If you were considering picking up one of Apple's capacious new
iPod classics whilst casually snickering at those poor saps dealing with
faulty screens on the iPod touch, you could be in for problems of your own. According to a number of reports around the web, users are experience a myriad issues with the new player, including high processor utilization, excruciatingly long connect / disconnect times, and random crashes that seemed to occur when the device attempted to "display preview images taken from album cover art." Some users are also reporting that iTunes will actually "freeze up and stop responding" after the classic is plugged in, and attempts to install firmware updates have apparently not remedied the issues. So, dear readers, how's your iPod classic faring? Are these quibbles legit, or is the intarweb working itself into an unsubstantiated frenzy?
[Thanks, Rahul B.]
Read - One new iPod classic, two new iPod bugs
Read - Mysterious problems with new iPod classic
Read - Discussions about iPod classic troubles
posted September 25th 2007 2:18PM
So far I must say that the Classic ipods are crap, they never should have been released with the serious issue that the possess, iTunes appears to have developed some problems as well but it is hard to differentiate between the two
I have owned a 60 GB iPod for a couple of years or so now and it has function wonderfully, when the 160GB unit was released I thought, YEAH! :), boy have I been unpleasantly surprised and annoyed with the repeated computer lockup's during syncs, iPod ejects itself regularly during syncs, won't eject at other times, iTunes freezes up and locks up my computer causing me to have to hard boot it, ridiculously long music load times, iPod Classic backlight stays on when connected to my car audio system interface (Pioneer), the same interface that my 60GB iPod has worked flawlessly with for over two years now, the iPod Classic randomly stops playing (pauses or something) for about 2 seconds during music playback then resumes on it's own, I have exchanged it once already but these issue remain yet my previous generation 60GB iPod does not suffer from these issues.
Apple should have just increase capacity and left the fundamental functions alone, they should have built off the framework of the previous generation units so that it would continue to function properly with existing car interfaces and other products, I feel like using this thing for target practice.
If they don't respond to my many complaints with an acceptable resolution soon I will be retuning it for a refund, these issues are why I have not purchased an iPhone and why I will be VERY SLOW to recommend or purchase anything else from Apple in the future.
I have an 80 gig Ipod Classic and I hate it. I just got the new Pioneer Avic-N4 and the ipod connector for it and it lockes up my radio. I called apple they told me it was Pioneer's problem so I called Pioneer and they said it was Apple's problem. I think apple had their head up their A** when they created the classic. word to the wise do not buy the Ipod classic.
And people said the Zune was a piece of crap. Look what is on the shit list now. Damn Apple fanboys. The Zune is superior compared to all of this shit that apple is crapping out.
This is the first ipod I have ever bought and I HATE IT! Also, I've had to return it 3 times! I spend $250+ dollars on something I've had to return and replace 3 times within 1 month! That's wrong! Nothing won't work right and I'm not thrilled at all. I should of never bought it and I don't like it. I have an Ipod Classic 80gb and it's terrible!
I'm giving this last one a try and if it don't work and dies or freezes up I'm returning it for the last time and getting my money back.
The only nice thing out of the multiple returns to the same store for the same problem of this Ipod is that the store for all my troubles gave me a $50 ipod tunes card.
Gezzz, does apple do this? Nope!
Apple needs to get there crap together and FIX the problems with all there items!
Sincerely,
A very disappointed Ipod Classic purchaser!
I purchased a Classic 80GB two weeks ago, and for a while everything seemed ok, except for relatively short battery life. A couple of days ago I started getting the dreaded "connect power" message repeatedly despite having charged the thing within the previous 12 hours without subsequent use.
I returned it and because the 80GB model is currently back ordered at CC I upgraded to the 160Gb model. I had to return that one immediately because the hard drive was obviously bad. (Loud squeaking on seeks, reads, and writes.)
I'll say the 160GB seems slow and clunky in terms of disk access compared to the 80GB model. Songs and videos take a lot longer to load, and there is noticeable vibration when drive does some seeks.
