Apple iPod touch 16 GB, Old (1st Generation) Reviews

• Almost perfect, needs some minor improvements

  
  By A1F50KG7O9A0JD on 2007-09-30
  I'd like to make one thing clear from the beginning: this device is the best portable media player I've held to date (I received mine on Sept 25th). *This* is how it should be done. That doesn't mean that it can't be improved (this review shows a number of misses), but in the iPod Touch so many good things come together the right way, it's embarassing how clumsy suddenly all the other devices seem (other iPods included). I have extensive experience with a myriad of other players (I own(ed) *lots* of those: Nomad, iRiver, Zen, Rio, iPods, Zune) and now that I'm holding it, it's blindingly obvious how much better the new interface works. I am really happy with this iPod. Still, there are some annoyances, idiosyncracies and downright silly limitations in this device.
  
  So, let's begin:
  First - unless you've recently held a new 'Nano', you won't belive how thin the Touch is. The glass surface feels different from my iPod Classic (yeah, I'm a *serious* MP3 player addict, and have that one, too). I can't really put my finger on it (it's hard to resist puns like that), but it feels somewhat softer when tapping it with your finger nail. Surprisingly (for me at least) the Touch does not respond to finger nails - you need to touch the surface with your finger's skin. This can initially be confusing when you are used to pressure-sensitive touch-screens, and can become difficult when using the virtual keyboard. The touch-sensitive font plate has (so far) proven to be scratch-resistant (i've been carrying it around in my pocket for the past three days).
  In my hand it feels surprisingly hefty (sonsidering it's sleekness), and it is noticeably longer than the Classic. Like most other iPods, the Touch has a polished backside that magically attract fingerprints. This backplate also holds the customized engraving that Apple applied free of charge to my iPod.
  
  The headphone connector is on the bottom, and accepts any normal headphone jack (unlike the iPhone). The position of the connector would have been annyoing if you wanted to use it upright in a gym (natch, iPod nano!). But movies are viewed in landscape orientation, and the iPod's interface automatically detects it's orientation. Now that's design for you. The earbuds are the same that come with other new iPods (classic). They are ok, but unlikely to be your first choice. I use the those earbuds for running (with my shuffle), but third-party (B&O) earphones with the classic and touch. I'm no audiophile, so sound quality usually is good for me (this holds true for all my devices). But then, according to some people I'm only listening to trash anyway. I therefore recommend that you look at other reviews if you are in search for a tone perfect device. I like it.
  Controlling the iPod is a strange - great when you are looking at it, annoying if you can't see it (i.e. if it's in your pocket). As with all touch-interfaces that have no tactile feedback there is no way to 'blindly' control it, and sadly the Touch does not have a remote nor real buttons except 'sleep' and 'home'. The Touch desperately needs some hardware volume control.
  
  Looking at the screen I have to say that I am amazed at the clarity of the image. 3.5 inches is still too small for me to comfortably watch a lengthy movie, but the 320x480 pixel wide-screen display is stunningly crisp. I re-ripped some TV shows that I originally ripped for the Classic and watched them on the Touch. The problem is that files ripped for the Touch's resolution are roughly twice as large as for the Classic - but the Touch has only a fraction of the available storage. Thus, I can't envision myself using the Touch for lengthy movie watching - but it is excellent for watching shorter clips (while I'm no youTube fan, I do have a lot of short clips shot with my handheld camera). The Touch's sceen is very bright - I can't confirm initial reports of 'inverse black' or other artifacts. It appears to have a light sensor built-in that dims the screen when in darker surroundings, and brightens the screen when in the sun. One small annoyance though: there is no way to control a movie's contrast. The docs claim that the Touch can play 5 hours of video on a single charge. I'm prepared to take this on face value - I'm certainly not going to stare into that small screen for so long just to verify this. It's long enough for one-and-half normal movies, but won't last a transatlantic. Nor would my eyes, though.
  
  Coverflow is drop-dead beautiful, and a real show-off. It requires that you add artwork for all your CD-ripped tunes, though. Otherwise missing covers are replaced by generic grey ones. It's a great way to browse your music if you don't know what you want to hear next. It's a silly way to look for a particular album, though. For this, however, you can still (luckily) use the normal artist/album/song browser with the (again drop-dead intuitive) new gesture-based interface. It works reall, really well.
  Like all iPods the Touch can play a large variety of file formats with the (expected) exceptions of WMA (protected and otherwise) and Ogg. I don't have to add that it plays AAC protected (iTunes). It can also display an impressive array of image and movie formats, even though I have the suspiction that some of the listed formats are transcoded on-the-fly by iTunes during sync.
  The Touch provides video out signals that can be set to either NTSC or PAL. For Europeans like me this is very important, but may be of limited use for people living in the US. What *really* annoyed me was the fact that Apple chose to change the video out cabling, and thus forced me to purchase new cables to connect the Touch to TV sets or beamers. On the up side, the Touch does work with my (Audi) car integration without any changes.
  
  iTunes integration is exemplary, as expected (this is the part that break most other digital music players: integration with your media library). Synching the Touch with a computer works like with any other iPod: Plug it in, iTunes starts, and you select the stuff you want synched. A strange relict from the 5G iPods: I found out that unlike the newer iPods, the Touch can't use playlist groups. Annoying (my best playlists are built from smaller lists).
  While synching the Touch I encountered my first big disappointment: no wireless synching. I would have expected this ability, or at least the ability to connect to a shared iTunes library on my home network (I have a wireless access point at home). Alas, no. The iPod must be physically connected to synch and cannot wirelessly connect to a shared iTunes library. When you synch you can choose to synch music, movies, photos, contacts, web bookmarks, and calendars. Sadly, you can't sync notes (why the heck not?). Synching is done with USB 2.0 (sadly not FireWire) using the Apple-provided USB Dock Connector (no standard USB connector).
  
  When looking for the 'enable disk use' checkbox I was baffled to find out that the Touch can't be used as a mass storage - unlike any other iPod I own, and with the exception of Zune unlike any other digital music player I own. Why? (I suspect this is to lock down the device to prohibit tinkering with it. It feels like an arbitrary, spiteful limitation, though).
  The interface is largely similar to the iPhone. It's not as ghastly colorful as the new (G6) iPod interface, but still uses a little too much colors for my taste (I *really* liked the G5 color interface). The gesture/finger-based interface is easy to learn, and is even more intuitive than using a mouse (it took about one 'pinch' and one 'flick' to convince me). As I mentioned above, the drawback is that there is no tactile feedback, so you must always look at the screen while changing a setting (e.g. volume, skip, rewind). The virtual keyboard is OK to use, and I'm happy to see that it automatically changed to Switzerland's 'QWERTZ' layout. So far, fingerprints on the surface have been a non-issue for me (they do look ugly on the back side, though). The keyboard has an optional 'clicker' that provides (very welcome) aural feedback when you press a key (as the other iPods, the Touch has a small clicker built in that can produce simple sounds).
  As iPods before it, there are some additional applications provided, updated for the touch interface: Calendar, Calculator (this one is new), Contacts, Settings, and Clock. Calendar holds one the most unfortunate, narrow-sighted and arbitrary product decisions Apple has made in a long time: you can't add new Events. The reason this is unacceptable to me is because the exact same application on the iPhone *has* this ability, and it was taken out as a concious decision; it was not an oversight. Clearly this is an attempt at artificially differenciate the Touch from the iPhone. Shame on Apple - I really hope that subsequent updates will rectify this.
  Another disappointment is that there is no Notes application, as this would have been a natural for the gestured-based interface and virtual keyboard. Again, this application exists for the iPhone, but was removed. Sad, sad, sad. In the same vein, it would have been great if I could load PDF documents for off-line viewing onto the touch -- Safari comes with an *excellent* PDF viewer (presumably the Touch's version of Preview). I'm using this feature through a work-around: convert a document to PDF, publish it on my home Mac's web server, and then load it in the Touch's Safari (e.g. 'http://mintel.local/myDoc.pdf'). That way I can read this document offline (did so this morning while being driven to a meeting) - but only this one PDF document can be in-memory. I tried to open a second browser window, and the first document was not retained in the cache, forcing a re-load. So a document viewer (and PDF management from iTunes?) would be a great addition.
  Also, the games that I had to re-purchase for my Classic (yes, re-purchased because the Classic can't use games for the 5.5G iPod) will *NOT* run on the Touch. Arrrgh! It looks as if I'll have to re-re-purchase those games again (I'm addicted to Bejeweled and Sudoku).
  
  Up until here, the Touch has been a natural evolution of the iPod -- the first, and long-awaited 'true video iPod'. But the Touch offers one more thing that I feel makes it a killer product: productive WiFi integration. I'm not talking about some half-baked song sharing feature (although that would have been welcome too) but actual useful net access.
  
