Handheld iMac or next-gen Palm Pilot? Apple'siPod Photo hits the mark!
Written: Jan 30 '05 (Updated Jan 31 '05)
Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks positively gorgeous, screen is perfect, intelligent click-wheel & software design, integrates flawlessly with OS-X.
Cons: Obviously the big con... it's $500, Adobe photo software for PC worse than Apple's-iPhoto.
The Bottom Line: What an improvement on an already class-leading product. Apple has once again set the bar for portable media storage and playback. The iPod Photo is a winner!
openroad's Full Review: Apple iPod classic 4th Generation (40 GB) MP3 Play...
Apple iPod Photo 40GB MSRP: $499
----- You've come a long way, baby! -----
I wasn't going to do it. There was no need. I have a perfectly useful 20GB 3rd Generation iPod that does what I need it to do. After hearing about the 'next big thing' from the lofty and gifted techno-geeks at Apple I was intrigued. Not only do I like my music on the go, but I also have a rather large addiction to digital photos. My Sony DCS-F707 camera has just passed 4,500 photos since I purchased it in 2002, a goodly number for a amateur photographer like me.
Anyway, this whole photos-on-the-go iPod idea sounded great to me. It was just that little $499 price tag keeping me away. I then made the mistake of going to the Chicago Epinions Meet-N-Greet in November '04. Since I arrived downtown a couple hours early, I stopped in the Chicago Apple store on Michigan Ave. There I saw in person the portable perfection that is the iPod Photo, and I wanted it very much.
The 4th generation iPods (inluding 40GB & 60GB Photo models) have all adopted the click-wheel interface instead of the older 4-button above and jog wheel below style. This puts the track FW/RW, play/pause, and menu buttons on the actual jog wheel. While this sounded awful when I first tried to visualize it, using it for a few minutes in the Apple store convinced me of it's superiority. Each button is raised slightly above the level of the jog wheel, just enough to give tactile feedback. Light pressure on the wheel scrolls up and down menus and lists just like it always has, and applying firm pressure to any button activates it. The main function-selection button is still located in the center of the jog wheel. This new interface provides a much cleaner look than the old models, which now appear cluttered to my eyes.
Both the 40GB and 60GB iPod Photo units are thicker than any other model by 0.06", which means you won't be able to use iSkin or other style cases made for standard iPods. However, most accessories from 3rd gen. iPods will work on the iPod Photo. Accessories that work and have been tested by me are: Griffin Technology iTrip FM Transmitter, Belkin Cassette Adapter, and the Belkin Auto Charger
----- What comes in the box? -----
Once you open your iPod Photo, you'll find everything you need to get started. Your iPod unit, Firewire and (thankfully) USB 2.0 cables, docking station, A/V cables for TV viewing, manual and CD package, 120V A/C charging 'brick', belt-clip case, and Apple 'earbud' headphones. Sadly absent is the handy bullet remote control that came with 3rd Generation iPods. That is now considered an accessory that you need to pay $40 for.
----- What's new on the iPod Photo? -----
Obviously the newest feature is the addition of photos to the iPod. This is thankfully integrated seamlessly with the iTunes program which first syncs your music library then checks for new photos to add to your iPod. The first time you connect your iPod photo it copies all your existing iPhoto images and albums to the iPod. Using the Firewire cable it took about 10 minutes to copy just over 3,000 images I had in my iPhoto library. FYI these were a mixture of 3-5 megapixel images. You can select whether to automatically check for new photos every time you connect your iPod, or only the first time. If you turn off automatic scanning you'll need to manually request iTunes to sync your photo library between computer and iPod. Supported image formats pretty much cover all the bases: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, & PNG.
If you happen to have a PC you're still in luck, as the Windows version of iTunes is supported and works almost the same as the OS X version. If you don't have a Firewire port on your PC (as many don't), you'll be stuck using a USB 2.0 port. Thankfully, for 2005 Apple included the USB 2.0 dock cable with the all iPods (except for the iPod shuffle) for those unfortunate enough to not have high speed transfer capabilities.
