ipod mini - tough enough for running?

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in news:80cffadf.0403070851.2e57cc68
@posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

hello,

i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry that it
isnt tough enough. i am currently using a rio s35s that
has 256 megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of music.

i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
*second* rio s35s. the first one i dropped (it falls
off while running) about fifty times before it
completely broke.

Are you just holding it or using the clip on thing that
comes with it? I'd suggest going to a holder designed for
running such as Tune Belt

tunebelt.commd2Open ↗

Quoted message said:

also the earbud wires broke and i lost the plastic clip
case! second of all the little plastic shell on the new
rio s35s that is used to clip onto your shorts, etc., is a
total disaster - it doesnt fit the player and the holes
are in the wrong places making it difficult to change the
volume and even turn on and off.

I agree with you there. That's why I use the Tune Belt

Quoted message said:

also it is simply too cool - i need one.

Well, then if you NEED one, then go for it. ;-)

Quoted message said:

i already know the answer to this question. get an ipod
for home and use the nearly good enough rio s35s for
training.

Yes. The iPod is cool. Do that.

Phil

--
If you can empty your own boat Crossing the river of the
world, No one will oppose you, No one will seek to harm you.
-Chuang Tzu

I don't know about the mini, but the original seems to be fairly tough.
liquidgeneration.comipod killing.htmlOpen ↗

--
Colm

"moik" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
: hello,
:
: i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry that it
: isnt tough enough. i am currently using a rio s35s that
: has 256 megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of music.
:
: i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
: *second* rio s35s. the first one i dropped (it falls off
: while running) about fifty times before it completely
: broke. also the earbud wires broke and i lost the plastic
: clip case! second of all the little plastic shell on the
: new rio s35s that is used to clip onto your shorts, etc.,
: is a total disaster - it doesnt fit the player and the
: holes are in the wrong places making it difficult to
: change the volume and even turn on and off. the sound
: quality is just fine.
:
: i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod mini and
: breaking it the first day. i am a big, clumsy, sweaty
: clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on trails. i
: prefer not to use an arm band since my fingers sometimes
: swell after long runs and hikes to begin w and a
: tourniquet around the arm can only accentuate this.
:
: the ipod is attractive because i could use it at home w
: the stereo, and it holds enough that i could get rid of
: most of my cds. also my wife would like it for audio
: books. also it is simply too cool - i need one.
:
: i already know the answer to this question. get an ipod
: for home and use the nearly good enough rio s35s for
: training.
:
: THANKS!
:
: moik

moik said:

i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod mini and
breaking it the first day. i am a big, clumsy, sweaty
clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on trails.

I would worry about anything with a hard drive in it when it
comes to running. Sure, if you don't jump around between
tracks that it won't have to spin up the disk too often, but
loading 20 or 30MB in to memory takes more than a couple of
seconds, during which time you can crash the heads. This is
based on my experience with an iRiver iHP-120 (not crashing,
just that the hard drive light flashes for a while when it
updates its cache).

Personally I think the iPod Mini is gimick considering what
you get for $50 less than the full blown thing.

Quoted message said:

the ipod is attractive because

It's attractive yes, and it has the most intuitive
interface, but that's about it compared with the
competition. Let's not talk about the 8 hr battery life that
will shorten by 20% in a year...

Quoted message said:

i could use it at home w the stereo, and it holds enough
that i could get rid of most of my cds. also my wife would
like it for audio books. also it is simply too cool - i
need one.

iRiver iHP-1x0 has optical and analogue line out. Rio Karma
probably does too. This will sound better on the stereo.
Rio Karma also supports FLAC (I get about 40% compression
with this) and so will sound the best if you have a good
stereo. 20GB will probably only give you 50-60 albums worth
in FLAC format.

Malc

BTW... rumors are that the full-sized iPod will soon be
available in a 60GB version. In case anyone is interested.

--
Nova Scotia, Canada

I have no views on running with ipods, although I know they
are a tremendous device and people who own them love them.