  WiFi
  The Touch has 802.11b/g (but not 'n') WiFi built-in that can connect to the internet through normal hotspots. Since you can expect the iPod to be in many different locations, hooking it up to hotspots is an important feature that must be easy to use. The Touch can (and will) remember hotspots it has connected to, and asks when it connects to a new hotspot very much like your Laptop does. Connecting to open Hotspots is a snap: scan surroundings, pick from list, (enter password when protected), connect. You can turn it off for airplane travel or to conserve battery life.
  You connect to protected hotspots (using the virtual keyboard for password entry). Also you can use Safari for those annoying web-page-to-enter-billing-info based hotspots that hotels seem to like (and every one else hates). Connecting to a closed and secure WLAN is a bit more complex. My WLAN is configured to require any device to be known by MAC address, and looking up this info wasn't as intuitive as I thought it would be (I found it in the Info tab). I then entered Network Name and Password, and a few seconds later, my Touch had access to my WLAN.
  But what is so special about WiFi? To me, having access to the Web is a killer feature. I'm not talking about music here - but access to Google (but not the Google Apps just yet), Wikipedia, CNN, Amazon, and my web mail account. With just a little tap on the screen I can look at news, check my mail, track a package, fire off a note to someone, or answer a silly question that just entered my head. Anywhere, anytime (when in range of a hotspot. In Switzerland that's practically everywhere). To repeat: this is a killer feature. It turns this digital media player into a nearly fully fledged PDA.
  The Touch version of Safari is great (even though Google Docs does not yet support it, and there currently is no support for Flash), and very responsive. Using the virtual keyboard takes some time to getting used to (again the missing tactile feedback is annoying). Navigating the web is quick (provided you have a good connection), and using the gestures to move the obscured parts of web pages into view becomes natural after only a few moments.
  The touch also comes with a special version of iTunes, the 'WiFi Music Store'. It allows you to instantly purchase a song (very, very nice). Strangely, once you sync, songs purchased with the Touch will appear in their own 'Purchased on Touch' group (what on earth for?) in your main (iTunes) library. The WiFi store's selection does not provide access to PodCasts (lame!), nor any video content. And don't get me started on iPod games again... Still, navigating the WiFi Store is natural, and the design is intuitive. It's also very robust -- I purchased a 75 track (classic) compilation using the WiFi store. Of course, some time during the transfer the connection dropped, and I switched off the Touch. Later, at home, the Touch resumed download as soon as it re-connected to the net. The WiFi iTunes store is also where allegedly the 'Starbucks Thing' is happening. I'm (somewhat) sorry to say that I havn't tried out this feature beacuse a) I don't frequent Starbucks and b) even if I did, Switzerland is not yet upgraded for this feature anyways.
  So let's look at the remaining applications: I'm (again) seriously disappointed to see that Apple chose to cut Mail from the application list (the Touch would have been a great Blackberry replacement - and arguably might be too close a competitor to the iPhone if it had that feature), but at least I can use web mail as a work-around. Apple does include a dedicated youTube application which I have to admit I never used. I simply don't "get" youTube.
  
  Summary:
  The Touch is (currently) the best flash-based media player around, with a stunning (even revolutionary) new gesture-based user interface that works. I would have welcomed a significantly larger main storage, but it's very good as it is now. As a media player it's main drawback derives from the purely touch-based interface: it could have profited from a tactive rotary controller for 'blind' control. The feature that separates the Touch from the rest is the addition of another killer feature: WiFi web browsing. WiFi based music purchase is a nice bonus.
  The Touch also comes with a number of (sometimes artificial) limitations that I hope will be resolved in the future. All in all I'm very, very satisfied with the Touch, even though the Touch experience can clearly be improved (e.g. by removing application restrictions, being able to pull in shared iTunes Libraries, sharing songs wirelessly, syncing wirelessly etc.).
  
  PLUS
  - great "video" iPod
  - WiFi web browsing with Safari (killer feature)
  - wide range of supported file formats (audio, video, images)
  - great display
  - phenomenally sharp images
  - drop-dead gesture/touch interface
  - both NTSC and PAL video out (important for us Europeans).
  - iTunes store wirelessly
  - TV PAL and NTSC out
  
  MINUS
  - no playlist groups
  - difficult to use 'blind'
  - no contrast control for movies
  - no disk mode (huh???)
  - non-standard AV connector (again!)
  - artificial limitations on Calendar application
  - no Mail, Notes, Games applications
  - can't access iTunes shared libraries on WLAN
  - can't share songs with other Touch iPods
  - no wireless synching
  - 16GB can be awfully small when ripping movies for Touch's resolution
  - no WiFi iTunes PodCasts
  
  Things I'd like to see in updates
  - Wireless Sync
  - Access to iTunes shared Libraries
  - Notes
  - Off-line viewing of PDF documents
  - Games
  - Third-party software development kit (SDK)
  
  

• Good, not perfect

  
  By A2WB7LZ595CR50 on 2007-10-05
  I've had it for a few days now (8GB version). I chose it over the 8GB Nano because I figured the extra bells and whistles (larger screen, touch sensitivity, wi-fi, etc.) were worth an extra hundred bucks. I will share a few things I've discovered in my first week of ownership. First, the weak points (which most people want to hear first): Sound quality is on par with the Nano but doesn't seem as good as my wife's iPod video. Wallpaper can only display when unit is coming out of sleep mode, browsing while music is playing causes music to stop, the screen will be a horrid mess of greasy finger prints after only a few minutes of use, there is no visible way to determine charging status without pushing a button because the screen goes completely black when charging. Video seems more pixelated and not as sharp or crisp as the new Nano (They're not lying when they say the Nano has the sharpest display of all iPods.) The lack of accessories hurts, mainly because I'd love to cover the smudge-prone body more than anything. Also, the dimensions of this thing basically scream "drop me" and I'm clumsy enough to do it if I don't get a good belt clip or at least enough protection to confidently slide it in my pocket. As for the good things: Wi-fi was super-easy to configure and I get a strong signal throughout my three-story home. I like the web browsing. Pinching to zoom and adjusting pages with your finger makes surfing the tiny screen much much easier. The Safari browser is quick and efficient at loading pages. The touch screen is very responsive (although big-fingered people such as me will have a difficult time trying to select letters on the tiny keyboard. I had to hit backspace quite a bit for incorrect characters). it didn't require multiple taps or finger drags (not counting deleting mistaken characters). The photo album is really cool. The thumbnails are well arranged and image manipulation with your fingertips is just as fun as web browsing (I just wish the wallpaper could be viewed on the home screen and not only when the device is locked, as mentioned above). The video is pretty good (even if not on par with Nano). Lastly, the organization of everything is really intuitive and well executed. You are pretty much one button-push away from anything you want; much better than endless sub-menus. In my opinion, the bottom line for having an iPod is the music. if you have a huge music collection (over 15GB), I would strongly suggest going with the Classic. Trust me, unless you REALLY feel you'll use the extras such as wi-fi and maybe the PDA features beyond the first day, there isn't much else to justify sacrificing the capacity. Even if you want the touch for movies, the storage limitations prevent any serious mobile collection. The coolness factor took all of ten minutes to wear off for me. However, I've never needed more than a 4GB iPod, (I have a meager collection of music ripped from my CD's. Call me old-fashioned). Therefore, I think I'll keep it, only because my alternative has the same capacity and I actually do plan to ocassionally check my email from the backyard without needing to lug out my clunky laptop. I just figured I'd put that out there for people on the fence about whether to get a Touch or Classic. Also, I like the PDA-like features of the touch. Even though much has been made of the so-called "crippling" of the calendar, I don't plan to use it as a full-fledge PDA anyhow, so the fact that it synchs with Outlook and makes my appointments and contacts readily available is good enough for me. Lastly, much has been made about the "negative-black" screen issue. I have a week 38 model with Corrine Bailey on the box (if you've spent any time at all researching the screen issue, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, stop by Apple's iPod Touch forum and you'll quickly find out). I've had no problems whatsoever (other than a little blocky video at times). No dead or stuck pixels and blacks look just fine. I honestly think it is a much smaller issue than people are making it out to be.
  
  

• What a fun toy!

  
  By A3SVYWA9O1KUQV on 2007-10-04
  Well, let me start by saying that I ordered the Touch on a lark. Got it direct from Apple with free engraving on the back. I must say that this is a really fun toy, at 8GB its just big enough to hold my music collection (6GB), a couple of videos and still have space to cache some video streams, barely! As mentioned elsewhere, the interface is quite cute and innovative. I love a touch screen and I love how big the screen is. Ok, here's the things I love about the Touch so far:
  
  1) Big beautiful screen
  2) Touch screen interface
  3) Wifi connectivity with Safari, iTunes and YouTube built right into the main screen.
  4) Changeable background, finally!
  5) Sleek form factor slides nicely into my pocket.
  6) Don't have to use it as a cell phone.
  7) Flips back and forth from landscape to portrait modes depending on how you hold it or what you are viewing.
  8) Power button, thank you Apple for finally deigning to put a power button on an iPod!
  9) Automatic brightness adjustment, absolute genius!
  10) Seems to remember where you left off on every video on the unit, awesome feature I love it!
  11) iTunes: for any iPod you have to count the flawless relationship with iTunes as a big plus, you just can't beat it for reliability, ease of use and great features (and believe me I've tried!)
  12) Great Now Playing music page, the album art fills the whole screen and by tapping the middle you get immediate access to repeat and shuffle buttons. Now you can now easily shuffle just a playlist, a feature that has been hard to find on previous iPods.
  13) Like any other iPod, accessories abound and are easily purchased just about anywhere!
  14) Apple customer service is good imo, they stand behind their product and will replace without much hassle as I know from experience.
  15) For only $20 you can get extra stuff like Notes, Weather, Calculator, and stuff like that.
  
