iLounge

21

Hmmm, sounds like by the time a nano receives enough add-on casings to provide ‘full’ protection (whatever THAT is), it’ll be as big as a Mini.

Posted by flatline response on September 28, 2005 at 12:00 PM (PDT)

22

The earbuds rubbed my Nano and now it looks just horrible.  You know when you buy something new let’s say a wine glass and the sticker glue on it melted to the glass and even if you peel it off it’s got that smeary look where the sticker once was.  You have to get some soap an water and scrub the spot off.  Well that’s what my IPOD Nano looks like and I’ve taken pains not to put keys or anything metal or rough against it and have carried it in a crown royal bag until my covers for it arrive (Oct 15th!) :-(

Posted by Dental_FlossTycoon on September 28, 2005 at 12:41 PM (PDT)

23

Bad idea for Apple to make something this small. You know, i’m all about technology and making it smaller and more trim, but the Nano is just too small, and is too prone to flexing. For something that is so expensive that is used by all age groups, in travel, the gym, exercise in general, it’s just too fragile. I’m all for the Ipod, but the mini was small enough for me. Take good care of them.

Posted by musicfreak on September 28, 2005 at 10:16 PM (PDT)

24

Open Letter to Jeremy Horwitz

Dear Jeremy

I was disappointed to see your dismissive comments regarding the ipod colour distortion issue. If this were just a small group of audiophiles quibbling about sound quality then why are they not also complaining about the sound from the shuffle, mini, nano or indeed older b/w ipods? I can assure you this is a real issue affecting colour screen hard drive based ipods. It is not about sound quality - it’s about a fault on particular ipods. The reason the problem is not more widely noticed/reported is that the fault is only audible on certain types of music and voice - particularly solo piano - and is almost inaudible on 99% of pop and rock. As a consumer it has been a great help to me to discover via the ilounge site that other owners have the same problem as I do. I hope that with the help of ilounge we can bring this problem to the attention of Apple and get something done about it. It would be a great help to our cause if ilounge would recognise the problem is real. All it would take is for one of your reviewers to listen to some classical solo piano on a colour ipod and they would hear the problem - it’s not hard to hear and is clearly audible via the stock apple earphones.

Posted by lucifer-chops on September 29, 2005 at 4:21 AM (PDT)

25

Yes. I give u an easily scratchable ipod.
Please buy my ipod screen protector.
Oops. the screen protector spoilts easily.

Please buy this screen protector protector.. and so on.

This is all marketing, to make people spend more on ipod accessories. I don’t remember having to buy protectors for slim small and more feature rich players from Sony, iRiver or Cowan. Yes, i own players from all these companies. Except iPod.

Posted by weikiat on September 29, 2005 at 4:56 AM (PDT)

26

It is more than a bit unrealistic to expect every song to play back exactly the same on every device you own - as you already know, this isn’t true from iPod to iPod, let alone from Mac or PC to any other device. There will be differences based on the audio chips used in each device, the way you’ve encoded files for each device, and so on, amongst other factors.

So in order to determine whether there is a legitimate problem with an iPod, a number of external factors need to be screened out. Let’s start with the software, and make sure you’re using iTunes, even if you think another encoder does a better job. If you use iTunes and it creates files that have problems with iPods, Apple can potentially fix that. If you use some other program, Apple has less responsibility.

Second, we would not test for distortion using 128K MP3-format songs, no matter what piece of software had encoded them. MP3 is a lossy encoding standard, and naturally distorts files in ways that are, by design, supposed to be inperceptible to the vast majority of the population. In other words, you have unrealistic expectations if you’re expecting to get perfect fidelity from a file like that, and by suggesting that you can’t hear problems in 99% of songs people listen to, you’re proving this point. If you want a non-lossy encoding algorithm, you’ll need to use WAV, AIFF, or Apple Lossless to prove your point. Apple Lossless again may be preferable here because Apple has some responsibility for it, and because it creates smaller files.

Third, we’d want to hear a few example songs from professionally mastered CDs that display the problem when encoded with iTunes in Apple Lossless format. Give us the chance to see the phenomenon with CDs we can buy from a store around here. Point us to the discs we need to try.

