Apple iPod classic 160 GB Black (7th Generation) NEWEST MODEL : My favorite iPod to date

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic, NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!

The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date, and out of all of the iPods that I own, this is my favorite.

First, the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library, and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more, thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity, I also have room to carry a few videos with me, and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player, the iPod Classic is the way to go.

The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy, had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units, crashed frequently, and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off," which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever," according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug," the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive, and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic, there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly, this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.

Another thing that I really like about this iPod, and the iPod Classic in general, is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this, the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod, the iPod Classic is the way to go, plain and simple.

So what are the caveats? Well for starters, as with every other iPod Classic, this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result, it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though, this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat, which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw, that I can find, is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong, the point of an iPod "Classic," is to retain the "Classic" design, but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano, I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However, I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together, which can be seen below:


Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise, long battery life, "Genius" feature, excellent value for your money, well-built, doubles as an external hard drive, and improvements to Cover Flow.

Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)

Finally, I would highly recommend this product, which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands, and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi, I find it to be a really gimmicky device, that makes for a poor portable media player, (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system,) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast, the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player, it has an excellent interface, and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective, the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano, and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all, I highly recommend this product.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/apple.ipod.classic.cheap-20

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL : YES, this IS an improvement over the 2nd Generation iPod touch

First of all, let's get the whining out of the way. No, there's no camera on this iPod touch. But honestly, do you really need that cruddy 640x480 video camera they put in the iPod nano for your iPod touch? Do you really not have a camera on your cell phone?!?!

I didn't need a camera. I have a nice camera on my mobile phone and I barely ever use it (I suspect because I'm not a MySpace user). However, I was happy to see the improvements they DID make to the new 3rd Generation iPod touch.

* Faster CPU. This means that games, web surfing, and apps run 50% faster, and it's noticeable when you go from the older model to the newer one.

* OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics. Soon there will be games that offer advanced effects, and this iPod touch will be ready for it. At the time of this writing there are only three games with Open GL ES 2.0 support, but eventually you will be required to have it to use some apps. I'd rather have it than not have it. Besides, water, shadows, and other things look great with it.

* New earbuds with mic/remote control. Now you can control the iPod touch without looking at the screen, and use apps like Skype and Shazam without adapters. Very handy.

* Voice commands. You can use the mic to control your music. Press and hold the button on the mic to enter Voice Command mode, then say "Play artist _______" and it will play that artist. You can also ask "What band plays this?" or say "Play album _______" and it will comply. The voice recognition is very impressive, and the voice that speaks back to you is understandable, even if it mispronounces some things.

* Louder speaker. The built-in speaker sounds better to me. Louder, and much more clear when playing music or game sound.

There are also a few things that are in this model of iPod touch that are not in earlier models, but has yet to be "activated" by software. These include an FM receiver, FM transmitter, and 802.11n transmitter. Apple will no doubt sell us a future software update that will include a radio tuner, 802.11n support, and possibly even the ability to broadcast with the built-in FM transmitter from your iPod touch to your car stereo without a third-party accessory.

So yeah, this is an improvement over the 2nd Generation model. I'll trade all those features for a camera any day!

And of course, everything that was in the 2nd Gen iPod touch is here as well. Bluetooth support with the 3.0 software (nothing like wireless headphones for your music!), physical volume control on the left side of the iPod touch, nice screen, lots of storage space, and amazing support when it comes to accessories; This has the same form factor as the 2nd Gen model, so you should have no trouble finding a case or docking device to work with it.

If you've already got apps and iTunes Store purchases that you'd like to keep using, this is a nice upgrade. You get a lot of power in this little pocket computer... And the music playback quality is quite good, too!


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/best.apple.ipod.touch.cheap-20