But I am categorically against anyone running with
headphones. Its just too dangerous and not worth the risk
(unless of course you are lucky enough to run someplace
where no cars exist-good luck).

We had a runner die a month ago on our streets, and its been
suggested in both print and from people who are familiar
with the runner that a headset was being worn that day.
While the driver was going much too fast, the inability to
hear traffic (exacerbated by running in the darkness, when
you can't see much either) had to have played a role in
this. I've heard about 3 such cases and I suspect that there
are many others.

And forget traffic. Why a woman would ever wear a headset to
listen to music while running is baffling. In this day and
age, to assume you can protect yourself against an attacker
who you can't hear is asking for trouble.

Just 'don't' do it. If running is not interesting enough,
and you need to hear music, do it on a treadmill. Not on
the roads.

[email hidden] (sotampacane) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We had a runner die a month ago on our streets, and its
been suggested

in both print and from people who are familiar with the
runner that a headset was being worn that day. While the
driver was going much too fast, the inability to hear
traffic (exacerbated by running in the darkness, when you
can't see much either) had to have played a role in this.
I've heard about 3 such cases and I suspect that there are
many others.

So three out of billions of runners? Pretty tiny percentage.

Quoted message said:

And forget traffic. Why a woman would ever wear a headset
to listen to music while running is baffling. In this day
and age, to assume you can protect yourself against an
attacker who you can't hear is asking for trouble.

You are assuming she needs to hear and/or protect herself.
Is that from personal experience? Is that you lieing in wait
in the bushes?

Quoted message said:

Just 'don't' do it. If running is not interesting enough,
and you need to hear music, do it on a treadmill. Not on
the roads.

Look stupid, one word: trails. Of course with your level of
paranoia you'll claim she won't hear the bear attacker her,
or the herd of elephants coming to trample her, or she'll
get sunburn, or... well we got the picture.

[email hidden] (sotampacane) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I have no views on running with ipods, although I know
they are a tremendous device and people who own them
love them.

But I am categorically against anyone running with
headphones. Its just too dangerous and not worth the risk
(unless of course you are lucky enough to run someplace
where no cars exist-good luck).

i generally run on trails where there is only bike traffic;
but i have used headphones on the road and i try to stay
vigilant. it is a risk. i have found that i can actually
hear *most* cars, but not all. a risk.

Quoted message said:

And forget traffic. Why a woman would ever wear a headset
to listen to music while running is baffling. In this day
and age, to assume you can protect yourself against an
attacker who you can't hear is asking for trouble.

well, i guess i should say that i am not a female - i am a
fairly large, foreboding male. to tell you the truth i do
use headphones a lot in town, even on roads (even though 80%
of my runs are on trails)
- i should mention that i live in southeast oregon. low
population density, not a lot of traffic. i do a lot of
trail running in wilderness and semiwilderness areas and i
do *not* use headphones in these areas - not ever! i have
had six bear encounters and three mountain lion encounters
(not to mention a couple of "mad cows"😉 in the past four
years and need my sense on hearing to be acute while on
these types of trails.

Quoted message said:

Just 'don't' do it. If running is not interesting enough,
and you need to hear music, do it on a treadmill. Not on
the roads.

treadmill running is something that i have done this past
winter. it *is* a good place to listen to music - but even w
great music a treadmill is nearly unbearable for anything
over three miles (for me). now that the weather has been
nice i can not bear the treadmill.

btw - i ordered the ipod mini. i think i will still use the
rio s35s for the long runs, though, because i dont want to
break my new ipod by dropping it while trail running.

moik

Quoted message said:

Look stupid, one word: trails. Of course with your level
of paranoia you'll claim she won't hear the bear attacker
her, or the herd of elephants coming to trample her, or
she'll get sunburn, or... well we got the picture.

I can't believe I'm responding to someone with a group
name 'Hottie', but do not go around calling people
stupid when you don't know what the hell you are talking
about. I'm certainly not stupid and am only trying to
put forth a different point of view based on recent
experiences in my city.