  But of course, nothing is perfect. I give this a 5 stars because it is such a great innovation for Apple and a great product, but that doesn't mean that its without flaws and here's the ones I've noticed so far:
  
  1) Touch screen can be a bit frustrating, often doesn't feel me and often I miss the button I'm aiming for with my fat fingers (they feel fat when trying to hit keyboard buttons on that screen anyway!). I understand that this is a "Capacitance" screen which means you can't use a stylus or your fingernail, you have to register firm contact with your flesh on the screen.
  2) Screen flipping: although this is a cool concept it can be annoying sometimes. Occasionally the screen flips as I'm moving around and I didn't want it to. So I sit there twisting the thing to and from trying to get the alignment I want. Wouldn't it be nice if you could lock it into the perspective you want and it would just stay there (is anybody at Apple listening?)
  3) Hard to operate "blind", as I walk around I like to be able to pause/play or adjust volume without having to look at the screen. Very easy to do on my 5.5Gen iPod, almost impossible on the Touch. I have to pull it out of my pocket almost every time I want to pause or adjust the volume.
  4) Sound quality is not quite as good as my 5.5Gen Video iPod or my Archos 605, I've tried it on speakers and headphones and the Video has just a little bit cleaner smoother sound especially at high volume.
  5) No built in USB port!
  
  Overall, its an awesome innovative product and if you really like having the coolest new toy (like me!) and money is not a major concern I say what are you waiting for?
  
  2 month update: Well of course you can get cases everywhere for this thing now. Still very happy with my Touch, although I did have to send in for replacement unit due to dead battery, took about two weeks but they sent me a new one and even engraved it like my original. What the heck got a shiny new Touch for free :) I have updated my review, added a positive point, removed a couple of outdated negative points.
  
  

• iPod touch: Is it worth it?

  
  By A28131U1QNMTHP on 2007-10-17
  My first iPod was a 3G 10gb. At the time nobody really knew what an iPod was or what it did (to tell you the truth, i really didn't know what it was either but I wanted one). Wow, this was the coolest thing I had ever had. It held my whole music collection in my hands and I could basically take it anywhere. Apple has done it again.
  
  Now, 5 years later, I just bought my iPod touch. I had been waiting for Apple to release a new iPod for over a year because my 3G had finally gave out. To say the least I was quite disappointed with the line-up when I saw them in September. I wanted a cool device to hold everything. My music collection has grown considerably since I got my last iPod (about 6gb to 45+gb). I was excited to hear about the touch but my hopes were lost when I found out how much space it had and the classic had not changed at all except in looks. 16gb is not enough if you listen to music all the time. I have different moods and each requires a different kind of music and, if you want to watch videos also, your space will fill quick.
  
  You may be wondering why I still ran out and got one. Now, I believe, the only reason I have one is because Apple says its supposed to be "cool" which it is cool but thats about it. This is a device that should be able to do much more that just play music. Sure safari is cool but it is no desktop internet browser and half the time will not work on secured networks. Same with itunes store and You tube. I have mild security on my home wifi and Youtube and itunes will not connect but safari will at dreadful speeds. So basically its just a 16gb iPod with a cool looking screen (which, I should say, is really nice to look at but do you really need it?). Apple could make this into a killer PDA but won't. Who knows why, I think they just do not want people hacking their technology and copying it by not offering a SDK (software developer kit).
  
  I will keep the iPod touch a little longer to see if my opinion changes and if it doesn't, I am going to take it back, save $150, and get a classic with a whopping 80gb of space on the cheap one! I listen to music for music, and, although I give into hype like this, music is music when the novelty of the device is gone.
  
  If you want something someone tells you is "cool", go ahead and spend $400 on this and be happy. For me, I just want to listen to music and have all of my music with me. I have a laptop for everything else.
  
  

• Apple sets a new standard with iTouch

  
  By A1CYTBE7LLUQ8F on 2007-09-30
  I've had my iPod Touch for over two weeks. I was one of the lucky people who happened to be at an Apple Store on September 13 when a few iPods arrived for sale. I bought an 8GB iPhone that same day, so I've had two weeks to use both. Essentially the iTouch is the iPhone less the phone.
  
  The beauty of the iTouch is that it's essentially the same size as its 30GB predecessor. It's perhaps a tad longer, a little narrower, and definitely thinner. The defining difference is that instead of a small screen and the clickwheel with the 30GB you have basically all screen with the iTouch.
  
  I own a 30GB video iPod that I've used for numerous trips overseas. I didn't mind the small screen, but always wished for something bigger. The iTouch screen is wonderfully big and exceptionally crisp. My 2 year old daughter could only bear the original iPod screen for 5 minutes before asking to watch on my computer or the TV. She really loves watching her shows on 'her' iPod! Also regarding the screen, I have to say that I love turning the iTouch to watch widescreen.
  
  The touchscreen works very well. The scrolling and 'pinching' features are really cool.
  
  I was somewhat skeptical about the keyboad. Admittedly it took me a while to grow accustomed to tapping on it. As a side note, I should say that for some reason the iTouch's keyboard has been more responsive than my iPhone's pad.
  
  I've tried the iTouch's wireless access at home and various other places. It works great. Youtube runs nicely on the iTouch.
  
  I recently upgraded my iTouch to 1.1.1 adding iTunes. The iTunes interface is much simpler than the desktop version, but it works well. I recently bought a song on iTunes using my iTouch.
  
  The other features such as Calendar, Contacts, and Photos work great.
  
  The one thing that I miss on the iTouch is an an external volume control. It's somewhat annoying to have to use the screen to adjust the volume. Another small issue is the amount of memory, but this is a small sacrifice for the great screen and additional features.
  
  Another missing feature is e-mail access. Naturally you can use the iTouch's Safari browser to access POP and other accounts. However, Apple should have included this built-in iPhone feature. Perhaps Apple will add it in a future update.
  
  At $399 + tax the iTouch is a bit pricey, but for my purposes it's worth every dollar. If you're a current video iPod owner, you'll most likely want to upgrade at some point in time.
  
  
• Slick and entertaining, but know what you are getting...
  By A2M9GIR4CKZPV7 on 2007-10-14
  This is a fabulous piece of technology and integrates very smoothly with my Imac and Itunes. Others have already covered many Pros/Cons but there are a few things that are worth considering before purchasing.
  
  1. PRICE--Others have "complained" about the price. This IS NOT food, water or shelter; it is a discretionary purchase. It represents excellent value IMHO in comparison to other similar devices.
  
  2. INTERNET--The wireless internet is surprisingly functional once you are used to some of the quirks and limitations. For example, you can currently only watch video from internet sites supported by Quicktime. Some sites (like AOL) don't seem to load very efficiently and navigating sites with crowded page content can be trying.
  
  3. USEFULNESS--This is NOT a PDA though it can serve as one in a limited capacity with some creative thinking. For example you can create "notes" in Ical or you can (assuming a wireless conection is available) send yourself an e-mail if you need to type something in so you remember it. If you NEED a PDA, get the Iphone instead.
  
  4. ITOUCH vs IPHONE--I opted for this because I don't need a PDA and my current cell plan fits my needs. Remember the IPHONE is a touch device and I'm guessing most people don't wash their hands every time prior to use. Now you are putting those germs right up to your ear. Think about using an IPHONE after shaking hands with "Joe" who doesn't wash his hands after...well, you get the idea.
  
  5. SIZE--It's thin, but not small. If you primarily listen to music, stick with the Nano. Once it is in sleep mode you can't change settings without activating it. I use my Nano for walks and I can adjust it right in my pocket (volume especially).
  
  So far, I love it--I'll post an update if things change!!
  
  
• Great device, intentionally crippled
  By A5PX05RNW3WBL on 2007-11-15
  This is the first ipod I have owned (but not first mp3 player), so I didn't really know what to expect when I ordered it.
  
  The touch has some very innovative features. The cover flow is a nice addition, the keyboard is surprisingly usable, and the built in wifi support is an incredibly useful thing to have.
  
  However, those features cannot overcome the fact that Apple failed to include features that are a standard among every other MP3 player in the market, in some cases including their own products.
  
  1) You cannot transfer songs, pictures, or any other form of media by using the mass storage (dragging and dropping through windows). This means that you cannot use this on any computer without itunes, and you can't use it on Linux or Solaris at all. This feature is present in literally all of the ipods competition.
  
  2) Not only can you not transfer media, you can't use it to transfer files between computers at all. According to my brother, you can do this on even other ipods. I had planned on using this to transfer large projects between home and my school computer lab.
  
  3) Software that came on the iphone was deliberately left out purely to separate it form the iphone. For example, notes is left out of the ipod. Why would you leave out Notes, But keep Calendar and Contacts? This is pure software, their is no reason Apple could not have put it on the ipod.
  
  4) you can only sync with one computer. Since I own 2 computers that I use regularly, this is a serious problem.
  
  5) You can't transfer mp3's between computers through itunes, but you can transfer itunes purchases. The only reason I can come up with for this is to cripple Amazons music service for use on ipods.
  
