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

I won this little gem 6 months ago, with a survey I took on the website of biocompare.com. I enjoyed it a lot so far, but I am not sure I would purchase one with my own money.

Specs for the iPod can be found in more detail elsewhere, let me just summarize my experience, it's pros and cons, and my verdict.

First of all, the iPod has ample storage space for music and movies. Getting it on the iPod is easy and relatively fast over an USB2.0 port. I find the cable somewhat long, however, and it gets tangled with the earphones. I wish you could charge it without the wires (wifi or bluetooth) although then you would have to charge the battery independently.

Playback is okay, but I find the sound somewhat disappointing. Not necessarily due to the headphones, which are not bad, but the sound in general doesn't do it for me. A CD is much better. I often find that higher notes get lost during pieces of music with high mid-range volume. It is difficult to explain but I was a bit shocked when I listened to the iPod over a sound-system. Video playback is quite good, however, and I enjoyed the iPod during travel. Music playback time is about 10 hours, but after watching one movie you're as good as done. I really like the video quality, but you need to have good vision. Luckily I still have that. For people with less tan perfect vision the screen simply is too small.

Operating the iPod is very easy, the menus and scroll-wheel are an example of excellent ergonomy. I expect this to be copied by other manufacturers. The device is very slick and well designed, but, as many others will testify, the surface is prone to scratching and this has serious impact on the video experience.

Operating the iTunes software, the only means of communication with the iPod (for non-hackers like me) is somwhat a different story. First, it is not easy to find the settings for copying photos and videos. I expected a more intuitive system from Apple. Second, it doesn't make much sense to have a rating system for your songs since you won't copy or buy bad songs anyway. This is an issue for the shuffle option, since the shuffle option plays the songs you like more often than the ones you don't. I like all my songs, otherwise they wouldn't be on the iPod. But all in all, despite the shortcomings the software is in many ways better than many competitors. Too bad iTunes doesn't communicate with, say, www.pandora.com to get a feel for your music taste.

Purchasing songs is what I have the most problems with. I mean, I don't mind paying 1$ for a song I like, but why in earth can't I buy music from, say, the French store or Dutch store without having a bank account in those countries? What is this!? I mean, this is the 21st century, a global economy. Let me enjoy music from other countries as well please. Why do I need a bank account (or credit card account) in France to buy French music. Do I need that to buy French wine, or Dutch cheese? You might say that this is off-topic, but since the iTunes software is the only way to charge the iPod, I think this is a serious limitation to the iPod experience. I have childhood/adolescence memories from Holland but cannot purchase Dutch music.

I also find it ridiculous that you cannot play songs from other online music stores. And vice-versa, of course. It is like having 10 different formats of audio tapes in the 80s. Imagine not being able to drink Coke from a Pepsi glass. The French may have a case here, they recently sanctioned Apple for not sharing the encryption keys with other hardware manufacturers. I think that all music you purchase should be playable on any music player. What happens if my iPod gets lost or stops working?

So, all in all, I like my iPod and use it a lot, despite its limitations (someone told me that my glass is always half empty. Guess he's right, but no progress without citrique). I'm not sure if I would buy it from my own money though.