Another Ipod

Far from being iPoddy, I was fairly happy with my Pink, 4Gb, original style iPod, especially since the battery upgrade, however my I was forced... Forced I tell you, into having a new 160Gb Black iPod Classic.

Mine

I say forced, it was actually given to me, brand new, gratis, free, no exchange of money, and definately not stolen etc, by someone who is almost my new best friend.

I have managed to "legally backup" and transfer some of my movies, music, TV shows and podcasts over to it, and still have 125Gb free.

...Wow

I didn't realise the iPod only plays .mp4 movie format, stupidly, I presumed I could just transfer my avi files (legal DVD rips of course) straight to the iPod without too much hassle.
Oh No - I have to convert them first.

I used "A-One Ipod Video Convertor" to do the conversions, can anyone suggest something better, my favourite price is free, but cheaper is not always better.

I need a holiday so I can sit in the sun all day while SWMBO reads her Sophie Kinsella books and I watch Simpsons, American Gangster, Family Guy, Transformers, Debbie Does.. (not that one).

I need a use for my original "Pinky", and the 3 broken grey ones I bought off eBay for £25 will repaired... and sold back on eBay.

Hate !!!!

I have known my (ex) good friend Thomo for 10 years, 8 months and 23 days in which time we have worked together at 3 places, employed each other, loaned each other tonnes of money, been through births, deaths, marriages, new girlfriends and splits from girlfriends, you could say he was "A MATE"2 days ago however this all came to an end.

3 cases of Stella was purchased, we arranged for a "serious" session with Stella, Dominos Pizza, Xbox and TV round at my house.

when Thomo turned up however, he instantly did something to make me hate him...

He pulled out his BRAND NEW 16Gb IPOD TOUCH...

I WANT ONE !!!

iPod Update

Well I am pleased to annouce that the battery replacement seems to have resolved my iPod problem and it now plays for hours. I charged it overnight and left it playing to test, it played music all day.

This also means I don't need a iPod 160Gb or Microsoft Zune (I Still WANT one though).

My (pink) iPod - I think she's alive

Following on from my dead iPod post, I received my replacement battery from t'bay today. I paid £4.99 for the battery, there were some cheaper, but this one appears to have more power therefore is supposed to last longer. Great seller though, the battery even comes with the tools needed (2 screwdrivers) and full instructions on how to do it.
I was a little nervous about taking my ipod apart at first, but managed it, I'll need to charge it before I say if it has solved my issue, I'll let you know as soon as it's charged,

Here's How I did it.

1. Using the Flat screwdriver, prise the white plastic top and bottom from the iPod (tricky due to the glue)
2. Remove the metal "retaining" clip from the bottom of the iPod, there are also some screws at the top (I forgot to photo those though). unscrew these screws.
3. Unclip the connector at the bottom of the iPod
4. Push the "motherboard" from the bottom of the outer casing.
5. Unclip the battery power cable from the motherboard, remove and replace with the new battery
6. slide the motherboard back into the outer casing.

7. Replace the connector, retaining clip, screws and white plastic top and bottom.

8. As Gordon Ramsay would say.... DONE
The instructions recommend a minimum charge of 3 hours before first use, I'll be charging mine overnight.

Now then... I wonder if I could get a larger Microdrive in the same place (Answer is maybe, but they only go to 6Gb so not really worth the effort of trying).

The Microsoft Zune

Unlike Taoski, I am not dedicated to Apple and becoming an even less loyal fan of the iPod, especially now my iPod is having problems, I love what the iPod does, not what it is, the ability to play a shed load of music is the reason I have one (and the fact I got it Mega cheap).

I have been reading up on Microsofts' music player the Zune which, although has been out quietly for a while, has had some improvement.

All the Ipod fanboys seem to do (obviously) is constantly slag off the Zune as they do with everything non-apple, I, like a lot of others am not too fused, the comment from a reader at Engadget which sums it up perfectly.

I am constantly baffled by people who care what a device that is going to be in your pocket 90% of the time looks like. Function over form for me any day of the week.

I totally agree, who cares what device you listen to your music on, I prefer to have as many functions built into a device as possible (although it means more things to go wrong), but a music player with as large a capacity as possible, ability to play all music formats, video, show photos, FM radio would be perfect.

When you compare an iPod to the Zune, there are advantages and disadvantages with both of them and.... get me... I've done a comparison

	Ipod Classic	Microsoft Zune
Capacity	160Gb	80Gb
Size	61.8 mm x 103.5 mm x 13.5 mm	61.1 mm x 108.2 mm x 12.9 mm
Weight	162g	128g
Screen Size	2.5"	3.2" scratch resistant glass
Controller	Jog wheel	Zune pad
Music Format	aac, mp3, vbr, aiff, wav,	wma, mp4, m4a, m4b, mov, mp3, aac, vbr
Video Format	H.264, mov AAC-LC mpeg-4 (m4v, .mp4)	wmv, HD wmv, mpeg-4 (mp4/m4v) H.264
Video Output	None	Yes - Through headphone jack
FM Radio	No	Advanced FM Tuning (see the name of the current track ).
Connection	Ipod connector	Wireless or cable
Music Downloads	iTunes	Zune Marketplace
Photos	jpeg, bmp, gif, tiff, psd (Mac only), png	jpeg
Wireless	NO	Yes - 802.11b/g wireless (30ft range)
Sych	iTunes	Zune software, sync wirelessly
Other Info		Import recorded TV from Windows Vista Media Centre and playback

To Sum up
If there was a 160Gb Zune with the aftermarket accessories of the iPod, I'd have one in a flash, as I have a iHome (clock radio), an iStation (speakers) and a iPod connector fitted to my car stereo.