  6) no hardware sound control. This means you cannot adjust the volume in your pocket. Instead you have to take the player out, turn on the screen, go through the unlock screen, then slide the volume bar.
  
  
  So while the product is innovative and useful, it was also literally defective by design. And crippling a product for marketing and monopolistic abuse of market share is totally unacceptable.
  
  To add insult to injury, the included headphones did not work in one ear.
  
  
  
• iPod Touch: A gift from the future.
  By A20XYR6RS1TTOC on 2007-09-30
  
  I hold this thing in my hands and just wonder how on earth this thing is here, now, and not stuck in some episode of Star Trek TNG. This thing, in contrast to previous attempts at "touch" media players, not only blows them out of the water, but blows the water around them to steam. And alot of people want to know whether to get this or the iPhone. Now, I have nothing against the iPhone, at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the second one comes with a transporter or food replicator or something, but there are those who want all the cool features of the iPhone, without the 300 page phone bill, and constantly having to pay through the nose just to keep that awesome gadget activated. Well, for those who want the iPhone, without the phone, but pretty much everything else, including internet, and wi-fi, then the iPod touch is so perfect, it's amazing. How amazing? Well at the moment I'm scanning over google maps to make sure that Apple doesn't have a Time Portal or Aliens running around their lots.
  
  The interface of the iPod touch is essentially a slightly stripped down iPhone. But I imagine that was the idea. Sadly, they did strip down the nice clouded finish on the back which I loved so much on the iPhone, but apart from that and the obvious cosmetic differences between iPod and Phone, the multi-touch interface that everyone lusted over, is present and better than ever, and in this form, and I hate to say this, but I can finally say the iPod touch has blown Zune's brains out in a display of pure superiority. Sorry Microsoft, but as of now, you've lost the Portable Music/Video player war. Of course, you lost it a year ago, but I guess the iPod touch can be regarded as the final word on the subject. Game Over. Apple wins. iPod wins.
  
  After exploring around the iPt a little bit, i noticed that this thing can truly be called a Pocket Computer.
  Essentially, you get everything you need. Music, Videos, Internet, Youtube, and even potential for some games. When the 2G iPod Touch comes out, we'll probably treated to even more. But this is a great start.
  
  The overall look of the touch is very sleek, and appealing. It's got the perfect balance of looks. Black, thin, shiny, and a screen that just won't get scratched. This ain't your 5G's polycarbonite "scratchfest" screen. This screen, not unlike the iPhone, can withstand quite a regiment of punishment. I personally haven't tried anything outside of the usual pocket/daily use regiment, but I've seen youtube videos where people run saftey pins, keys, even razor blades across it, with no noticable effect.I truly think the only thing that could put a dent in this thing is a Diamond or something. Maybe the screens made of Diamond....that would explain why this thing is so darn expensive! I jest, of course, but this screen is very scratchproof. Apple finally got that right.
  
  Now, for those that are unfirmilliar with Apple's iPhone or the "Touch" generation of iPods, this iPod can play music and videos in 2 modes. Due to a motion sensor inside of it, it can detect whether it is straight up, or in landscape mode, and will adjust it's screen accordingly. This is perfect for movies.
  
  Also, it comes in 2 "sizes"
  
  8GB (This one) $299-- is the model for the person on a budget. The cheaper model, but thankfully, no feature is omitted. You can just put less on it. And the battery life seems shorter than the more high-end model.
  
  16GB $399-- is the high end iPod touch with maximum storage and battery life in the "touch" series. whether the extra $100 is worth it, is up to you to decide. However, either way, you're getting one great media device!
  
  Cover Flow, the ability to look at your album art, from the songs you purchase off of iTunes, is also available, as with all Next-Gen iPod models for 2007.
  
  Goodies you get in the box are:
  
  Cable to connect it to computer
  Clear Plastic (little) Stand
  Earphones
  Cleaning Cloth
  Booklets and Warranty
  Dock Adapter
  
  The iPod touch is a thing of beauty. If you can afford it, don't waste any more time dreaming about it. Buy it!
  
  
• Wait for the 2.0 version
  By ACD8W7261A60I on 2007-09-30
  I've been buying Apple products for years and just got a MacBook here on Amazon less than 6 months ago which I love! But take my word for it, this thing is NOT ready for prime time. Better yet, take Apple CEO Steve Jobs word for it. While unveiling the iPhone in Britain a couple weeks ago Steve Jobs himself says "The iPod touch is training wheels for the iPhone."
  
  Persistent problems with video and negative blacks that may or may not have been cleared up. Hard to tell since Apple has not even acknowledged the problem. Many fanboys are crowing that it's been "solved" by the 1.1 firmware update while others think they may have just cranked up the contrast in firmware. For some unknown reason contrast is NOT a user adjustable option. Only brightness. It's also too soon to tell what effect the "fix" will have on the already mediocre battery life.
  
  I won't even get into the intentional crippling of the ability to add calendar events, which Amazon STILL incorrectly lists as being present when it was removed weeks ago, or the fact that 3rd party apps that would make the device more desirable are forbidden and blocked by Apple.
  
  Mine was sent back and I will wait to see how Apple addresses the above issues before I decide what to do.
  
  If it's bad enough for Steve to poke fun at, it's bad enough for me to pass on for now.
  
  On the positive side you can load it up with higher quality, lower priced, DRM free music right here on the AmazonMP3 store!
  
  
• worst ipod ever
  By A2HX23NJ7GM3U8 on 2007-10-07
  i got the ipod touch a few days ago, i realy wanted to like it, but i didnt.
  
  first off all, all it is, is an ipod with out a click wheel but a touch pad plus 150$. sure, the internet brower is decent but thats about as far as it gets, it all goes downhill from there. ya, cover flow is fun for the first 30 minutes, but its just like scroling through the regular albums list plus pictures, and it takes longer to find the album you want.
  
  next is the video and audio quality, the is probably the most dissapointing part of this ipod. the video quality is noticably worse than the iphone's, especialy in the blacks. and the audio is also sub-par, however if you are still convinced that the included iBuds sound awsome (i feel sorry for you) you will not notice the difference.
  
  the touch also has almost no PDA capability, having the calander and the calculator is as far as it goes, which u will not use anyway.
  
  Bottom line... the touch is for suckers who like pretty flowing cover art and who like to show off their cool looking now ipod. DONT buy this ipod. just do what i did and go into a non-apple hibernation (aka buy a zune) until they pull themselves together.
  
  *apple fans may now commence the flaming*
  
  
• Best iPod to date!
  By A39X7OTJTQV4CA on 2007-09-30
  This is my fourth iPod (I had the 2G ipod, ipod nano and ipod video U2); though it is far from perfect, I can honestly say, it almost is-- and among the lot, the best there is, for the time being. When the iPhone came out, I almost spilled my hard-earned cash to be the first one to line up in the apple store. However, there were serious issues with the iPhone that I certainly cannot compromise with; among them, the restrictive 2-year contract with AT&T and the sluggish EDGE network for the internet. Also, I prefer my cellphone being separate as I hate to drain out my battery when I need to make emergency calls; i consider my mp3 player a toy and my cellphone a necessity-- those two just cannot be combined. Also, the highest memory capacity for the iPhone is maxed at 8GB; too small for my song library. Furthermore, I hate being forced to buy a cellphone just to access its mp3 features. Thus, I decided to wait for the next big thing.
  
  It's just a matter of time before iPhones' technology will crossover to the iPod; and I patiently waited and reaped my rewards. Lo and behold, the iPod Touch came out 3 months shortly after the iPhone (and I was among the first ones to pre-order it online). I received mine a week earlier than the scheduled release date and have been playing and tinkering with it since. The iPod Touch addressed several issues-- no contracts with any cellphone carrier, bigger memory (16GB), robust wi-fi capability and a widescreen display (which is long overdue for the iPod). I do travel every so often so I'm happy with just plain wi-fi; plus wi-fi hotspots are now highly accessible and prevalent in hotels, bookstores, coffee shops, business establishments and airports. iPod Touch, in short, has all the pros of iPhone without any strings attached, so to speak. My sister has a 30GB Zune with the widescreen display and I have been drooling about it for many months now. Now that I have the iPod Touch with the widescreen display, she couldn't get her hands off it. Her Zune does have the wireless syncing which would be a nice update for future iPods. There are no games for the iPod Touch which is such a shame considering how cool it would be to maximize the potential of the multi-touch screen. This is one serious oversight that could probably be resolved in future firmware updates (Apple, are you listening?).
  
  USER INTERFACE: This is where iPod Touch excels. There is practically no learning curve. Instructions are clear and straightforward; turning it on simply requires the touch of the power button and a sweep of the finger on the touch-screen to unlock. One button right at the bottom of the screen takes you to the main menu where you can see icons for Safari (web browser), YouTube, Calendar, Contacts, Clock, Calculator and Settings. The bottom icons take you to Music, Videos, Photos and the new mobile iTunes music store. Music comes in cover-flow or list menu; the accelerometer adjusts the orientation of the album either in portrait or landscape (cover-flow) view depending on the position of the iPod. Videos are classified in movies and music videos. Photos can be seen as thumbnails or slideshows and adjusts accordingly to portrait or landscape views. iTunes music store sells music only and are sorted by genres (Pop, Alternative, Hip-Hop, Rock and R&B). I purchased a full album of Paul Potts for $9.99 with a few keystrokes and download time on my 802.11G network is pretty fast; a song downloads just as fast as a DSL network-connected laptop. I downloaded the full album in less than five minutes which is quite acceptable. Software integration with iTunes is a snap; just like earlier generation iPods, it syncs automatically with a PC (or a Mac) thru a USB 2.0 cable with the option to upload the entire multimedia library or just specific playlists.
  
  PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES: At 8mm thick, iPod Touch is slimmer and leaves a slightly smaller footprint than iPhone which is definitely a plus; however, they both have the same 3.5 inch screen which is gorgeous for videos and photos (and surprisingly music with its cover-flow of album art). I dare say iPod Touch is sexier than the iPhone. Its metallic back enclosure is prone to fingerprint smudging which is easily remedied with a swipe of any soft cloth. Its touch-screen front panel is made of glass which is scratch-resistant; I actually didn't remove the protective film it came with to save it from any undue scratches. The multi-touch screen is very responsive although the teeny-weeny virtual keyboard takes some time getting used to. There are no dead pixels in its 320 x 480 pixel display. The wi-fi antenna is located at the upper left hand corner of the back panel and is compatible with 802.11b/g routers. I actually had my name laser-engraved on the metallic back panel free of charge. Earphone jack is located at the bottom right corner which is easily accessible and the power button is at the upper left hand corner. There is no hold button or volume control buttons; all other controls are embedded within the touchscreen display. The package comes with the iPod touch itself, a set of earphones, a USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, polishing cloth (which comes in handy for those annoying fingerprints), and the quickstart guide.
  
  WEB BROWSING: My Belkin 802.11n router communicates fairly efficiently with my iPod Touch since it's backwards-compatible with 802.11b/g. It connects in seconds with a few flicks for the network password. Safari is a robust platform although it has some flaws. Some websites that are graphically intensive don't render correctly or pop-up errors onscreen. The zooming in and out of web pages is pretty easy with the pinch-feature of the multi-touch screen. Any video plug-ins still cannot be downloaded, probably due to memory limitations. I tried downloading quicktime and realplayer and they both sent error messages on my screen. Safari however excels in regular html pages; websites like yahoo and google render correctly in the browser. Yahoo Mail can be accessed through Safari without any hiccups. Reading e-mail is easy as one can drag and drop sections of a message with the light sweep of a fingertip; scrolling is fast with just a flick; and with the pinch feature, zooming in to get a readable look on the page is intuitive. Composing e-mail may be cumbersome although manageable with the virtual keyboard. Compared to PDAs, iPod touch is the easiest by far in accessing, receiving and sending e-mails. With Apple's recent collaboration with Starbucks, the iPod touch is capable of downloading song tracks from Starbucks hotspots (in select cities like Seattle, New York and soon Chicago) thru the iTunes wi-fi music store. I don't have a first hand experience on that since I'm a Chicagoan; I'll probably wait for that in 2008.
  
  MUSIC & VIDEO: Apple did an excellent job in these areas. Music quality is identical with any iPod and volume is ample enough to please any pair of ears. Browsing through songs is much easier this time. One has the option to search songs through the finger sweep or the alphabetical shortcut. Video is pretty straightforward; movies or music videos automatically play in landscape (widescreen) mode. Video is nowhere near DVD-quality but good enough for viewing in the airplane or hotel room. The 320 x 480 pixel display is sufficiently sharp with a color vibrance unmatched in any iPod; I don't have the literary skill to give it justice but just see it for yourself. Video content is downloadable only through desktop/laptop iTunes version and are in 540kb/s MPEG-4 (H.264) format with 128kb/s AAC soundtrack. Unlike iPod classic which has a much smaller screen, iPod touch is easier on the eyes without any need for squinting; I actually watched several movies like X-Men 3, Superman Returns and 300 in their entirety without suffering from eyestrain. Using third-party software, I happily ripped my favorite DVDs to iPod (MP4) format and they played flawlessly in the iPod Touch. The screen can be adjusted in brightness depending on the lighting conditions; it can be set to auto which saves more battery juice or the brightest setting which drains out the juice faster. Battery lasts 3-5 hours on video and practically the whole day for music. iPod Touch plays a myriad of formats including MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4, protected DRM and DRM-Free AAC, and Apple lossless.
  
  CONCLUSION: iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone and the digital camera. I personally prefer my mp3 player, cellphone and digital camera as separate entities. My own cellphone with T-Mobile has a digital camera built in, yet I still bring my camera along with me on my travels, as well as my iPod. I don't have any issues with them coexisting with each other. And even with the web-browsing capability of the iPod Touch, I still bring my laptop with me wherever I go. Some people prefer the all-in-one device. I however believe that separate highly-specialized devices work better than a deficient jack-of-all-trades all-in-one device like the iPhone. Some people have unrealistic expectations on the iPod Touch (expecting it to have all the bells and whistles of a PDA, the open-source format of other portable devices and the perks of an iPod)-- it's just not possible with the current technology. I personally expect it to behave just like an iPod, which it performs exceedingly well--which is play music and video when and where I want to. Some people declare the iPod Touch a "stripped" version of iPhone. I disagree. Owning it for a week now proved that it is a better mp3 player in more ways than one. Being a dedicated mp3 player, it runs circles around the iPhone in flash drive space (16GB), portability (it's smaller and slimmer) and overall likability (no cellphone contracts, robust wi-fi, sexier look)-- so, what's not to like? And, among my iPods, this is the one I will carry in my pocket wherever I go, for a very long time.
  
  
• Stick with a regular ipod
  By ABQXFLJQLOC5G on 2007-12-07
  First the positives. Fantastic screen. Beautiful UI.
  
  Now the negatives. Although gorgeous, the UI is a pain in the butt as an everyday mp3 player. It requires way too much attention to use. With a regular ipod you just slide your thumb in circles to navigate. Almost everything you want to do with the iPod touch forces you to look at the device. Couldn't get the wifi working with my home network. Never had a problem doing so with my computers, PDAs, or phones. Alarm clock is useless, you can barely hear it.
  
  Cool product, but for the price it ain't worth it. Get a regular ipod.
  
  
• Excellent gadget, needs some improvements
  By ALGI34BYWIXZG on 2007-10-13
  I have had the ipod touch since 1 week. I have been waiting for it since 2 years because I knew one day Apple would release a widescreen player.
  
  Likes:
  - design, very cool, have to use it to believe it. Leaves others far far behind
  - mac os based, potential for great enhancements by firmware upgrades
  - Has Wi-Fi, www.apple.com/webapps can be used for using some web applications like sudoku. Although I think in future, apple will release native games for it for 9.99 each
  
  Not Likes:
  - value for money is not there. At 399 bucks, they give you crappy headphones, cheap quality shameful attempt of plastic dock, cheap plastic stand, no electric charger, supplied usb cable is short, no case. You have to be prepared to shell out 50 to 150 bucks on good headphones if you want better quality music from same device, have to buy a good dock or electric charger, a case etc. Can be very expensive in total cost.
  - cannot search for songs by typing in name of song, artist etc... But I think this they will add in future update or maybe I have missed this feature so far
  - space is less. But can't blame apple. I am sure at this time next year for 399 they will have a 32gb player with force sensitive touch etc.. that is nature of technology. If you keep waiting you will never buy anything
  - does not come with any games, useful applications like even simple notepad
  
  Watchouts:
  - 16gb is not available completely as some space is taken away by OS and installed apps, you will have like 14.8gb or 15gb available
  - the wallpapers it comes with, those even though you set, you wont see them because that wallpaper is applicable only when device is locked and you double click the home button
  
  
• Don't Touch
  By AEE0CWDODYME3 on 2008-01-15
  I seldom post reviews but was motivated by the sheer bad will Apple is creating around their iPod touch line. Some may be wowed into silence by its nifty features but I felt I should post my feelings:
  
  -Horrible WiFi problems. Don't expect to reliably connect to your WiFi points, even if your laptops and other devices work perfectly. Internet forums are filled with people screaming about trying to get this fixed and all Apple does is blame your router/WAP/whatever. I work with this stuff everyday and I'll vouch that Apple has a huge bug with this that they won't acknowledge. I hope someone files a class action lawsuit on them
  
  -Slow. The store tried to tell me it was "Everyone connecting over edge/wifi that's causing it to be slow" ..."its as fast as a laptop"..well that's wrong too. It just slow.
  
  -If you are going to buy one anyway, delay your purchase as long as you can. They rushed it to market and had significant LCD screen problems (again, search Internet multiple forums), now they want to charge $20 for the next update. They are absolutely full of themselves.
  
  I hope they stop treating their customers like this, I'm afraid they're already starting to act like they don't care about service.
  
  
• iTouch - very fun - almost, but not quite perfect.
  By A1B29AAROKKQOE on 2007-10-09
  The first determination you make is - is the video playback and touchscreen worth $400? I say yes.
  
  Video playback was excellent - I rip DVD's via Handbrake to MP4 then import into iTunes - playback on the iTouch is impressive. Colors and blacks are excellent.
  
  In addition, I purchased a few TV shows on iTunes, which played back with no problem.
  
