Posts: 2672 - Karma: 18
I am still on my first iPod, over two years old, no problems up to date, knocking on wood.....
May 17 2006 8:07PM
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Adamskinick
Posts: 3353 - Karma: 126
I still own the very first Ipod first generation that was thick and white and had an actual scroll wheel. after about 4.5 years the middle button finally broke. and now i can use it just on random if i want. my dad has a mini that i use and it has treated me very well. i entrust myself in the ipod and in apple to make a good product. i have heard about battery issues and all that, however i think that it is not as bad as people claim.
May 17 2006 8:12PM
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TylerS
Posts: 2720 - Karma: 49
im on my 2nd ipod.

1st one: Ipod mini with the gray touchwheel buttons. had it for aout a year then the battery just crapped out.

2nd one: Ipod Video had it since december. works great
May 17 2006 8:15PM
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tBatt
Posts: 9632 - Karma: 580
1st one: got early march '05. dropped 10 feet onto its corner on ceramic tile. i got a new one not even knowing i had a warrenty. it (the warrenty) ran out the next day.

2nd one: had it since early march '06. worked fine but i dropped it like 3 feet onto cement floor. didnt for for a day then it worked perfectly fine agian. tehn one day it just stopped working on me. i tried resetting it (menu and select) and it still didnt work. this is what happend every time i turn it on now. Click for larger image
May 17 2006 8:25PM
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burr
Posts: 817 - Karma: 15
^That sucks. Im on my 2nd one.4 mt first one i didnt drop it or anything, it just when i play a song and move the ipod into my pocket it pauses with the lick on 2. And my new ones does it to but it no big deal.
May 17 2006 9:32PM
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snoopy
Posts: 5240 - Karma: 30
Its rediculous for people to complain about warranty when the problem is caused from a 5 foot drop
May 17 2006 9:36PM
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burr
Posts: 817 - Karma: 15
I sure it states that the warranty isnt valid if it is droped. the same az cell phones
May 17 2006 9:39PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,142
I'm running an Iriver H10 20 gig right now someone gave me new... apparently they got it for 200 flat, which is pretty damn good for a colour screen 20 gig with its own (really good) firmware, not to mention multiple format support, an integrated mic (I recorded my lectures) and an fm tuner. The only downside is it's a bit bulkier and the screen is slightly smaller than the new Ipods, but with that comes a lot of solidity of construction. I've already dropped it a bunch of times and no scratches or evidence of damage of any kind... Though the rubberish skin case (which it comes with; another perk) helps that too.
May 17 2006 9:45PM
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Nihiriju
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 27
i have a 3rd gen 15 gig ipod.....its 2 or 3 years old now, i use it prety muhc eveyrday, no problems at all cpet in cold wetaher battery only last liek 2-3 hours, in normal weather i stil get the full 8 hours ( thats what this older model came with) its been dropped plenty and even gone for a quite dip, but yet ti still works marvels!
May 17 2006 9:47PM
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SteezePatrol
Posts: 10281 - Karma: 36
well yea i leave them out in the rain all the time and drop them and they're always fine. talking in plural because if they finally break I just send them in to apple and get a free one no questions asked due to my 3 year unlimited warranty? jea?

broke 2?
May 17 2006 10:03PM
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