Apple iPod Video 5th Generation White (30 GB) MP3 Player

For most people, an mp3 player IS an iPod; the iPod is so synonymous with digital music these days that Apple's own particular brand of digital music player became the archetype by which we compare all other portable digital media players…

Okay, enough babbling, let's talk about this thing.

I wasn't personally even thinking about buying an iPod until I had a sequence of epiphanies. The first of which was over the fact that my dinky 256MB MP3 player was straining to provide me with a few hours worth of music to listen to. In addition to that, its single, AAA battery only lasted about 15 hours… then I had to get another battery, or recharge the one in there in my battery charger.

I needed bigger, and with a built in battery.

What is the iPod… Seriously.
The Apple iPod is a portable digital multimedia player. All iPod models play digital music encoded in MP3, Uncompressed WAV, and Apple iTunes format (AAC). However, the most recent series of high-end iPod models (such as this one) also play videos on the built in LCD display.

Thus; the iPod is a video playing, music machine multimedia powerhouse.

The iPod, and Apple's iTunes software provide you with a legal channel to buy music, videos (in the form of entire episodes of TV shows or music videos) for a nominal fee for each song or video you buy. There are also a large collection of free "PodCasts", digital audio and video programs produced on a regular basis and designed to be periodically updated.

You can also put your own music on the device, either in WAV format, using iTunes to re-encode it to AAC, or MP3 if you desire. If you have video files on your computer, if Apple's QuickTime video player can play it, your iPod can too. Just encode your videos so QuickTime (and thus; iTunes) can play it, and you're off.

A more mundane feature of modern iPod's (including this one) is the ability to display photographs. You can load pictures into your iPod and view them in a slideshow on the go. Again, this requires iTunes to upload your photos.

The iPod is totally codependent on iTunes to function as more than just a pretty looking portable hard drive. iTunes software is for both Apple's Macintosh, and Microsoft's Windows platforms, so you don't have to worry that an Apple product won't work on a PC.

Or buy them.

The standard iPod is a mini-computer with a hard disk drive, and all. The music, video's, etc. are loaded onto the device's hard disk drive instead of a flash rom chip, and then you unplug it, and enjoy. Because this model iPod uses a hard drive, it can provide an extreme amount of storage at a relatively low cost. Because the hard drive is designed for a laptop computer, the drive doesn't consume an excessive amount of energy to be used, giving the iPod a decent battery life.

iPod's have built-in lithium ion batteries. Most mp3 players use removable battery cells (like AA, AAA, etc.) and the iPod charges from your computer while plugged into its USB socket. New to this model of iPod is a lack of a "wall charger" unit, it only comes with the USB data/power cable, and thus requires your PC to be powered on whilst it charges.

iPod's are essentially portable hard drives with screens and a play button on the front. Subsequently, when you plug in an iPod, it can function right away as a removable USB hard drive. This is great for people who work on several computers and need to transfer data between them, though a $300 hard drive is quite pricey way to get your documents home.

To use an iPod to its fullest, you must use the Apple iTunes software to "synchronize" your iPod's content. Media files will not be played if they are not placed on the iPod by iTunes. Some media players will play any compatible file they find sitting on themselves and sadly, the iPod isn't one of those.

iPod's also possess little video games you can play on them while you listen to music. The games are really simple arcade style timewasters, and aren't really expendable, but they're present…

Fortunately, iTunes works acceptably with most popular music and video formats.

And god said, this iPod is different from all other iPod's… I guess.
This iPod is a new advancement of the general-purpose iPod. This iPod features an integrated 30GB hard disk drive, replacing the older unit with only 20GB. It also adds the capability to play videos on its larger integrated LCD screen whereas the older unit couldn't do that.

The battery life on this unit claims 33 hours under some magical condition where the laws of physics stop applying, and energy isn't consumed to perform work. The battery life in this unit actually only lasts about 8-10 hours on a full charge with somewhat continuous use.

However, its claim to fame is the fact it plays the new video's Apple and iTunes are providing to its customers. You can purchase entire episodes of TV programs and watch them from iTunes, or your iPod.

For a fee.

You can also load in your own videos for free, but again, you have to have video files that work with Apple's QuickTime media player (part of iTunes.) otherwise, iTunes can't convert the video to your iPod, and the iPod can't play it.

I only have 6GB of MP3 music, and frankly; most of my video collection isn't QuickTime compatible. However, the 24GB of surplus drive space I now carry around on my hip is very convenient, and if I really wanted to invest the time, I could translate my video's to a more iPod friendly format, but that really would take a long time.

Nothing has really changed between previous iPod's, and this new model as far as the picture library is concerned.

Sound Quality?
The iPod's sound quality is almost entirely codependent on what quality mp3 files you uploaded to the thing. The iPod features a built in, software graphic equalizer that helps to improve the audio quality based on song genre (for example, "Dance" gives your songs a bass boost.) but without good speakers or headphones, this feature might go unnoticed.

The equalizer is pretty good at its job, it improves the sound quality significantly if you're wearing a halfway decent pair of headphones. Not too much distortion either.

The iPod features an audio-leveling adjustor setting (Normalization) that, through software, plays your music at (approximately) the same volume regardless of from where you took the music. It works decently, though it generally sets your music's maximum volume comparatively quite low, speaking of volume.

The iPod's built in amplifier is acceptable. It can't quite get eardrum shattering loud, but if you want to really rock the house down with your iPod as a digital stereo, you'll want a good pair of amplified speakers to do that for you instead.

Good headphones or speakers, and good music to start with make the iPod sound experience quite pleasant.

Pricey
The iPod is expensive. This unit costs $300, and plays videos, music and display's pictures. These features are cute, but neither task is really anything too fancy in this day and age, except that the iPod does it portably. Although it IS, as well as a media player, a portable hard drive, one really does have to wonder where $300 is going in this thing.

The construction of this unit isn't "cheap", especially compared to the nano counterpart, however, it's also not made of titanium and bulletproofing. The screen is decently scratch resistant (not proof) and decently "insulated" so that casual compression of the unit doesn't cause the LCD matrix to snap and eat your soul in the process.

It's not indestructible, so if you get an iPod, get a case. No exceptions.

The most advertised feature of this unit is the video playback, which, unless you are skilled in computer multimedia, means you might end up only being able to play video's you download as podcasts, or buy in the iTunes store. A little advertised "inconvenience" with the iPod.

Conclusion: Subway Dwellers
okay, raise your hand if you commute. Anywhere.

Now, keep your hands up. I want to know how many of you drive yourselves during that commute. Ok?

Well, guess what people, an iPod like this is plenty featureful with the pictures and the video if you don't have to drive your car to wherever you go, because you CAN'T watch videos and pictures while your driving.

At least; for god's sake, don't.

However, people who's commute involves walking, subway's, busses or other public transportation which involve you sitting and staring at nothing a lot will take great pleasure in grabbing your iPod and watching a show, or video, or playing a little arcade game.

The iPod is a great mp3 player though, but for people only looking to play mp3's, the full-blown iPod and its video and picture features are frankly overblown for people who are just looking for a decent mp3 player, the nano, or the shuffle are far more economical.

Those looking for a nice distraction on their train ride will definitely enjoy the iPod.