  Unlike other reviewers, I didn't notice a difference between the iTouch and the other iPods I have (4GB nano, 8GB nano, 80 GB video) when it came to playing back music. The music sounded just as good on the iTouch as the other iPods. I have ripped my CD collection at Apple Lossless and I am using Shure e3c earphones.
  
  Touchscreen - the touchscreen is a gadget lovers dream - I can spend hours flipping through album covers - zooming in on photos, web pages - it is just fun. I don't miss the click wheel at all.
  
  Surfing the web - surfing the web is somewhat of a mediocre experience - yes its a small device, etc etc... but I found the response a little slow - I have 802.11g at my house, so I expected a little quicker response - some web pages were quick, but others took several seconds to load - web pages with low graphics were easy to navigate (NY Times) - while others with lots of graphics (ESPN) the iTouch seemed to have a problem with - especially when it came to zooming in to see a link in a title bar - however, as mentioned, zooming in and navigating on low graphics pages was very easy. Overall, surfing the web was still a fun experience.
  
  Syncing - the iTouch synced with my Mac mini with no problem - calendar, and contacts were all there - so were the pictures or movies I chose.
  
  Why only 4 stars?
  
  I am disappointed that I can't add calendar events to my iTouch - I am also disappointed that it doesn't have bluetooth. I currently have a 'technology' loop - MS Outlook at work syncs via BlackBerry to my Nokia 9300 (phone), which synchs via bluetooth to my Mac Mini - I update one device and all the others sync with the new piece of information (contacts, calendar, mail) - it is disappointing that the iTouch has to remain at the end of that 'chain'. In addition, why can I not put notes in my iTouch? There is a keyboard built in - it just seems like notes could have been in there.
  
  One last gripe - why only 16GB? A movie is just under 2GB - that is only 8 movies - whats up with that? I have 350GB of music and video - why limit this device to 16GB? Not sure who's idea that was...
  
  In summary, it is a fun piece of electronic equipment. If you have the $400, buy it!
  
  
• I absolutely LOVE it, but...
  By A1MUPYJ3HUBZ6 on 2007-11-06
  This was a gift from my fiancee, and I have been having a great time with it. For those of you who have not had an oportunity to see one in person, they are quite amazing: it feels like you are holding something from the future right in your hand. The interface is great (go Apple) and coverflow works like a charm.
  
  As an iPod, the hardware still has some issues. On a couple of occasions, I have been showing-off the features to a friend (be prepared to do this a lot). During navigating through playlists and songs, I (or friends)have accidentally started playing a song. If the headphones aren't plugged in, this is easy to overlook, and the song will keep playing as you navigate through other features and later goes to sleep (still playing). One day later, the battery will be dead. It's not a big issue, but it wold be nice if there were a little led or perhaps a banner on the home screen to indicate that music is playing.
  
  Another iPod consideration is that the touch screen means you can't operate the controls (brace yourself for irony) "by touch". If you plan on using it for tunes in your car, you had better find a single playlist and a comfortable volume setting and leave it alone while driving. On my old 2-Gen iPod, I can reach down and fast-forward, rewind, pause, lower the volume or turn off without taking my eyes off the road. That isn't a criticism of the iPod touch per se, but it should be a consideration for those of you who are deciding between an 8GB touch and an 8GB nano for $100 less. While driving, the iPod touch has even less functionality than a shuffle (you still can't see what's playing, but you can control the music by touch/feel).
  
  The touch does have WiFi, which seems beyond cool at first, but zooming and panning (despite Apple's great pinch/stretch design) stops being interesting after a while, and you'll go back to browsing on your laptop. You can check your mail using the WiFi and a web application, and I would expect that some of these web interfaces will become scaled specifically for the touch in the future.
  
  There is also a calendar feature on the iPod touch, but unlike the iPhone, you cannot make any changes to the calendar (aka you cannot add "events"). I very much need an app where I can update my calendar on the go. For now, I am still stuck with having to carry my palm pilot with me. A working calendar, notepad, and other features may be available in a later software update. If not, Apple is trying to release a (non-web-tethered)software developer's kit for the iPod and iPhone in early 2008. I'm sure a good calendar app, contacts app, good notes app won't drag to far behind.
  
  So, I love it. Lots. I hate myself for only giving it three stars, but a crippled calendar application and an all-to-easy way to leave your music running and drain your battery are below the standards I have for Apple's hardware. If I had $300 for myself, I would buy a nano and have a $100 stockpile for accessories. However, once I had the iPod touch in my hands, I couldn't let go.
  
  ***EDIT 11/21/07*** With the latest iPod update (through iTunes), you can now add and edit events in your calendar. My iPod touch can now replace my Palm Pilot, and I am a very happy camper. I'd change my rating to four stars, if I could.
  
  
• PRICEY AND SUFFERS FROM BUGS...
  By A2RUUTTFJQ7CBH on 2007-12-09
  As a dedicated iPod owner I was thrilled to learn that Apple was coming out with a new touch screen model of iPod. The commercials for the new iPod Touch do a great job of making this product look sleek with its slim, sexy design with beautiful glass widescreen. They also boast that this new era of iPod has convenient WIFI capabilities with a built-in Safari web browser. To the average consumer this looks to be an exceptional MP3/Video player...that is until you see the price tag and storage capacity.
  
  At 16GB it would seem Apple has shot themselves in the foot from the get-go. I understand that they wanted to keep the iPod Touch a flash memory player but lets be realistic, 16GB isn't enough space to do anything with now-a-days. The undersized storage capacity seems to completely counteract with this new iPod concept in general...why have a gorgeous glass widescreen to view movies on when 16GB isn't even enough to satisfy most peoples music needs?
  
  Moving on to the iPod touch's WIFI capability that has been the subject of much hype. This (from my experience) has been the biggest disappointment so far. After connecting the iPod Touch to my home WIFI connection (and three other public WIFI hotspots) it continues to crash (when I say crash I mean it returns to the home/menu screen unexpectedly) making it impossible to surf the web. Incidentally, I have also experienced the unit crashing several times (although not as much compared to using the Safari web browser) when using the coverflow feature and when trying to watch videos. After quite a few factory resets the device seems to run smoothly again but manages to start crashing once more after just a few uses...leading to more factory resets in order to run the device properly.
  
  After searching the web for answers (on my PC of course) on this crashing issue I quickly discovered this seems to be a common complaint among iPod Touch owners. It seems this unit has issues with being "overworked" and crashes as a result of it. For example: when using the internal WIFI antenna the unit's processor has problems keeping up with all the action, chokes then restarts. The same thing occasionally happens when watching videos and scrolling to fast through album art. Which brings me to my next point...why at the ridiculous price of $400.00 does this unit lack the proper power to accomplish the tasks it promises it can?
  
  The iPod touch isn't all bad...it still has a very decent interface and the potential to be something great but I can't help but feel this product was just too rushed and slapped together quickly in order to make the holiday shopping deadline.
  
  I have personally owned five iPods over the years and have been completely satisfied with everyone of them (including the new 3rd generation iPod nano) until now. I'm hoping these issues with the iPod Touch will be cleared up with the 2nd generation release next year.
  
  At $400.00 this is far too much money for a product so plagued with bugs. I will be returning mine and waiting patiently for next years release.
  
  
• Lack of iCal Editing makes the Touch A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT
  By A1N03YXTTDA6QE on 2007-09-30
  What is up with Apple's endless pattern of charging more for less?
  
  First the iPhone fiasco - we can't use our own carrier and are stuck with AT&T - much more expensive and with a much weaker signal than my current provider. I actually bought an iPhone first, willing to pay for the other full functionality, but returned it immediately after discovering I couldn't use it without enabling the phone and getting an AT&T account.
  
  Then, AFTER CHECKING WITH THREE GENIUSES (Apple's term, not mine) at the Apple store, who assured me that the iPod Touch iCal function would do TWO-WAY SYNCING, I purchased the Touch hoping to toss my Palm Pilot into the trash heap once and for all.
  
  HOW COME WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EDIT OUR OWN iCAL ENTRIES on the TOUCH?
  
  THIS IS BEYOND INSANE - REALLY PETTY, ANTI-CONSUMER, AND DOWNRIGHT MEAN-SPIRITED ON APPLE'S PART.
  
  IF I CAN FIND A WAY TO HACK AROUND THIS LACK OF FUNCTIONALITY I WILL -- AND DON'T CARE IF I VOID MY WARRANTY.
  
  This is such an excellent overall product - why is Apple pulling bush league moves like this?
  
  THINK DIFFERENT has devolved into THINK RIP-OFF.
  
  I guess now that I own a $400 non-editable PDA I will go the corner store to buy a 2-dollar pocket notebook and revert back the 15th Century for my calendar updates when I am away from my PowerBook.
  
  A formerly loyal Apple Customer and Purchaser of 17 Apple Computers and 8 iPods, but fading fast...
  
