t-time05's Full Review: Apple iPod photo 4th Generation (60 GB) MP3 Player
Several years ago, Apple revolutionized the mp3 player market. Before the iPod, alot of the mp3 players on sale, could hold around from 20 to 100 songs, and they were alot less intricate than the iPod. Apple came out with a small mp3 player, that could fit into your pocket, and hold up to 10,000 songs (with the 40gb), for alot cheaper than most would expect to pay. We are now four generations into the iPod dynasty, and have seen the releases of the iPod mini, a smaller version of the original, that holds less songs as the 20g, but is in color, and currently we have seen the U2 ipod, that comes in black and red, with the signatures of the members of the band, etched by laser on the back. And now, apple introduces its newest member of the iPod family, the (40 and 60GB) iPod photo.
When I first heard about the iPod photo, a couple of months before its release date, I was ecstatic knowing that Apple was releasing a color iPod that can also hold pictures. Since I have been waiting for a while to buy one, I got the iPod photo about 2 weeks after it came out. The 40GB iPod can hold about 10,000 songs, and has the ability to play 12 hours of songs, on a single (full) battery charge. The new 60GB iPod photo, can hold about 20,000 songs and 25,000 photos, which is definetely not bad compared with the 40GB iPod. It's 60 GB makes it able to play 15 hours of musical playback, or 5 hours straight of photo slideshows.
I got the iPod photo about a month ago, and have become very very fond of it. However, there are some outstanding problems I have with it:
The iPod photo has a color screen with 220x176-pixel resolution, and that has exactly 65,536 colors, according to the iPod website. But even with the fairly high resolution, the screen is still fairly small (2 inches diagonally), which makes viewing thumbnails a pain in the butt, since it's pretty hard to distinguish which pictures are which.
Also, since iPod only works in conjunction with iTunes, you can only upload pictures from your home computer, with your own iTunes program. I have never tried it, but supposedly if you try to use a different computer and iTunes program to download pics to your iPod, then everything that's from your home iTunes player, is erased, which is a major hassle. So because of all this, it's impossible to directly upload photos from a digital camera, or someone else's computer.
Finally, my biggest problem with the iPod, and a big problem almost anyone who wants to buy the 60GB iPod photo, is the $599 price tag.
However, these are really the only problems with the iPod. So far, I have noticed three things, that make this iPod worthwhile.
The first and most obvious thing is the whole color experience. The interface, now seems alot cooler, being in color. Also, viewing pics in slideshow mode using the wheel, is pretty easy and fun. Another bonus is the fact that you can now view album art for your songs.
The second thing is the huge 60 GB hard drive. 20,000 songs is a hell of alot of songs, and so far I only have 1000 songs! I also have 524 pictures uploaded onto my iPod, and so I have a real long way to go, before filling my iPod (which means getting about 25,000 pics).
The third thing, which to me is really good, is the fact that you can project pictures from your iPod directly on any projector or TV, using a cable thats included with the purchase fo an iPod. I have already used this feature to show my family pics I took while traveling in a slideshow mode, accompanied by music from my iPod!
In conclusion I would say that the 60 GB iPod Photo is a very amazing machine. You can store up to 25,000 pics, and 20,000 songs, you can get album art for your songs, and you can show your pictures on your home TV (or any other TV), all while using a cooler color interface. However the thumbnail mode is quite annoying, and worst of all, you can only upload pics from your home computer, and not from any other computers, or digital cameras, without risk of erasing everything on your iPod. Because of this, I would not recommend to any pro photographers, or anyone who wants to put pics directly from their digital camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $599 Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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