iPod Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > iPod Megathread

IzzyNobre: Dec 8, 2005; Long live Mario

So, is anyone else absolutelly frustrated about what piece of poo poo the iPod Touch turned out to be for Vista users?

Now don't get me wrong. I've been wanting this thing since I first saw the keynotes video. Problem is, the damned thing is full of bugs and iTunes just flat out HATES Windows Vista.

First off, the wifi apparently has a problem getting the DNS from websites, so lots of people get nothing but a message saying the browser can't find the server for the website they are trying to access. As far as I know there's no work around that yet.

Then, the Vista + iTunes woe. For some reason QuickTime really hates Vista so good luck adding videos onto your library. I figured out that it was due to a conflict with my NVidia card, upgraded the driver and voila, at least now I can add the videos onto my iTunes library.

Not that it matter much because syncing a Touch on Vista will severely gently caress your videos, making them quit and crash your iPod randomly. They are talking about it on the Apple forums.

Same apparently happens with mp3s. iTunes simply doesn't like Vista, period.

I'd think I'd be able to at LEAST have my family pictures on the damned thing, but no dice. For reasons no one could possibly explain the pictures that manage to get synced to my iPod get mangled in the process, like someone cut them into strips and shuffled them around a bit. So I can't browse the internet, can't watch movies, can't listen to music and can't have pictures on the device.

Took me loving EIGHT hours to get this thing to work, and with the exception of the NVidia update, I'm at square one. Square one and 400 dollars poorer.

I've learn a lesson here - stop being a god damned gadgetophile human being and wait a little longer before buying an iPod. I'm actually on my way to Best Buy to return this loving thing.

It really is a damned shame because the Touch is an awesome device. Make no mistake, as soon as these issues are fixed I'll buy it again. I wish I had the minerals to say "gently caress APPLE, I'LL BUY A CREATIVE VISION NOW" but what can I say? The Touch is really cool.

I just wish Apple would get off their asses and make iTunes compatible with Vista already. Most of these video related problems have been reported as far back as June, and nothing has been done yet apparently.

It's a shame.

Edit: I decided transfer all my media to my XP desktop would be less work than walk over to Best Buy, and since despite all these problems I still love the damned thing, I'll keep it for now and pray that Apple fixes iTunes.

IzzyNobre fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Nov 26, 2007

# ¿ Nov 26, 2007 00:19

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 08:29

IzzyNobre: Dec 8, 2005; Long live Mario

Lux Aeterna posted:

more like pray that Microsoft fixes Vista ZING

It's hard to identify the actual culprit right now, since MS, NVidia and Apple are pretty much just pointing the finger at one another. The general consensus I see in forums on the interwebs is that iTunes, more specifically anything having to do with video on iTunes, works like poo poo on Vista.

quote:

Seriously though, that blows. The amount of joy I get from being able to bring my Touch instead of my laptop to take a poo poo in the morning is just the greatest thing ever. As long as you are okay with an XP box controlling your touch, that's probably the best solution all-around until later on. I mean, it's probably better to have your media on a more stable OS to begin with and on a computer that doesn't get hosed around with as much as your main PC anyway. It might be a bitch in the short term, but just imagine waiting for iTunes and Vista to not suck. It could take months.

I'm just trying to be positive since the touch deserves as much love as possible.

Yea, I'm feeling better after ranting. I really wish I could just tell Apple to go to hell and buy a Vision or that nifty Archos 605, since both have some solid points against the Touch (storage space and price), but I'll be damned if the Touch isn't the sexiest damned gadget I've ever owned. I just can't settle with another player, after using the Touch even my old 5G iPod Video 30gb feels like a brick.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2007 00:50

IzzyNobre: Dec 8, 2005; Long live Mario

Any idea why some videos play so choppy on the Touch?

I'll try reconverting them to .mp4 on the XP desktop. If that doesn't fix them, screw it. I'm returning this loving thing and getting another player. It's been three days now and I've had nothing but frustration with this thing.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2007 00:27

IzzyNobre: Dec 8, 2005; Long live Mario

loving UNBELIEVABLE.

Now my XP desktop WON'T RECOGNIZE THE IPOD.

