Apple iPod MP3 / Video Playback Review

The 5th Generation Apple iPod is a stylish, robust, multi-media player featuring video playback features the same 2.5" display, but now it's 60% brighter!

The iPod holds the top spot due to its seamless integration with iTunes, and the best user interface and menu system of any players.

It is the perfect complement to iTunes 7 and supports music, photos, videos and iTunes ipod games.

Supporting 20,000 songs!!!...the Apple iPod is widely rated as the best capacity MP3 player on the market. Experts agree that with the seamless integration of the iPod hardware and the iTunes software and song library, this MP3 player is the brute of the pack. Reviews claim "ease of use" is the iPod's major strength.

Form Factor

• Measures 2.4 x 4.1 x 0.43 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 4.8 ounces
• Large, 2.5-inch, 320x240-pixel, color display screen is 60-percent brighter
• Display - 60-percent brighter 2.5-inch (diagonal) QVGA transflective, screen with white LED backlight
• Resolution - 320 x 240 pixel resolution, 0.156-millimeter dot pitch
• Control - Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, or browse the Music menu
• iPod ports - Dock connector, stereo minijack, composite video and audio through minijack
• Connectivity - USB through dock connector; composite video (with AV cable, sold separately) and audio through headphone jack or line out on the iPod Universal Dock (sold separately)
• Battery: Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery. [Not revmovable]
• System requirements (Mac): USB 2.0 port; Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later; iTunes 7 or later
• System requirements (PC): USB 2.0 port; Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later; iTunes 7 or later. Check updates on compatability with Vista. More on Vista compatibility.
• Color - white or black
• Pack - Apple 30 GB iPod with video playback, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, case, quick start guide.

Features

• Search function lets you type out the name of a song with the Click Wheel for instant results. Sometimes a little sluggish (not as much as before)
• Battery life -
  • 3.5 hours of video playback and 14 hours of music playback from the 30GB iPod's battery
  • 6.5 hours of video and 20 hours of music from the 80GB model.
• Battery Charging option - Charging via USB or FireWire to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
• Charge time: About 4 hours (2-hour fast charge to 80-percent capacity)
• Multi-Languages - Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish
• Warranty - Single-incident telephone support for the first 90 days and a one-year limited warranty

Note: users cannot replace the built-in rechargeable battery. When it eventually fails, you'll need to send in the iPod and pony up $100 for a replacement.

Media

• Storage - the iPod holds 7500 songs, 25,000 photos or 40 hours of video
• Music formats - suports AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple lossless, AIFF and WAV. Note: The iPod won't play songs in the WMA format used by online music stores such as Wal-Mart, MSN Music and Napster.
• Photo support - JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG formats
• Video support - H.264 video: up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 fps, baseline low-complexity profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats. Note - the iTunes software cannot convert video to iPod-playable formats. To watch existing video or home movies, you need to buy separate conversion software to convert existing videos to MPEG-4 files.
• Enhanced Display - View slide shows accompanied by music, and with an optional AV cable, you can display photos on a TV.
• Games - supports iTunes Store features iPod games
• Seamlessly download songs, podcasts, videos, games, and more from the iTunes Store

Accessories

• Service Plans
• Speaker systems
• Cases
• FM Transmitters
• Docks and Cables

Although there are no large differences between the last iPod with Video Playback Apple has markedly changed their pricing, with tis player at only $249.

The major drawback is that the iPod/iTunes is a closed system; Apple has yet to allow other companies to license their AAC technology and format.

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