  New Planet Mike
  
  
  
  
  
• Sweet advances
  By A3GIYREDXJ2TH0 on 2007-10-20
  I was looking to upgrade my trooper of an Ipod Mini and was going to upgrade to an Ipod classic but when I saw what the touch offered I was intrigued. What sold me on the touch was the wi-fi capability. After many years I reuturned to college to pursue a bachelors degree and the touch's wi-fi capability has been an excellent feature. Many of my courses have an online component and instead of hauling my laptop or wating in line to use one of the university's computers, I can use my touch to check email or see the latest discussion postings or contribute to the discussions. Typing has been excellent, very few errors and I have gotten quite fast. I use the widescreen view when I observe web pages and the zoom function is just plain sweet. I am awed by the interface, very responsive. Any misses or non-responces are due to my errors and not the interfaces. You have to train yourself a little bit on using the touch screen but it's not difficult.
  
  Some have complained about storage capacity but reality check people. Not everyone needs 80 or 160 gb's of storage. I have the 8 gb model of the touch which is double my old mini's capacity and it suits my needs perfectly. A couple of gb's of music and audiobooks, a few tv show episodes for when I have no reading or studying to do between classes, a few short films, and some photos to share with my classmates, such as my new niece.
  
  Sound quality is excellent and I have had zero issues using the touch in my car with the power adaptor and fm transmitter. Battery life so far has been excellent with me mixing up music, video and photo slideshow use. I have not had any issues concerning the screan or the touch acting all wonky. At the moment I am using it an average of about five hours a day and zero issues as of this time.
  
  
• Great Design - Poor Performance
  By AZ1ZDUANJZQR2 on 2007-10-18
  The touch-screen and colors on the Ipod touch are superb.
  This is where the great story comes to an end and makes me cling onto my 4G and 5G Ipod's for performance.
  The user interface is sluggish and the time lag to response irritating.
  The Wi-Fi is so slow even when i stand on top of my DSL wireless router that it is waste of time to even try and check your email or surf any websites.
  What make things worse is that 2 of the keys on the "Virtual Keyboard" simply do not work. These are the 5 Key and R key. I am perplexed as every time i try and attempt this input with vertical or horizontal screen orientation the input character is the adjacent key. Therefore it is usually impossible for me to login to my Gmail. It may be a defect on the screen of just my unit - but i dont know if this is the case or whether the OS of the Touch is flawed.
  The sound quality is decent, but a lot needs to be done to get this Ipod to work fast , reliably and without input issues.
  Performance is as important as looks when you pay so much for a device.
  
  
  
• Scotty beam me up!
  By AVSMRPI23DQI2 on 2007-11-29
  Apple 8 GB iPod Touch
  
  Fellow human beings, we have officially now launched into a true space age like device! Space age product is the category i give this of delectable piece of silicon!
  
  I had just gotten a unit free with our local distributor here (actually a friend's unit really!) along with any MacBook purchase (Apple MacBook MB062LL/B 13.3" Notebook PC (2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, 8x SuperDrive) White )
  
  This new deal from www.jarirbookstore.com in Riyadh was one of the best promotions i have seen. Within 5 days this offer went out of stock!
  Anyway, the device was definitely from the future. It really is "the" mini-computer and internet device that we all pictured of having like on Star Trek!
  
  Most notable features:
  * The screen touch ability ...i cant really describe the experience u must try it to believe it (in consulting circles they use a term "experience based differentiation (EBD.) They differentiated!
  
  *Seamless connectivity to any WiFi (that includes the Access controlled version as well..one can find the MAC address under About within the iPhone menu)
  
  *Apple lossless audio playback: now this was the feature that my ears were shocked by. I listened to similar music on both Touch and classic iPod (apple lossless codec) and they have done something with the playback of this version! it sounds crisp and clear!
  
  * iCal, contacts, YouTube feature are all some of my favorites as well. There is a different "feel" to having those funny videos on the fly and showing them to friends semi-intantly.
  
  * Apps, Apps and more apps: this bit is for my friend (Waleed) who was a bit hesitant about the devices; he is a former PDA user of all other types of devices which come with a ton of 3rd party applications. Well this platform is new and is building good ground for a ton of apps: http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/index1.html
  They have built several great productivity apps for this platform and i am sure it will eventually become mainstream development. There is no shortage on what can be made for this device!
  
  * Last but not least: this is not a "dummied" down version of a very popular computer operating system. Folks considering this or the iPhone from the PDA perspective should appreciate that application class of this device are actually as close as u get from your standard desktop applications; example on the Safari web browser equipped on this device is in fact the same on an Windows or a Mac version of Safari.
  
  Granted they are a bit off on the overall features but no one up to this point built a PDA application which runs like a desktop class application. (maybe they have and i am not aware of it!)
  
  
  Final thought:
  the iPod touch experience is seamless internet.... like what amazon.com is to online shopping!
  
  
• Rocks as ipod & web browser (insight from an iPod junkie)
  By A1EAE9YL9AGZ0Z on 2007-10-01
  There's really only two reasons to buy this iPod over the others. Simply said it is the touch display and the ability to surf the web.
  
  I purchased my iPod touch the first day it was available. I have had it for about a week and here's my review:
  
  As an iPod: Just as good as the 5.5 generation iPod. Effortlessly imported all my music. Excellent music quality and plays all day long. You just need to shut down the visual display to preserve battery consumption. Note: The games do not work on this one. Also, as others have noted, controlling volume is awkward if the screen is dark.
  
  As a web browser: Simply awesome! I could take this on vacation for reading my email (It is much better than my cell phone). I was able to log into all of my web-based email apps and send and receive messages. Using the keyboard is not hard at all. If you rotate the display before you enter text, a bigger keyboard shows up on the bottom. NOTE: There is no feature to save your login information like Apple's regular Safari. This means you need to retype your name and password into many services over and over again each time you launch (Apple, let's fix this on the next upgrade).
  
  Summary: Fully exceeded expectations.
  
  A few things that are not obvious:
  
  - There is no manual and you need to figure out how to navigate as you go. I found a manual on Apple's site.
  - The YouTube performance is spotty depending on how many folks are demanding a video
  - Battery power will get sucked dry fast if you surf web or watch videos
  
  
  
• Almost Great
  By A8YPWNI0I4NO2 on 2007-10-01
  I bought this unit primarily because after owning a 5th Gen iPod (80) I found myself using the video function about 90% of the time. The Touch is certainly a great video unit. Yet, why Apple gave us a unit with so many shortcomings is distressing. Why is it missing email, why no Google maps, why no direct entry to calendar? Also, why no ability to enter notes? My biggest disappointment is why do I have to buy a new cable ($49) to view movies on a television. Other than that all the other functions work great, Safari is much better than my Palm TX for web surfing and iTunes works well. I just hope that in Time Apple allows 3rd party apps or fills in the missing pieces.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Let the Music Play ...
  By A6T1RHMQ9NSE4 on 2007-12-30
  I have purchased two of these from Amazon, both at unbelieveable prices. I guess I just caught it at the right time. And if you purchase from Amazon, they do have a price matching policy for thirty days. The first one was bought for my sixteen year old son who loves it and swears that it is THE BEST IPod that he's ever owned. I have to agree... I LOVE mine as well, the touch screen, the HUGE screen that shows videos, and the really cool show it gives you with the covers of your mp3s that you have on your Ipod. All very cool. The show..well that's what I call it.. is kind of like you are spinning a rack of the CD's that you own and you're trying to decide which ones to pick so you can listen to them.
  
  I also love the fact that they redesigned the head phones so that they fit in my ears a little better. I thought the others were too big and always hurt my little ears. They just never fit right. Another thing that you never have to worry about again is that click wheel on the old Ipods, which was always one of my major complaints with the older models. I really hated that feature and always "clicked over" or "clicked past" something I wanted. So, needless to say, I'm so not sad to see that go!
  
  I've owned quite a few Ipods, as well as my son, and now the only complaint I have is what to do with our old ones! : )
  
  The new Ipod Touch is just beautiful to look at. It's a great conversation piece and it keeps you occupied for hours. If you are a music lover, an Ipod is a must. Watching videos and the like isn't a chore anymore...with a too small screen to enjoy the actual video...it's like the OLD MTV. Remember when they actually ONLY played VIDEOS?? : )
  
  I love the easy interface and set up of these mp3 players. Anyone can use it. It's easy to update your Ipod with the songs you want and the ones you want to remove. The new You Tube feature is very cool as well. Just type in what video *or whatever you'd like to watch* and there it is, on your screen, for free! I love the fact that I don't have to go on my computer to purchase songs if I don't want to and can do so wirelessly with the WiFi feature it's made quite simple. That was a big plus when deciding to buy.
  
  I also understand that besides being able to RENT movies on this little Ipod, they are also going to have new updates every now and then that you can buy to make it a little better. The newest update package for January includes the Weather, Stocks, Email, Maps and Notes. These applications can also be bought in the itunes store just like the movie rentals. Awesome! You can also move the keys around on the front of the touch screen to better suit your needs as well. I LOVE THIS THING! I am sure there will be much more to come, but I can't say it enough...that I Love it and I Love it the way it is. But I have to admit, the more I can do with it, the better it seems. I'm so happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone.
  