Your comment about '3 out of a billion' demonstrates true
ignorance, but I'll pass it off as hyperbole. I think the
running companies would be thrilled to know that there are
'billions' of runners out there. And we've had 3 incidents
in a year in my own part of the world, which is either the
weirdest coincidence or actually an indication of how
difficult its becoming on the roads.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You are assuming she needs to hear and/or protect
herself. Is that

from personal experience? Is that you lieing in wait in
the bushes?<<

A comment like this is reprehensible. It's a sad commentary
that attitudes like yours exist. My concern is protecting
runners and educating, while your seems to be of ignorance
of the facts.

If you can run on trails, good for you. That is not always
an option for some of us and isn't what I was commenting on.
But I would still not advocate headphones or music on trails
because there are enough sick people out there.

While you are at it, try doing some research on the Linda
Yalem race in the Buffalo area. A woman attacked and killed
while running on trails. It happens. Ten years after that
tragedy, there was a series of attacks on another trail
around the North Forest area of a Buffalo suburb. And I
don't even live there anymore, but I know about
it. That's what I am trying to avoid seeing happen.

But I'll make an exception in your case. Send me your
address, and I'll send you my spare CDwalkmen that I use
on planes. Go out and run in the street with it and turn
it up to 11.

I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased an iPod
mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery life is poor - 2
hours or so, it locks up very frequently, and the iTunes
music purchase and transfer thing sucks. If you have the Rio
now (as we do - the Rio S10), you will be really annoyed and
feel really stupid when you realize you were suckered into
purchasing a thing for its looks. Yeah - it looks damn cool.
But how about functionality?!? My wife took it to the gym,
all excited about showing off the brandy new green ipod mini
- and what happens? It locks up. Is this running on Windows
98 or something?!?

RE - iTunes - you're stuck to purchasing and copying music
to the iPod from only ONE machine. If you purchased a song
on your work PC and expect it to be able to go onto the
iPod, nope - you're SOL.

To top it all off, we're attempting to return it to Apple,
but because they roped us in on the "Free" personalization
[censored] (have your name inscribed on it), you can't return it
or get a refund. Nice way to stick it to your customers
Apple - real nice.

Sorry all - but if you are looking for a good unit that is
functional for running I would NOT recommend the ipod mini.
At least not now. I say that because I was told by the rep
on the phone that their tech support team may identify this
unit as having a manufacturing defect.

Whatever the case - we're very unhappy with the ipod mini,
the purchase experience too (the website didn't tell us a
lot - you had to hunt for it after the fact to notice
certain small print stuff).

Be careful if you are thinking of purchasing this unit. I'd
research other manufacturers first. This product doesn't
seem like it has been tested much at all.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

hello,

i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry that it
isnt tough enough. i am currently using a rio s35s that
has 256 megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of music.

i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
*second* rio s35s. the first one i dropped (it falls off
while running) about fifty times before it completely
broke. also the earbud wires broke and i lost the plastic
clip case! second of all the little plastic shell on the
new rio s35s that is used to clip onto your shorts, etc.,
is a total disaster - it doesnt fit the player and the
holes are in the wrong places making it difficult to
change the volume and even turn on and off. the sound
quality is just fine.

i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod mini and
breaking it the first day. i am a big, clumsy, sweaty
clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on trails. i
prefer not to use an arm band since my fingers sometimes
swell after long runs and hikes to begin w and a
tourniquet around the arm can only accentuate this.

the ipod is attractive because i could use it at home w
the stereo, and it holds enough that i could get rid of
most of my cds. also my wife would like it for audio
books. also it is simply too cool - i need one.

i already know the answer to this question. get an ipod
for home and use the nearly good enough rio s35s for
training.

THANKS!

moik

Quoted message said:

I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased an
iPod mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery life is
poor - 2 hours or so

Disk-based players have small motors in them which eat
power. Can be more sensitive to drops or bouncing of
running.

