Apple iPod 40GB M9268B-A
Product Rating   
Apple iPod 40GB M9268B-A ReviewRating:
Date: 01/03/2005
The classic MP3 player in its 4th generation incarnation. One of the defining features of the iPod is ease-of-use, and the 4th generation iPod makes it even easier to use. The touch-sensitive click wheel lets you select playlists, scroll through thousands of songs and start the music playing without lifting your thumb off the wheel. A single click will replay the track. The Shuffle Songs option plays tracks at random.
Compatible with both Macs and PCs, the 40 GB iPod can store over 600 hours of music (10,000 tracks of length 4 minutes). This capacity is based on music encoded in 128 Kbps AAC format (see below for an explanation).
Compared with the 20GB model, the only real differences are the increased thickness (18mm instead of 14mm) and weight (176g instead of 158g). If you don't need the extra capacity, you'd be better off saving your money and buying the Apple iPod 20GB.
A full battery charge is enough to play music for up to 12 hours. This is probably the iPod's biggest weakness, as other MP3 players offer greater capacity, but it's still enough for most people if you charge it overnight. The battery can be recharged either from a normal power socket (using the mains power adaptor supplied) or via a computer (using the USB 2.0 cable). Recharge time is around 4 hours for a full recharge, or 2 hours to 80% capacity. Battery charge levels are shown on the main display screen.
The iPod supports both MP3 and AAC formats. Music in AAC format can be compressed smaller than the MP3 format with the same quality, so is the best format for storing digital music. The quality of the music depends on the compression factor - the greater the compression, the lower the quality. The iPod supports compression rates from 16 to 320 Kbps. In addition the iPod supports the Apple Lossless format, as well as WAV and AIFF.
The iTunes software that accompanies the iPod provides an easy way to create and manage your digital music collection on a PC or Mac. With iTunes you can transfer music from an audio CD into digital format. iTunes supports a range of formats including MP3 and AAC and you can control the quality/compression level. The Apple Lossless encoder provides a sound quality that is indistinguishable from the original. One key advantage that the iPod offers over other MP3 players is a FireWire connection as well as USB 2.0. FireWire is a connector often found in digital camcorders and provides for super-fast data transfer. In fact, using FireWire it is possible to transfer the contents of an entire audio CD in just 5 seconds! Finally the iTunes Music Store lets you browse, buy and download over a million tracks online.
Like the 20 GB version, the 40GB 4th generation iPod does come with some issues. First of all, it's not a durable product and often users report that its lifespan is about 12 months. It also has a tendency to scratch, and the battery life tends to get worse over time. Still, its a great MP3 player and a good choice if you're looking for a player with large capacity.
Features of the Apple iPod 40GB M9268B-A include:
- Keep up to 10,000 songs in 128Kbps AAC format in your pocket
- Use it with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP
- Take it everywhere--it's only 176 g (6.2 oz)
- Find songs fast with the Apple Click Wheel
- Listen longer with up to 12 hours battery life
- Shuffle songs in the main menu
- Play MP3, AAC and Apple Lossless
- Jog without fear--25 minutes of skip protection
- Save multiple On-The-Go Playlists
- Adjust speed for Audiobooks
- Sync and charge via included FireWire or USB 2.0 cables
- Use as a portable hard drive--take your files with you
- Accessories not included: remote, carry case
Apple iPod 40GB M9268B-A Consumer Reviews
(30 reviews)
Write a review of the Apple iPod 40GB M9268B-A!
Please share your experiences to help other people choose the product that's best for
them. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please
do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Reviewed by TIEFA FROM EGYPT on 12/04/2007
this ipod is very goog for my personal using and i use it as data saver like a separated harddisc. the problim for me is that i have its screen broken and i live in Egypt, so that is defficulte to solve it. Please any one could tell me where i can find a spare screen in Egypt; call me back or send sms on my mobile nomber 0126963455. THANKS ALOT FOR THIS ONE WHO COULD TELL ME.... OK
Rating:
Reviewed by Lance on 14/01/2007
Very good sound quality and design. It is user friendly. ohhhh!, but it is so prone to scratch.
