Apple iPod Touch (first generation, 16GB)
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October 12, 2007 06:43
Spectacular
2.5/5
Here are my gripes:
1. Wifi is really buggy and refuses to connect to a lot of different connections that my other computers have no problem connecting to. Support doesn't help.
2. Audible support is not so great. There is no bookmarking in any of your books, and there is now no longer a sliding time monitor that shows you how much time you are into/have left/ total time, etc. so you have no way of monitoring where you are other than to "trust" the player, and the player often forgets the marks.
3. The browser is virtually useless because of the size of the screen, and typing things in is really hard too. I don't have huge fingers, and it's really hard to type into this thing. You'd think that they would include a stylus, but after looking at it, you don't want to go scratching the thing up with a stylus, and Apple doesn't reccommend using one.
4. All of my files are in WAV format through Media Player, and iTunes won't import them, nor will it consolidate my library. I have to manually bring them in, and then they don't bring any of the tag info with them from MP11, so I'd have to manually type in all the info myself.....lame.
5. Conversion to MP3 format through itunes is a huge pain, and it ends up making and listing copies, so you have to then, after conversion, manually erase all of the WAV files as well.
6. Audio quality still isn't as good as other players.
7. No expansion slot, and 16 gigs isn't a lot of space
8. Contacts, calendar, etc. are hard to use and don't sync with other programs.
9. Video playback isn't so great. Blacks look sparkly and there is a good deal of shadowing going on.
I am returning this player, as it's really not very well thought out. I'm going to try the Creative Zen instead. -
October 2, 2007 01:46
4.5/5
I had a Gen 5.5 video ipod and upgraded to this. It has been well worth it. It is so easy to navigate to different screens, options, menus, etc... Alot of people complain about storage space, but it really depends on who you are. I have about 8gb left on mine after installing all I want on it. The touch screen works really well and it is very sensitive. Buy it you will love it. -
May 2, 2008 10:05
4.5/5
I've used a Palm PDA forever and never found a suitable alternative until now - I love my iTouch. (My Nano stays in my stereo system now.) iTouch is very easy to use - right from the beginning.
There is everything on it I want: Outlook with my calendar, contacts, & email; music; web browsing; maps; notes; beautiful photo organization & viewing; and more. It is not only gorgeous to look at it is amazing to use. I highly recommend! -
November 18, 2007 10:41
4.5/5
i gave this a 9 even though i have some gripes cus it pros make up cor the cons BIG TIME!
pros are what you expect-fancy design, touch screen, just fun to use a touch screen etc.
cons-the screen has some wierd blurps of lighter and darker spots when on black screens(I AM AS PICKY AS THEY COME SO IF YOU ARN'T OCD YOU WONT NOTICE)but you have to REALLY LOOK FOR THEM. i have the biggest hands i have ever seen(i'm 6'7) so the keys are sometimes hard to press correctly so sometimes i have to use my stylus and sometimes i dont hit the EXACT spot to enter a key. iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store only allows MUSIC downloads NOT VIDEO so no buying new movies or tv shows on the go.
THE SCREEN-is anti-scratch glass! if you dont think that makes much of a difference go to 'YouTube.com' and search 'iPod Touch Scratch Test' where the guy "scratches" it with a SAFETY PIN, A KEY AND EVEN A RAZOR BLADE BUT THERE ARE NOOOOOO MARKS AT ALL!!!
MEMORY-is small for the price but if you dont have a ton of songs you'll be fine but it only holds (10 hrs-8 GIG) (20 hrs-16 GIG) max of video so thaat may be a problem for some but not for me cus i'm not gonna watch the same episodes of 'Family Guy' over and over again and you can delete videos right on the Touch instead of having to do so through itunes but you cant delete music w/o itunes.
ALSO-the sound seems fine to me. i can hear all the same details as with my $250 comp speakers when played with iTunes. Video is great and clear with 'chapters' for movies. the photos look STUNNING and the 'pinch' feature works VERY well. music is VERY VERY VERY easy to browse but i dont use cover-flow cus it looks cool but takes up time. the iTunes wi-fi store is great to browse-preview, buy, download to the touch and upload to your comp. there's a wierd feature to download the music that starbucks is playing while your one of their cafes(they dont play the best music so pretty useless to PAY for it) but they only have it in New York City and Seattle now and wont expand service until '08 in very few cities like Chicago and LA. it sucks that you cant buy videos through Wi-Fi.
CAUTION there are some bad models with poor screens that will display dark sceens in video VERY BADLY so if this seems to be a problem with yours exchange it for a new one instead of just returning it!
