Great tool for parents. Save space and sanity. More handy than a Swiss-Army Knife.

For any parent the iPod Video is a wonderful tool. I have had my iPod 80GB Video for at least 8 months. It was my first MP3 and I chose it because I recently switched from PC to Mac. I am not sorry I did. The customer service at Apple is unmatched by any other whether it be for my now 4 iPods or my MacBook. Customer service is always a deal breaker for me.

When I chose the 80GB, I second guessed myself. Since I was a first time MP3 user and buyer, did I really need something that big? Was I impulse buying for the brand?

Once I reviewed many products and their abilities it was easy to decide on the video, as its conveniences when you have small children is wonderful. I knew I would squeeze every possible application from it - so far I have utilized less than half of its features and I am extremely happy with it.

I have 3 kids, ages 4, 9, and 13. I used to carry around a portable DVD player, with a spare battery. A photo brag book to show off my family, and I was forever saying "oh, I'll have to show you our video of so and so doing god knows what." Plus Leapsters, Vtechs - anything to keep them busy. All that stuff was very heavy and often got damaged and was costly to replace.

Nowadays I tote around my tiny 80GB, though it is the biggest of the bunch (for now), to me it as tiny as any mom could possibly want.

If we are going to be in a store for a long time, I pop on a movie, educational TV show, or the like for my 4 year old as she rides in the cart. If she tires of that, she switches to music and sings and dances around the store. If she tires of that, she tries to master Pac Man or Mini Golf. If we run into a friend who has yet to meet my two older step children or has never seen baby pictures, I pull out my iPod Video. Want to show off our 13 year olds directing and editing debut - break out the Pod.

When we travel I bring my tiny little cord that plugs into the earphone jack and plugs into any red, yellow, white video, audio input and wallah - my family and friends can see any slide show, any video, any movie that is on my iPod on any TV or portable DVD. For travelers it is a beautiful tool. I absolutely love this thing because it has lessened the load on my back. I no longer have to carry so much stuff. I carry a charging cord, the video TV cord. No more dvds, cds, pictures, video tapes, games, spare batteries bulky storage bags!!

My main them behind the purchase was storage. My 80gb is nearly full. It has not been wasted.

I use the calendar, my entire day is scheduled on my Mac and downloaded onto my iPod - an alarm goes off when set. I use the Contacts, but not only for addresses and the like, I made another file within Address Book on my Mac and titled it Recipes. So now when I am running around and have forgotten about dinner, I can look up any recipe in my Contacts list and never question what I need, how long it will take, or its nutritional value. I put shopping lists, call lists, all kinds of lists on it. You can't interact with your lists and check off what is done, or add to it on the run. But the fact that I am not losing or holding onto several pieces of paper is what I wanted.

The pros far out weigh the cons if you are a parent who knows how to utilize tools. Many may think of this as a toy, to me it is more handy than any swiss army knife. It is a tool in my daily life. It has reduced the weight of my daily load by POUNDS. Any mom is grateful to get weight off of her back.

I was so happy with my first purchase that I also bought 3 more iPods, one 30gb video and two 4gb Nanos.

My husband is notorious for ruining dvds and cds. He just abuses them in his car, then blames it on our kids. I was tired of replacing $20 cds and dvds at the rate of over 4 per week, I simply could not afford his carelessness. He is brutal in his truck, which has a drop down dvd player - so anything disc was getting destroyed. Knowing we had lost thousands already in our video and audio library, which took nearly two decades to build, I decided to get him the smaller 30gb in order to get our small but costly investments out of his hands. I bought him the smaller, less costly 30gb video so that he could plug it into his stereo in the car and listen to music or if the girls were in the car they could play movies off of it. Works like a charm.

We are going on a family camping trip from Miami to Maine, and back. 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 iPod Videos, 1 pull down DVD player. Everything we need to entertain is on the iPods, plus the two older girls have Nanos for just music. All three kids are covered if they want to watch different movies. God bless.

I would not buy the video as a present for a kid. I wouldn't buy one for my very responsible, straight A 13 year old. Too expensive, and they are still kids. But I had no problem justifying spending a total of $600 via Apple for an 80 and 30 gb that were engraved and shipped for free for us as parents who allow the kids to carefully use them. The younger ones aren't allowed to carry it around, we call it a stationary toy.

I bought the screen protectors and also iFrogz skins. I am happy with their protection. I thought that by now, his video would have been broken, scratched or lost, but his is still in great condition. The cases protect it when it flies around his truck - and it does fly around. If you buy something to protect it, you only need to worry about dropping it. From what I understand, iPods are only tested to withstand a 30 or 36 inch fall. No more. I protect my investments by being aware of how they are being used, and by whom. I use it to teach responsibility and accountability. They are willing students with this toy.

My 80gb had problems with the battery, I called up, they replaced it in less than a week. I could have exchanged it the same day in a store, but I like the engraving on the back, so it had to be sent in.

This is not a gaming toy, the games are simple. We have pass-around competitions with Mini Golf, Pac Man, and the Trivia. Nothing fancy.

The display shows great. Looks as good as any TV. I thought having such a small screen would compromise the video quality. I have no complaints.

I know many don't like Apple because they are so proprietary. I could see how that would bother anyone who was really into exchanging music. But if you don't care too much about that, I don't find it bothersome. There are programs you can buy to override that. We have one that allows us to put our dvd library onto it. Plus anytime you burn the original onto a cd the proprietary nature is lost from what an Apple store employee told me. You can burn that cd onto any pc or Mac.

If you have small kids, consider this tool. Properly protected (go to iFrogz.com) and carefully monitored, it will provide your children entertainment and you some sanity. Plus, at the end of the day, there is nothing better than drowning out household noise by veggin' on the Pod with a cocktail in hand. It's a beautiful thing.