Finally, we would want to know what sort of external listening devices are revealing the problem. It appears that someone in the thread is now suggesting it is impedance-related. When you’re testing with lossless files, encoded by iTunes, directly from retail purchased CDs, do Apple’s stock earbuds show the problem? What others?

If this seems like too much to ask, please understand that we are busy with around 100 other things on a daily basis and do not ring Apple’s doorbell lightly. Before we do so, we want iron-clad evidence that there is a legitimate problem that isn’t attributable to unrealistic expectations or user error. This has nothing to do with honesty, Alejandro, or a desire to be dismissive, Lucifer. It has to do with practicality - the fact that fewer than 50 people on a site visited daily by hundreds of thousands have complained about the thing you are complaining about. We don’t set policy on the basis of a vocal minority, no matter how vocal or presumptuous they may be. But provide the evidence we need, and we’ll make the effort for you.

Posted by Jeremy Horwitz in East Amherst, NY, USA on September 29, 2005 at 8:26 AM (PDT)

27

Jeremy

Thanks for taking this seriously. I can confirm for you that I have the problem on my 60Gb colour ipod using stock apple earphones, ripping a commercial classical CD in itunes using any format - I have tried Apple Lossless, WAV and MP3 (320 kbps). You may be interested to know that when I load the same mp3 (from the same itunes library) onto my shuffle using the same earphones it does NOT display the problem. That is why I think this a fault rather than a debate about mp3 sound quality per se. If you would like to try it, the CD I was using was Mitsuko Uchida playing Schubert Impromptus on the Phillips label. Track 4 is particularly bad, although I am confident that you would hear the distortion (it sounds like sibilance) on any track, or indeed any solo classical piano cd.

Here are the amazon.com product details:

Composer: Franz Schubert
Performer: Mitsuko Uchida
Label: Philips
Catalog: #456245
Audio CD (April 15, 1997)
ASIN: B0000041N2

Thanks again for taking this seriously. I look forward to reading your findings.

Posted by lucifer-chops on September 29, 2005 at 8:51 AM (PDT)

28

Jeremy- it’s present on the Apple earbuds, but much more pronounced on anything of higher quality. 16-50 ohm headphones suffer the most, 16 being absolutely unlistenable. Try any piano music, of any filetype. It will bear distortion on the iPod, but not when played on your PC using the same headphones.

Posted by Mercuttio on September 29, 2005 at 9:04 AM (PDT)

29

PS. I also hear the problem using Shure E2C headphones.

Here is a link to that Schubert CD on amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000041N2/qid=1128008189/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl15/002-5072423-6460861?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846#product-details

Posted by lucifer-chops on September 29, 2005 at 9:28 AM (PDT)

30

Not to suggest this is a solution to the nano scratch issue but has anyone tried a polishing kit (like Radtech’s Ice Cream) on the nano? If the results were significantly different, it would imply the acrylic is more (or less) malleable than the 4Gs.

Posted by dempster on September 29, 2005 at 9:45 AM (PDT)

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Hi Jeremy,

Finaly you defined the bases for the test. Do not dissapoint the readers that are puting their hope on your webpage for their claims. Let´s go to the end of this.

regards.

Posted by AlejandroC on September 29, 2005 at 1:04 PM (PDT)

32

It’s 3:42 on Saturday and I just returned from the San Francisco Store.
It’s the first time I’ve ever been treated with such a “take it or leave it” attitude - the topic was, of course the scratches on my Nano, which I bought on September 24th.
This is my fifth iPod, and as I write this, I’m staring at my iPhoto & Mini. The iPhoto is from December, 2004, and the Mini from May/June, 2004. Neither of them is as scarred as the Nano!
I’m totally behind posters that say that the whiners have probably carried a roll of quarters, their keys, and a sharp weapon in the same pocket as the Nano, and are now crying foul; that’s not my situation!
The two people I spoke with in the store (one I see frequently) denied any knowledge of issues surrounding the Nano; so I signed up for the Genius Bar, using my Pro Care.
The guy at the “Genius” Bar claimed he had’t heard anything about scratch issues; did a quick “look” on the Apple website, whipped out his crusty iPod, and said: “Duh, mine is pretty grungy too!”
That was as far as he was willing to take it - “Mission Accomplished” (where have we heard that before?).
SO - unless you absolutely, positively must have a Nano, I recommend that you wait until Apple takes ownership of this problem.
The Nano performs flawlessly, but at this rate, it’s going to resemble something yanked from an archeological dig.
Avoid it for now.
Don’t know if Apple reads this stuff, but I’m pissed.

