Apple iPod touch 2nd Generation (16 GB) MP3 Player

Introduction

Apple has turned many heads with its release of the iPhone, and subsequent release of iPhone styled iPods. To call the iPod Touch impressive would be the understatement of the year... It has a multi-touch responsive screen, wifi, a 16GB solid state disk for storage, and runs a miniaturized version of Apple's venerable OSX. They've packed a lot of features and abilities into this thin and elegant device. How did they do? Let's have a look...


Reasons for Purchasing

Our local Best Buy had a special sale on them, or one, that included a free carrying case and FM modulator. I couldn't pass up a deal like that! Plus, I'm a sucker for new technology. I ended up having a hidden reason for purchasing as well ... two days after I bought it my trusty old HP iPaq died!!! So there I was without my normal PDA. I actually had a compelling reason to try out the PDA functions of the iPod Touch and compare them against a "real" standard PDA device.

Another reason for purchasing is that I like the iTunes store. My wife and I have started purchasing songs on iTunes ore frequently. They have a great selection of songs and a higher than average bitrate compared to most other online music stores. For 30 cents extra you can even eliminate the DRM on some songs now. Our problem was, we only had 1GB iPods! I had a shuffle and she had the original Nano. For long trips and school days the 1GB of memory was simply no longer holding up!

The other main reasons were for the large screen and video playback, and the ability to utilize wifi, which will be visited later on.

Initial Setup and Impressions

Like most iPods, if you already have iTunes installed it's a piece of cake. Plug it in, do the updates if you wish, then start syncing. As soon as you pull the iPod Touch out of the box, however, your eyes begin to glow are you are impressed, and perhaps enchanted by the smooth lines and thin form factor. The bright and sharp screen lights up and shows you Apple's full prowess when it comes to manufacturing displays. Obviously the second thing you notice is all your fingerprints that immediately start to clutter your new shiny (and glossy) device. It's a good fingerprint magnet. I immediately installed the screen protector and protective case, which didn't noticeably hinder touch screen performance in the least.

No install CD is included. When you buy an iPod they expect you to at least have the internet, and they provide instructions on how to download iTunes. I have chanced upon the rare individual who does not have the internet, and the lack of an installation CD could be a con for someone like that. There are still some people that just want to listen to their own CD's on their own MP3 player and don't use the internet at home. Most people now have internet access though, so the iPod continues the tradition of appealing first to the masses.

WiFi Perfomance

One of the reasons I bought this instead of the 80GB or 160GB was for the capability to browse the internet. My iPaq 2215 lacked WiFi (but had at least crippled bluetooth). The Safari browser performs well on a Mac, and it's fairly efficient. The version of Safari on the iPod is very streamlined and doesn't support all web pages. It doesn't support flash material either, so some webpages will have a more limited user experience than others. For the most part web pages display fine. Turning the iPod on its side also rotates the web browser, making it easier to read text. With a simple two finger move you can zoom in and out, and you can quickly scroll through pages with the slide of a single finger. Web pages display fairly quickly considering the iPod's size and limited processor power. Pages with lots of graphics have a noticeable delay, but it's surprisingly functional. The bright, sharp screen makes it a realistic way to surf the web (and makes it so I don't have to bring the laptop to bed if I'm not quite ready to go to sleep when my wife is. This is very handy.

The reception is not bad at all, but it's easy to cover up the antenna with your hand. That could account for many of the signal reception problems users have reported. Every time I drop a few bars of signal I immediately notice that my fingers are covering up the antenna. As long as my signals good, I actually have no problems using the iPod touch as a capable web browser. The multi-touch interface adds many capabilities that other web-capable PDA's lack. The accurate and impressive orientation sensor in the Touch also works quite well and enhances the experience.

Other Applications

Many users have "jailbroken" their iPods in order to add programs such as mail, google maps, various games, themes, etc. Hopefully with the release of the SDK users will no longer have to "hack" their iPods in order to add software/application functionality.

The included mail, YouTube, weather, and google maps applications are very helpful and work quite well. Mail doesn't really do much with attachments, however, as there aren't really any handlers or apps to load attachments, such as PDF's. The integrated iTunes store is a nice feature and allows you to browse, preview, and buy your favorite songs right to your iPod. This is such an AMAZING convenience. You might not always have your computer with you, but if you want that great song your friend just showed you right now, you'll be able to pay the $.99 and buy it right then and there, providing you have internet access close by.

The calculator and clock applications are also useful. The clock lets you set timers, use a stop watch, and view a world clock with the cities of your choice. These applications work very well.

Music and Video

It's kind of sad when you buy a $400 mp3 player and the headphones are 100% horrible. The cheapo JVC gummy earbuds sound at least twice as good as the included iPod headphones. This is sad, because we still have the original headphones that came with our first generation Nano, and they sound SO MUCH BETTER than the current crop of included iPod buds. The new headphones can also hurt the ears after a while. With some nicer aftermarket headphones the iPod puts out fine sound quality. The EQ settings are quite good, but they need to incorporate a custom multi-band EQ for the more particular users. It's OSX!!! They certainly could! (Perhaps they have and I just don't know it. Feel free to correct me via comments if I'm off on this).

Whenever I show a video to people they are just stunned. This tiny screen is so bright and vivid. The detail is very sharp. And you have enough battery to likely sit through two complete movies before needing a charge. A double tap with a single finger can also help eliminate the black letterbox effect if you prefer - with no noticeable degradation in picture sharpness.