Rating:
Reviewed by Simon on 10/01/2007
I've had this player two years. I find it very good, the sound quality is pretty decent. I store all my songs as MP3 as opposed to the Apple music format. It is much better than the previous pocket sized 256MB flash player I owned, (particularly at higher bitrate recordings). I use it not just for music, but to store photos, files and data from between home and work. I currently have 8000 songs, the rest is data files. I plug PC speakers directly into the headphone jack when I want to listen to music aloud. There are plenty of accessories around for remote controlling the player and a wide variety of dedicated iPod speakers. Good Points: I've dropped it twice in the past two years, both times expecting it to be broken, but to Apple's credit it played on without fault, despite what I've read in other reviews. I've only had to reset it once, possibly because I disconnected it incorrectly from my computer when file transfer in progress!! This is easy enough and didn't wipe all my music, thankfully. The user interface on the iPod is very good, its the real selling point when you compare this to other products. The click wheel allows you to browse through a large selection of files very, very, quickly and the menu system is clear, uncluttered and concise, mirroring that of PCs (to a limited extent). Buying music from iTunes is simplicity itself, although I don't make a habit of it, preferring to actually own the music as opposed to losing it if I change player later. Niggles: The screen is quite small and this generation of iPod does not play video clips, see 5th Gen iPods for that. I've found the battery life on mine reasonable, 10 - 12hrs from fully charged, but not spectacular. I mention this as a niggle because I know there are better out there. If I don't use it for longer than four days the charge will have drained almost completely, true of most of this type of player. Size wise its not the lightest, as another reviewer stated, the new 5th Gen is lighter, slimmer and has longer battery life (a friend of mine has this). You'll feel it in your pocket, though its not excessively heavy. I don't like the propriety USB cable needed to connect to a PC, solely because I need to carry it around when hooking up my iPod to a work PC by day and home PC by night. Its a minor quibble rather than a serious issue and I think this is true of most brands (definitely Creative). The requirement for iTunes (which can be resource heavy on lower spec PCs) is irritating, but again Creative's newer range are also dependant on in-house software, another friend has the Zen Plus (which I've used) so again you'll find this par for course with some of the bigger companies/brands anyway. Its designed more for Apple Mac computers so it could work much faster on them. Can't comment on that. Unlike many of Creative's hard-drive based players, you can't change the iPod battery on the go, there are accessories which circumvent this. On holidays it would be nice to be able to slot in a 2nd or third battery. Having said that the universal charger pack contains connections for every country in the world, you do have to buy this separately, the charger which comes with it is region specific. Summary: I spent nearly two months reading reviews of other MP3 players before buying my iPod. It was an expensive investment but one I have not regretted. Its great for playing music, easy to use, and has never let me down. I'm only deducting one star for the "niggles" above, which are minor issues. I would recommend looking into 5th Gen iPods (iPod Video) before buying this, even 2nd hand from a friend.
Rating:
Reviewed by John on 22/12/2006
Good Sound Quality and great memory ,but it is big.The 5th generation is more thinner and lighter. Has a better screen and the problem in bass had been resolved.
Rating:
Reviewed by John on 16/08/2006
I've owned by iPod for two years and can't fault it. It's never given me any trouble and is incredibly easy to use. The case has never really got scratched because I keep in the very slipcase that came with my original 2nd generation iPod.
