Macintouch: iPod Reliability Survey. ⇒
28 November 2005, mid-afternoon
My friend Dave will be glad to know his iPod is one with a 24% failure rate (77 out of 321 units failed).
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
Actually, mine was the worst of the bunch with a 29% failure:
The 40 GB Click Wheel iPod appears to have been a lemon. With a failure rate more than two standard deviations above average, it’s the indisputable problem child of the iPod family. Many readers reported going through three to five of them before the 1 year warranty expired and Apple refused further replacements.
I went three in a year, then bought the extended warranty on the assumption that I’d get at another lemon before the second year was up.
by Dave on November 28 2005, 7:45 pm #
Damn, it’s worse then I had thought (I thought you had the 30 gig iPod for some reason). Of course, now that you have bought the warrenty things will work fine for two years.
by ramanan on November 28 2005, 7:53 pm #
Will your love for Mac die down Ram as Apple becomes bogged down in the quagmire of big business quality, logistics and public relations? Who will you love then? =p
Does anyone have a PSP? I trying to figure out if mine makes too much sound upon loading, and it also just crashed last night while I was playing a game. Is that normal on these more advanced systems? (I don’t remember my old school Game Boy ever crashing.) I certainly think that I will go and buy the warranty after all, there are just too many moving parts in this thing not to.
by Victor on November 28 2005, 8:13 pm #
Until Apple starts producing some really stank computers, iPods, and software, they’ll still be all good in my book. The alternatives are too horrible.
My brother has a PSP, and it froze while I was mucking around with it yesterday. I always feel like a sucker buying a warranty, but if you are worried it might be a good idea. PSPs seem particularly fragile. My Nintendo DS looks like it was meant for 5 year old hands: the thing is built (and looks!) like a brick.
by ramanan on November 28 2005, 8:37 pm #
I have one. I’ve had it crash exactly once (got it probably late July) while running official software.
(for awhile a version of an SNES emu I was using had serious problems, but homebrew is homebrew…)
by Weiguo on November 28 2005, 10:32 pm #
Oh I should add that the PSP crashed while running some program that lets you run UMD games off a memory stick, so you can’t really blame Sony for that sort of flakiness.
by Ramanan on November 29 2005, 2:11 am #
Weiguo, any comment on the drive noise of the UMD? I had someone make a second hand comment that their husbands PSP hardly makes any loading noise. While mine creeks and squeaks away, (not that much more then a computer drive), but still I have no frame of reference. I had my second crash, again playing Lord of the Rings:Tactics. What are your favorite homebrews?
by Victor on November 29 2005, 1:18 pm #
I worked my way through Mario World, Link to the Past, and Area 88 in the SNES9x TYL emulator, they all played great. That one was very unstable at first but it’s excellent now. All the Mode 7 stuff looks beautiful. FF2 and 6 (“3”) are probably still too slow to play, but haven’t tried. TYL lets you clock at 266 or 333 (in addition to 233).
NESterJ seems to work fairly well. And there’s a new Master System emulator out that’s almost fast enough to run Phantasy Star. I also have a Genesis emulator that I haven’t really used much yet.
I haven’t played around too much with FastLoader and things like that, mostly because I’m too cheap to go buy a larger MemStick yet. I’d probably just buy the UMD if someone compelling arrived.
I only have 1 UMD, Lumines, which resides in the PSP. I don’t consider it loud, but it doesn’t have to grind that much to play. It’s definitely quiet enough that if someone is playing next to me, I can sleep just fine. At a more objective level, I would compare the noise of the drive to the volume of the PSP’s speakers on the lowest (non-silent) level.
by Weiguo on November 29 2005, 5:54 pm #
I’ve played FFII (IV) and FFIII (VI) on my brothers PSP and they both feel a bit sluggish. That isn’t to say they aren’t playable, they just feel like they are dragging a bit. It’d be cool if the ported the playstation ports to the PSP.
And Victor, if you don’t own Lumines you’re missing out. It has to be the best reason to own a PSP, hands down.
by ramanan on November 29 2005, 7:17 pm #
oh, Victor, do you have any recommendations for UMD games? How do you like LotR Tactics?
by Weiguo on November 30 2005, 3:39 pm #
I’ve read good things about Lumines as well. I think I will probably get it at some point. That for the info on the homebrews, I’ll give em a go when I have some free time.
So far, I have played LotR:Tactics and Kingdom of Paradise. I have X-men: Legends II, but it’s unopened as of yet.
I liked Kingdom of Paradise, but I ended up liking LotR more and have not played much of KoP (about 5 or 6 hours). KoP is not much of a RPG though, it ends up being a bit of a button masher with regards to fights, but has some very cool sword animations (reminds me of some of the moves that remind me of the blind guy from Samurai Showdown).
