Apple Ipod 20GB *Refurb* - $299

[imported_Ziggy]

Iriver IHP-120 you fools!!!!!


Do some research!!!!

 

[gunblade]

Originally posted by: TrentSteel

Originally posted by: Naustica
Dell needs to drastically lower the prices on DJ if they want people to bite and buy that big ugly iPod wannabe. Maybe at $99 I would consider DJ over iPod. DJ=dorky and iPod=hip. Ask kids why they buy $150 Nike shoes over $15 Walmart shoes.

Don't you remember the 20/20 expose in the 80's that revealed it only cost $5 to manufacture Michael Jordan's branded shoes, which at the time were selling for around $125? Before that there had been an ad in (I think) the New Republic or something else to the same effect.

Point is, high cost does not automatically mean better craftsmanship or quality of raw materials. If anything, Apple just advertises very well. They've successfully convinced quite a few people that they own a superior player.

Even tho I doubt the $5 price you said(too low), no doubt the manufacturing cost is only a tiny fraction in most branded product. The company need to recover their engineering and design fee in order to fund the next cycle of research and manufacturing.

Examples would be Intel processor or Microsoft software. Do you think it take Intel few hundred bucks to fabricate and package a chip?

For newer process(low yield before process mature), the cost would be around $30 and for a mature(old) parts the cost probably is less than $10. How much they sell it for ? $120 ~$600.

As for Microsoft, well it probably cost less than $1 in average for the whole software package in volume prodection. But it costs a lot more for the consumer since the real cost is in the research and developing.

There is simply no way for a company to survive if they only sell for a little bit above the manuf cost. well, not unless you are Walmart.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: TrentSteel

Originally posted by: Naustica
Dell needs to drastically lower the prices on DJ if they want people to bite and buy that big ugly iPod wannabe. Maybe at $99 I would consider DJ over iPod. DJ=dorky and iPod=hip. Ask kids why they buy $150 Nike shoes over $15 Walmart shoes.

Don't you remember the 20/20 expose in the 80's that revealed it only cost $5 to manufacture Michael Jordan's branded shoes, which at the time were selling for around $125? Before that there had been an ad in (I think) the New Republic or something else to the same effect.

Point is, high cost does not automatically mean better craftsmanship or quality of raw materials. If anything, Apple just advertises very well. They've successfully convinced quite a few people that they own a superior player.

this isnt the case here as the drives that are used in the ipod are quite pricey even when purchased in bulk

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: TrentSteel

Originally posted by: Naustica
Dell needs to drastically lower the prices on DJ if they want people to bite and buy that big ugly iPod wannabe. Maybe at $99 I would consider DJ over iPod. DJ=dorky and iPod=hip. Ask kids why they buy $150 Nike shoes over $15 Walmart shoes.

Don't you remember the 20/20 expose in the 80's that revealed it only cost $5 to manufacture Michael Jordan's branded shoes, which at the time were selling for around $125? Before that there had been an ad in (I think) the New Republic or something else to the same effect.

Point is, high cost does not automatically mean better craftsmanship or quality of raw materials. If anything, Apple just advertises very well. They've successfully convinced quite a few people that they own a superior player.

I know those Nike shoes only cost couple of bucks to make. My point is that Nike can sell the same shoes for 10x as much as the same Walmart shoes because of marketing. It's all about being hip and cool. Ipods are cool with kids and consumers. Apple has a killer product with great marketing and image among the youths: high school and college buyers. Now it's spreading to mainstream. It's cool to own Ipod. Females love them. Let's not even talk about Ipod Mini which is like 10x more desirable among females and youths and sold out everywhere. So Apple can charge a premium and people will still buy. Ipod=Nike shoes and Dell DJ=Walmart shoes. It should be priced accordingly.

 

[fyleow]

I can see this thread turning into a 20 page discussion.

Iriver vs Apple.
Microsoft haters
Nike haters

ALL AT THE SAME TIME, AND ALL IN THE SAME THREAD. Well at least we are saving space?

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Originally posted by: Milkyman
my brother sent in his ipod for service a while back it looked like they sent him a different ipod back as there were no scratches on it anywhere. turn around time was also very fast.

