New Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation)

A few niggles, but otherwise a more than worthy upgrade, 4 Oct 2010

If anyone who already owns or has owned an iPod touch will know what an amazing piece of tech this is. But there a couple of warnings about the new design to consider.

The Good

Never have I owned something quite like this. The interface is so slick, so intuitive it has always been a pleasure to use. And it’s so much more zippier than my 2nd gen thanks to the better cpu and double the ram.

The screen is noticeably much better (not than past generations were bad!) beautifully sharp and text is a dream to read. Ok, some will wonder why it has no in-plane switching bearing in mind that the iPhone 4 does. IPS for those who don’t know means you can view the screen at at extreme angles. But why would you on this device? I can still view it at extreme angles if I wish to. The colour may shift to a blue hue, but I only notice that when looking at the screen from the home button end and tilted at a ridiculous angle. The iPod Touch is too small for this to be ever dreamt as concern and IPS only benefits the iPad in my opinion.

The volume buttons are now separated as opposed to a rocker and are pleasant to use. The power button has moved to the right and have no issues with its new place as I thought I might have. And the speaker is an improvement but not really loud enough in a fairly noisy environment.

Face time works well and I love the ability to flip from the front camera to the back while in a conversation.

The .7 megapixel camera may seem a disappointment at first, but given that apple has packed in HD video recording all is forgiven. The camera is good enough for emailing and uploading to social net works, but for printing your images the quality is pretty poor. I managed a 5×4 print with fair results taken in good light. A bit jaggerdy in places, but then again, for a .7 mp camera it’s not a bad effort. But I most definitely would want to use a dedicated camera to capture those all important moments.

But for me having a HD video recorder is far more rewarding feature to have than a 5 mp camera for my needs. It’s not quite as good as some of the flip range, as a comparison, but this crammed in with what seems as a never ending list of functions I take my hat off to apple. How do they do it! The video I have recorded I am more than satisfied with in daylight, but it is grainy and a bit noisy in low light due to not having an in-built light/flash. But for its sheer portability i doubt i will use my camcorder again. Just make sure you purchase a 32GB or 64GB model as it will gobble up your storage. A short 2.44 minute movie equated into a 208mb file!

Wifi is still simple to set up with a solid connection. And with blue tooth, you are finaly able to control the volume of blue tooth speakers that have no volume control. Somthing my Sony Ericsson W705 has done for nearly a couple of years!

The Not So Good

Firstly, if like me you’re using a speaker dock (mines a Bose sound dock original with scosche passport converter) or some other kind of dock, you may want to check first if this 4th gen model will fit.

Apple never supplied a dock convertor like they have on previous models which seems to my thinking they knew there would be compatibility issues with consumers existing docks.

The 4th gen iPod Touch has a slightly narrower connector than previous models. When I first hooked up the iPod with its factory made sync/power lead I noticed it was very tight when connecting. Then I tried my sound dock and after a little bit of wiggling around found that it just wouldn’t fit. Unfortunately by doing that I found a thin piece of plastic had blocked the iPods connector and rested on the pins. I managed to move this back with a thin tool and was then able to insert it into the sound dock.

But after a days in and out of the dock it finally would no longer dock due to the thin piece of plastic getting in the way and the sync lead just became too tight to insert. So I took it back.

To give apple their due in six days I had a replacement. This one was better and I could dock it with my sound dock, although still a bit tight, but after one week I have had no problems.

I would like to say this is a one off, but looking on the internet I’m not the only one.

*Update 23/11/10: It does seem now that the above is due to a faulty device rather than compatibility issues with docks and power/sync leads. My replacement iPod to date has been working fine if still a little tight connecting.*

Also I do feel there is too much to sacrifice(better quality stills camera?) for a new thin design as the last model was very thin and I don’t really notice the difference enough to warrant it.

And if only apple would ditch the scratch magnet chrome back and save as a small fortune in buying cases to protect it…

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Thoughts from an Ipod newbie, 22 Oct 2010

By 

Aaron C. Braund “tek dude” (U.K) – See all my reviews

  

The Ipod hype train has passed me by again and again and again without making me take notice of Apples latest mp3 masterpiece so this one certainly went straight over my head. The media and consumer voice have made a lot of my decisions about Apple, that they are money hungry and sell products that break within days. Then there was the fiasco about the Iphone 4’s signal and that story certainly didnt impress me.

But after ignoring the temptation of an Ipod too long I succumbed, because I was in need of something to replace my trusty Zen Stone, which is now resting in pieces thanks to my son :(. I went big on the purchase with one of these; I thought that if I wanted to experience an Iphone without paying the ridiculous monthly tarriffs this was the best choice. I didnt prepare myself for love but thats what happened.

Too hold it in your hands is idescribable, it feels beautiful, slim but satisfyingly heavy. Set up was done in moments on my windows pc and itunes. I started to explore the phones features. So I tried the web browser, which is the best I’ve used on any mobile device. Then I set up all my emails so they would come straight to my phone. How about the apps? I must hold the world record for apps downloaded within an hour…. there are news feed, mobile banking… AND ebay! Christ, I love ebay, and its a damnsight better than the ebay I get on my blackberry.

Lets not forget the games and the graphics on this kit… PWOAR is all I have to say. The graphics are incredible; I’ve heard that the pixels are closer together than the 3rd generation but I’ve never used one of those. Its just PHWOAR.

Now the touch interface was something i was worried about because I have fingers like german sausages. No need to fear, its accurate like a sniper on stimulants. I suggest you buy a screen protector because you’ll want to touch it all the time and fingerprints are not attractive.

By the time I had fiddled with apps and games… I’d forgotten all about the music! So I stuck a load of tracks on there and what do you know, it’s a great mp3 player; what a good idea Apple.

And now for criticisms: not many, buy yourself a new pair of headphones because the ones supplied are diabiolical. Also Facetime… I’ve looked it and cant really be bothered to use it: its more something you would use on a phone anyway. Also, I didnt buy it for taking photos, but the quality is pretty poor. But i’m not complaining, if you want great pictures buy a camera.

Bottom line: Yes I’m an Apple covert, its really quite easy to change when they make technology as beautiful as this.

Thanks for listening to my first time using an Ipod. Best bit of advice to you is to buy one, and if you got more dosh buy an Iphone which is all of above and the ability to phone and text so I’ve heard.

NOTE: You obviously need wifi to use internet, receive mail and log on to app store etc.

UPDATE: 04/11/2010

Having used the Ipod for well over two weeks now there is another negative that has become apparent. Battery life. When using apps it degrades rapidly, and when the apps are that addictive your going to be doing a lot of Ipod charging! However, the battery is great when playing music, it hardly consumes it at all.

Aside from that my love hasn’t faltered. I sometimes find myself grabbing for the ipod when I have a bit of net surfing to do instead of my cumbersome laptop.

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Good, 13 Oct 2010

I’ve been using a new 8GB model for the past two weeks and it has been great. I have not observed any defects in workmanship and performance is great except for taking photographs with the back camera (which is usable but not a substitute for a real camera). Video with the back camera has good sound, fast frame rate and rich color saturation. Recommended!

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