Rating:
Reviewed by tom on 30/07/2006
The idea of storing 10,000 songs in one device is absolutely brilliant. However, on a practical level one rarely needs to have 10,000 songs their pocket. 2,000 would be just enough simply because that amount of songs is sufficient for enough time. When you get bored all you need to do is replace the music with new one. You would only be doing that every three months maybe with 2,000 songs. I have not managed to use 10% of the memory there and I still think there's way enough music on there. Aside from the fact that 10,000 songs is not necessary on an everyday basis the itunes system is not the best program. There are a lot of things about it that are disapointing such as the time it takes to copy music, the endless messages that come up and most of all the fact that while you can copy music to your ipod I have not yet found a way to copy my ipod music back into itunes. All in all you end up with a database of music that can be tedious to deal with. The ipod itself is a great little things but there are still technicalities such as the screen freezing, the drive scratching, and the fact that sometimes when you are in the middle of a screen you have to wait a while before you can turn down the volume. Why Apple have not thought of putting a volume function on the side that beats me. I give Apple the thumbs up for their repairs. Two weeks after my ipod broke I got a brand new one in my letter box. No ifs or buts. It may be frustrating to only be able to deal with them but but if your ipod is genunely faulty then you can rely on their services. All in all the shortcomings aside one has to admit that with a 40GB ipod you have yourself a more than comprehensive music library and that is still an outstanding result.
Rating:
Reviewed by Julieta on 16/07/2006
ABSOLUTLEY FAN DABBY DOSEY!
Rating:
Reviewed by sanjay on 16/06/2006
it sux, it is old the fith generation is much better cos it has mp4 player and u can get 30 and 60 gb. This one is too chunky and fat
Rating:
Reviewed by Ramon on 10/06/2006
I have had quite som trouble with this thing. Although music quality is good, it keeps locking up. I thought my iPod was dead for about 4 months, but then I saw Nicola's hint to hit it on the sides. It worked! Hopefully for at least a couple of months now.
Rating:
Reviewed by Sarper on 22/05/2006
This sux. After i used it for 6 months or so it didn't work. I sent it to the service and they sent me a brand new ipod. After sing it for just 3 days it started not to work. Apple lost all of its points..
Rating:
Reviewed by Grant on 28/04/2006
Ok now this iPod is ok if this is your first iPod. But to me it is rubbish. Well 1st off. 1. No Color Screen 2. No Photo or Video Capabilities. 3. Scoll Wheel Too Big 4. Battery Sucks 5. Poor Resulution Well i might seem a bit harsh but there are also other good things about this iPod. It does have 20 or 40 gigabytes which is alot for a mp3 player. It does have a fast transfer speed. I suppose i am just used to my 30 gb 5th gen.
Rating:
Reviewed by Joe Hawker on 04/02/2006
This isn't good. Because its big and heavy, Every year or so, You need to buy a new battery which are so hard to get, It scratches so easy, And it doesn't seem like 40 gb! I hope this helps
Rating:
Reviewed by Mia on 19/12/2005
its really heavy and scratches easily its huge....i wish i would have bought the mini ipod its lighter, smaller and has a variety of colours
Rating:
Reviewed by Anthony on 17/12/2005
Good MP3 player. only wish you didn't have to scroll through all your artists to get to the one you want, can be annoying.
Rating:
Reviewed by Samuel Brown from USA on 11/11/2005
This is an exceptional MP3 player but the earphones are a piece of junk. I paid almost 400 dollars for this player and you think Apple would include superior earphones.
Rating:
Reviewed by Daemonic_hunter on 28/09/2005
i feel nothing should deserve five stars but its an iPod. I personally dun own a 40gb i have a 20gb but i have heard great things abt this model. They are just so user-friendly the click wheel is great.
Rating:
Reviewed by Zippy on 24/08/2005
yes, the novelty of an massive 40gig portable mp3 player was great,play all my songs in my car, at work to work from work etc etc 8 months later comes the Ipod harddrive failure. ok no problem i purchased the extra $100AUSD 1 year warranty, got it repaired...should i say replaced and got told its now a 3month warranty. Damn. 2months and 23 days later, doesn't want to be recognized in Windows xp. Damn. sent is away again for repair and as of yet unfortunately i have not yet received word or a progress reports of my Ipod, also the same thing happened to a friends Ipod, but apple said they would not replace the product. damn wondering why they don't make 40gig Ipod anymore...... common occurence??? hope not, as yes, this is a fantastic product but as with lastability, I am more than a little bit concerned for my best friend. Also of note; plenty of Ipod mini's out there, yet i can probably bet, hardly and problems.