My Ipod Battery is ...


"Fuct" in IT support terms means Failed Under Contnous Testing, and my iPod Mini is completely Fuct.

and yes mine is pink , that was
all that was available at the time ...

I though maybe it was my Ipod connector in my car that may have been draining the battery, however after a full charge last night, it managed to play for a total of 13 seconds while I was being punished at the physio today, and I really need my iPod in physio to help me forget that the physiotherapist is hurting me, (and he does hurt me).

I have now decided that if I am not going to get a free iPod, I don't want to fork out on an iPhone, an iTouch doesn't have enough capacity so I'll go down the next cheapest route and purchase a replacement battery for my iPod.
They are around £8 on eBay including shipping for the 850mah battery which will actually give approximately 60% more battery life than the original "working" battery did, although the battery life wasn't actually that bad before, it's always better to have more for yer money.

I'll report back when I have broken replaced the battery and have to buy an iPod anyway have it working again

-----

Finally, Sir Danny of the "aitch arr", if you're reading this and still want your iPhone, read the reviews and buyers guide over at ilounge. I know you're going to buy one anyway
I haven't read the reviews and won't as I refuse to be persuaded into wanting one, let me know if they say they are not worth it and I don't want you to show me your ... ever.... yet.

iPhone

So the iPhone has been released and all the daft punters are happily enjoying their expensive gadget. I still didn't want one.

It appears however, my iPod mini was set to self destruct at the mere mention of not wanting a newer iPod, and has now decided to run out of battery 5 minutes after each charge. Even google can't seem to give me a straight answer. So far I have restored the iPod to it's factory state, left it on charge for a couple of days, I'm now at the point where I may replace the battery if I dare.

So a week of freebies has led to a weekend of sh*t.

• My iPod playing up
• Watching 60 minutes of abysmal Derby County getting thrashed by the Hammers

The only real thing to look forward to is going back to work tomorrow after 5 months working at home with a dodgy knee, which I'm happy to say is at 90% better. (Thanks to a Forest supporting physiotherapist - boo!!!)

Some people just don't listen

Dear Time Magazine - do you not read my blog... tut tut

What next indeed

Time magazine have only gone and named the iPhone the "Invention Of the Year"
Obviously this paper is either an Apple fanboy, have no idea what they are talking about or don't actually own things such as this. I guess as an invention it's but not as revolutionary as the iPod itself. Although it does appear that they actually don't really like it either - worth a read.

Just look at the size of it, "life in your pocket", yeah right

The iPhone is just an iPod touch with a built in mobile phone. The things I like over a traditional ipod are the Touchscreen and Widescreen functions, but it's still missing (for me at least), 100Gb in storage, Built in GPS for Sat Nav, 3G and the ability to synchronise with MS Exchange - oh - and the pricing, available tariffs and limited choice of network providers.

I know there are ways around these issues (apart from the storage), but I, like many others want things to work straight out of the box.

I have the HTC TYTN II which has built in GPS, 3.5G connectivity and syncs with Exchange, ok the memory is stored on a Micro SD Card, which at the moment are only up to 6Gb in size (for £30 though), so a slight drawback, but I still prefer it to an iPhone.

I do however still want the iPod "classic"... Please..... someone... anyone.

iPhone UK
The iPhone is coming to the UK on November 9th.

Do I want one yet? - nope, I'm still managing to resist temptation especially as the pricing and tariffs have been announced.

Firstly, you can only supposedly get the phone on the O2 network (I'm on Orange), you have to pay £269 for the phone itself (8Gb) model, and then you're robbed every month with the tariff.

£35 per month gets you 200 minutes and 200 texts
£45 per month gets you 600 minutes and 500 texts
£55 per months gets you 1200 minutes and 500 texts

I currently pay £25 per month and get 500 minutes and 500 texts. and SWMBO pays £35 for 500 minutes and unlimited texts.

So not only are you having to pay over the odds for the privilege of owning an iPhone, there's a premium each month for using it. The tariff does come with an unlimited data allowance although the iPhone isn't a 3G device.

&

I'd rather go for the 160Gb Video iPod (now known as the "Classic") for £229.00 and get a Smartphone on a free upgrade. The iTouch is only let down by the hard drive size (8 or 16Gb).

Apple iPhone

The Apple iPhone is here (Well in the states anyway).

I cannot believe the amount of hype something has just because of the branding, I must say Steve Jobs must have the easiest job in the world, simply badge a product "apple" and it will sell by the millions and even have stupid people queing for days to get one.

Then the money makers who queue, buy one and make a couple of hundred quid on ebay.

I love my gadgets, but am definately not going to shedding out £500 on a mobile phone.

I have an iPod - its only 4Gb and doesn't play videos, but it does me.
I have a phone - which makes calls, has 1Gb of memory for music and 2Mp camera
I have a PDA - which gets my emails, tasks, internet access and a broadband modem
I have a camera - Its small and fantastic.

and now (fanfare please).....I have a iPhone (ish)

Video