I think that's the typical thing apple does whenever an ipod requires servicing. They keep the damaged unit, and send out either a new or refurbished unit instead. That's how they're able to have the fast turnaround time. If they were to actually fix the unit your brother sent in, then he probably wouldn't get it back until a month later.

Once apple has your brother's unit fixed, it's gonna go to someone else who needed their ipod serviced. of course, apple reformats and tests the units before sending them out so they're pretty much like new.

 

[timmychen]

On Nike shoes:
Seriously though, Nike's are dang expensive... but do you REALLY think they feel the SAME as WalMart shoes? For instance, run and play some basketball in some Sketchers and you'll be on your way over to the Nike store really quick... Now, I'm not sayin' they're worth $125... but there's definately a little more quality.

One cheap parts:
Yes, most things take mucho less money to make,..... but the iPod sure doesn't cost $5 to make. And let's face it, little kids may be sowing up Michael Jordan's... (or today's LeBron James shoes which are expected to make a spash)... but they're not in the high tech assembly plant that puts iPods together (it's probably their parents with an extra 100 hours in training). In the iPod mini's, the 4GB Hitachi drive itself costs over $500 to the regular consumer.. and still quite a bit in bulk.

On Apple iPod service:
Apple iPod service is way above the rest. Yes, they replace the entire unit. Most likely you get a refurb, but that means the outside is perfect and the inside is working fine... and anything that might have been wrong with it was taken care of. In most cases, manufacturers put refurb products through more testing than the new products. But to the guy who has a messed up iPod... if you got dents, and issues like that... let's just say... you bring in a gateway notebook to gateway country and you ask for help... and the notebook is all banged up and dented... what do you expect them to say? About the crashing though, just do a restore, that fixes 99% of problems. Open up the iPod updater software and click "restore." Make sure you have the newest version.

On the iRiver:
Please... if that thing were any uglier.... Let's face it, in this day and age, consumers are looking not just for function, but also for form. I don't want just a fast car, I want it to look cool. Besides, there's just not beating iTunes.

Lastly, 3rd party accessories
I brought this up in my last post. Have you seen how many accessories there are for the ipod? Companies like Belkin make TONS of stuff from car chargers to cases, media readers to car mounts, etc. Just some of the companies that make accessories for the ipod: Apple, Belkin, Monster, Speck, MacXtreme, iSkin, inCase, MarWare, SiK, Alpine (new headunit with iPod controlling interface coming out), Altec Lansing, Dr. Bott, Griffin Technologies, and tons more. There are literally over 50 different cases available for the iPod. And here are just some of the stores that carry this stuff: Apple Store, BestBuy, Circuit City, Target, CompUSA, Fry's, Robinson's May (didn't think of that one eh?), Amazon.com, Buy.com, and tons of other B&M and online stores.

Oh, one last thing...
HP has partnered with Apple in releasing an HP branded iPod (imagine the HP blue on the iPod), and an HP branded iTunes. Now, if Apple has even converted on of its largest "competitors" into believing their technology is better... well, I guess that's good enough for a lot of people.

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Originally posted by: timmychen
On Nike shoes:
Seriously though, Nike's are dang expensive... but do you REALLY think they feel the SAME as WalMart shoes? For instance, run and play some basketball in some Sketchers and you'll be on your way over to the Nike store really quick... Now, I'm not sayin' they're worth $125... but there's definately a little more quality.

One cheap parts:
Yes, most things take mucho less money to make,..... but the iPod sure doesn't cost $5 to make. And let's face it, little kids may be sowing up Michael Jordan's... (or today's LeBron James shoes which are expected to make a spash)... but they're not in the high tech assembly plant that puts iPods together (it's probably their parents with an extra 100 hours in training). In the iPod mini's, the 4GB Hitachi drive itself costs over $500 to the regular consumer.. and still quite a bit in bulk.

On Apple iPod service:
Apple iPod service is way above the rest. Yes, they replace the entire unit. Most likely you get a refurb, but that means the outside is perfect and the inside is working fine... and anything that might have been wrong with it was taken care of. In most cases, manufacturers put refurb products through more testing than the new products. But to the guy who has a messed up iPod... if you got dents, and issues like that... let's just say... you bring in a gateway notebook to gateway country and you ask for help... and the notebook is all banged up and dented... what do you expect them to say? About the crashing though, just do a restore, that fixes 99% of problems. Open up the iPod updater software and click "restore." Make sure you have the newest version.

