Our Mac manager, Geoff Best, writes:
The service issue is essentially - send it back to Apple and if they can
repair it they will, but more usually they will send a brand new iPod as
replacement.
The student should be docking the iPod with their computer every few
days to make sure their files are always backed up. It would be unwise
to keep an entire year's work on the iPod (or anywhere), unless backed
up.
iPods are aimed at sports people and an active life style. The risk of
damage from shock is true for all portable devices, including solid
state, albeit there is a higher risk with moving parts and higher
capacity. Again the chance of failure is high for any computer equipment
the longer the course is. (An extended warranty helps and our bundled
all risks insurance policy covers for theft and accidental damage - with
normal limitations -all equipment supplied with a computer, including
iPods, without any extra expense to the student for up to 4 years.)
For Mac users, unfortunately the iRiver does not specify Apple Macintosh
compatibility which makes it unsuitable for Mac students. Minidiscs are
also incompatible with Apple Macintosh which means the choice is either
the iPod or -- for specific voice quality recordings - the Olympus
Digital Voice recorders.
Regards
Ian Litterick
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-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support
staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nasser Siabi
Sent: 14 April 2001 20:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [DIS-FORUM] i-pods
Apart from the problem with the recording quality there is also
a hidden problem with the iPod which potentially makes it unsuitable
for long term strategy. You may recall that Apple was heavily criticized
for poorbackup for repair when iPod was initially launched and customers
experienced serious problems with the battery life. Fortunately the
battery problem was resolved but in my opinion the main issue of backup
has not been sorted satisfactorily. There are currently very few service
centres that can handle the repair of iPods and as yet we have not be
authorised to carry out any repairs to these despite being the premier
Apple rrepair partner in the South. The iPod is based on the old
harddisk technology which means the unit is likely to suffer damage to
the disk from shock or other physical affects. This potentially means
students will lose their entire year's recording in a flash and
unfortunately there is little one can do to recover the lost data. Also
these units come with 12 month warranty and hence for long course
durations the chance of failure is reasonably high and suppliers would
be unwise to offer extended warranty.
Like some of you I personally prefer the DM20 and Sony MZ-B10
because of their ease of use and high reliability but if the requirement
for an iPod type of recoring device is essential then I would suggest
that you consider alternatives such as the iRiver (see
http://www.iriver.com/eu/index.asp) which offers you the ability to plug
in external microphones such as ECM-Z60 directly and they also offer 2
year manufacturers warranty. The price also seem reasonable and you can
also transfer and save word documents as well as other data including
voice file for Dragon Dictate (so they claim).
I hope this is useful information
Dudley, Jane wrote:
The iPod is also useful for carrying files around and
working with them on and off campus. I wasn't impressed with the
quality of voice recording from the iPod but given the flexibility of
its use and if there is a need for transporting large files, recording
information etc then an iPod is a good solution and cost effective if
supporting more than 1 need.
________________________________
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their
support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bryan
Jones
Sent: 14 April 2005 16:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: i-pods
As Bernard says, the quality of the recordings using a
mic is poor. Not as good a digital voice recorder, anyway. If you want
to avoid fiddling around with discs and have decent recordings the
Olympus DM20 is your gadget, with Sony Z60 external mic. And let's keep
the LEAs happy by not recommending iPods for lectures a little while
yet.
Bryan Jones,
Manager, Disability Support Services
& North London Regional Access Centre,
Middlesex University
Tel: 020 8411 5366
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and
their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Bernard Doherty
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: i-pods
I do where the lectures may include audio
information other than speech, e.g., music or drama courses. Digital
recorders are generally set up only for speech and noise out of that
range will be hugely distorted. However, this is very much a compromise
and I am not greatly impressed with the quality of iPod recording
generally (nor with the Griffin mic). On the other hand, it is pretty
easy to use; the eventual choice will depend on how willing a student
seems to be to engage with the technology and look for work-arounds to
improve performance from imperfect systems.
Regards, Bernard
Bernard Doherty
Assessor
East Anglia Regional ACCESS Centre
Anglia Polytechnic University
East Road
Cambridge CB1 1PT
01223 363271 x2534
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: Roz Catlow
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 3:51 PM
Subject: i-pods
Is anyone recommending these are used
for recording lectures?
Roz Catlow
Disability Assist Services
University of Plymouth
Drake Circus
Plymouth, Devon. PL4 8AA
01752 232278
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