Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback Black

  I LOVE IPOD VIDEO
okay..i got a ipod video for xmas and i love it!! its really worth it because its very pretty and cool. Its thin too! its probaly almost as thin as a nano. and its kinda big..but its good like that becuase you watch tvshows,musicvideos, and movies. when you watch music videos its realyl nice!!!!!!! the black ones are especilaly nice . Well i think ipod video is a great gift and if you get it you will love as much as i do!!

 "DAMN YOU, STEVE JOBS!"
The iPod is among the greatest things ever to happen to music. Sadly, the iPod Video is just an excuse to cash in. I understand that everybody loves money, but come on! Is this necessary? The answer, of course, is no. Seeing that you poor, brainwashed spawn of the MTV generation can watch your music videos just as easily on the much more practical laptop, I see no need for this. I own a 20-gig, 5,000-song iPod currently, and I intend to keep it. Maybe the music I like is just too old for MTV. But then, can you imagine a Whole Lotta Love video? That would probably the least family-friendly thing since Black Hawk Down.

 "HOLY SCRATCH CITY, BATMAN!" IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN W/O SCRATCHING!

A very nasty caveat to the world's new favorite toy.

The front surface of the unit scratches if you even breathe on it. It's impossible to clean it without leaving artifacts.

I've tried everything in my optical/camera repertoire, including Kodak lens cleaning fluid/paper & Bausch & Lomb pre-moistened optical cleaning cloths; nothing works. And forget ANY kind of cloth; you might as well just take a piece of 220-grit to it.

Carry it around bare in your pocket? FERGITABOUDID: One day in your coat or pants pocket and it'll have the equivalent of six-months handling wear.

I wouldn't be surprised to see legions of pissed-off people out there real quick. This is just about as bad as the 1st-gen battery debacle.

It's already a challenge to watch video on that small display: Try it on a scratched-up screen.

Nice going, Apple: The world's first personal portable that you can't touch without ruining it.

PS: And no Firewire? The one iPod in the entire product lineup that needs Firewire the most and it gets left off? Now, that just plain sucks.

 1st MP3 Player
I know Apple has their big industry and everything, so I guess that is why i purchased this product, trusting that if i had any problems, i could always go to the store. so far, this product has satisfied me. it doesn't run out of battery as quickly as i thought it would, but then i don't use it for more than 1 hour straight each time. although it says that whenever you plug it into your computer [the only way to charge it without buying a separate tool] it will update the news songs added to your computer onto the ipod, but it doesn't do so! that's the only thing bad about it. other than that, the ipod is easy to handle, and the videos are high quality (light has to be turned on).

 3 and half stars :)
Ok guys. I've purchased this gadget from Amazon 4 weeks ago and now I would like to write something about it. First of all I am satisfied about the product concerning the alternatives. The biggest pluses are the capacity with the sleek design, big color screen, patented click-wheel, usb connectivity with all IBM based PCs, clear sound even at the low levels, album-art and lyrics storage via iTunes software.
The major drawbacks are these: After you start to use it you see that about 3 gigabytes are gone, so it is not actually 30 gigs but rather 27some. 2)Front cover is prone to scratches.. 3)Charge never goes over 10 hours if you skip songs and listen in high level of volume 4)Charge doesnot even close to 2 hours while video playback. 5)Forget using your video files that you have downloaded prior to your purchase. You should purchase all of them if you think quality playback is a must. I used a movie converter software which eventually ended up with a 1 second gap between the audio and the actual video playback. 6)Classical Apple policy applies. Means you have to pay lots of $$$ for buying any extra cable or accessories. 7)At least I hoped that Apple would pre-load the video file of Bono-U2 with compliments which was not the case -naive huh!- 8)Battery not-replacable by the user. That way I could have carried an extra battery on Atlantic flights. 9)Currently you can only read short txt files, only after copying the txt file under a certain folder. Might be helpful for shopping lists. It would be nice if Apple placed a pdf/doc reader. At least a word document reader. Maybe in the 6th generation. 10)Aha.. I forgot! It takes 8 seconds to start a video file after you execute. It also takes several seconds to execute the next mp3 song if you skip 2 or more songs. eg. I skip 3-4 songs at a time, and than it takes 6-10 seconds to execute the next song in your list.
Some remarks: During mp3/song playback, it also plays video files that you categorized in "Video Music". Since it consumes more battery power you can check the option to skip video music files using iTunes. But than this skipping process costs you 3-5 seconds.
To get rid of these bothersome skipping-delays, I used windows "Disk Defragmanter" after I placed many files and changed album-art and lyrics. During analysis, the hard drive seemed too much fragmanted. This operation is suggested to be helpful at some forums through the internet, but it was not the case for me. Please note that I have saved 2-to-8 pictures and half-to-1 page lyrics and some other trivia information into the song files using iTunes. Most of the pictures are 200*200 pixels but some are up to 800*600. These additions might be the cause of the problem (which of course should not be under normal conditions!).
Another remark is that Amazon does not let you back engraving. But concerning that you pay 9.25% tax in Tennessee, it costs about $35 more if I bought from Apple (Jan. 2006 prices).
Finally, I really know that this much price is not well deserved for something that is manufactured in China, not in the US; but the main reason is that the rivals suck and Apple knows its position in the competition very well. There is not much to say..
PS:ipod movie converter or iTunes PRO are about 30 bucks.