OVERALL-very satisfied. i convinced my sister to return her new nano (3rd Gen) to get the touch. it has so many more features and capabilities it's just worth the extra $. -
September 18, 2007 10:34
4.0/5
The Touch is out, but only if you ask for it behind the register at Apple stores...and if they have any still in stock. There were only two available when I got mine in an obscure suburban mall outside Chicago and were gone an hour later. Secrets out. I love my new iPod but was disappointed that it lacked the built-in speaker on the iPhone The radio adapter that works with all the other new iPods DOES NOT work with the touch. Rats. Waiting for the new add-on. Also, some of the other shortcuts like stocks/weather/maps would be useful too. Why not? -
October 7, 2007 06:03
4.5/5
I do not own an iPhone and have never used one...so based on my ownership of a mini, video and new nano (3g)...this is the best iPod yet. I love the way the touch screen works...typing in searches, etc. is really easy (easier than my blackberry). Very excited about it...but so far not much to complain about. I know there are grumbles because no e-mail set up and some other iPhone features. I don't really think I would use those features, so not as concerned as others; however, if the software was modified to allow these functions, it would be great.
Overall, I am happy I didn't wait. -
October 1, 2007 09:47
4.0/5
With video, music, and even youtube capabilities, the ipod touch lies as the miracle little brother, with supposedly everything but phone capabilities.
BUT WHY CANT I TAKE NOTES!? yes, i know its not designed to emulate a palm with microsoft word, but a little more R&D and production investment into adding the 'notes' program into the ipod touch would have made it an instant buy for me hands down.
But these notes that would give the device a second, "practical + academic", purpose, my supposed "unbendable piece of apple working as my carry-everywhere agenda THAT FITS INTO YOUR POCKET" dream remains non-existent, and due to that in the face of pocket space efficiency, is the sole impident that prevents me from buying it.
APPLE, PUT THE MONEY IN AND IMPLEMENT NOTES! -
November 18, 2007 01:39
4.0/5
I have to admit right now, I am annoyed at all the zune and other 'non-iPod' fanboys. Their ratings have completely messed up the overall score. However, I gave the iPod 16Gb an '8' because I know that even if I give it a '10' to 'compensate' for the shameful fanboy scores, it will be to no avail and I will just have to depend on savvy consumers who are doing a thorough research on what they are going to buy.
To give you a recent and brief history of mp3 player ownerships, I have owned a standard no name brand mp3 player, iPod Mini, 5G iPod 80GB video and the Zune 30GB unit. They all have their places and it was a toss up for me between the 5G iPod 80gb Video and the 1st Gen 30GB Zune (Black). I liked the iPod's ease of use and iTunes feature sets and I really loved the Zune's navigation, durability, out of the box sound quality and it's nice widescreen view. Now to the 16GB iPod Touch...
The Touch comes with a docking tray adapter for you past gen dock users, which is nice. It also comes with the standard iPod earphones (get yourself some better ones) and a little cleaning cloth for all the smudges you will eventually have to wipe away once you start using it. It also comes with a USB cord adapter for charging/syncing.
I don't claim to be a professional audiophile, but I do know this from general research, the human ear can 'basically' only hear the 20-20,000 range sound 'spectrum'. So all of the comments made about the poor quality of sound that the Touch resonates seems to elude me. Do these people who complain about the sound quality have dog-like listening ability? So yeah, the sound quality to me is just fine.
User Interface. This is the bread and butter of the iPod Touch. The interface is so intuitive and well thought out as to give the user a feeling of instant recognition of icons and navigation throughout it's interface. I can say that everytime I have pulled this device out to use one of it's features I would get a compliment on how nice it was. So it definitely has a cool factor. Let's not forget that the Touch has some sort of accelerometer built in to it so it can automatically switch to landscape view when you turn it on its side. This works when you watch videos, pictures and web browser. The cover flow is a nice added 'touch' here as well.
Touch Screen. The touch screen is easily smudge-able. However, it is made of glass which makes it very durable, giving it a very 'solid feel'. Apple did not skimp on the build quality of this device, that is certain.
Video- Video was very nice and just a tad bit bigger than the last gen 30GB Zune. The videos were also very nice and had excellent vibrant color to it. I have owned this device since launch and I can say that I have watched a few different types of videos on it from cnet video podcasts to football videos (GO Broncos!) to episodes of BSG (Battlestar Galactica) and have never experienced any problems at all.
Other notes- Web browsing is very easy and to be honest, was a very different experience than what I have ever experienced before. I've used 'touch screens' before, but the Touch is definitely unique in that it just 'feels' like it was meant to be used with your fingers. This is coming from someone who used touch screens with a stylus and regular plain old touch screens like ATM's. The browser is excellent, however, you will not be able to view flash sites and some other types of videos on some internet sites. The WiFi is fast and easy to set up and will ask you if it ever needs to access a different network for web browsing.
The Calendar is very useful, in fact, it just recently got an software update that allows you to add contacts and dates/events to your contacts/calendar and when you sync your Touch, it will automatically update your computer's contacts/calendar events as well. Very nice. The Clock (which can add multiple time zones/world clock), Calculator were also welcomed little programs that I use quite frequently.
The You Tube function of the Touch is more of a specific function, but it works. For what I use You Tube for, it works just fine.
What I do like about the Touch is that it is still both Windows and Mac compatible as where the Zune (even the new ones) is not. You can only use Windows for Zune unless you use Apple's Bootcamp or other Windows emulation software within the Mac OS. Just something to consider if you have narrowed down your search to these two types of devices.