Gapless playback may not be gapless with Apple Lossless which was my main justification for going to the larger hard drive. Jury is still out on that one as most of my music files are AAC at 320K and play fine. I only have 33 songs on the thing using lossless so I have to listen to each several times to determine whether it is just one particular file or a problem with the classic. (Which given I just heard the same thing on another file seems to point at the iPod not the file.)
I am very unhappy at the moment, I was pleased with the 80GB, didn't know the cause was possibly firmware related and traded it in at considerable expense for what appears to me to be inferior performance. (Loading songs and video is very slow compared to the 80GB model.)
Apple's QC has apparently lapsed as my first generation iPod still works fine except for the clearly now worn out battery.
Just the latest update: The new iPod I bought two days ago was dead this morning. Gave me the dreaded "connect power" I used it with my Alpine stereo which puts Classics in repeat mode by default, and I had locked it (hold switch) last night.
I will try again tonight with repeat mode off, and not in hold.
This is very discouraging to say the least.
I just filed a bug report with Apple on the "Connect to Power" issue as well as a problem I have playing Apple Lossless files which are over 4 minutes long - otherwise known as the notorious 2 second + gap as the hard drive spins up.
As if we weren't already experiencing every single one of those problems? iTunes ALWAYS freezes up for about 30 seconds or more before recognizing my iPod Video 80 GB. Plus, the program itself is extremely slow even when the iPod is not connected. And my iPod takes 3-5 seconds to load any cover art when playing a song.
I'm still anxiously waiting for the next firmware update, now I keep it plugged in at all times when I am not using it. Leaving it unconnected overnight randomly results in a dead battery the next day. If you haven't installed firmware version 1.0.2 I would wait for the next upgrade. I initially thought that the hold switch somehow played a role in this, but the dead battery problem seems totally random - I can't identify any one combination of control settings or usage scenario that does or does not result in random battery depth.
The battery condition indicator seems to not be a reliable indicator of battery condition, a day or so ago I used it for a couple hours on the battery. Prior to shutting it off it indicated the battery was nearly fully charged - when I went to use it at the gym that evening it was dead and gave me the usual "connect to power" message.
I really think it is unfortunate that this issue is not getting much coverage in the online media, and despite filing a bug report I have no idea what Apple is doing to address this issue. I'm not terribly impressed with Apple's handling of this issue (total silence) at the moment, and this makes me much less likely to buy any Apple products in the future.
BS no product is perfect, I can tell you there are at least 2 or 3 players off the top of my head that are perfect and one that is almost. What makes a player perfect? It works, most companies that pulled this off simply made their players UMS compliant, take away the 3rd leg useless playlist software and you lose the third leg useless issues that you see today, sold my Iaudio X5L on ebay for 400 dollars, it was over a year old find the first person to sell a regular iPod for this much and I'll give you a cookie.
My gf used a 2nd gen shuffle for awhile with her Dell notebook and had no issues. Then she received a classic 80gb and used it on the same Dell, it worked fine. However, when she synced the shuffle again, nothing happened. It won't mount in hellTunes, or throw a warning or even read as a drive on the Dell. Funny thing is, it will sync to every other machine we have, MAC and PC. I've reformatted... I've troubleshooted... I've done it all... it just doesn't read it. Very sketchy apple.
I think it's kind of funny that there are a bunch of adults on here quibling about frickin grammar and mechanics... it seems like this is more of a blog kind of a thing... just use whatever you want as long as you communicate your point... you sound like a bunch of four year olds good grief!!! i recognize that and i'm only seventeen!!!
anyhow, i was wondering if apple is so bad are there any other products on the market that compare in price (somewhat) and performance??? I'd kinda something like an ipod but if its causing so much grief and there's something compareable out there i'd rather get something more "flawless".
p.s. sorry if i offended anyone with my bad grammar uncapitalized i's- we teenagers like to shorten things a little
This is all very fun to read. I have had a classic for a while now and I have had absolutely no prblmes at all. Nothing loads slow, iPod never resetes itself or displays funning things, and disconnect time is very minimal. I laugh at all your problems :).
I've had my iPod classic for 4 months and I have several issues with it including very long connect & disconnect times, random crashes, and not being able to install updates from time to time. Funny enough, it crashed on me the first time I used it & then froze the screen another time.