Apple's 32 GB iPod Touch has finally given the mobile device market a media player with a great combination of quality, features and capacity. Of course it arrived shortly after I was given the 16 GB iPod Touch that I had put off buying for so long. Still, the extra capacity gives this unit the last piece of the puzzle it needed to be a must-have item for me. The awesome video, sleek thin body and web capability make it stand out despite a high price and some missing features.
Pros
+ Great design with a sleek thin body!!!
+ Beautiful 320x480 pixel wide-screen provides pleasing video viewing
+ Turn to the side to view video using the full wide screen width
+ Orientation detection changes view to landscape mode automatically when turning iPod!
+ Enough capacity to finally be worth replacing some of your disk-based players in earnest
+ Brighter screen with great contrast and crisp sharp images
+ Wireless access via 802.11 b/g compliant antenna (hopefully `n' will come soon)
+ Wireless searching and video on mode can be disabled to extend battery life
+ Great interface for Safari web browsing with easy Wifi hotspot setup
+ Headphone jack compatible with standard phones, unlike iPhone
+ New apps work great and give you stocks, maps, email, notes and weather
+ Supports both NTSC and PAL video out
+ Very nice size of 32GB stores good amount of video
+ Works with some legacy iPod accessories (except standard A/V cable and some docks)
+ Diminishing price tag in terms of $ per GB of space
+ Unlike iPod classic, all flash memory means less failures and breakage
+ Flash memory also awesome for running / working out, though I use my nano for that ;-)
+ Coverflow actually works nicely on the Touch, much better than on the iPod nano
+ Slightly better sound quality than 2nd generation iPods
+ So far seems to have lower error rate than other iPods
+ Apple reputation is highly deserved
+ Plenty of free video and audio teaser content available on iTunes
+ Easy access to iTunes right from your device over your local wireless internet!
+ Apple SDK being made available which means more apps are on the way!
Cons
- Touch design is almost too minimal without hold button or easy volume adjustment
- Very difficult to adjust or use without looking at it; some earbuds include controls that help
- Screen requires "real touch," bad for those of us in cold weather cities
- Data port seems more cramped than other models and difficult to seat on many dock ports
- The headphone jack is strangely placed right next to the data port; ok for landscape mode, awkward in portrait mode
- Not backwards compatible with legacy docks and cables; Universal dock now required for video out
- Battery life still shorter than other iPods due to WiFi and video power needs
- No expandability or SD card slot like Sansa View or Creative Zen
- iTunes software with limited native formats (MP3, MPEG4, AAC) and high overhead
- Some poor interface designs, such as volume control only available when upright
- PDA functions such as calendar syncing and contact management still need work
- Playlist and music groupings are lacking and need many improvements
- Still lacking some features such as built-in FM radio & voice recorder
- Missing Zune features such as the ability to share songs with other iPod Touch units
- No Bluetooth for peripherals and accessories
- No wireless synching or wireless access to iTunes WLAN libraries
- No WiFi viewing of live iTunes PodCasts
- Still no local viewing of PDF or other common document formats
- No mode to use as disk storage?!?!
- Roughly 2GB of space taken up with iPod software alone!!!!
- STRANGE Apple business practices - ie, charging for software features included with the iPhone????
- While the cost is slowly coming down, still quite expensive in total $ terms
Looks and Design
Aesthetics and design have always been Apple's greatest strengths, along with Steve Jobs' marketing savvy. The iPod Touch is solid but light. It has a longer body than either the latest iPod nano Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Black (3rd Generation) or the iPod Classic Apple 80 GB iPod classic (Black). Yet it's slightly shorter than the iPhone. It's nice and thin, though not as thin as the new Nano.
The big 320x480 pixel wide-screen is simply gorgeous, and the instant landscape mode combined with high quality video resolution makes this the first truly beautiful mobile video player. The old Creative Vision W Creative Zen Vision W 60 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black) had a lovely display, but was MUCH thicker. The Touch blows everything else away in terms of looks and design.
The metal back common to most iPods still attracts fingerprints, but you will be too busy staring at the screen to notice them. The screen too attracts smudges. I've heard it's almost impossible to scratch it, but I still bought screen and body protectors before I ever touched it.
