Apple iPod 60 GB

Author's product rating:   

Sound Quality	Good
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Look & Design	Excellent
Range of Features	Diverse
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Extremely well designed in looks and usability  .   Plenty of storage  .   Decent sound quality  .  Colour screen .  Video .
Disadvantages:	Easily scratched  .   Carrying case and new headphones add extra expense  .  Questions over robustness .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

PREVIOUSLY ON THE APPLE EXPERIENCE…

I eventually decided to buy another iPod after having two 4th generation models fail on me within the space of 18 months. It wasn't a decision taken lightly, but as I had used my iPod on a daily basis, I felt that I needed some kind of replacement. Doing my research on the internet, I came across a few messageboards where it was indicated that the 4th generation models were fairly unreliable compared to others.

This seemed to be backed up by the many gripes posted on these boards, most of which were related to 4th generation models. My main reason for purchasing an Apple again was that, at the time (August 2006), the 60GB iPod was the only solution that made sense. I was already running around with approximately 25GB of music and most of the mp3 players current on the market were 30GB at best, which didn't leave me much room for expansion.

Disappointingly, when I first opened the (small) box of my 5th Gen model, I noticed the lack of some accessories, namely the charger, the dock connector and the Firewire cable. For anyone who hasn't owned an iPod before, these aren't going to be great losses, but for those of you that bought a top of the range iPod a few years ago, you might be disappointed that these are no longer included as standard in what was, at the time, the top-of-the-line package. I know I was! Luckily, the dock station from my 4th generation model also fitted my new iPod.

It wasn't long before the lack of Firewire cable was explained; iPod 5th generation (iPod Video) no longer supports Firewire. I had tried plugging the iPod, but got an onscreen message saying that Firewire wasn't supported. Aaaaargh! USB support is good, but Firewire is much faster at transferring data, which is obviously a huge bonus when setting up your iPod for the first time or restoring it from scratch. I believe it's something to do with the controller chip for Firewire taking up too much space inside the iPod and the desire to release a thinner iPod.

So, it's literally only out of the box and I have to say my first impressions of the 5th generation model are not half as good as that of the earlier model I'd owned before.

The SETUP experience

However, there's more to the iPod than simply what is in the box. Ideally, if you're new to the iPod scene, my advice is to have the most recent version of iTunes downloaded and installed onto your computer before you buy the iPod. With the most recent version of iTunes, all your iPod software is contained within, so your iPod can be kept up-to-date when software is released by Apple. It's also advisable to have as much of your music imported into your iTunes library too as this means that you have less to do once you have your iPod. iTunes supports a wide range of music formats, but I just use mp3 for handiness sake.

Once you have iTunes installed, the set up of iPod is extremely easy. The USB connection is standard and plugs directly into your computer. iTunes will inform you if your iPod software requires updating. If this is the case, let it update as this can add extra features and improve functionality.

The AUDIO experience

Having charged the iPod and made sure my music collection was up to date, it was time to take the iPod for a spin around the block. As with all mp3 players, sound quality can also be affected by the quality of the mp3s. My music collection is currently mostly encoded with a bitrate of at least 192 kbps. I found that the music reproduction was excellent. The stuff encoded at a higher bitrate did sound better than that coded at lesser bitrates.

The volume is largely excellent with the iPod providing enough power to let you hear what you want even in the noisiest environments. For those of you that like to tweak your sound, there's an EQ function, but I tend to leave mine set to 'off' as I prefer the sound that way.

Originally, I thought that Apple's bog standard earphones were simply OK, and that the sound quality can still be decent enough. However, shortly afterward getting the iPod, I replaced the standard Apple earbuds with a set of Sony MDR-EX71SLW noise reducing earphones. I was amazed by the increase in sound quality. It was astounding! Even using the same songs, the sound clarity was excellent, the bass was more obvious and satisfying and the sound was less 'tinny'. The overall sound was much fuller than I had previously experienced. I'd seriously advise anyone to invest in a set of better headphones. I spent £22 on mine and they're more than worth the investment.

