Review - iPod Touch
October 7th, 2007
Posted by Tommy
What’s the coolest, latest, multi-touch-OS X running device from Apple? The iPod touch of course! It’s currently the first in it’s own new line of iPods. It’s very similar to the iPhone and is just about as good (minus the phone part). So if you’ve used an iPhone, you have basically used an iPod touch. I’ve been using it for the past couple days and here are is what I have found.
Music:
The most important part of any iPod is obviously the music. iPods have had a fantastic interface and music playing capabilities since the first ones. This interface is a revolutionary leep between the last iPod Video’s interface to this. You have basically two ways to browse your music, flick through your artists, songs, ablums, etc and coverflow. Both I must say are awesome. The new Now Playing screen displays huge album art and the new set of play controls. Coverflow is simple to get at, just rotate it 90 degrees. The one thing with coverflow is that it doesn’t seem as “high quality” as the one in iTunes. It still plays all your favorite, Apple-approved, file types. One difference between the music on the iPhone and the iPod touch is that the movies and music have complete different sections. Not a big deal.
Movies
Movies look beautiful on this device. Truly a great movie playing device. It has a five-hour play which is a little short, but will do for most trips. Controls are easy to use and for the most part very nice. The only problem i have with the movies is the playhead isn’t quite accurate enough and can get annoying when your trying to find just the right part of the movie. Other wise movies are very enjoyable and very high-quality.
Photos
The viewing experience is great. The screen makes pictures look great and is good way to show of your photos from your last vacation. The iPod touch lets you view your pictures in landscape or vertical and adjusts from how you are holding it. Photo browsing is fast and fun, but there are a couple things that could have been done better. I would like the see a quick rotate tool, photos that aren’t properly rotated are a pain in the butt to deal with. I would have also liked to have seen the built-in camera feature that the iPhone has (with some of the features the iPhone forgot).
Internet
We all love Safari, admit it. It rocks and on the iPod rocks even more. It will make you wish that every mobile device had it! It gives you the same experience that the iPhone gives you. You can easily navigate the internet and watch youTube content with the youTube module. You can view web-pages in both vertical and landscape views. The web-apps of the iPhone also work with your iPod touch giving you instant messaging, e-mail, and games. They have even included the iTunes store. I lets you browse, preview, and buy music from iTunes. The internet is fun and very functional. There are the downsides though. It only connects through wi-fi so you can only use it were wireless networks are. The internet and youTube really use the battery. I have found that you get about four or five hours of constant internet usage. Safari isn’t quite stable enough, it does crash every once in a while and can’t handle a large web-page and music. Overall though an A- on the internet.
Other Things
The design of the device is very close the the iPhone’s. The front has the same glass, multi-touch screen as the iPhone which is great because it doesn’t get any scratches. The back unfortunately has the very scrathable and shiny back-plate. Mine is already scratched up on the back! If you don’t mind scratches on the back, I’ve found that you don’t really need a case for it. The device is slimmer than the iPhone and fits very well into your hand. The storage was very disappointing, only 8GB and 16GB. So if you have a large music library that you HAVE to always have and a movie theater on your computer, this may not be the best iPod for you. The battery life is great and if you do the constant sleep technique it will last for a while. I do suggest though if you aren’t using wi-fi to turn it off.
Overall
Overall this is a fantastic device. The music, videos, and photos look beautiful on the screen. If you don’t mind the lack of storage and is in your budget I highly recommend it. It gives you the same interface and ease of use as the iPhone and is very enjoyable.
Music:5/5
Movies:4.5/5
Photos:5/5
Internet:4.5/5
Overall:4.5/5