Apple did away with the hold button and the click-wheel. While I really love the touch interface, it's impossible to change tracks or volume without looking at the player, an awkward trait. Get a nice pair of headphones with integrated controls and you won't notice the omission as much.
Sound and Video
Sound quality is slightly improved from previous models. The included headphones are the same as other models. I actually think the included phones are fine in terms of sound, but not so much in terms of comfort. Upgrade your phones only after doing a lot of research. For the Touch, having phones with volume control and additional buttons is a huge plus.
This guy really showcases video, but the sound is still very good and improving with the last few models. I expect this trend to continue.
Most video encoding is done at very high bitrates, which has the added benefit of better sound. Use the highest quality bit-rate you can stand if sound quality is your primary desire. As for me, I have been through frequent hardware upgrades to add more disk space and finally try to collect all my music and videos in one place.
Features
The features in the iPod Touch were in development for 3-4 years. I was one of those who read the rumor mills daily waiting for all those features to come out in one bang. Well they didn't.
The first Touch seemed to artificially remove some features already available in the iPhone, which was very disappointing. Now with the software update, at least a few of those things have been added back in. It really sucks that they charged 16GB early adopters for those features, but luckily they are included with the 32GB iPod Touch.
The main improvement is of course the increased capacity. That feature alone was long overdue and far outweighs most of the cons the player still has. Even though you can't load a lot of video at once, you can finally load enough to satisfy even demanding users. This is a huge plus over the 16GB model, which is available with or without updates. Apple iPod touch 16 GB without Software Updates
The device's battery life is still shorter than one would want, but longer than the iPhone and more than adequate for an average day's usage. Users will notice their battery indicator going down, but probably won't get cut off before they get home.
Apple's software is still a weakness with very limited direct control over your device library and few file options. No external disk function, no native WMA support? With key features disabled, such as use as an external hard drive, it makes you wonder. Hopefully some of these features will be added back into this device with time.
Coverflow works MUCH better than on the iPod nano and actually helps when scrolling through your videos. Press your selection and the cover flips over to show you which tracks are available.
It's still buggy and there are some UI features that are lacking. Elapsed time and track length aren't shown for podcasts, and volume adjustment only shows up in portrait mode for some reason. Still, hopefully some of these more intricate details will be added in a FREE patch as opposed to a fee update.
The Safari web browser is THE killer feature of the Touch. Most of the other widgets, including the new ones, are stuff that you can get through the internet. The widgets added back to the Touch which are available on the iPhone just make some of those common functions quicker. Quick stock quotes, instant weather. Not bad.
The video out signal options are a nice addition and can be set to either NTSC or PAL. This is great for those who travel or have some foreign hardware, like me. ;-)
Finger-based scrolling is very intuitive and you will be navigating with ease in no time. I'm less happy with the virtual keyboard and I can't wait for an alternative to appear. I have to use it very seldom, so I can live with it.
The 802.11b/g built-in WiFi antenna connects to most hotspots, though I hope wireless n will be included in the next version. The antenna works well, though with a seemingly limited range. You can turn off wireless scanning to save battery life.
It would have been awesome to have Bluetooth for wireless headphones or other accessories. Some of those Zune-like features would also help, such as wireless syncing, music sharing or access to WiFi playlist libraries or live podcasts. Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation) Even basic staples like a built-in FM radio tuner, voice recorder and an expansion slot are also missing.
Both the Creative Zen Creative Zen 16 GB (Black), which is much thicker, and the Sansa View SanDisk Sansa View 16 GB Video MP3 Player (Black), which is taller, have some of those added components built in. Newer Archos players has many of those players plus much greater format support Archos 705 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player (160 GB). Yet none of those players have the level of wireless internet capability that sets this unit apart. Even fans of competing players will agree that the iPod Touch more than makes up for missing features by utilizing the features it does have VERY VERY WELL.
Conclusion
Overall this device is an HUGE improvement. Apple's sleek design impresses once more. With time, hopefully the kinks and omissions will be worked out. Despite everything, it's very difficult not to give this player 5 stars. The good far outweighs the bad.