The largest flash memory cards are now 1GB for 16 hours of
music. I'm not sure if any player supports this size. A
repective price formula is $100 for the basic player
computer w/o memory and $0.25 per megabyte (music minute) of
memory. Mini-disks are five times cheaper per gigabyte, but
mechanical.

chris,

thanks for your input. i have already ordered a green ipod
mini - but i just checked and i see i can still cancel it.
maybe i will. i'm afraid of breaking the damn thing - but
when you mention 2 hr battery life and locking up, etc.,
that really makes me think twice. are you sing it w a mac or
a windows machine? i'll be using it with a mac, if that
makes a difference.

btw - this morning i dropped my *second* rio s35s and i
think i half broke it. i think the volume control is broken.
the rio looks pretty sturdy but it is a piece of [censored]. i
fell out of my gym bag onto a wooden kitchen floor - about a
three foot fall! ive had this one for two months!

moik

[email hidden] (Chris Milkosky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased an
iPod mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery life is
poor - 2 hours or so, it locks up very frequently, and the
iTunes music purchase and transfer thing sucks. If you
have the Rio now (as we do - the Rio S10), you will be
really annoyed and feel really stupid when you realize you
were suckered into purchasing a thing for its looks. Yeah
- it looks damn cool. But how about functionality?!? My
wife took it to the gym, all excited about showing off the
brandy new green ipod mini - and what happens? It locks
up. Is this running on Windows 98 or something?!?

RE - iTunes - you're stuck to purchasing and copying music
to the iPod from only ONE machine. If you purchased a song
on your work PC and expect it to be able to go onto the
iPod, nope - you're SOL.

To top it all off, we're attempting to return it to Apple,
but because they roped us in on the "Free" personalization
[censored] (have your name inscribed on it), you can't return it
or get a refund. Nice way to stick it to your customers
Apple - real nice.

Sorry all - but if you are looking for a good unit that is
functional for running I would NOT recommend the ipod
mini. At least not now. I say that because I was told by
the rep on the phone that their tech support team may
identify this unit as having a manufacturing defect.

Whatever the case - we're very unhappy with the ipod mini,
the purchase experience too (the website didn't tell us a
lot - you had to hunt for it after the fact to notice
certain small print stuff).

Be careful if you are thinking of purchasing this unit.
I'd research other manufacturers first. This product
doesn't seem like it has been tested much at all.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

hello,

i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry that
it isnt tough enough. i am currently using a rio s35s
that has 256 megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of
music.

i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
*second* rio s35s. the first one i dropped (it falls off
while running) about fifty times before it completely
broke. also the earbud wires broke and i lost the
plastic clip case! second of all the little plastic
shell on the new rio s35s that is used to clip onto your
shorts, etc., is a total disaster - it doesnt fit the
player and the holes are in the wrong places making it
difficult to change the volume and even turn on and off.
the sound quality is just fine.

i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod mini
and breaking it the first day. i am a big, clumsy,
sweaty clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on
trails. i prefer not to use an arm band since my fingers
sometimes swell after long runs and hikes to begin w and
a tourniquet around the arm can only accentuate this.

the ipod is attractive because i could use it at home w
the stereo, and it holds enough that i could get rid of
most of my cds. also my wife would like it for audio
books. also it is simply too cool - i need one.

i already know the answer to this question. get an ipod
for home and use the nearly good enough rio s35s for
training.

THANKS!

moik

[email hidden] (sotampacane) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I can't believe I'm responding to someone with a group
name 'Hottie',

Makes you horny, eh?

Quoted message said:

but do not go around calling people stupid when you don't
know what the hell you are talking about.

Oh I do, you're stupid. However it is impossible to explain
to stupid people why they are stupid, because if they could
comprehend that thought they wouldn't be stupid.

Quoted message said:

I'm certainly not stupid and am only trying to put forth
a different point of view based on recent experiences in
my city.

Paranoiaville, USA?

Quoted message said:

Your comment about '3 out of a billion' demonstrates true
ignorance, but I'll pass it off as hyperbole. I think the
running companies would be thrilled to know that there are
'billions' of runners out there.

