You have compiled thousands of MP3s, and you love listening to them on your computer. But don't you want to do more? How about carry them everywhere with you so you can listen anywhere? And you don't even have to pick and choose from your music collection -- take the whole thing with you! Enter the new Apple iPod, a must-have for music lovers on the go looking for the highest capacity of music storage and the longest battery life.
The first thing I noticed about the iPod was how slim and lean it is. It is a fourth-generation product, and has been perfected to the fullest extent. It is only 5.6 ounces and 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.57 inches. The larger size (compared to the mini) allows for a 2-in. LCD with LED backlight, an improved control system and a huge hard drive, but it is still so slim and rounded that it fits in the palm of your hand and pocket comfortably.
It has a 20GB hard drive that can hold 5,000 songs. It has about 12 hours of battery life. In addition, it has a sleep timer, alarm clock, address book, calendar, games and more.
The MSRP tag of $299 includes the iPod, earphones, an AC adapter, plus FireWire or USB 2.0 compatibility to enable super fast transfers. It supports many audio file formats, such as MP3, WAV, AAC, MP3 VBR and AIFF.
Adopted from the mini, this version has the innovative Click Wheel. You can still scroll through your music collections, but now the wheel also doubles as your "play/pause," "rewind," "forward" and "menu," with the use of click-buttons buried beneath the wheel. Accessing music and playing around with the playlists and menus is self-explanatory and very user friendly.
A cool feature is the Shuffle Songs command. This is similar to the shuffle feature on your CD changer.
The new look is quite conservative and sleek. The front is all white and is complimented by a chrome-plated back. Unfortunately, the chrome back is extremely vulnerable to fingerprints and scratches, so I would highly recommend purchasing a case to keep it clean and protected.
The sound quality is amazing. The ear buds included produce the terrific sound quality, but I find that they really hurt my ears. I went on the Apple website and found that you can buy a more comfortable pair for $39.
Set up is so easy there is nothing for me to speak of here. The user's guide provides in-depth and easy to understand directions, and mine was installed and ready to use in five simple steps and 20 minutes.
The one setback is cost. As I mentioned earlier, the initial cost is $299, but add to that $39 for a carrying case with belt clip, $39 for the docking station and $39 for the In-Ear headphones, and the total cost comes to $416 before tax. However, some (myself included) will find it well worth it.
