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

The new Apple iPod design is thinner, lighter, and sexier than it's the photo iPod. The new screen dwarfs the click wheel and is missing the smart headphone jack. There goes my ITrip out the window; but it never worked right anyway.

For the lower price I noticed that a power adapter, docking station, A/V cables and a real case were not included with my 60gb iPod (They came with my Photo iPOD. But you do get earbuds, a USB cable, a semisoft case, and a plastic adapter for use with certain accessories. The iPOD can only be recharged by the USB cable, unless you have or buy the power adapter.
Now I know that this is nothing new and probably by next year I will have to replace this one with the updated version next year( because there is room for improvement); but it is neat and offers a video on the iPod.

The 5G iPod, which is available in white or black and comes in 30GB and 60GB capacities for $299 and $399, respectively. I bought the 60GB because I have dreams of downloading home made movies to show fried and family members.

iPod is really neat. Just like the Nano, if you see and touch the iPod in person you will really like it. It is soft to the touch, lighter and has a larger screen. Apple shrunk the width of the iPod with my 60GB version measuring only just over a 1/2inch. I think this is because they got rid of the firewire chip. That right no firewire. The scrolling seems smoother. There is a headphone jack but no smart jack. The hold switch is still there and the dock connector remains bottom center.
The 5G iPod is available in black or white. The most noticeable part of the iPod is the 2.5-inch, sharp 260,000-color display with a 320x240-pixel resolution. Like all iPODs I am sure that this thing will pick up scratches and smudges quickly. And like any one who owns a black car can tell you that they will really show up on the black version. So I of course got the white version. The black is so much cooler looking.

For those who want the details, the 5G iPod plays MP3, AAC, protected AAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF, and Audible audio files. And includes all the same audio features, plus more, (album art, EQ choices, lyrics support, on-the-go playlists, photo viewer, slide show and a dedicated place for audio and video podcasts, as well as audiobooks). The 5G iPod still lacks a FM tuner; but Howard Stern is going leaving radio anyway so it really doesn't matter. Photos look great on the new screen, and in thumbnail view, you get five extra photos. The 5G iPod also features the world clock (you can view four clocks at a time) and the screen lock, plus the tried-and-tested contacts, calendar, games, and other ancillary extras.

Videos of all types, except for full-length movies, are available in the new iTunes 6. The store also sells music videos, plenty of movie trailers, a handful of Pixar shorts and commercial-free TV-show offerings from ABC. The 5G iPod is able to play video encoded in H.264, MPEG-4, M4V, and MOV up to 768Kbps, 320x240 pixels, and 30fps.

Other that purchased video there are home movies, content picked from P2P networks, ripped DVDs for personal use, and video podcasts. All but the last type will probably not play natively on the iPod, which means you'll have to painstakingly convert the video using a utility such as QuickTime Pro 7 ($29.95, Mac and Windows). From what I understand this can be a tediousness process. iTunes can't rip a DVD like it would an audio CD.
The iPod will automatically bookmark any number of videos so that you can return to a show where you left off. You can also assemble a video play lists. You can also fast-forward or rewind using buttons or by scrolling.

There is about a 3-second delay when you start to watch a video and while watching an hour-long show on the 5G iPod's screen your eyes and hands may get tired. However the screen's performance is lively and it never skips frames. Plus, dark areas of video content are a rich black, you get instant playback after a pause, and viewing angles are decent. In addition there are a number of third party speaker/cradle systems that hold the iPod during your viewing.

The 5G iPod's processor performance for audio and photos is solid, with only occasional drive delays; this is typical across the MP3 board, though we've noticed that the 4G is slightly faster than the 5G when skipping tracks. Audio quality is quite good and better than the previous iPod's, with better bass, mids, and highs. While listening to the iPod in the Apple store I noticed that the audio is especially nice while watching video, and plugged into the Klispch or Bose units.

They say that transfer time for audio files is should never be an issue with the 5G iPod when using the USB 2.0. But with no firewire, I had to use the USB 1.0 on my Mac. And it took hours to transfer my old audio and photo files to my new iPOD (15GB). I don't know exactly how long it took because I went to sleep. But it was ready the next morning. Can 't wait to see how long the Video transfers will take.

For audio, Apple rates the 30GB and 60GB iPods for 14 and 20 hours per charge, respectively. CNET Labs was able to muster 14.7 hours of audio-only battery life for the 30GB version. As for video on a 30GB model, we were pretty disappointed with the 2 hours, 31 minutes we got playing back an iTunes TV show. I am told that I should expect a video-only battery life of about 4 hours on my 60GB version.

So what's missing? It is the same old story here. The iPod still lacks of a built-in speaker. With out the remote, there is no quick and dedicated way to control volume and the basic functions of the iPod. And of course battery power. The power consumed by the video begs for a replaceable battery.

So in summary, Apple has does a great job of creating a personal viewing device while keeping the iPods music and photo benefits. The battery life has been extended to 12 hours on the 30 GB model and 20 hours on the 60 GB model for music. The color display is 2.5 inches and its overall size has been kept to the length and width of a playing card and about 60% thinner than the older G4 model. Keep in mind that this was done while maintaining the same price as the old G$ model, $299 for the 30-gigabyte model and $399 for the 60 GB model.

Update -12/28/2005

Oh baby this thing rocks. The video images are very sharp and crisp. I have down load videos from itunes and imove and have been very happy with the quality and ease of file transfer. One thing I was really surprise about was the quality of a movie, yes a movie that I transferred over to the ipod. I won't go into the details of how it is done here but it is pretty fast and painless, provided that you have the right software and hardware. I was able to conplete the whole process in just over an hour for a 1:50 min, movie. Granted I have a G5 quad at my disposal but just that just addresses the speed issue. Its really neat to see the expresion on your friends' or fellow commuters' faces when then see you are watching a full length movie in crisp detail on your ipod. So you get movies, videos, photos, tunes and books all in the space that equals to less than a deck of cards, you gotta love it.