Once again your ignorance shows. Read "per day" because this
includes people who do multiple WO's per day.

Quoted message said:

And we've had 3 incidents in a year in my own part of the
world, which is either the weirdest coincidence or
actually an indication of how difficult its becoming on
the roads.

No, I suspect you are the cause, hiding in the bushes. I've
called the state police about you, it's just a matter of
time now...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You are assuming she needs to hear and/or protect
herself. Is that

from personal experience? Is that you lieing in wait in
the bushes?<<

A comment like this is reprehensible.

You do hide in the bushes, dontcha? I knew it...

Quoted message said:

It's a sad commentary that attitudes like yours exist. My
concern is protecting runners and educating, while your
seems to be of ignorance of the facts.

I'm surprised you even spelled that right.

Quoted message said:

If you can run on trails, good for you. That is not always
an option for some of us and isn't what I was commenting
on. But I would still not advocate headphones or music on
trails because there are enough sick people out there.

Like you hiding in the bushes?

Quoted message said:

While you are at it, try doing some research on the Linda
Yalem race in the Buffalo area. A woman attacked and
killed while running on trails. It happens.

I hope you have a firm alibi for that day.

Quoted message said:

Ten years after that tragedy, there was a series of attacks
on another trail around the North Forest area of a Buffalo
suburb. And I don't even live there anymore,

And these attacks trickled ogff after you moved? Hmmmmmm...

Quoted message said:

but I know about
it. That's what I am trying to avoid seeing happen.

You should see plenty from the bushes.

Quoted message said:

But I'll make an exception in your case. Send me your
address, and I'll send you my spare CDwalkmen that I use
on planes. Go out and run in the street with it and turn
it up to 11.

TheBillRodgers po box 1053 Westfield, Mass 01085

Make sure it has fresh batteries too!

moik,

Used it with a Windows machine, but I don't think that will
affect the lockups and battery life. If you are not used to
using iTunes, that'll likely annoy the heck out of you too.

But, that's just my opinion and my wife's.

As for toughness by the way - I'd probably recommend
against any mp3 player that uses a (mechanical) drive vs. a
memory card. Less moving parts - less that can fail. I
don't know how much shock an ipod mini can take before it
really screws with the unit. If you do decide to go with
the mini - they have an arm or wristband I think which
would probably be safer for you.. keep in mind all the
problems I had with it though. I wouldn't recommend it to
anyone, but who knows - I may have received one of a few
that has a manufacturing defect.

If you go with it - I wish you luck.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

chris,

thanks for your input. i have already ordered a green ipod
mini - but i just checked and i see i can still cancel it.
maybe i will. i'm afraid of breaking the damn thing - but
when you mention 2 hr battery life and locking up, etc.,
that really makes me think twice. are you sing it w a mac
or a windows machine? i'll be using it with a mac, if that
makes a difference.

btw - this morning i dropped my *second* rio s35s and i
think i half broke it. i think the volume control is
broken. the rio looks pretty sturdy but it is a piece of
[censored]. i fell out of my gym bag onto a wooden kitchen
floor - about a three foot fall! ive had this one for
two months!

moik

[email hidden] (Chris Milkosky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased an
iPod mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery life is
poor - 2 hours or so, it locks up very frequently, and
the iTunes music purchase and transfer thing sucks. If
you have the Rio now (as we do - the Rio S10), you will
be really annoyed and feel really stupid when you
realize you were suckered into purchasing a thing for
its looks. Yeah - it looks damn cool. But how about
functionality?!? My wife took it to the gym, all excited
about showing off the brandy new green ipod mini - and
what happens? It locks up. Is this running on Windows 98
or something?!?

RE - iTunes - you're stuck to purchasing and copying
music to the iPod from only ONE machine. If you
purchased a song on your work PC and expect it to be
able to go onto the iPod, nope - you're SOL.

To top it all off, we're attempting to return it to
Apple, but because they roped us in on the "Free"
personalization [censored] (have your name inscribed on it),
you can't return it or get a refund. Nice way to stick
it to your customers Apple - real nice.

