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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2003)
STATE K BATTALION )ean oma o issue diplomasi; id not finish hijr em into the arme: •on 1946 and 19511 irting the Jim® C o. in EMaimie* > south ot‘Amarilk i. >Os, IX*an achievKi lertainer. the folksy sin&ri Bad John,’' a son piece of cardboac i from New Yorlts .* I’lamview Daih d in its Wednesds a miner who* 1 trapped co-v ng his own l's, and wa ig record in th as Vegas an plavs! Paladium m in New York, ft :elebrity to sute \ Carson on ‘'Us itest Sell Tech The Battalion Page 9A • Thursday, September 4, 2003 Review: New iPods fix old models’ flaws {Apple’s MP3 player serves as portable hard drive, featuring PDA and games w L’d they visited •re. they claim«! ned Persyn wasi rchants they wiL diocese of Sat an was Persyis »e is pending, tk reported in its Persyn then weni ilking a religiot religious tapestn i and his w ife left number of media Photo courtesy of BestBuy.com Tuc m. Ariz.. by •Apple's new 15 GB iPod can hold about 3,700 MP3s, /hich is nearly 200 hours of music. It can also serve as a Iportable hard drive for transferring files across computers. The iPod is Apple’s latest entry into the fast-growing market of high-volume MP3 players. Launched in May of 2003, this model replaces the previous iPod and fixes a few of that model’s more annoying flaws, such as separate units for Windows and Macs. The newest model also ups the ante with a smaller size, lighter weight and more space for those precious MP3 songs. The iPod is an attractive little gadget. Aluminum accents mixed with a bluish-white backlit LCD screen give the iPod a high tech appearance usually reserved for Star Trek props. The face and button layout is well set up and intuitive, as only four buttons and a touch wheel are required to use it. The iPod comes in three different flavors: 10, 15 and 30 GB. What does 10, 15 or 30 gigabytes mean to the average college student? Do the math. The 15 GB model can hold around 3,700 MP3s, which translates to about 200 hours of music. One would have to charge the battery many times before hearing the same song twice. The charge time is only three hours, so people should be back listening to their favorite playlists in no time. In addition to playing music, the iPod has features any college student would enjoy. For those needing to transfer files to and from class, the iPod can serve as a portable hard drive, provided the computers used have USB or Firewire ports. Several simplistic games are included, such as “Solitaire,” “Brick” and “Parachute.” With the calendar and contact list features, the iPod can also serve as a PDA, keeping track of dates, assignments, text files and phone numbers. However, these cannot be updated directly; they have to be uploaded to the iPod via computer. If waking up for that 8 a.m. class is difficult, the iPod also features an alarm clock. But, the unit is not without its flaws. Apple touts a bat tery life of eight hours, but that depends on several condi tions. With the backlight off and the volume limited, one may reach eight hours, but the average amount of life in one of these units is about six hours. Probably the biggest problem with the iPod is its price. Even the 10 GB model, which leaves many of the accessories out of the package, costs a hefty $300. The 15 GB model is definitely the best deal, as it comes with all the same accessories as the 30 GB, but at a price of $400 as opposed to $500. Also note that users without Firewire must pur chase a $20 cable from Apple to connect to a USB port. The Apple iPod is one of the best MP3 players currently on the -Seth Freeman market. However, such mt nov.iu >i Hi tnrs. > (■Mr** > > tin* IftqM iPod Photo courtesy of Cnet Networks Inc. HECK, WHAT'S A FEW MORE DOLLARS OF YOUR PARENTS' HARD-EARNED MONEY? >! mi Center HY a.m. AT 6 p.m. ding. Aggie Ring” nse jeeipt, e. COX CABLE Just $ 35' 95 /month for 6 months No contract to sign! J ORDER NOW! i Call toll-free i 1-800-765-5241 UPGRADE TO COX DIGITAL CABLE Just $ 9' 9 ymonth for 6 months. Dramatically increases the quantity and variety of the channels you get: Digital adds all these channels: Discovery Kids, The Science Channel, Discovery Health, The Golf Channel, ESPNews, Fox Sports World, Outdoor Channel, Gameshow Network, BBC America, Lifetime Movie Network, Much Music, Fuse, ESPN Classic Sports, Soapnet, IFC " COMMUNICATIONS Your Friend in the Digital Age." Offer ends Sept. 28, 2003. Some restrictions may apply. Not all services available on campus. Cox Cable required to subscribe to high-speed internet or Cox Digital. Price does not include applicable taxes. Not all programming may be available in all areas. V