Rating:
Reviewed by Amor on 07/08/2005
What can I say love it or leave it! In my case love it specially when I take it on the road with my Superb ALPINE CAR AUDIO SYSTEM...http://www.alpine-usa.com/
Rating:
Reviewed by *G* on 20/06/2005
This is one heck of an AMAZING gadget, i agree with the other reviews its extremely addicting, once you have one you can't live without it. It's awesome for going abroad since the battery lasted me longer than a flight from london to california. Great for car journeys. So many gadgets for it eg itrip and a speaker dock and i now hear you can attach a razor to the end of it! Only down point is it gets EXTREMEMLY scratched so if you don't like scratching get a mini or GET A COVER BEFORE YOU START USING IT. worth the price! *****
Rating:
Reviewed by Dan B on 11/06/2005
I purchased my ipod from America when i visted New York over 6 months ago and i have used it EVERYDAY since. Once you get one, you cannot live without. It copes with everything you can throw at it. But be careful with the headphones as if they get 'bashed' too much, the sound can go kind of flat. Also, i recommend the 40GB as you can use it for storing files or an extra hard-drive for your computer, especially if you have a laptop or you want to transfer documents to another pc. The new click wheel is amazing, i cannot fault Apple. What more can they do though now....
Rating:
Reviewed by H on 09/06/2005
Stunningly good, in spite of the price - and still the player that others are judged by. Attention to detail is great, and the sound is way more faithful than the 'competition' - get some good earphones though!
Rating:
Reviewed by Rob on 02/06/2005
ive had this for over a year now, and have not had any problems with it whatsoever, i cannot live without it now! the battery life (although many reviews will disagree with me here) is actually better than most state, and can rival basically all others in its class, i know this for sure as i have this and my brother has an iriver and my mate has a creative zen! its way more stylish as well! the only real thing i was a bit disappointed with was the quality of the stock headphones, but now with some better ones, this is superb. and for those that say 40gb is too big, well its not, ive got 34gb of totally legitimate music from my collection on here at standard aac/mp3 compression, so im glad i bought this one! its sturdier than some say as well, because ive dropped mine accidently down 2 flights of stairs and it still works fine
Rating:
Reviewed by Kate on 24/04/2005
I think it is great they have cool music to listen!!
Rating:
Reviewed by Claire on 24/04/2005
Must have. Best buy ever yes there more exspensive but u can store 10,000 songs on it. It's bigger and heavier than the 20gb and alot bigger than the ipod mini but it's worth it for the ammount of music that it stores. If u buy ANY ipod u MUST buy a case as they scratch so easily no matter how well u look after them. iskins are good ! Best gadget ever!
Rating:
Reviewed by Usy on 22/04/2005
Too Pricy and too much memory no need for all that. but its nice.
Rating:
Reviewed by Lucy on 24/03/2005
Dis is da best mp3 player ever-- itz sxc, fashionable, has gr8 games, battery life amazing, easy 2 use, iTunes is eazy 2 update. But i dont use iTunes 2 download muzic I do `Bearshare` downloads
Rating:
Reviewed by avid merrion on 22/03/2005
great mp3 player best out by milessssss
Rating:
Reviewed by Emery on 18/03/2005
good mp3 player
Rating:
Reviewed by jason on 05/03/2005
Everything is fine apart from the sound.i'v had 2 now and the sound always goes wrong after a while
Rating:
Reviewed by John on 01/03/2005
good bit of kit unfortunately I am on my 5th pod as they all have had a big black line down the screen, Apple have told me this is part of the LCD charicteristics. I say this is rubbish. If you pay over £300 for an mp3 player you want it to be awsome. Sorry apple lost my vote.
Rating:
|
 |