Sorry all - but if you are looking for a good unit that
is functional for running I would NOT recommend the ipod
mini. At least not now. I say that because I was told by
the rep on the phone that their tech support team may
identify this unit as having a manufacturing defect.

Whatever the case - we're very unhappy with the ipod
mini, the purchase experience too (the website didn't
tell us a lot - you had to hunt for it after the fact to
notice certain small print stuff).

Be careful if you are thinking of purchasing this unit.
I'd research other manufacturers first. This product
doesn't seem like it has been tested much at all.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message news:<80cffad-
[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

hello,

i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry
that it isnt tough enough. i am currently using a rio
s35s that has 256 megs of memory and holds about 4
hours of music.

i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
*second* rio s35s. the first one i dropped (it falls
off while running) about fifty times before it
completely broke. also the earbud wires broke and i
lost the plastic clip case! second of all the little
plastic shell on the new rio s35s that is used to clip
onto your shorts, etc., is a total disaster - it
doesnt fit the player and the holes are in the wrong
places making it difficult to change the volume and
even turn on and off. the sound quality is just fine.

i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod mini
and breaking it the first day. i am a big, clumsy,
sweaty clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on
trails. i prefer not to use an arm band since my
fingers sometimes swell after long runs and hikes to
begin w and a tourniquet around the arm can only
accentuate this.

the ipod is attractive because i could use it at home
w the stereo, and it holds enough that i could get rid
of most of my cds. also my wife would like it for
audio books. also it is simply too cool - i need one.

i already know the answer to this question. get an
ipod for home and use the nearly good enough rio s35s
for training.

THANKS!

moik

stupid question here, but i'm a little confused... do you
*have* to use itunes w/ an ipod? i've got a ton of mp3s
saved to my hard drive that aren't itunes...does this mean i
can't transfer them to an ipod?

"Chris Milkosky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

moik,

Used it with a Windows machine, but I don't think that
will affect the lockups and battery life. If you are not
used to using iTunes, that'll likely annoy the heck out of
you too.

But, that's just my opinion and my wife's.

As for toughness by the way - I'd probably recommend
against any mp3 player that uses a (mechanical) drive vs.
a memory card. Less moving parts - less that can fail. I
don't know how much shock an ipod mini can take before it
really screws with the unit. If you do decide to go with
the mini - they have an arm or wristband I think which
would probably be safer for you.. keep in mind all the
problems I had with it though. I wouldn't recommend it to
anyone, but who knows - I may have received one of a few
that has a manufacturing defect.

If you go with it - I wish you luck.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

chris,

thanks for your input. i have already ordered a green
ipod mini - but i just checked and i see i can still
cancel it. maybe i will. i'm afraid of breaking the damn
thing - but when you mention 2 hr battery life and
locking up, etc., that really makes me think twice. are
you sing it w a mac or a windows machine? i'll be using
it with a mac, if that makes a difference.

btw - this morning i dropped my *second* rio s35s and i
think i half broke it. i think the volume control is
broken. the rio looks pretty sturdy but it is a piece of
[censored]. i fell out of my gym bag onto a wooden kitchen
floor - about a three foot fall! ive had this one for
two months!

moik

[email hidden] (Chris Milkosky) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased an
iPod mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery life
is poor - 2 hours or so, it locks up very frequently,
and the iTunes music purchase and transfer thing
sucks. If you have the Rio now (as we do - the Rio
S10), you will be really annoyed and feel really
stupid when you realize you were suckered into
purchasing a thing for its looks. Yeah - it looks damn
cool. But how about functionality?!? My wife took it
to the gym, all excited about showing off the brandy
new green ipod mini - and what happens? It locks up.
Is this running on Windows 98 or something?!?

RE - iTunes - you're stuck to purchasing and copying
music to the iPod from only ONE machine. If you
purchased a song on your work PC and expect it to be
able to go onto the iPod, nope - you're SOL.

To top it all off, we're attempting to return it to
Apple, but because they roped us in on the "Free"
personalization [censored] (have your name inscribed on it),
you can't return it or get a refund. Nice way to stick
it to your customers Apple - real nice.

