iDumped my iPod…
July 22nd, 2006
It was always a love-hate relationship between me and my iPod mini. It brought me hours upon hours of great joy in isolating me from the rest of the public transit-riding society.
But the battery-life was horrendous. Sure, I was suppose to get around 18 hours of battery life per charge, but that’s at low volume, without an equalizer, and with minimal switching of tracks. All of which doesn’t apply to my listening habit at all. Towards the end of my mini’s life, I was lucky if I could get an hour and a half of power out of it.
I ordered a battery replacement, pried the mini open, and replaced it - but that only extended the battery life by a few hours. I couldn’t understand the reason why I had to go through the hassle of prying it open, carefully disconnecting one cable after another from a circuit board - just to replace a battery. Sure, I could send it back to Apple for a replacement - but that would mean days without music to block out bible pushers, plus some astounding fee because I didn’t purchase the Apple Care plan.
Add to that the fact that I couldn’t use my iPod with the online audiobook service our library system use. It was bothersome to rip the tracks of audiobooks off CD just to listen to them on the iPod.
So, I decided to get myself an iRiver H10. It’s iRiver’s alternative to a mini, but after comparing the two, it seems the H10 surpasses the mini. The H10 has 5 gigs of space, as compared to the mini’s 4. It has a built in FM radio tuner, which is a neat feature for a news junkie like me. I could also use it was a voice recorder, and record FM radio. The mini doesn’t have an FM tuner built in, although you could purchase an add-on. The H10 has a nice, bright colorful screen capable of displaying digital pictures. It’s a bit small to see anything too well, but it’s a nice addition none the less.
Now I can use online music subscription services to download songs legally. I’m currently using Yahoo! Music Unlimited To Go service. Granted, I don’t technically own them - but it’s ideal for my music habits. I can still listen to songs in my large mp3 and CD collection, plus a million other songs I can listen to as long as I pay the monthly fee. And now I can use the library’s audiobook service as well.
Oh, and the battery life is so much better. I’ve listened to it for around 2 hours today, and it’s not even one bar off the battery meter. And the day it doesn’t hold a charge, I can just buy one online for less than $20.
As for the mini - I completely disassembled it. It’s the kid in me to do so. I then put it all back together, and guess what - it works. Really well. In fact, when I disassembled it, it had no charge whatsoever. After reassembly, it was half-charged. Well, either way, it’s becoming a 4 gig external hard drive for now - although my wife has her eyes on it for those long, boring days at work.
[tags] iriver, ipod mini, yahoo music [/tags]
2 Responses to “iDumped my iPod…”
1sky v.
July 23rd, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
you’ll have to let me know how the library’s audiobooks work out.
2sky v.
July 27th, 2006 @ 6:12 pm
i don’t like the new layout… too dark, not enough contrast… makes it hard to read for us people who are getting old or read too much. just my humble opinion!
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