Apple iPod 20GB with Click Wheel - 4th Generation [M9282B/A]

I bought my ipod in October 2004 and I can say that it has been a pleasure to own. I have used it nearly every day since the day I bought it and even now my battery last more than eight hours before requiring a recharge. All I can go in is my own experience and I would definitely recommend buying it.

I saved hard to be able to buy my son his greatest, desired wish on which to store his beloved music - Apple iPod 20GB. Within 12 months and 1 week he could only charge its battery, the "click wheel" clicks alright, but resulting in no music playback!!! We were told yesterday in the Apple Store, Bath that it would cost £200 at least to mend, so much for their high profile boast of recyling their goods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT IMPRESSED BY MY FIRST AQUISITION FROM THE MIGHTY APPLE ORGANISATION.

I used my ipod nearly every day for 18 months and it's given up the ghost once and for all, as the hard disk doesn't work anymore. How apple can charge such a high price for a product that is so unreliable, and has only a limited life before needing work on the hard disk or battery is beyond me. The question i ask myself is: is it worth paying apple £10 a month (based on a £180 product only lasting 18 months), just to have my music all on one player? Well, i'm really not sure. If the product was half the price then i'd probably go out right now and buy a shiny new one. The second question i'm asking myself is: is it actually more convenient to have all my music on one player, given the time you ponce around on itunes and with the ipod itself? Is the digital music age going to be better? The jury is out. Anyway, back to the ipod itself. The screen needs to be covered with a layer to stop it getting really badly scratched, but that's the least of your problems with one of these things. Mine starting to 'stick' in menus after only a few days, but by toggling the hold switch it would work ok again. Unfortunately this problem became decididly worse after the year guarantee was up, to the point that on many occasions i wasn't able to select what i wanted to hear because the click wheel did not work despite lots of fiddling around. So I ended up listening to the same playlist or just putting it on shuffle, which is ok, but hardly convenient for times i wanted to hear something specific, and sure isn't user friendly. I don't know what apple charge for fixing ipods but it should be a pittance if they continue to price the product so high. The fact that apple hasn't been held properly accountable for the product is quite staggering. If all the electrical appliances you used everyday packed-up after a year and a half, or didn't work properly from early on into its life then you'd want to know why they are so unreliable, and know how the product got past the product testing stage and satisfied product standards, consumer groups, etc, and actually got launched, or is there some kind of acceptance that expenrsive products don't really have to stand up to every day use? (it's seems to be the same with mobile phones). As far as i know, apple have not come up with a suitable reason why this product is priced so high yet lasts so poorly. Apple go on about the fact it's so stylish but that's very lame in my view. If it was twice the size, had naff looking rubber buttons but was reliable and had a life of, say, 3 years, then i'm sure no one would be complaining. Style over substance just doesn't cut it with me i'm afraid. I hope apple drop the price or competitors can offer an itunes compatible product that beats the pants off the ipod, i'm hoping it's soon but in the meantime.... I did keep all my CDs (yes i think CDs are ok, and you get a nice plastic case and sleeve notes, and proper artwork, unlike a download). Now where's my trusty old discman???.....

I bought my ipod last year before travelling to Oz and New Zealand and it was great for those long flights ( battery lasting - just - the 12 hour flights).I loved the way it was easy to download linking up with itunes. Great..... until I came back and used it at home to accompany me jogging. Then it started to play up - stopping mid flow ( regularly) even though the button lock was on. Having difficulty getting the wheel click to register my selections - or whizzing past. Then it decided to stop completely - even though the button lock was off. Of course it is well past its one year guarantee so I now have a pretty heap of junk. I understand that if you want to actually carry it around with you you are better off with the nano or shuffle as the hard drive can become disconnected. Er.... isn't the whole idea that it is portable? Frankly, if you want the brand and the image buy the ipod - but if you want to use an mp3 player - get something else!