Sorry all - but if you are looking for a good unit
that is functional for running I would NOT recommend
the ipod mini. At least not now. I say that because I
was told by the rep on the phone that their tech
support team may identify this unit as having a
manufacturing defect.

Whatever the case - we're very unhappy with the ipod
mini, the purchase experience too (the website didn't
tell us a lot - you had to hunt for it after the fact
to notice certain small print stuff).

Be careful if you are thinking of purchasing this
unit. I'd research other manufacturers first. This
product doesn't seem like it has been tested much at
all.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> hello,
>
> i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry
> that it isnt

tough

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> enough. i am currently using a rio s35s that has 256
> megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of music.
>
> i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on my
> *second* rio

s35s.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> the first one i dropped (it falls off while running)
> about fifty

times

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> before it completely broke. also the earbud wires
> broke and i lost

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> plastic clip case! second of all the little plastic
> shell on the new rio s35s that is used to clip onto
> your shorts, etc., is a total disaster - it doesnt
> fit the player and the holes are in the wrong places
> making it difficult to change the volume and even
> turn on

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> off. the sound quality is just fine.
>
> i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod
> mini and breaking

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> the first day. i am a big, clumsy, sweaty clydesdale
> marathoner that primarily trains on trails. i prefer
> not to use an arm band since my fingers sometimes
> swell after long runs and hikes to begin w and a
> tourniquet around the arm can only accentuate this.
>
> the ipod is attractive because i could use it at
> home w the stereo, and it holds enough that i could
> get rid of most of my cds. also my wife would like
> it for audio books. also it is simply too cool - i
> need one.
>
> i already know the answer to this question. get an
> ipod for home and use the nearly good enough rio
> s35s for training.
>
> THANKS!
>
> moik

iTunes is just a program that plays mp3's, it allows for
creating playlists and moving files on to an iPod. It
will move any mp3 not just the ones purchased from the
Apple site.

There are some shareware programs that will move files to
and from the iPod, but there really isn't any reason not to
use iTunes since it free and works very well. The
aforementioned programs are best for moving files if you
have more than one computer to sync with.

Zgirl said:

stupid question here, but i'm a little confused... do you
*have* to use itunes w/ an ipod? i've got a ton of mp3s
saved to my hard drive that aren't itunes...does this mean
i can't transfer them to an ipod?

"Chris Milkosky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

moik,

Used it with a Windows machine, but I don't think that
will affect the lockups and battery life. If you are not
used to using iTunes, that'll likely annoy the heck out
of you too.

But, that's just my opinion and my wife's.

As for toughness by the way - I'd probably recommend
against any mp3 player that uses a (mechanical) drive
vs. a memory card. Less moving parts - less that can
fail. I don't know how much shock an ipod mini can take
before it really screws with the unit. If you do decide
to go with the mini - they have an arm or wristband I
think which would probably be safer for you.. keep in
mind all the problems I had with it though. I wouldn't
recommend it to anyone, but who knows - I may have
received one of a few that has a manufacturing defect.

If you go with it - I wish you luck.

Chris

[email hidden] (moik) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

chris,

thanks for your input. i have already ordered a green
ipod mini - but i just checked and i see i can still
cancel it. maybe i will. i'm afraid of breaking the
damn thing - but when you mention 2 hr battery life
and locking up, etc., that really makes me think
twice. are you sing it w a mac or a windows machine?
i'll be using it with a mac, if that makes a
difference.

btw - this morning i dropped my *second* rio s35s and
i think i half broke it. i think the volume control is
broken. the rio looks pretty sturdy but it is a piece
of [censored]. i fell out of my gym bag onto a wooden
kitchen floor - about a three foot fall! ive had this
one for two months!

