Apple iPod Video 5th Generation Black (60 GB) MP3 Player

I think that I’m a bit of a trendwh0re. Okay, I know I am – the first step is admitting right? But for whatever reason, I could never really get myself to buy an iPod. Most of my apprehension stemmed from the steep price ($399 for the 60GB) and then my own ego for not wanting to have the trendy mp3 player that all the self-professed “cool” kids had. But since I got my iPod for free, I gladly became one of the “cool” kids.

First Impressions / What’s In The Box
My first impression of the ipod is that it’s really cute (yes, cute). It looks quite sleek with it’s shiny black front and metal sides and back. It’s a bit heavier than I think I expected it to be but at 5.5 ounces, it’s hardly hefty. It’s dimensions 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55, mean that your ipod is about the size of a note card (give or take a bit) and it’s very transportable.

Inside of my cool kids box alongside my iPod was a carrying case (soft, white – it suffices but isn’t nearly as nice as some of the cases I’ve seen for iPods), a USB cord, an adapter (for docks), those trendy white earphones, setup cd and some pamphlets – but who reads pamphlets? (Author Note: You should in fact read pamphlets, as they contain warranty information)

A Word On Itunes
The software install is quick. Note to Apple – I didn’t sign up for QuickTime and I don’t want it so please stop packaging it with Itunes. It’s also worth nothing that if you’re not planning on using your iPod with Itunes (and using something like Winamp) – you could skip this, although I’m not sure how you would then go about registering your iPod. I personally find that even though Itunes has the most easy to use interface, I’m annoyed by it’s bloat and pull on system resources – you may find however, that you think it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

The Fundamentals
Once you’ve installed the software, you have the option of importing any music already on your pc to Itunes or if you have none, you can pop in a cd and import directly to Itunes. Once you have some music. you simply use the handy USB cord to go from your pc to your iPod and if you’ve set Itunes for automatic updates – wait.

Playback on the iPod is really easy, a few minutes and you can basically figure out the root of it. There’s no on/off switch (stupid!) but instead pressing the play/pause button will power down your iPod and you can then flip the hold switch on the top of your iPod to prevent accidental turning on and battery wasting. The 60 GB video iPod is capable of playing the following file types: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF (taken from Apple website).

The root menu for the iPod gives options for music, photos, video, extras, settings, shuffle songs and now playing. All of which have various and sundry sub-menus. The settings have options for your iPod including eq (which has 22 settings ranging from acoustic to vocal booster), backlight timer, audiobook options and a handful of other options. The eq is pretty extensive and I’ve found that even with mine off – the sound quality is superb.

Photo/Video
The photo and video quality on this particular iPod are really, for me, the highlight of the whole thing. The photo quality is pretty stunning on the 2.5 inch LCD screen, I was pretty blown away by just how much detail it’s able to pick up. There are also quite a few options for photo display as well, including slideshows with music. The ipod supports photos in GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG and TIFF for Windows. All of those are fairly common so you shouldn’t have any problems viewing your photos.

The video quality is also really amazing. I tested mine out with an episode of That’s So Raven (yes, I’m 27 and I watch Disney – sue me) and was really shocked at how watchable it was. I wouldn’t want to watch it for long periods of time, but for TV shows or short video – it’s more than suitable. Currently you can watch MPEG-4 video and there are more and more options available via Itunes if you’re into that sort of thing. There are ipod video converters available and a quick google search will net you some decent results.

Reinventing The Wheel And Some More Stuff
I’m not much of a fan of the clickwheel, although I do admit to liking the little sound it makes. I think it can be just a tad difficult to navigate and it definitely takes some getting used to. There are also other bells and whistles like the ability to store contacts, a calendar, clock, stopwatch and file storage.

I do use the clock occasionally but not much of anything beyond that. There are also a few games including on the iPod, my favorite being the music quiz (essentially name that tune). One neat function is that if the headphones come out of the input jack (located on top, opposite side of hold button) your iPod will automatically pause itself so you don’t miss music, a feature that can be quite handy.

Personally
I do find that updating the iPod is a bit slow, but I typically plug it up and walk away. Charging the iPod to full capacity takes roughly 4 hours (according to Apple) and you should be around 80% after 2 hours. At full charge, you should be good for about 20 hours music playback although I’m not sure how this translates to video/photo usage.

I was disappointed that there was not a stand-alone dock included with the iPod, so charging requires being plugged directly to your computer unless your willing to part with the extra funds to buy a separate dock.

There’s also the major thing that everyone complains about – scratching. I think within 5 minutes of opening the box I’d already scratched my beloved Oscar (my iPod’s name) and from there it was pretty much a scratch-a-thon.

My other major wish list item for the iPod (besides an on/off button) is that you could mange the music a bit more easily within the actual iPod interface. Things like deleting a song or sorting them per album differently.

Final Thoughts
This is perfect for your music fanatic. For someone who might be just looking for something to work out with – I think it’s a bit much. For what you pay, Apple is really giving you quite a bit. Of course there are things that are superfluous (the stopwatch, extra games) but f you’re looking to get all the possible bang for you buck you can – you might appreciate these features more than I do.


Ipod Resources / Accessories / General iPod fun
Ipod Lounge - http://www.ilounge.com/
Ipod Hacks - http://www.ipodhacks.com/
Everything Ipod - http://www.everythingipod.com/
50 Fun Things To Do With Your Ipod http://www.kottke.org/plus/50-ways-ipod/
Ipod Subway Maps http://www.ipodsubwaymaps.com/
Ipod As Art http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/04/ipod-giveaway-1
(note: the above is a contest, but the comment sections are worth perusing – changing the final number from 1-7 will show you various contests. 7 is a current contest )