  So if you are thinking of getting one, contemplating the amount of money spent, it's worth every penny! No regrets. Oh and the GB thing. whether it's 8 or 16, It's really hard to fill up that much space with just music and videos. I've had the larger capacity ones and never came close to filling it. I have over 660 songs on my Ipod, along with videos and it's not even close to being half full. *we have the 16 GB*
  
  My son did drop his last one, right on the corner, I believe that's where the glass is the most vulnerable. So, my reccomendation to protect this beauty is a smart and really gorgeous looking case by DLO. It's a black leather case, very nice quality leather, and it has a flap that goes over the entire Ipod with a magnetic closure. It has access to the charging and headphone openings while closed and when you open the cover, you have full access to the touch screen and it will NEVER fall out. This is by far the best case I have seen for this item.
  
  Well that's my review. Enjoy your new Ipod!
  
  
• Impressive...Yes, Overpriced...Yes, Worth it...Depends
  By A3NPBM6UR4XNAD on 2007-10-09
  Being an early adopter of this shiny new iPod comes with drawbacks. All of us who went out and bought this new device surely understood this. If not, those 1-star fools deserved what they got.
  
  I bought my touch two weeks ago, before the official release date because I was absolutely amazed by what it offered. I bought it knowing full well of all the crippling that Apple stupidly implemented. I do not agree with what Apple has done to "differentiate" the touch from the iphone. However, for me, the purchase made sense because as far as a PMP (personal media player), no other device rivals the touch.
  
  Reasons why the touch works for me:
  1. Brilliant screen (darker than iphone screen...yes, but still beautiful)
  
  2. The touch interface is better than any clunky button interface
  
  3. No signing my life away to AT&T or $$$/hack to SIM off to another carrier. I'll keep my devices separate for the time-being.
  
  4. I'm cool paying premium for a quality device that I use every day, especially since I know it serves my purposes perfectly (podcasts, music, video podcasts, TV episodes, occasional movie, quickie photo album).
  
  5. Lastly...the icing on the cake is the web browser/wifi capability. The browser rendering is fantastic and is actually quite usable.
  
  My complaints/hopes for improvement are the same as other folks:
  
  1. Apple needs to provide a decent remote for this thing so it is actually usable in a car or on a jog. I know, I know...there are a few 3rd party remotes out there, but the choices are few. I have yet to find a simple inexpensive wire remote that will just plug into the touch.
  
  2. Flash and Java of course.
  
  3. Uncripple this thing! Makes no consumer-sense to not have simple notes, a real calendar, email client, & maps client.
  
  So if you want the best PMP available and don't mind paying more for a quality device, then go get yourself an iPod Touch. I know I did and absolutely love it!
  
  Jeremy
  
  
• An iPhone Without the Phone!
  By A3DTSC80W9RNB9 on 2007-10-05
  If you want the coolest iPod yet check out the Apple iPod touch. This radical design lets you listen to your music as well as browse the internet among other features.
  
  Apple has taken the iPhone and removed the telecommunication capabilities. It is thinner than the iPhone, but has many of its functions. It can play music from iTunes or your CDs. It is a web browswer as well (as long as you have access to wi-fi). There is only one button (HOME) and you just use your fingers to navigate its many features on its 3-1/2 inch screen. The Coverflow feature lets you view your album covers as if in a moving rack. Just touch the album and you can select your music.
  
  There are a few downsides to this attractive iPod. Apple could have boosted the memory. Currently it is available in 8GB (1750 songs) or 16GB (3500 songs). Hopefully, future versions will have more memory at the same price points.
  
  When you open the box, the only instructions is a small foldout giving you absolutely minimal instructions. A mini-manual would have worked better.
  
  Since most functions work with just your finger on the glass screen, it does leave fingerprints. Of course, these can be easily cleaned, but it is a problem if you want to keep it looking clean.
  
  This is a great device and once you get the hang of it, a pleasure to use. If Apple would boost the memory size, it would be an MP3 player for the world to beat.
  
  
• Now we've got a serious iPod which is so easy to use.
  By A114O4R5VKCBN9 on 2007-10-05
  This is a beautiful looking device and now (as of January 2008) I can add iCal appointments on the fly and sync them with my Mac. This makes the iPod Touch almost a PDA. Safari has a few issues because there are several important plug-ins missing which may restrict access to some websites. The iPhone is currently affected by this too.
  
  I bought one of these for my mother and she adores having it to view the photos of me and my dog (we live 4,000 miles apart), the videos of us together, and of course the music and movies she loves. It helps her to feel connected to me in addition to our 'phone calls. My mum is a technophobe, yet she can use the touch screen interface easily.
  
  At 16Gb, the Touch had adequate memory, however add several hundred songs and a few 1GB movies burned with the help of Handbrake, and you discover you may need a little more memory unless you want to remove the movies every once in a while.
  
  Expect Apple to release an iPod Touch and revised iPhone with more memory in the latter half of 2008!
  
  
• Great Gadget
  By A2WCFDOCS73PNB on 2007-10-13
  This is another technological marvel from Apple. I was quite impressed with the packed features and quality of the design of the iPod touch. On top of the great sound quality, what impressed me most is the quality of the video display. It provides sharp and vivid color with better than expected resolution. The internet browser is a fully functional one with Java enabled which allows us to browse most of the web sites. It also formats the web pages nicely and we could easily zoom in the contents by "pinching" on the screen. The interface to YouTube was also nicely designed and it downloads the contents rather quickly. It also allows you to get to the most viewed, featured, and search/bookmark your favorite ones.
  
  Here are some of the minor issues :
  
  - there aren't a lot of accessories available (yet). The iPod touch is actually smaller in size than the iPhone so the iPhone accessories including protective cases won't fit nicely.
  
  - the keypad is pretty small and would need some "training" to get used to it. It does, however, highlight the key that iPod sensed so that you would know if you pressed the correct key before releasing your finger.
  
  - the slide bar for the video playing is not very sensitive which makes it difficult to navigate through different sessions of the movies. This could be a problem if you are watching some long movies and wanted to get to a particular scene. The fast forward feature works well but you don't have much control on the forwarding speed.
  
  - you cannot delete pictures through the iPod and it has to be removed through the iTunes interface. However, you could delete videos through iPod touch.
  
  - there are no games available (yet)
  
  All-in-all, this is one nice gadget that you would be impressed and enjoy.
  
  
  
• Apple 8 GB iPod touch
  By A2XNENW0TEG516 on 2007-12-25
  When I first got my iPod Touch, I thought, "Wow, this will be a fun thing to have". I opened the slick Black box and took out the iPod. It had a beautiful screen(which it actually glass)and had a great look to it. I couldn't wait to load up my songs. I put the USB into the iPod than my computer, loaded up iTunes and waited. "Cannot connect to your iPod. required software is needed". After 2 hours of the same old error, I took it back to get another one. Maybe this iPod was a dud. After I got my new one, same thing. I started all over. I deleted and cleared out everything that had to do with Apple. iTunes, Quicktime and the iPod driver, everything. I reinstalled everything I needed. I worked! Maybe I actually installed something that was "required". I put in my iPod and it found it. I started to load up my songs and it kept losing a connection. I had to close out iTunes because it wouldn't reconnect. I loaded iTunes and it did find it again but it sill lost a connection. After putting on 12 songs, lost connection. If it did keep finding my iPod I didn't care if it only loaded up 10 songs at a time. After 4 hours to load up 400 songs, and 2 hours to edit them I had my iPod all set. I loaded up my iPod and went into the song section. The sound was great. Very clear and loud. Listening to about 10 songs, I heard silence. Great another problem. The song wouldn't play. Then a few more didn't play and so on. Only half of the songs played. I went back into iTunes and reloaded the songs that didn't play. Same thing. I thought maybe I was the only person who was having this problem. Go to the Apple website and to the message board. About 40 people were having the same problems.
  
  Now for the features of the iPod Touch. It has a calculator, Internet connection for web browsing, music, settings, video, and the time. Really. After all the commercials and ads of the stupid shadow dancers, I really expected a lot more features.
  
  For the look of it, it's really is nice. It's about the size of a Razr and has the same weight. It's very bright and clear. Very slick looking.
  
  For the feel of it. It's great. The screen is very sensitive and responsive. When selecting, it really never got confused and selected the wrong thing I touched. That's actually a good thing about it.
  
  For the sound. It's excellent. Just as loud and clear as my old (working) iPod.
  
  The accessories were pretty disappointing. USB, head phones, and a stand which no one ever uses. For the booklet. Nothing. I mean yes it does come with one but it's just a legal thing. No booklet of the iPod itself. It does have a "Get started" booklet but it's nothing you already don't know.
  
  It was very easy to use and operate. If you've used an iPod before, it will take you literally about 5 minutes to remember where all the limited features are. If you've never used an iPod, you will have a tough time.
  
  Some of you who are reading this will say It's me and not the iPod. My old iPod; my Brother and Father's are working just fine. 3 iPod Nano's. I would stick with that until they fix the bugs and for the price to go down. Don't even think about getting this for a while.
  
  
• Apple had to do it AGAIN!
  By A1ZCSSCAGBCD49 on 2008-01-15
  They just have to make you feel like a fool for buying an Apple product. Thanks Steverino! Buy the Touch and a few weeks later force a $20 update to complete the purchase! The only way to get the fixed Safari Browser is to buy the $20 upgrade! What a crock! Stay Away! It's only the beginning! First the iPhone now the Touch. Really makes you feel good after a $400 purchase.
  Stay Away!
  
  
  

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• Apple iPod touch 16 GB (1st Generation)