I am a geek. I don t even try to pretend not to be. When having a computer in the home was an abnormality, I had one. I love electronics gadgets even though lately providing for my kids usually takes precedence over Mom satisfying her electronics fixation. I was pretty lucky this Christmas to receive a 32gb
iPod Touch. I d wanted an
iPod Touch since they first came out, but one with a decent size memory was out of my price range.
This is a nice looking iPod, first off. It s very slim with only one button on the main part of the device next to the screen, which turns it on and off as well as having some navigational functions. That took me almost half a day to figure out. The top is a glossy black which works great for the screen and contrasting for video playback. It s horrible to keep clean. Fingerprints show up almost instantly and it s really hard if you touch it with dirty fingers. It s a great source of consternation for me right now as I have to repeatedly put moisturizer on my hands in the winter and no matter how much I think its been absorbed into my skin, I can see and feel it on the screen of the
iPod Touch after I ve used it.
The responsiveness of the touch screen is great. If anything, I am having a hard time getting used to just how sensitive it is. When typing out a search term or other words, I find my fingers must be a bit on the fat side and I end up with a lot of misspellings. It s somewhat difficult getting used to. I do find it s easier to use the keyboard and these types of functions when I hold the
iPod Touch horizontally rather than vertically.
This
iPod Touch comes with a built-in speaker that s on the side of the metallic portion of the case. There s a volume control on the side as well so I don t have to fumble to adjust the volume when playing it back. I like the speaker option as I have never like the earbuds which come with all of Apple s iPod products. They come with this as well and to me they are uncomfortable and my ears end up sore after just a few hours of wearing them.
I do have to mention here the lack of documentation that comes with the
iPod Touch when you purchase it. Online at Apple is a guided tour which helps immensely getting familiar with all the device can do. I didn t find it for a few days and had - by then - basically figured most of it out for myself. I wish I had found it sooner.
Using the
iPod Touch is easy once you get the hang of it. Sliding a finger along the screen moves through menus as well as selecting which function I am going to use. Getting back to the main menu involves touching the only button on the face of the
iPod Touch, something I didn t catch onto for quite some time and got frustrated. However, once I learned how to operate it, it s quite user-friendly and easy. This is much more than just an MP3 player - this is essentially a computer in your pocket.
Apple has greatly improved the battery life in all of their devices, which was a vociferous complaint with their earlier devices. This
iPod Touch boasts a 36 hour battery life for audio playback and claims that you can watch 6 hours of movies in between charges. I ve used it on and off and I do have to say the battery life is quite a bit longer than it has been in the past, although I can t verify their claims.
Where other iPods needed to be hooked up to a computer to update or load, the beauty of the
iPod Touch is that whenever I am in a WiFi hotspot, I can do whatever want. I can download music or videos, browse the internet using the Safari browser already loaded on the iPod from the factory, as well as using or downloading a variety of apps and games.
Generally it s easier to have an app for a function than trying to browse it using Safari. In the case of how I use Facebook over my
iPod Touch, the app for it is free and is catered to use on the
iPod Touch or its cousin the
iPhone. Apps can be purchased directly through a site offering it or through iTunes. Once they have been installed, they appear on the main screen.
Gaming is excellent on the
iPod Touch and gone will be the days when I play a few games on my cell phone. With the
iPod Touch there are not buttons to press or keys to tap. Instead, playing some games involve tilting and turning the
iPod Touch itself. Other games use the touch ability of the screen. For example, racing games and the like use the motion function as you wouldn t want to try to steer using one finger on the screen. Other games such as Tetris-types use the touch screen to control it.
While I m on the subject of the screen, I have to say I am much more impressed with it than I expected to be. On my
iPod Nano I had the ability to view videos and movies, but never dreamed of it. With such a small screen, I couldn t imagine what my eyes would feel like when trying to view something for a couple of hours. The screen on the
iPod Touch works either horizontally or vertically, automatically adjusting the picture by sensing how I am holding it. The picture is excellent. I have watched a number of music videos and television shows on the
iPod Touch and been impressed with the picture quality. It definitely was much better than what I was expecting. The colors are vivid and I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed viewing video content on something this small.
