egad ! iPod not mentioned in choice mp3 review

In fact Apple earned a Shonky award for the iPod.

An iPod is a significant investment, so you don’t want your APPLE to be a lemon. And if there is something wrong with it, you’d expect an easy repair and warranty service. Podluck.

Level 1. Several readers complained about cracked screens, faulty batteries and problems with sound reproduction.

Level 2. APPLE doesn’t allow retailers to handle complaints under warranty (which is their obligation under Fair Trading laws) — you have to send your faulty iPod to APPLE yourself via Australia Post. And if they decide the fault isn’t covered by the warranty, you’ll have to foot the entire bill.

Some retailers will still deal with Apple for you and they remain your first port of call if something goes wrong.

Mmmm not much lovin for the iPod over at CHOICE.

What to buy

Flash

iriver T10 2GB $139

 

Samsung YP-Z5FQB 2GB $239

Hard disc

 

iriver E10 6GB $299

Toshiba gigabeat MES30V $399

 

The verdict

Flash

The iRiver T10 2GB achieved an excellent score for ease of use and a very good score for sound. It has the longest battery life in the test using a normal akaline AA battery.

The Samsung YP-Z5FQB has very good ease of use and sound scores as well as the second longest battery life in the test. It has a built-in rechargable battery.

However, the seven products which follow these two in the table are all very good overall performers and well worth a look.

Hard disc

The iRIVER E10 6GB has the smallest capacity for HDD models in this test, but is very easy to use and has the longest battery life of the HDD models.

If you need the 30GB capacity,the TOSHIBA gigabeat MES30V achieved equal second best sound score in the test and a good ease of use rating.

The other HDD models all perform well overall.