I love my ipod. However, when it broke down for the umpteenth time, the regent street apple "genius" told me (now!) that since it has a hard disk drive, i.e. moving parts, carrying it around makes it likely to dislodge the disc needing it to be replaced (which, by the way, costs almost as much as an ipod) Apparently, if you're intending to use it as a portable player, you're better off with a nano or shuffle but if you get a regular ipod, carrying it can have similar consequences to dropping it- not exactly what one would like to hear of a mp3 personal player. I'm trying to enjoy my shuffle, but it doesn't quite have the allure of my (dead) ipod!

I bought this 20GB ipod (not photo) and it broke down within a month. I got a replacement 40GB photo and that lasted one day. Don't use it with a speaker system, it makes it last even less. Granted, the ipods I bought were refurbished by ipod, but just the fact that there are so many refurbished ipods being sold by (unnamed, they'll thank their lucky stars) electronic retailer third parties, says everything. I was lucky to get a refund from the third party, after going back three times, to get it fixed, get a replacement, and finally I refused to accept anything but a refund or I would be going to trading standards. Honestly, just get a cheap 1GB one, NOT by ipod. They really should be ashamed, doing so many people out of their money. I wouldn't buy an ipod in 10 years time let alone now.

I have hd an iPod for quite a long time and Im very vey happy, when it works. The features, and ease of use, the way it works with iTunes - everything about the iPod, from my experience - is perfect. But the iPod is probably the least consistent appliance ever!! So far I have perhaps 3 replacements, luckily the nearest Apple shop to me has been very nice - I got a replacement when I dented my first iPod and other things, and even out of warrenty they have replaced my iPod but it just gets to a point where you dont want something which you have to go to extreme lengths to replace every few months!! Very good when working but buy something else because its not reliable!!

I believe this ipod beats the 30gb video by far. for starters, the video iPod just looks plain wrong. its too wide, making it a little to large to fit in your pocket coomfprtably. Also, the sharper corners are not as nice to hold. I await the day when the nano is bumped up to 25 - 30 gigs and the video is replaced by a full screen video ipod. then, they would have finally created a successor to the 4G ipod. as for battery, mines over a year and a half long and i still get a good ten hours out of it. also, i havnt been clumsy enough to drop mine so no scrathes either. Easily the best MP3 player ever created. Ever. Period. oh except for the new nanos, lol!

On my ipod the battery was so bad that if you played 3 songs (if your lucky) one bar would go down. So you only get at least an album on EQ with backlight. You will need the backlight because the screen is so dark. The back gets finger prints on it so bad that you cant touch the back so you have to hold the sides which gets highly annoying. Before you think about getting creative mp3 players they are even worse because the headphone jack broke on my zen micro after 3 days of using it. If you want my advice buy a toshiba gigabeat from tesco. You cant get them from amazon anymore. Dont know why. If you listen to your ipod for 50 mins a day get the ipod or get something else like sony or toshiba gigabeat.

I love the reviews on this site. I use them regularly to decide on buying things. So if you are dithering over whether to go with Ipod or whether to get another contender, then I hope this will help you make up your mind about whether to get one or not.If you are thinking about getting an MP3 player then you must already be aware of the benefits of having your own music library with you at all times, so I won't labour that point.Therefore, in short:It looks great and sounds great and 20GB is plenty. I ended up going with the ipod after looking at hundreds of others because I had itunes, liked itunes, found it easy to use and wanted to keep getting my new music off there.However:The battery life is shit, unpredictable and annoying. It would run out on a 4 hour train journey, continuous listening.It regularly won't turn on, or off or register any sound or life at all.The headphones died pretty soon and the connection port thingy is ropey.It often refuses to play songs bought directly from Itunes.Setting it up on your computer is difficult and stressful, very overly comnplicated, and takes ages.To summise: if you have Itunes this is probably worth it and when it works, which is at least half the time, it's a wonderful bit of kit. It is easy to use, and smart and funky etc - but, in my humble opinion, it has been developed too fast and is too clever for its own good. It can't support its technology hence why it randomly fails, shuts off, won't turn on, has a tantrum, refuses to do anything and freezes. If you have itunes and like using it then get an ipod - it's worth it. Otherwise look into others. There is so much potential out there.