 30 GB iPod
I wear my iPod while running and the left earbud keeps falling out. Would be nice to have something better than the earbuds provided.

 30 GB VIDEO
The 30 GB video is a nice device but it is not without its shortcomings. Some of the deficiencies of the ipod could easily be remedied if only Apple would act on owner complaints. Considering that Apple sells itself as the David battling computing Goliaths, it is especially unacceptable that these complaints have largely fallen on deaf ears. And yet for all that, I do really like the ipod video.

Pros:

1. This is a sleek and aesthetically pleasing player. The screen is vivid and clear and the overall design is very sharp.

2. The sound quality is excellent.

3. The click wheel is intuitive and the interface with itunes is flawless.

Cons:

1. The ipod video does not come standard with an AC wall charger.
It will charge through the buss, but it takes longer and, if the apple discussion boards are any indication, may crash your ipod and or computer.

2. All the accessories that the black ipod video ships with (earbuds and USB cable) are white.

3. The standard earbuds that ship with the ipod are bulky tortuous things with the rough diameter of a dime. By the end of the day my ears were sore from having to jam them in place.

4. Battery life. I'm averaging about 8 to 8.5 hours on one charge. Also, when the battery finally dies it can only be replaced by Apple for a fee.

And here's a tip that may save you precious hours when you first start playing with your new ipod video: if you have it set to manually transfer files from itunes to the ipod there will be an on screen warning that flashes, "Do Not Disconnect" even after you have transfered your files. Mine flashed for many frustrating hours before I finally figured out what the hell was happening. Apparently when set to manual the ipod works as an external drive and, to prevent damage to files, it will flash this warning indefinitely. So if you choose to manually transfer files, you must click the eject button which appears as a triangle-over-a-horizontal-bar icon next to the ipod icon on the itunes source list when you choose to disconnect. This will disengage the ipod from itunes and the warning will disappear.

 30 gig Ipod in comparison to the iPod Nano
First of all, I am very pleased with my Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback. However, it's biggest competition is my black 4 gig iPod Nano. In comparison to the Nano the 30 gig model seems slow and bulky. By slow I mean when you are using the click wheel to switch from video to music or to another menu selection I have literally seen the little gaps or mini-freezes that several other reviewers have mentioned. I was frightened at first when I saw this but the iPod was just fine.

I previously had the most current version of iTunes on my PC so I did not use the installation disc and I literally had no trouble adding my current library to my new iPod. I transferred close to a thousand songs in less than 10 minutes. Charging time doesn't take long for the 30 gig iPod either.

I originally planned to give away my iPod Nano after purchasing the 30 gig model but now I plan to keep both because the nano is so quick and so lightweight. The 30 gig iPod is smaller than previous versions of the popular iPod MP3 player but it is heavy to a degree, but hey it plays awesome video. I downloaded two music videos from the iTunes store and they look really awesome. I have heard people complain that the scree n is too small to enjoy a program. This is not true, yes the screen is small, the device is small but if you are used to watching television programs on handheld devices you will easily get used to the screen.

I am lover of the iTunes software program for music and video and find it very easy to use. However, I will mention in this review as I did in my iPod Nano review that they need to include more information about getting started with iTunes for people who are new to using the iPod.

Also I may be the only person who noticed this, but when it comes to volume, my iPod Nano seems much louder than the 30 gig iPod. As for scraches, the reason I went with white this time was because my black Nano scratched up very easily. The 30 gig iPod says it comes with a case. This "case" is more like a small sleeve that the iPod fits in. You can't access the navigation wheel or anything when it's in this case so it's more like a protection sleeve.

Overall, it's a great purchase and I'm pleased. Personally, I will be glad when Apple can release an iPod that is the same size as the Nano but with more space. I buy my iPods to listen to music so smaller is always better for me. It's a bit pricey but with all of the space and the cool new features I will be using this iPod for quite some time.

 30 gig ipod with video
The new ipod is amazing. Only 3 real gripes. 1.you need to get a case because the screen scratches too easily. 2.does not include a standard charger, must charge through usb on computer or buy the $30 charger. 3.can not use a standard rca adaptor to watch video, must buy one that specifically works with ipod.

 30Gb Ipod Black
First of all id like to thanks many of you for your reviews on the battery life, i though it was only me, being new to the ipod.

Yeah its sad that it doesnt last long for video playback but you have to admit that the EQ options it offers optimize the sons from good to MAGNIFICENT, I have never heard songs as realistic as the ipod does.

And I do belieave I read an article ovr at ipodmine for 50Hr ipod batteries...so theres something to get your hopes up...