The front of each iPod Photo is what distinguishes it from other iPods... at least when you turn the screen on. :) The screen is still 2" measured diagonally, but now it's a 65,536 color LCD with LED backlighting. The backlighting is very even and doesn't have white spots or dark corners. Viewing photos in the dark is no problem at all, images look full of color and undistorted. The screen is viewable up to a 30 degree angle in any direction, beyond that it darkens and is hard to see clearly.
Visually inspecting the top and bottom of the iPod Photo will make you think you're looking at a 3rd generation unit. Only the miniscule increase in thickness due to the dual-platter hard drive will clue you in it's a Photo unit. Dock connector port and headphone jack both look the same as before. The back of the 40GB unit has the same chromed surface we're all used to by now; nice to look and it still scratches if you breathe on it.
----- Image playback and/or viewing. -----
A big feature of the iPod Photo is its ability to take images to a remote location and show them on a computer, standard TV, or LCD TV. My experiences with directly connecting to a PC have been mixed, mostly ending with unplugging the iPod without viewing pictures. Since my iPod is configured for my Apple and OS X, it doesn't automatically sync to a PC without iTunes installed. Playback on a TV is easy, and becomes very easy if your TV has front input jacks. The A/V cables included with the iPod Photo seem to be high quality and are color matched to the iPod's white/chrome color scheme.
The A/V cable plugs into the headphone jack on top of your iPod and into the A/V in jack on the TV of your choice. Thumbnail image viewing only happens on the iPod, as does individual photo viewing. Starting a slideshow is the only way to view the images on the television, although all slideshow settings are adjustable. You may change the time each picture is displayed onscreen (3-20 seconds), music selection (either iPhoto specified or an iTunes playlist), music repeat (on/off), shuffle photos (on/off), photo transitions (on/off), Whether TV Output is enabled for slideshows (3 settings: Always, Ask, & Off), and finally whether TV output is NTSC or PAL for european markets.
If selected, music will play while the slideshow is active. You can't select individual songs, only playlists pre-created in iTunes. A good idea would be to create a couple unique playlists for different musical themes and name them Photo Slideshow 1, 2, etc. You can pause your slideshow at any time by pressing the play/pause button. Another press will resume the slideshow, or you can take manual control of picture display with the track FW/RW buttons.
Speaking of pictures, another great bonus with the iPod Photo is the ablility to display the album art for each album on your iPod. On every track that is accompanied by album art in iTunes, the iPod Photo will show that image next to the title while the song is playing. If you want to see the image full-screen just tap the center button once. I've had a little trouble with some of my self-scanned album art not showing up on the iPod, but I think it's the image size that causes the problem. Overall this is a very cool feature which adds that extra-special touch to an already feature-filled music player.
----- iPod extras, the non-music stuff. -----
Like all other full-size iPods both current and past, iPod Photos come with the standard compliment of Apple productivity software. Contacts is your basic address book, only it looks a lot better on a full-color screen than on a standard iPod. By integrating support for industry-standard vCard files, Contacts allows you to drag-&-drop vCards from Microsoft Outlook, Apple Address Book, and more.
Always forgetting those important appointments? iPod's Calender is right up your alley. It allows you to import files from Microsoft Entourage, Palm Desktop, and Apple iCal thanks to the iPod Photo's built in support for standard vCalender and iCalender formats.
The included iPod Note Reader allows you to take your important quick-notes with you on the road. Flight times, directions, phone numbers, anniversaries, lists of names, your complete business proposal, your wedding proposal... well maybe some things should be memorized. But anyway, as you can see there are quite a few things you could transfer as a quick-note to save yourself time later. Drag and drop standard .txt or .doc files via Firewire or USB cables to the Notes folder.