The VIDEO and PICTURE experience

New to me with the Video iPod was the fantastic colour screen. The screen size itself is about 2.5 inches (approx. 6.5 cm) which seems rather small, but is actually big enough to be put to good use and much bigger than the screen on the 4th generation models. I thought it was a huge improvement over the 4th generation black and white LCD screen I'd been using before.

Videos (in podcast form, film trailers or your own movies) are clear, run smoothly and the resolution of the screen is surprisingly high. Text is clearly visible, especially with the backlight on. When the backlight's off, visibility will depend on your surroundings.

The same applies to pictures. These are scaled down to fit onto your iPod, but the quality of these is still very high. I carry a few snapshots around of various friends and family and people are always surprised at how clear the photos are when I'm showing off the latest picture of my nephew.

When playing songs, it's possible to have your album artwork displayed. This doesn't add any extra functionality or improve sound quality, but it's a nice touch and makes your music playback a little more colourful.

The OTHER experience

What other experiences can you possibly be offered by an mp3 player? Well, as the iPod and iTunes are very much a symbiotic relationship, I've really found that I'm getting more into podcasting. These are like little radio or television programmes on a wide variety of topics that you can download, usually for free. iTunes lets you subscribe to podcasts and will automatically download new episodes are they're released for synchronisation. I tend to veer towards the technology, film and sport podcasts, but there's a huge variety of stuff out there for you to find and subscribe.

As stated above, because of the new bigger, more colourful screen, I've started carrying around the odd snapshot of family and friends. These scan be synchronised easily with the iPod and I've found it handy at time to be able to show these to other people rather than use my mobile phone, for example. I also carry around my Outlook contacts and these are extremely easy to read, even though the font is quite small.

There are a great many tools out there for importing various videos into your iPod including some for DVD conversion. I'm unsure how effective these tools are, but my own experience of converting video through iTunes for storage and display on my iPod is poor as the video itself was converted without any problems, but the audio part wasn't, so I was left with a mute video clip.

Battery life is an improvement over the 4th generation models and I can still get a good ten or twelve hours out of my iPod, but if I'm using the shuffle feature or watching any kind of video, then this is really reduced. For taking into work to listen to podcasts and music during the day, there's certainly plenty of battery power and there's enough space on my 60GB model to hold probably in excess of 8500 songs.

The USABILITY experience

iPods are renowned for being simple and easy to use. The 5th generation model is no different. Updates to the firmware have meant that finding your required song in a huge playlist is much easier while staying with the recognised iPod navigation system. The software seems better overall as the screens are less prone to 'sticking' as I had experienced with my older model. I've also noticed that the iPod no longer performs random skips to the next track as used to happen with my older models.

The scroll wheel method of accessing the iPod is still an incredibly natural and simple way of using the iPod and it's hard to envisage anything being a huge step forward.

I have an issue with how the video podcasts are stored or, more accurately, played. There seems to be two ways to access a video podcast. You can do so through the 'Podcasts' option in the main menu or you can get to them through Videos > Video Podcasts. However, if you access the video podcast through the Podcast option in the main menu, you only get the audio. If I have a video iPod, I don't understand why the video won't simply play if selected, no matter where I access the podcast.

The OVERALL experience

Despite paying around £225 for my iPod, I still think it's wise to budget something extra. A carrying case is a must as the iPod is prone to scratching and a set of better earphones is a must, having experienced better quality sound from my own. My own experiences would suggest budgeting an extra £40 on top of the price of the iPod which should be enough to get a decent case and a set of headphones.

So far, the iPod is everything my old one was and more, certainly from a functional perspective. Of course, I'm still extremely wary about how robust it is and I am interested to see if it's going to last longer than my previous models, with all the care lavished upon it. Despite initially scoffing at an iPod with a colour screen when they were first released, I've found that it does make a huge difference to how I use my iPod (I use a lot more of the extra features than I ever though I would).

On the basis of around six months use of my 5th generation model, I'd recommend the iPod, though the tales of woe regarding my 4th generation models would indicate that some caution is necessary when purchasing, and I am dreading that point where my iPod is a year old, just in case history repeats itself.

Detailed technical specifications can be found at http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/