I had to download Handbrake in order to use my personal (and legal) DVD collection on my iPod. I will never think it's fair to make a consumer repurchase a DVD he/she already bought in order to get it to work on their iPod. They payed $15-$20 or possibly more for that movie. They can legally watch it on whatever TV they want in private. They can even make a backup DVD of it for personal use. I should be able to play it on my iPod's screen just as well. I shouldn't have to buy it AGAIN from the iTunes store... Both purchased videos and ripped DVDs (converted to iPod touch format) play quite well with no apparent problems on the iPod touch.

One other gripe is that the vocal booster EQ setting is not that intuitive. It just boosts everything in the higher frequencies. It doesn't appear to be some kind of smart voice sensor. If the audio is originally in 5.1, couldn't the iPod just boost the output from that channel through both L and R earphones in order to bring out the voice? I am constantly adjusting volume on my iPod touch. The dialogue is way to quiet, and the music, explosions, gun shots, etc. are way to loud.

Viewing videos is still a very enjoyable experience overall. The screen is gorgeous, the battery life is good, and the viewing angle is actually pretty good for a device that small.

Battery Life

I've already visited video playback battery life. It's rated at 5 hours, and I consistently get over 4 hours of real use when watching videos.

For music, battery life is very close to the advertised values. I consistently get 20 solid hours of music playback, even with the occasional screen turn on or website visit.

Other Thoughts

Like other iPods, you are only allowed to sync music with one computer. No drag/drop capability is provided, and I think that is terrible. What if I have three computers in the same house, all on the same iTunes account (which I actually do!)? Sometimes I'll buy a song on one computer. When I need a song for music class at college, I'll buy it on my laptop. Most of my music collection is on my media server computer at home, though. If I want to sync with my laptop and get my new legally purchased track on my iPod, I'll have to eliminated ALL my music from my media center! This is such a huge inconvenience and a total farce. This is taking DRM fanaticism WAY TOO FAR. I legally bought the music on my home computer AND on my laptop. I own both libraries of music fair and square and should be able to put songs from both on my iPod. The fact that Apple blocks this is something that consumers should never stop complaining about because it's simply not right. This is a con for all iPods, not just the new Touch.

Another con for me is the lack of Bluetooth. Other brands of MP3 players have been offering blue tooth for over a year! This enables wireless headphones in stereo, and even wireless syncing on some units. The fact that Apple produces a "state of the art" device without bluetooth support is disappointing, at best. You can even purchase bluetooth home theater add ons to stream music wirelessly from computers (or bluetooth enabled MP3 players of competing brands) to your nice surround sound system. Some cars will play music via bluetooth as well. Come on Apple!!

One con for some (not me, however) is that there is no tactile feedback. A fold out or slide out keyboard would actually provide a tactile response when you push a key in. Some have reported difficulty typing with the on screen keyboard. This has not been an issue for me. The visual feedback is good, but I know this will be a con for some. Apple had to sacrifice something in order to keep the device thin.

PDA Functions

Right now the calendar and contacts on the iPod touch sync quite well with iCal and Address book on a Mac. I hear that they're working on outlook support for windows as well, but for right now, I'm limited to syncing contacts and appointments with my Mac. It works very well, though.

The iPod does a good job organizing and managing contacts for you. It's easy to add/erase whole contacts, and you can add very specific fields of data for each contact including birthdays, work e-mails, etc.

The calendar is also very useful. You can view the calendar by day, month, or year. I would have liked to see the week view stay. It's very handy to be able to see a whole week, and I think they could've made it work with the iPod in landscape mode and the two finger zooming feature enabled. I also wish it synced with Outlook out of the box.


Conclusion

My experience has largely been stellar with the iPod touch so far. The screen is magnificent to say the least. The battery life is good considering the device's capabilities. I have had no issues with WiFi range unless I physically block the antenna. The overall design is functional, but elegant and impressive. Music playback is pleasing, provided you DON'T use the included garbage headphones. Video playback is also very very good. Videos play much smoother and sharper on the Touch than they did on my iPaq.

The iPod lacks a Word-like application for making documents. Hopefully we'll see a good one come out with the SDK released. The problem is that it probably won't be free.

The iPod Touch also needs a good chat application. They abound for Palm or WinCE based PDAs.

Two things make the iPod Touch singularly superior to other PDA's I've seen:

1. Multi-touch screen
I much prefer the multi touch to using the stylus for most things, now that I've used both - especially web browsing. The one feature I miss is handwriting recognition and a typing application for making documents. With the release of the developer kid we'll probably see some good ones, but they will probably cost money. Word is already included with most "standard" PDA's.

2. 16GB solid state drive - I have never seen a standard PDA this thin with THAT MUCH memory. Now it comes in 32GB?? Holy COW! The amount of room is amazing. I wouldn't be satisfied with the 8GB, however.

Final thoughts

I have no problem recommending this to someone who wants an elegant device that will allow them to store many gigabytes of music, access the internet, and still maintain a thin profile. I absolutely love my iPod Touch. It has impressed in almost every area, minus the few mentioned cons.
Update: It was requested that I speak about my public WiFi experience. I haven't had many opportunities to test this until recently, and performance is fairly decent. The WiFi on the iPod definitely doesn't scream like it does on a speedy wireless N laptop, but it's sufficient for the size of screen. It works well when checking the news or email. So far my experience has been pretty good. Laptops/netbooks are better, but you have very little bulk and still decent web browsing with Safari on the iPod touch.