Posted by Ramón on October 1, 2005 at 4:08 PM (PDT)

33

I went to the Apple store after my screen cracked and was told that although I only owned it a couple of weeks, it was my problem and would I please leave.  The only “pressure” I put on it was from putting it in my bag.  I had it in a bag to carry around my neck. For the idiots like Nagromme who don’t know the difference between a design flaw and abuse I have nothing to say.  When you know that a product will be carried around in someone’s pocket or bag, you have to design it so it doesn’t break with a little pressure. 

Yes, Nagromme, you can not put pressure on things.  You can leave them at home, put them in the safe, and never use them.  That would keep them safe.  But something that breaks within 2 weeks of purchase has a problem--a design flaw. 

I also disappointed with Apple.  They dismissed me at the store as if I were some guy who abused the product and then wanted my money back.  I own a lot of apple computers and have been loyal to the company for years--even when it wasn’t always in my best interest.  I’d hoped for better.

Posted by Stan on October 22, 2005 at 9:28 AM (PDT)

34

My ipod just says http://www.apple ipod.com/support/ipod. It wont let me go in to my ipod to play songs or anything.

Posted by Noah Allen on November 11, 2005 at 1:15 PM (PDT)

35

I have had the same problem with my 5G ipod video, it broke while in my pocket the first week i had it.  No i didn’t sit on it or smash something into it etc., there was nothing to suggest a problem until i took it out of my pocket and looked at it.  People at Apple were almost completely unwilling to have any real discussion of the issue other than to tell me too bad.
Also the screen scratches easier than the 4G ipod photo my gf has but i was keeping it protectd so it was no big deal to me.

Posted by ukaiukai on January 3, 2006 at 8:06 PM (PDT)

36

I bought an ipod nano for my son on Dec 7 2005, it lasted less than 3 months and stopped working.  I had a nightmare of a time trying to get thru to someone on the 1-800 phone line and when I did , lets just say they were less than helpful. Eventually I got the form completed, a box arrived in 2 days telling me to return using DHL service which was not mentioned previously.  I tracked down my nearest DHL after a day and a half.  I recieved an ipod back on 2 days after sending but now I cant download, doesnt give me any reason...but I suspect since your “helpful” 1-800 people who couldnt help decipher your website to sumbit a repair form for overly anxious to advise that I was only allowed one technical phone call and since I was now outside my 90 days I would be charged $49.99 and $29.95 to sent back my defective ipod that Ive already paid $300.00 for.  Needless to say Im less than happy with this product and even less happy with the service Ive received to this point.  I enclosed a letter of my dissatisfaction but Im sure thats going nowhere but the trash can...now I find this website and read about a defective batch..hmm...wonder if ours was part of this batch…
heres my case # 60403914 repair id D7447184 in case you want to contact me..

Posted by gwolf@geisinger.edu on March 19, 2006 at 7:18 PM (PDT)

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I purchased an Apple Ipod for my daughter for Christmas plus I also bought the extra 2 year warranty for $25.00. I was never told that after 15 days of puchase that the warranty with or without the receipt was invalid. So when the Ipod was not working I took it back and the customer service clerk and one of the assistant managers told me that I could not return the Ipod to get another one because it had been more than 15 days. This matter makes me very angry I just lost over $180.00. The Ipod I bought it at the Wal-Mart in Las Cruces, New Mexico located at 1550 South Valley 575-523-4924

Posted by Patricia C. Rascon on February 11, 2008 at 9:35 PM (PDT)

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The ipod nano that I gave my daughter for christmas has a power problem. When she turns it off some times it won’t turn back on for several days. As of this writing it has been off for five days. If anyone else has had a problem like this please let me know.

Posted by Thomas Odle on March 6, 2008 at 6:22 PM (PDT)

39

can someone tell me how or were can i fix my ipod nano 3rd generation the problem is that the ipod’s screen or software looks like a mirror or backwards
normal ipod (i tunes)
my ipod (senut i)

Posted by ivan castaneda on December 23, 2008 at 6:48 PM (PDT)