And, lo and behold, there's no known solution for it. Here's a bunch of people trying to get it to work. Some did the workaround and managed to fix the problems, others did it with no results.

gently caress this piece of garbage. I'm returning it. This is the last straw.

http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?messageID=5965011&stqc=true

I'm editing that message into an email to Apple costumer service. I'm calling them tomorrow, as well.

IzzyNobre fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Nov 27, 2007

# ¿ Nov 27, 2007 01:48

IzzyNobre: Dec 8, 2005; Long live Mario

tuna posted:

iTunes works perfectly on my Vista32 as well, and my iPod hasn't had any of the problems IzzyNobre is ranting about. He's taken a rather large dose of bad luck for every single obscure bug to hit him all at once. Don't let it put you off

Congrats to you on being lucky, I guess :smith:

Also, a Google search for these issues reveal they are not as obscure as you'd hope.

I'm on my way to Best Buy right now. Let's see if the Zune (or the Archos 605) is more worthwhile.

I'll admit though, I'll miss Safari. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be.

I just sent this to Apple:

quote:

It is the third day since I bought my iPod Touch and only one word sums up how I feel about the whole experience: frustration. Complete frustration.

Right from the get go, I learned that iTunes + Vista + Nvidia means I'll get the Blue Screen of Death every single time I try to boot iTunes on my laptop (which is the computer I use more often and where my media is).

Despite the fact that this problem has been reported as early as early June, Apple has so far released no patches or fixes to this problem.

Nothing at all. It's almost like you guys simply don't care.

Since I was so willing to own the device, I decided to try to fix the problem myself. After an entire day's research, I found out that I could manually update my Nvidia drivers and the problem would cease.

And it did. I can now use iTunes for more than 2 seconds without having my computer crash on me like before. That still didn't mean the end of my woes, since interfacing the Touch with a Vista PC seems like it just wasn't made to happen.

The videos transfered to the iPod perform horribly bad, quitting randomly and/or crashing your iPod altogether. They are talking about the problem here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5844283

I decided to give up on using the Touch on my laptop altogether. So, I transfered all my files to an old XP-based desktop that I don't even use anymore. It was a big hassle, but I liked the Touch, what could I do?

It worked ok... for the first few hours. I soon realized that some videos would play choppy, and the audio sometimes doesn't sync with the images. I figured this is because some of those videos were converted on the Vista PC. So here I go reconvert my entire video collection (some 10gb) to the god awful .mp4 format that Apple insists in using for no good reason whatsoever.

But whatever, at that point I was still willing to do some sacrifices to be able to own the device.

After converting all my videos again, I try to sync them to the iPod and... SURPRISE - i get the Apple Mobile Device service error message mentioned on this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1216279&tstart=0

(Notice an earlier version of this email was posted there. I decided it would be better to send it directly to you guys)

After trying all the workarounds mentioned there, I finally realized the inevitable truth: I should not have to work so hard to make a gadget that was supposed to be an entertainment item WORK AS ADVERTISED.

Another truth made itself evident shortly after: your iPod Touch is a bug infested, overhyped piece of hardware that I should *never* have bought in the first place. The lack of support from Apple makes me so insanely mad over this whole ordeal that I'm not only returning the Touch tonight, but I'm actually selling my old iPod Video 30gb and iPod Nano 8gb *completely out of spite*. I had never considered buying a Zune before, and it's almost comical that Apple is the one that pushed me to that decision.

I'm on my way to Best Buy to return your product right now, and I'm be very vocal about the reason why. I actually HOPE they ask me why I'm returning. The only reason I'm not smashing this thing to bits is because I want my money back so I can buy a better device.

Thank you so much for wasting 3 days of my life. I will never buy another Apple product, ever.

I feel like I just drunk called an ex-girlfriend - I know I'll regret sounding silly but I just needed to get it off my chest.

And just like my ex-girlfriend, the Touch was a fun for a little while but left me with nothing but a bitter taste in my mouth, all while opening my eyes to other oportunities. Zune or Archos 605, here I come!

IzzyNobre fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Nov 27, 2007

# ¿ Nov 27, 2007 02:51

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > iPod Megathread