IPOD owners...

Heard battery lasts only a year.

how shockproof can this type of mp3player be, its just a hdd drive in a case, I would look at getting one but it needs to 2 be able to take a few accidental knocks...

Trust me I know what I'm doing... ooops, grab the cat...

Not very shockproof, this is why flash based players are still around even though for 200 bucks you could get a 20gb harddrive player which is the price a 256mb flash player costs.

shock is no problem unless you prefer to use it in buses, walking etc...

<font color=blue>
<i>COMPUTERS</i> need <b>UPGRADES</b>; <i>UPGRADES</i> need <b>MONEY</b>,
"but" <b>MONEY</b> - heck, <i>it's no easy task.   </i>
</font color=blue>

I've got a hard time believing the iPod would have trouble with shocks...

I've had a Creative Nomad Jukebox (which also is hard-drive based) for 2.5 years now. I've banged the hell out of it. I wear it on my backpack as I go around campus. I ride the bus and frequently get bumped into. The thing never skips, save for the time I dropped it 4 feet onto concrete.

I suspect the ipod is the same way. Just because it is not flash based does not mean it can't handle a bump or two.

<b>1.4 Ghz AMD T-Bird underclocked to 1 Ghz...just to be safe!</b>

Ditto that Bunny... I've got the 5Gb version. I take it on the bus every day and it handles it just fine. Also, I've had it just over a year and the battery it still going strong. IMO it's a great MP3 player!

I'd like to agree with everyone here, except that my bro's 20GB iPod did broke... twice. I'm not sure how he managed to do that, but the first time it happened, an infamous HDD symptom of strange clicking sounds started to emerge. And after a week or so, it just stopped playing music.

So I RMA'd it to Singapore. I was expecting to pay some fee since I do live in Hong Kong, but to my surprise, everything was free, even the delivery. I'm almost starting to "like" Apple, *hears everyone gasps in the room*

It was working fine after that, but then the darn thing broke yet again. This time however, I don't know any details. My bro RMA'd it behind my back.

No problems for several months now... battery is still fine.

-----
<A HREF="http://www.khmercity.com/city_music//Kerpal Comedy@@ kick my dog~ :-)/Jerky Boys - Kerpal - Airport Pakistani And Hindi Fight.mp3" target="_new">I'm going to get you, you bastard guy</A>.