I am sorry I was not aware that Apple were offering up to 4 years of
warranty on iPods. To my best knowledge the maximum warranty available
from Apple for iPods was for 2 years and costs £57 which means it will
left a big gap in the warranty cover. Of course this gap maybe filled by
your Insurance package.

In relation to the issue on iRiver working with Macs, I think you maybe
right in saying that there is no interface to iTunes (I may be out of
date with this info) but I gather you could transfer the recorded "wav"
file and play it back on the machine which I thought was the main
requirement from recorders. Of course the iTune makes the process easier
but this is a matter of convenience rather than a major problem.

Naturally iPods offer some good benefits over the other options such as
personal organisor feature (rather limited in functionality) but this is
not considered by some as significant advantage over the DM20 and
Minidisc options

.

Best Wishes

Nasser Siabi

Managing Director

Microlink PC (UK) Ltd

Main: 02380240300

Direct:02380240316

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Ian Litterick wrote:

> 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 Litterickk
> http://www.iansyst.co.uk
> http://www.dyslexic.com
> Support the_ __Right to Read Campaign
> _. Sign up at
> http://www.dyslexia.org.uk/r2r.php
>
> -----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 ddisabled 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
>>
>&ggt; *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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