moik

[email hidden] (Chris Milkosky) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I saw this thread and just had to post. I purchased
> an iPod mini, and I am highly dissatisfied. Battery
> life is poor - 2 hours or so, it locks up very
> frequently, and the iTunes music purchase and
> transfer thing sucks. If you have the Rio now (as we
> do - the Rio S10), you will be really annoyed and
> feel really stupid when you realize you were
> suckered into purchasing a thing for its looks. Yeah
> - it looks damn cool. But how about functionality?!?
> My wife took it to the gym, all excited about
> showing off the brandy new green ipod mini - and
> what happens? It locks up. Is this running on
> Windows 98 or something?!?
>
> RE - iTunes - you're stuck to purchasing and copying
> music to the iPod from only ONE machine. If you
> purchased a song on your work PC and expect it to be
> able to go onto the iPod, nope - you're SOL.
>
> To top it all off, we're attempting to return it to
> Apple, but because they roped us in on the "Free"
> personalization [censored] (have your name inscribed on
> it), you can't return it or get a refund. Nice way
> to stick it to your customers Apple - real nice.
>
> Sorry all - but if you are looking for a good unit
> that is functional for running I would NOT recommend
> the ipod mini. At least not now. I say that because
> I was told by the rep on the phone that their tech
> support team may identify this unit as having a
> manufacturing defect.
>
> Whatever the case - we're very unhappy with the ipod
> mini, the purchase experience too (the website
> didn't tell us a lot - you had to hunt for it after
> the fact to notice certain small print stuff).
>
> Be careful if you are thinking of purchasing this
> unit. I'd research other manufacturers first. This
> product doesn't seem like it has been tested much at
> all.
>
> Chris
>
> [email hidden] (moik) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > hello,
> >
> > i am thinking of buying an ipod mini - but i worry
> > that it isnt

tough

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > enough. i am currently using a rio s35s that has
> > 256 megs of memory and holds about 4 hours of
> > music.
> >
> > i like it but also hate it. first of all i am on
> > my *second* rio

s35s.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > the first one i dropped (it falls off while
> > running) about fifty

times

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > before it completely broke. also the earbud wires
> > broke and i lost

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > plastic clip case! second of all the little
> > plastic shell on the new rio s35s that is used to
> > clip onto your shorts, etc., is a total disaster -
> > it doesnt fit the player and the holes are in the
> > wrong places making it difficult to change the
> > volume and even turn on

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > off. the sound quality is just fine.
> >
> > i worry about shelling out 250 bucks for the ipod
> > mini and breaking

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > the first day. i am a big, clumsy, sweaty
> > clydesdale marathoner that primarily trains on
> > trails. i prefer not to use an arm band since my
> > fingers sometimes swell after long runs and hikes
> > to begin w and a tourniquet around the arm can
> > only accentuate this.
> >
> > the ipod is attractive because i could use it at
> > home w the stereo, and it holds enough that i
> > could get rid of most of my cds. also my wife
> > would like it for audio books. also it is simply
> > too cool - i need one.
> >
> > i already know the answer to this question. get an
> > ipod for home and use the nearly good enough rio
> > s35s for training.
> >
> > THANKS!
> >
> > moik

"Zgirl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

stupid question here, but i'm a little confused...

Blond?

Quoted message said:

It will move any mp3 not just the ones purchased from the
Apple site.

that's exactly what i wanted to know... thx!!

Quoted message said:

Blond?

well, no.. but i have some blond highlights..does that
count? :-p

Although your answered the posters question... the answer
was not 100% accurate. Yes, an iPod will play Mp3's... but
iTunes, as well as being an app for moving and organizing
music files... also allows you to browser and buy tunes from
Apple. Those files are not Mp3's, they are encoded in AAC
format (which is arguable better quality than Mp3). THAT
format is only playable on iPods.

(Bumper) said:

iTunes is just a program that plays mp3's, it allows for
creating playlists and moving files on to an iPod. It
will move any mp3 not just the ones purchased from the
Apple site.

There are some shareware programs that will move files to
and from the iPod, but there really isn't any reason not
to use iTunes since it free and works very well. The
aforementioned programs are best for moving files if you
have more than one computer to sync with.

--
Nova Scotia, Canada