The Touch has a button on the top left that if you push it once 'quickly' it will put your screen into 'sleep mode'. Which saves on batteries and also prevents any accidental 'touches' to your screen. To turn it completely off, press and hold the same button for a few seconds.
There is no recessed headphone jack like the iPhone, so using any other ear/headphones of your choice is not a problem.
For people who like to keep their 'stuff' private, there is a 'security lock' function that allows you to use a 4 digit password to unlock the device. You can even set the time to 'lock' from 1 minute on up.
The 16 GB storage seems to turn alot of people off, but for me it works just fine. I have been able to put all of my music library (about 2 gigs) and some videos on it no problem. I've even put an entire season of Battlestar Galactica on it and still had plenty of room to spare. I can't even imagine having that much videos and music on it. I always keep my Touch's storage 'clean' by only putting what I want on it and leaving the rest on my laptop. Right now, I have a few video podcasts, Bronco season highlights, one tv show and my entire music library on it right now and it has only taken up just a tad over 3 gigs of space leaving me with 11.5 gigs still available for whatever I want to put on it. Depending on how you use your space on this device is up to you, I personally recommend using your space management skills with this device. But it works for me and what I do with it.
The iPod Touch is a very very nice device and if you have the money and do not want or need an iPhone, I highly recommend this product.
This works just fine for what I want it for since I would rather have an actual cell phone with other features that would compliment this device.
Thanks for reading my review and I hope it helps you in your decision making process when choosing this device or others of this type. -
November 8, 2007 02:02
Good
1.5/5
Just found out through tech support at Apple that anyone with a computer using a 64 bit processor can't use the "Touch" for downloading from I-Tunes. Sync problems occur when connected. It would be nice if Apple would make this fact more up front prior to puchasing this unit. Neither Best Buy or Circuit City has this information on their web sites! Can't believe that with the "Touch" or "I-Phone" being new, it can't sync when connected to all the 64 bit computers being sold today. I can't believe that Apple didn't make it work with a 64 bit processor!!! -
October 22, 2007 11:03
3.5/5
Wow...such a great product that apple had on their hands...if they didn't artificially hobble a lot of the features.
First the pros: The video is amazing. I actually *want* to watch video on this thing, and it's not a brick. The Itunes music store works flawlessly. Web-surfing is amazing also, almost a killer app.
Now the cons:
Apple, why did you put a 500 mb OS onto my already small hard drive if I can't even make changes to it? You can't change the calendar, you can't save pics from websites, Safari doesn't have java or flash...why is none of this possible? Because Apple has artificially not included it. Seeing as the touch runs OS X, there's no reason why none of what I just mentioned is possible. Instead, half a gig of your already meager 16 is spent on an OS that's nearly useless other than looking pretty.
Safari doesn't use java or flash? Seriously, what is the point of a browser without java or flash these days? Speaking of Safari, I hate it on the mac, I hate it here...why is Apple even in the browser game? No one codes for safari, stop forcing it down our throats.
The Youtube search results are extremely disorganized, to the point where sometimes I wonder if I'm even surfing youtube at all. If I type in "Washington" on the actual youtube site, the first result I get is that hilarious "George Washington" cartoon. To get that on the Touch, I have to type "Washington, cartoon", and even then it comes up 5th. What?
The Wifi is just...chaotic. In my own apartment, I have wireless, and yet, it can never connect to my router, even a few feet away; and *yet* it effortlessly pics up my landlords 1-bar connection. At my job, which is also bathed in wireless, I had to manually "forget" a CISCO connection and restart it just to connect!!! Come on, that should have been automatic!
Only two physical buttons is a case of aesthetics taken too far. Having to physically take the damned thing out of my pocket every time is not only tedious, it's dangerous...a walkman should *not* require concentration of any sort. At heart hear is the inability to change the wake/sleep button. Can you imagine how much better the touch would be if you could simply reprogram that button to be a play/pause button? Or a fast-forward button? I mean, the screen turns off automatically *anyway*, why the button?
Now, the disorganized menus. This is my saddest and biggest gripe with the touch. Basically, coverflow mode and vertical scrolling mode don't match. If you look for your album in coverflow mode and decide you want something else, and yet, switch to vertical scrolling, you are back at the beginning of your library, and vice versa. This, again, is DANGEROUS if you are walking or trying to pay attention to something else.
Also, the placement of screen controls changes around. When you double-tap the home button, the play/pause/FF/Rew buttons are near the top of the screen, but in regular mode, the are at the bottom. On top of that, the arrows to go *back* to your library are at the TOP of the screen...that's just retarded. They should be right at the bottom, where your thumb can easily reach them. I mean, am I meant to use two hands with this thing? Again, the Ipod touch seems to miss the point in being portable.
This is one more thing easily remedied by making the touch more user-moddable, but you can't change the position of any of the buttons. Sigh.
At the end of the day, this product has so much going for it, but, like a man driven more insane by *the little things* than the big, the Ipod Touch will leave you frustrated by the very arbitrary design decisions by Apple.
