Who is upgrading their 20GB Ipod to a 40GB Photo Ipod?

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=3743

TinLemon

03-12-2004 05:44:20

Just curious to see how many people are considering taking their 20GB Ipod from Gratis and trying to upgrade to the 40GB Photo Ipod by exchanging it at the Apple store.

If you are planning on doing so, are the extra features worth the $200?

I'm seriously considering this, but since I've never had an Ipod I don't know how much I'll use the ipod, so I could be throwing $200 out the window.

For those that have an Ipod, were you surprised at how much you use it?

Randyspawn

03-12-2004 06:30:38

I'd say.... HELLZ NO!!!!

I was thinking about it too until I went to the Apple store to check it out. It's HUGE; about the same size and weight as the more feature-packed, video-playing, and much cheaper iRiver H300 series. The specs may not seem too different but when you pick it up, its like, the difference between a 1st generation iPod and the one you're about to get.

The screen is also only slightly better than the 20G, but not because of the color IMO because that's completely unnecessary for playing music and actually makes it LESS readable when its not lit, but because it fits more text in one screen and the pixels refresh faster.

There are also a lot less cases and accessories available for the photo compared to the 20G. Accessories can make or break a product. The case that comes with the iPod photo is crap, it scratches the iPod.

So unless you seriously want to carry thumbnails of all of your photos around, don't bother. Take that $200 and buy a nice set of headphones or something. Save yourself the pain of explaining a $500 toy that plays audio while showing pictures, hooks up to your TV, and somehow DOESN'T play video simply because Steve Jobs doesn't want it to. You WILL have to explain this to your friends when your bring an iPod full of your vacation photos over their house rather than a season of the Simpsons.

TinLemon

03-12-2004 06:32:24

Hahahahaha... excellent response. Greatly appreciated... karma to you!

carwatcher

03-12-2004 06:56:07

Not I, not I.

Ray_Haque

03-12-2004 07:21:50

I think the photo iPod represents a common mistake we see with Apple. They are always on the bleeding edge of innovation. Yet, when they find something that sells, they intend to keep it around by adding improvements to that product. What we get is an iPod that does all the same things as the original, yet has a few new touches that they feel people need.

What they should have done is increased the space, and extended the battery life. People don't 'need' a color screen on an MP3 player. If they know that they can get several more hours of life to a battery instead of a color display I think they would hop on that. But then, Apple is targeting people who have a ton of money to spend on a product like this, and might like the chance to show someone a picture once in a while.

If you ask me, the device is rather silly.

Remember when the Nintendo came out (the 8-bit grand-daddy of them all)? Atari wanted to stay in the game so they released the Atari 7800. They combined the power of the old Atari 2600 with a new processor and a little more functionality. They also released it with some rediculous looking joysticks, and a couple of freebies.

Nobody bought that junker. Atari couldn't understand why. They figured if you could still play your old games, and then some new games too ... everyone would jump on it. But the old games were ... OLD. And there were only one or two good new games.

I don't expect Apple to exit stage left like Atari did, but they go through this stage with most of their product lines, such as

The Apple ][
The Classic Mac
iMac (for many years it was the same model with add-ons)
and now, the iPod

-Ray

kuwan

03-12-2004 07:32:39

[quotef10c63d3d0="Randyspawn"]I was thinking about it too until I went to the Apple store to check it out. It's HUGE; about the same size and weight as the more feature-packed, video-playing, and much cheaper iRiver H300 series. The specs may not seem too different but when you pick it up, its like, the difference between a 1st generation iPod and the one you're about to get.
[/quotef10c63d3d0]

I was at the Apple Store yesterday and I checked out the Photo iPod. I looked at 40 GB Photo iPod and it didn't seem at all any bigger or heavier than a regular 40 GB iPod. Even then, it only seemed a little thicker than a standard 20 GB iPod. (Were you looking at the 60 GB model?) That being said, I'm not sure I'd try to spend $200 to upgrade your 20 GB iPod to a Photo iPod. If you want more space then spend $100 to upgrade to a 40 GB iPod.

I think the Photo iPods are a little pricey and that's why I'm working on getting one for free through Gratis' Photo iPod offer. I'd suggest you get one that way if you want one.