Alarm Clock will do it's best to wake you up with your favorite song, or you can also choose a standard blaring alarm sound to jar you from sleep. Another choice under the clock menu is Sleep Timer. Much like any other electronic device, this allows you to auto-shut off the iPod in increments from 3 minutes to 120 minutes. If you want you can fall asleep and wake up using only your iPod!
Of course there are the Games, which haven't changed much over the years. Solitaire is much better in color now, but the 2" screen is a bit tiny for a card game. Music Trivia is my favorite, and works the same as it did on the 3rd Generation units. Short snippets of a song will play, and a list of 5 songs will appear on the screen. Ever few seconds a song title will disappear until only the correct one is left. The faster you choose the right answer the more points you get. Brick is a remake of everyone's favorite classic, Pong. Lastly you can play Parachute, which is exactly like Missile Command.
----- Battery life & iTunes -----
I haven't had my unit long enough to give a real answer on how long the battery lasts, all I can say is longer than the 3rd Generation units. I've had my 40GB Photo running for 5.5 hours continually already, after which the battery displayed about 1/3 power left. I'll be taking a couple trips this Spring with long flights and layovers, so I'll post an update when I have a few more months on my Photo.
I can't say enough good things about iTunes, especially when combined with any iPod unit. Over a million songs available for download at only $0.99 a song, and most albums are only $9.99 regardless of how many tracks there are. If you like a particular artist you can look up iMixes created by other members that match your musical interest. This is a great way to expand your musical horizens to other artists and genres you wouldn't normally listen to. If you're not sure about a particular song, just give it a listen. iTunes lets you listen to 30-second clips of any song before purchasing. Thanks to a new upgrade you can now use your PayPal balance to pay for your purchases on iTunes. This is nicer than having several small charges show up on your credit card.
Let's not forget about the free track-of-the-week available for download. One song by a featured artist (usually independent) will be listed on the iTunes homepage. This changes every week and if you don't miss any you can have 52 free songs a year! The genre of these free tracks varies greatly, but usually swings to the pop/hip-hop side of the musical spectrum.
----- Bottom line -----
In the few weeks I've had my iPod Photo it's been more useful than my 20GB model ever was. I've taken it to friend's houses to present picture slideshows, used it in my car with the cassette adaptor, and enjoyed the bright, colorful screen in all conditions. I don't use my unit as a portable storage drive very often, but it's quite handy for occasionally clearing hard disk space by moving large DV movie files to the iPod.
The iPod Photo is a great tool for working on the road, since you'll have your contacts, to do lists, and calender with you at all times. If you're in sales you can have pictures of your product line with you at all times to show to your clients.
At home you can plug the docking station into your home stereo system for a shuffle music system with up to 10,000 songs. Of course we all know how many iPods are showing up in airports, it's the best way to make it through those long flights and layovers. In case you didn't know, college campuses are also a great place to use your iPod. Whether walking between classes or taking an epic road trip with your friends, thanks to the Cassette Adapter you can have all the tunes you want on the road.
I wasn't sure whether to get the 40GB or 60GB model, and since it's only another $100 I almost upsized. I finally decided it just wasn't worth it, since I'd never had trouble with my 20GB filling up to fast. If you have absolutely loads of pictures or want to use the removable drive feature more often, maybe the $600 60GB model is what you need. I'm personally glad I went with the 40GB since it's all I can really use.
If you have the extra $500.00 laying around and want the latest and greatest in mobile media storage, you can't miss with the 40GB iPod Photo. This isn't just a "cool" gimmick you'll be sorry to own in a few months. The iPod will be something you'll use almost every day, in all situations. The aftermarket line of accessories is extensive and make this already useful unit that much better. I'll be using my 40GB unit quite a bit over the next few months, so expect an update in early summer.
40 GB model holds up to 10,000 songs; supports AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (32 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, Apple Lossless and WAV Holds 25,000...More at Amazon Marketplace
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