Yes, I know. There are more reviews out there than Jabba takes trips to the buffet. But here's one more anyway. I'm sure you can suffer from another one.
I got my new iPod yesterday when I got home from work. The box was so small, I actually thought it was the cell phone battery we ordered on eBay. I opened the box, it was my new iPod. I soiled myself.
The first thing I did was to plug 'er into the Mac via the USB port. For my 12 GB worth of stuff, it took about half an hour. I was dying to play with it, so the half an hour seemed like half a day, or like sitting through a cat owner telling a "funny cat story".
When it was done, my finger stroked the glistening metal and glass longingly. My eyes widened. I trembled with anticipation. A sense of fear overcame me, how would it react to my touch? Do I employ a gentle caress, or probe it aggressively with my fingertip? Anyway. I digress.
The first thing I noticed was how damn thin it is. Thinner than an Oreo cookie. But it looks really cool, like a piece of art. After synching it, I methodically checked out the rest of the features:
Wi-Fi / Safari
The Wi-Fi discovery feature works just like an ordinary PC, it lists the networks who broadcast their SSID's. I found mine, then punched in the passcode (which is "igocommando4ever"). Safari was then a "go", so I surfed a few sites. Very cool. Using a double-tap, or a pinch, you can zoom in and out. I was surprised at how snappy it was.
Movies
The screen is watchable. Pay no attention to those myopic reviewers who gripe about its size. The quality makes up for its lack of size (why is this sentence sounding like I've heard it before?). I loaded in an artsy movie, a "film" actually, starring an Austrian actor, called "Commando". Looked fine. Watchable. But very detailed, good quality.
Photos
Depending on how you orient your iPod, the pictures will adjust. It reads minds. Picture in landscape mode? Hold your iPod horizontally and it adjusts. You meander through your photos with a flick of the finger. Like the browser, you can re size photos with the double-tap, or pinch technique. Tres cool!
Using it:
I was really worried about my reliance on the ol' click-wheel. I had that thing down PAT! I was the click-wheel MAN! Although it takes some getting used to, I'm already whipping through the tunes with some degree of efficiency. Unless you are a one-armed person, you won't find this a problem.
Other:
There's a dedicated "You Tube" button. This is a direct pipeline to the world of You Tube, it is not a Browser shortcut. This surprised me, how nifty it was. The iTunes music store is also a button tap away. Sooooo easy to impulse buy a song, so be careful. All the other stuff, I care only mildly about: Calendar, Calculator, Contacts, "yawn". So I'll play more later.
Conclusion:
Overall, no buyer's remorse. I needed a new one. The old iPod was showing its age, and as Society says: "We must discard that which is old. It is no good." It was a good purchase. I've only had it for less than 24 hours, but I have a good feeling that this is the start of a beautiful partnership.
Thumbs up!
2 comments:
Gerry,
Are you just importing video into iTunes to transfer or did you need a separate app to get Commando on the iPhone. I'm presuming you didn't buy it from ITMS? (as a side note, the car crash scene in that movie is one of the most noticeably fake I've ever witnessed). Also, is the volume control an issue—I heard someone say that it isn't nearly as easy to access as the iPod's was.
D.
I downloaded a freeware app called iSquint. Seems to work fine. No black level issues, no volume issues. The only issue is the chicks pawing at me, the thing is a chick magnet.
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