TonyGarcia

03-12-2004 07:38:29

I'm selling mine on ebay.. It's coming in on monday... I put it up on ebay yesterday.

nerys

03-12-2004 13:45:31

I am seriously considering the upgrade. I have an obsession with photography as a photo viewer internall i have no interest in the photo ipod but the ability to jack into a TV VERY VERY much interests me. I will probably end up just getting a Archos g4900 mini for my picture taking (it has a CF slot for downloading pics as well and can play video)

the fact that the phot is bigger is a turb off (will have to check that) I think i will probably just keep the ipod though.

Chris Taylor
http//www.nerys.com/

Randyspawn

04-12-2004 10:41:13

Can't your camera already jack into a TV? Lots, if not all of the cameras I've seen can do this, and if you have your camera and memory card with you, the photos are full resolution, which would be much more useful for passing on to others. The ones on the iPod are TV resolution, or somewhere near it. I don't know if you can keep full resolution files on there without dragging them on yourself. The iPod certainly can't display high-res images.

Also, the 40 and 60 gb are the same size. They're not that much bigger than the regular 4gs but they're definitely into the territory of the bulkier mp3 players like the Rio Karma and iRiver. It so happens that those players also have more features and in the case of the Karma, even sounds better. Considering they're close to half the price of the iPod photo, you're basically spending 200-300 more just for a click-wheel and the iPod image.

BlingKing

04-12-2004 11:08:18

[quotef8356f4dfa="TonyGarcia"]I'm selling mine on ebay.. It's coming in on monday... I put it up on ebay yesterday.[/quotef8356f4dfa]

Thats a cheap ipod! You're gonna have a lot of bids, its already at 12

nerys

04-12-2004 14:38:43

agreed the price it was turned me off.

although even more expensive I am thinking about getting the Epson unit just for pictures. when I say I want to show pictures I mean thousands not the few hundred I can fit on my camera. also remember to me the ipod photo is only $200 while anything else that I like is $400 plus ! the eposon also has a VGA screen (VERY high resolution for a handheld!!)

I will likely just get the G400 mini for pictures and the lyra av for video (the lyra plays mpeg1 a requirement of mine) I will get the lyra first since it has mpeg1 and a CF slot and may not need the G400 mini (I love its tiny size !!)

Chris Taylor
http//www.nerys.com/

grant38402

04-12-2004 17:33:28

[quotee3b02d183a="Randyspawn"]I'd say.... HELLZ NO!!!!

I was thinking about it too until I went to the Apple store to check it out. It's HUGE; about the same size and weight as the more feature-packed, video-playing, and much cheaper iRiver H300 series. The specs may not seem too different but when you pick it up, its like, the difference between a 1st generation iPod and the one you're about to get.

The screen is also only slightly better than the 20G, but not because of the color IMO because that's completely unnecessary for playing music and actually makes it LESS readable when its not lit, but because it fits more text in one screen and the pixels refresh faster.

There are also a lot less cases and accessories available for the photo compared to the 20G. Accessories can make or break a product. The case that comes with the iPod photo is crap, it scratches the iPod.

So unless you seriously want to carry thumbnails of all of your photos around, don't bother. Take that $200 and buy a nice set of headphones or something. Save yourself the pain of explaining a $500 toy that plays audio while showing pictures, hooks up to your TV, and somehow DOESN'T play video simply because Steve Jobs doesn't want it to. You WILL have to explain this to your friends when your bring an iPod full of your vacation photos over their house rather than a season of the Simpsons.[/quotee3b02d183a]
You could spend it on weed

LedFloyd

04-12-2004 22:56:27

I'm going to exchange mine for an iRiver H320 (20 gig). I have no use for 40 gigs of space.

http//www.haku.co.uk/video/video_h340_playing_ipod.wmv I love that video. Totally owns iPod Photo.

Randyspawn

04-12-2004 23:02:41

[quote6bbe74f19e="grant38402"]
You could spend it on weed[/quote6bbe74f19e]

Haha, weed will make you a hell of a lot more friends than showing off your pictures, that's for sure. Heck, if I could just get high all of the time, I wouldn't even need an iPod with all of the nice tunes I get in my head.

w3designer

05-12-2004 15:35:30

I plan on exchanging mine for the 40 gig (non photo) with a student discount ;)