With other functions, there s a dedicated icon on the main screen for YouTube. This means I can bookmark favorite videos I want to show my friends and bring them up with ease to show them when I m in any WiFi Hotspot. Other dedicated internet based applications include a map function that sadly isn t all that great. In big cities, I am sure it works well. In less rural areas, not so good. It couldn t find my location and when I went searching manually for my location whatever software it is had so many errors in it including street names and streets that just didn t exist.
There s easy contact for weather which again took me some time to figure out how to change the default setting of Cupertino, California. Clock functions, a notebook, calendar, and contacts are also available. This can take the place of a PDA as well as an MP3 player. The mail setting will bring up easy access to a variety of mail services, as does the function to check out the latest stock quotes. Stocks and mail need internet access, but other functions such as the ones I d find on a PDA work fine when not connected.
As an MP3 player, this can t be beat. ITunes can be accessed directly through the
iPod Touch when it has an internet connection. Songs, albums, videos and apps can be bought at the touch of the screen. Once downloaded onto the
iPod Touch, they are automatically synched with the library on my computer the next time I connect it. The new iTunes software works better than ever before. In particular I love the Genius function that can take a song I am listening to and suggest other songs I d be interested in from their library, or create a playlist from songs in my library based on the song I selected. Apple advertises this as having your own personal DJ and it is a great way to take my library beyond the shuffle songs function I ve always been quite fond of.
With the ability to browse my music catalog using album covers, I ve been more inclined to scroll through the music I have in MP3 format from early on in the technology and try to add data to make it easier to function. This means not only locating and adding the album art, but also entering the correct album names and artist name in those places in the data for each song. This can be quite time consuming but necessary especially if you have a large collection and don t want to end up having more difficulty with finding the songs easily. New songs and albums I download already are set up correctly, it s just the old library that I have to spend a lot of time with to streamline it.
The sound quality is good. I have a set of headphones I purchased for my
iPod Nano since I don t use the earbuds and the sound in them was very good. The speakers work well, with the sound being clear and crisp, but do sound a bit tinny. I adjusted the sound a bit with the built-in equalizer. I ve found that the sound of the
iPod Touch isn t consistent from listening through the speakers to through the headphones to over the FM radio in my car. Each of these needs a different equalizer setting to sound the way I like it. What makes it a bigger headache is the equalizer is accessed off the main menu, rather than having direct access while in the music playback mode. Most of the time I just end up leaving it off and dealing with the different sound. It s fine, really, except to people who are really picky and like certain levels of bass and the like in their music.
The biggest disappointment for many will be just how closed the system is. Only a small number of audio and video formats are supported. I had difficulty with a audio files I had downloaded through a Pepsi promotion at Amazon but eventually translated them into a compatible format.
Apple covers all of their iPods with a one year limited warranty.
I have to say I am thrilled to death so far with my
iPod Touch. It has taken mobile computing to a level I never dreamed of in my lifetime. I keep thinking the world no needs to be a hotspot so I can download what I want when I want and have access to information. The 32gb size is plenty to hold all of my music collection plus a significant number of videos and television shows I want to catch up on. Add to that the ability to surf the internet and I have information I want anytime I m In a hotspot.
When I m not, this is terrific for music playback and my skepticism at watching videos and films on such a small device has been overcome. The screen does show any fingerprints extremely easily, but it wipes clean just as easily with a damp cloth. I do recommend investing in a protective device for this to preserve the touch screen ability. The piece of cloth that comes in the box with the
iPod Touch really doesn t do anything. If it was put in there to be a cleaner it falls way short. I mostly drape it over the screen when I put it down for a few minutes, but there are better ways of doing this out there.
All of the problems I ve cited are petty things. In general, this is a great device that truly revolutionizes connectivity. We ve come a long way from a cradle that held the receiver of a rotary phone, haven t we?
2008 Patti Aliventi
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