Holy shit does that thing ever suck a big set of nuts! I bought a 20GB iPod last Friday because I figured it'd be a great MP3 player, and in less than a day I already returned it. Here is my list of grevances:
1) The touch-sensitive buttons are
too sensitive. When I put it in my pocket and walked around, the material from my pocket touched the buttons and caused tracks to change and the volume to adjust. Also, they're so damn sensitive that just about anytime you pick it up or remove it from a pocket you're bound to hit one and make something change.
2) The bass expander is absolutely worthless. I could barely tell any difference at all by turning it on and off, and it doesn't allow you to adjust how much bass you want as far as I could tell. It really needs a 5-10 band EQ instead.
3) Any button you accidentally touch turns the unit on. It needs an On/Off button that's
not touch-sensitive so you can turn it off and have it stay off. Having to use the Hold button everytime you turn it off is a pain in the ass.
4) The Hold button is too low-profile and difficult to quickly turn on and off. Apple was more concerned about style than user friendliness apparently.
5) It costs way too damn much compared to other players.
6) You can't drag-and-drop files. However, since most players use some sort of program to manage files this isn't just an iPod problem.
7) The volume doesn't go nearly high enough. I could easily crank it all the way to max without it being painful.
8) The remote control is too long. When you plug it in and attach a headphone cord to it, it's like 3' long altogether. WTF are you supposed to do with all that cord?
9) The menu system is lame. You have to hit the Menu button about 3-5 times to get back to the main screen from where you are.
10) No off button? I don't have 3 seconds to waste everytime I want to turn it off. Again, it needs a separate On/Off button.
11) White sucks. Make it black and it'd look a lot better.
12) The chrome backing will be finger-printed forever. It's impossible to keep it looking nice.
I'm sure there would be other things I'd hate about it if I had kept it a few days longer, but that's all I could think of for now. When I returned it, I picked up a
Rio Nitrus instead. It only holds 1.5GB of music, but that's more than enough for over 24 hours solid of music. I can't imagine the need to take more than that with me at any time. It's buttons take some pressure to push in which means you won't hit them with your pocket or accidently adjust something when you take it out of your pocket or bag. It's also about half the size of the iPod...
and it's black! Pretty much every feature I hate on the iPod is not a problem with the Nitrus except for not being able to drag-and-drop music files like you would with a USB drive. Also, the Nitrus costs half as much as the 20GB iPod.
I hope this saves someone from wasting time and buying an iPod like I did.