LotR is a fun game, but 1 it’s not as good as FF:Tactics, and 2, it’s not a very long game (played about 25-30 hours, expect another 20 out of it). It was also pretty expensive at $59. That all said, I had fun, and the only problem I’ve had with it is the 3 crashes. I think I should be able to return this to the store for that, given that they aren’t going to be able to patch or repair this. But, I think it’s going to be a really hard thing to do.
Last, I’ve heard good things about X-men:Legends II, and I’m excited to play that in a few days. Last, personally I really want to get my hands of Darkstalkers Chronicles. I’m sure the computer will be far too easy, but I that the online play is excellent. I would be very happy with the ability to play a street fighter game online with other people! If they made Alpha 3, omg I would be so happy!
by Victor on November 30 2005, 7:00 pm #
I tried DS Chronicles on a friend’s PSP; it seems fairly comprehensive (choose mode: normal/auto/turbo/auto+turbo; choose “groove”: DS/DS2/DS3 etc.) and it looks really nice. But I can’t get used to the feeling of playing on the pad. It doesn’t use the analog stick, BTW.
by Weiguo on November 30 2005, 8:19 pm #
I agree with you Weiguo that there’s NOTHING like playing on a real arcade joystick for fighters. I’ve complained for the last 5 years playing on my friends PS2, but the thing is, in the end, the 2D fighters are dying out, and the only real way to play them is at home. So, although I’m still not the fiend that I used to be in the arcade on the joypad, I’ve gotten better. Since the PSP and PS2 controllers are somewhat similar (disconnected directions), it shouldn’t be that hard to learn. Plus, it’s annoying, but I know I have to learn it and love it, my alternative would be to leave 2D fighting in my past and I’m not ready to do that. =)
by Victor on December 1 2005, 1:19 pm #
Can’t you buy a giant ass joystick for the PS2. I know Vince had a arcade style gamepad for the PS1, which should work on the PS2. It had a big joystick, and the buttons were laid out in typical Street Fighter fashion.
by ramanan on December 1 2005, 1:51 pm #
X-Arcade sells American-style joysticks that are quite sturdy and look very slick (nicer than many of the arcade machines I’ve played on).
I use a Hori “Fighting Stick II” I which I like and is a lot smaller/lighter. It’s “Japanese” style (which I think means that it has a “square gate”, which makes the diagonals more obvious, as compared to “Amercian style” which has a round gate).
the forums at Shoryuken had good info on sticks, I remember seeing a few threads there, but I don’t read SRK regularly.
And I don’t think the 2D scene is quite dead…”TOSF” (Toronto Street Fighter) is, I believe, a local community dedicated to all 2D fighters (GGXX, MvC2, 3S, etc.). And I went to see a “U.S.” (really some clan from NYC) vs Canada competition at Pacific Mall in the summer, at which all those games were represented (although I was only interested in Tekken 5).
by Weiguo on December 1 2005, 7:42 pm #
In terms of the Joystick, I’ve already checked out the sticks from x-arcade, and was talking to my friend Chris about getting them, but in the end we decided against it, given we have not been able to “see and feel” them, even though the reviews sound very good. I also have read up on and seen some pictures in regards to the tournament at Pacific Mall. I know indeed that there are many that still enjoy SF style games, but it’s just not mainstream anymore. If I go to a “local” arcade (local being, not having to find parking at the monstrous pacific mall, which I go to very very infrequently) and find some fun games. Like anything, there will be the hardcores left, but it’s just not the same (especially since I’m not THAT hardcore, just good with my Remy). =p
by Victor on December 1 2005, 8:57 pm #
I played darkstalkers on PSP last night, and I’m going to have to change my statement about learning the joypad. I think that it won’t be possible, it’s not that I’m not getting used to it, but that the PSP is not very good at reading inputs for the fighter game. I can’t chain all my combo’s together, as the PSP misses some of my key strokes when they are too fast, and I can’t move diagonally very well at all. Even when I do it very deliberately, and make sure I hit up and forward at the same time. It just won’t read the two keys together more then 1 in 2. Lucky, there is some kind of “easy mode” that’s not just bad blocking, but rather reduces the key strokes on most of the moves. Otherwise, the game would be impossible. I now fully agree with Weiguo that they needed to use the “hat” and not the directional keys. I’m pretty sure they put in this easy mode, based on the fact that even a basic fireball is next to impossible. This is no PS2 controller by a long shot.
The game does look amazing though. Very arcade authentic.
by Victor on December 2 2005, 1:26 pm #