free upgrades?

Pretty much the only way folks got free upgrades was if they had ordered a 15 gig or 30 gig from Apple and the iPod hadn't been shipped yet. In some cases those orders were upgraded to 20 or 40 gig iPods respectively.

But that's about it.

Adam

Ummm, that would be because they don't sell it anymore. It was replaced by the 40Gig.

Probably about half again as many.

Chill,

I think you will find it discussed in several other threads if you do a search.

The 15Gig was replaced by the 20Gig, the 30Gig was replaced with the 40Gig. The new 20 and 40 are simply the same device with a larger hard drive.

What is it you are looking for? The 20 and 40 come with the same things. If you can get by with 20 buy it... if you need 40, buy it.

By the same token if you want to save money look for a used or refurbed 15 or 30 3G and buy one of those...

You really can read through some of these messages and find answers to all of your questions.

It's exactly the same as the 20 and 40 gig models of course w/a different hard drive size.

They are cheaper because they are discontinued models and because when there were new the 30 was the same price as what the 40 was released at. Wouldn't make sense to sell the 30s now for what you could get a 40 for.

Adam

The story is that Toshiba, the manufacturer of the HD re-specified the disc so that it held 20 GB of data, instead of 15, just by packing the data on more densely. Thus the 15 GB iPod became a 20, and the 30 (which used dual platters) became a 40.

Advantages/disadvantages:
The 15 GB iPod has a single disc, which is not densely packed. It will therefore be less prone to skipping/freezing etc. and is smaller than the 30/40. It is available as a refurb (don't ask, just do a search!) for $279. That's $120 less than the 20 GB model which replaced it, and $20 less than the current 10 GB iPod. It comes with exactly the same kit as the current 20 GB iPod, because (apart from the HD) it is the very same machine. It's therefore a much better buy than the 10 GB iPod, which doesn't include the dock, contains less music, etc.

The 30 GB iPod has a dual platter, though the discs are not densely packed. It will therefore be less prone to skipping/freezing etc than a 40 GB pod, and perhaps than a 20 GB pod. It is exactly the same size as the 40 GB iPod. It is available as a refurb for $379 (EG $120 less than a new 40 GB iPod, and $20 less than a 20 GB iPod). It comes with exactly the same kit as the current 40 GB iPod, because (apart from the HD) it is the very same machine.

If you buy them as refurbs, the 15 and 30 GB iPods are fully tested, have a new battery, and have a full one-year Apple guarantee. Often they come 'as new' (they're sometimes old unsold stock rather than refurbs) in a new shrink wrapped box and are indistinguishable from new. Sometimes they come in a plain cardboard box and may show slight signs of use - cosmetic imperfections etc.

The disadvantage is that they are discontinued models (if that bothers you) and you can get the same basic iPods with 33% more capacity, if you buy new.