DIGITAL Letdown » mp3 players http://digitalletdown.com sigh.... Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:33:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Zune-undrum!? http://digitalletdown.com/2008/02/22/zune-undrum/ http://digitalletdown.com/2008/02/22/zune-undrum/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:38:51 +0000 wisekris http://digitalletdown.com/blog/?p=45 Continue reading →]]>
  • I’m not a Microsoft Fanboy
  • I will listen to FM tuner
  • I will play Podcasts
  • I want to play Video’s (don’t have many right now)
  • I would prefer to have a moderately large screen
  • I want it built to last
  • I have $75 Amazon Mun-buns

    • With that out of the way…. what should I get.

    [poll=4]

    Source: anythingbutipod.com

    Zune v1 (30gb) Brown: $175 – $75 = ~$100
    Pro

    • BROWN (this is a big deal to me I LOVE the brown)
    • 30 gb
    • 3.2″ Screen
    • FM
    • Video Output

    Con

    • v1 Hardware Controls
    • v1 style look (meh, its ok but i put it on the con side compared to v2 look)
    • v1 Thickness (ick)
    • Hard Drive Thickness
    • Hard Drive Frailty

    Zune v2 (80gb) Black: $275 – $75 = ~$200
    Pro

    • v2 Thickness
    • v2 Controls (Tactile & Touch! I hear its really good)
    • 80 gb
    • v2 Style
    • 3.2′ Screen
    • FM
    • Premium Headphones
    • Video Output

    Con

    • $200 – lot of mun buns
    • Hard Drive Thickness
    • Hard Drive Frailty – not super worried about this but it is a concern

    Zune v2 (8gb) Green or Black: $170 – $75 = ~$95
    Pro

    • v2 Thickness + Flash Memory Thickness = Small and Thin!
    • Flash Memory Durability
    • v2 Controls (Tactile & Touch! I hear its really good)
    • v2 Style
    • FM

    Con

    • $95 almost same as 30gb old one…
    • 1.5′ screen :( :( – the border on this one makes the screen look small
    • 8 gb
    • No Video Output

    Final Thoughts:

    I think the 8gb would be the best to carry around

    I think the 80gb is a good long term investment (Video & TV Output, premium Headphones, Capacity)

    I think the 30gb I like/want because its brown and everyone hates the brown. (also good in price)

    ]]>     http://digitalletdown.com/2008/02/22/zune-undrum/feed/ 4     how to (not?) fix an ipod problem http://digitalletdown.com/2008/02/20/how-to-not-fix-an-ipod-problem/ http://digitalletdown.com/2008/02/20/how-to-not-fix-an-ipod-problem/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:35:38 +0000 keegan http://digitalletdown.com/blog/?p=42 Continue reading →]]> So I sort of bought Zach’s old 4G 40 gig iPod from him, and as soon as I got it, it started having problems. I think it may have started when I connected it to my firewire port, but not sure. Anyway, the symptoms I was having included: locking up Windows XP, not loading songs in iTunes, not showing up in iTunes, not showing up in Windows, not being recognized as my iPod (just a generic “iPod”) in iTunes, etc… Also I was getting the little folder and exclamation point icon (). After searching for a while about the problem, I came to two conclusions: the hard drive was DEAD or DIEING, or the iPod’s main board had a inherent problem (I was reading that some of the earlier models had the problem where the main board would cut off the power to the hard drive after a short while). I thought it was the main board one because when I listened to the hard drive it would make a whirr-up sound, then turn off, then spin up, then click, etc. BUT THEN I came accross an article were the guy basically had the exact same symptoms I did. The cure seemed a bit extreme: shake the hard drive outside of the iPod, and Many, MANY people replied saying how it miraculously worked for them. Well, I had tried so many resets and restores that I was ready to do anything. I didn’t want to open it up at first, even though I read it didn’t really work unless you removed the hard drive from the device, so I just kind of shook it in my hand a bit, then shook a bit harder. Then kind of lobbed it on the floor. AND IT WORKED! The hard drive was MUCH faster! Everything seemed to be good. I plugged it in and it was able to read the songs and everything. I was really exited! …For like an hour or two. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer, it started having the same old symptoms, plus a new one! I got the the sad iPod icon (). So I knew what I had to do. OPEN UP THE IPOD. Lets watch:

    So basically the reason shaking the iPod is what to do is because the head of the hard drive gets stuck and shaking it “unsticks” it. I think my hard drive was just bad because as you can see from the last pic the hard drive’s probably dead…. :(


    Yay!


    I used something thinner to get in at first, actually…


    WOAH!


    Compared to a quarter


    Compared to a laptop hard drive


    Compared to a lot of things

    << Insert shaking here >>


    DEAD.

    …so we think it’s either the HD or the board. I’m hoping I can get it switched by apple for 60 bucks (that would be sweet).

    So advice for readers: shaking your iPod probably works for some, maybe even most, but the hard drive is probably still making it’s way to the grave. I want to mention that a few technicians posted on that thread saying how shaking a hard drive is never a good idea, which is true, but if you are at then end of your ropes, why not give it a shot? Even if it does work, though, some people said they had to every-once-and-a-while hit their iPod or shake it a bit when they started having problems again, so shaking and iPod probably isn’t a smart long-term solution. But like I said before, if you’re at the end of your ropes? Maybe give it a shot? THAT IS MY TWO CENTS ON THAT OKAY

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