On the iRiver:
Please... if that thing were any uglier.... Let's face it, in this day and age, consumers are looking not just for function, but also for form. I don't want just a fast car, I want it to look cool. Besides, there's just not beating iTunes.

Lastly, 3rd party accessories
I brought this up in my last post. Have you seen how many accessories there are for the ipod? Companies like Belkin make TONS of stuff from car chargers to cases, media readers to car mounts, etc. Just some of the companies that make accessories for the ipod: Apple, Belkin, Monster, Speck, MacXtreme, iSkin, inCase, MarWare, SiK, Alpine (new headunit with iPod controlling interface coming out), Altec Lansing, Dr. Bott, Griffin Technologies, and tons more. There are literally over 50 different cases available for the iPod. And here are just some of the stores that carry this stuff: Apple Store, BestBuy, Circuit City, Target, CompUSA, Fry's, Robinson's May (didn't think of that one eh?), Amazon.com, Buy.com, and tons of other B&M and online stores.

Oh, one last thing...
HP has partnered with Apple in releasing an HP branded iPod (imagine the HP blue on the iPod), and an HP branded iTunes. Now, if Apple has even converted on of its largest "competitors" into believing their technology is better... well, I guess that's good enough for a lot of people.

Here's some useful links: the HP and Apple music partnership and the HP branded iTunes

 

[Solema]

Originally posted by: timmychen
On the iRiver:
Please... if that thing were any uglier.... Let's face it, in this day and age, consumers are looking not just for function, but also for form. I don't want just a fast car, I want it to look cool. Besides, there's just not beating iTunes.

Again, as others have stated, looks are a matter of personal opinion. I happen to like the styling of both, and would be happy with either. That said, I do think the "no moving parts" wheel on the iPod is pretty nifty. These arguments are pointless. That being said, anyone who buys an ipod just to "look cool" to others (and there are quite a few out there) has more problems than trying to argue why the ipod is the best thing since sliced bread. If it's cool to you, buy it. What's the point of trying to convince someone else that it's cool? Do you think that person will then think you are cool for "enlightening" them?

Originally posted by: timmychen
Oh, one last thing...
HP has partnered with Apple in releasing an HP branded iPod (imagine the HP blue on the iPod), and an HP branded iTunes. Now, if Apple has even converted on of its largest "competitors" into believing their technology is better... well, I guess that's good enough for a lot of people.

If you really believe that HP formed an agreement with Apple because they believe their technology is "better" then you are sadly disillusioned. Companies like these don't make decisions like these based on the quality of a product. They make decisions like these based on how it can make them MONEY. And the clear bottom line to this deal is that HP knows how popular the iPod is and wants to cash in on that. They can use their considerably wide distribution channel to further Apple's iPod sales, and make a pretty penny off of it themselves. I guarantee that even if the iPod were only a marginal player, with other players much better than it, as long as it was hugely popular HP would be on the bandwagon. That's the only motivation for HP's decision.

 

[DigDug]

correct. but popularity is, in part, a function of the quality. You are right, however, that HP's thought process didn't focus on the quality, but the end result - popularity.

 

[Go3iverson]

I snatched up one of the $299 20GB models. Amazing deal. Even my Apple rep was shocked when I mentioned it to him the next day! This is my third iPod. I've had the original 5GB, I have the 10GB (which will be on its way out now) and I have the 20GB on the way.

I wasn't sure back in the 5GB days. It was pricey, but I bit the bullet and starved myself to get it. I *love* the device. I really use it everyday. If you love music, get a car adapter, take it on the train when you go to work, or use it while walking around campus. I've been in all three scenarios and it's made my day better!

 

[m3jsh]

what do you guys think of the Rio Karma? any thoughts?

 

[Solema]

Yeah I've seen the Karma. While I do like the iPod's interface better, the Ethernet port on the Karma really intrigues me. It looks like a solid device overall.

 

[VegasRobb]

Personally I like the ipod over most of the players mentioned here because it's supported by audible.com.

That was a big deal when I decided to sit down and pick out a player.