As many of you already know Mrs. Clause and myself have had this ‘thing’ for some time now. Because of my closeness with her she visited me a bit early this year and gave me my ridiculously awesome gift for being such a good boy this year; my new 80GB Video IPod (Black). Yes sir, 80 GB – 20GB larger than my laptop’s hard-drive. I have been loading tunes and videos for three days now and am only half way full.
There are some nice updates and upgrades to the new IPod that are worth a mention. This is not an all encompassing review, just a general critique by yours truly.
First off the bat is the new brighter and larger screen. There is a considerable upgrade to the screen quality on this one. First thing that one will notice when playing video on this thing the quality and crispness of the display. Though I am sure that long movies on this thing are less than ideal, you really can not beat a portable 80GB device that will allow such quick, easy and portable playback of not only video but music as well; and all easily stored inside you pants pocket.
The size is a bit decreased from my 4th Gen 20GB model that I am moving up from (and before you message me, I gave that one on to Mrs. Clause to replace her 4GB Mini). I would say there is a 10-15% decrease in thickness . Considering, this is an 80GB vs my previous 20GB, the fact there is any decrease in size is remarkable – this hard-drive cannot be much larger than the size of a nano. The advancements in solid state storage as of late (last 2-3 yrs) has been exponential; something that really shows in Apple’s iPod.
Once inside the iPod’s interface most people will noticed the added extras: for one there is a handy alarm clock to activate your iPod at a certain time and a certain song! Next there is obviously a digital clock as well as a stopwatch feature. Apple has also added a calendar tho admittedly I have played little with this function and do not know the extent of its function. Another cool added feature that I hope to soon explore more deeply is the added support for additional games (available for sale; yes, through the dreaded iTunes) such as Bejeweled, Tetris, Golf, Pac-Man, and a handful of others. I look forward to the near future in the way of what offerings will be made from the DEV, hack and crack, open-source communities; I am sure they will be plentiful as this pod adds quite a bit of punch in memory and processor in comparison to its predecessors.
Lets see… what else? Oh yea, the package… Per usual, Apple knows the ins and outs of presentation. This iPod, like ALL others, comes in a packaging get-up that is seemingly as trendy as the player itself… a marvelous, filthy, indulgent trendy…. The package included with my particular iPod included earphones, soft protective sheath, usb cable, instructions, and 2 apple stickers. What was missing was the installation CD (who cares? Min requirement on box is broadband which should have you covered) and, here’s the kicker, the wall plug adapter. Yup, no power adapter – so no ‘puter no charge (unless you drop 10-15 bones for the plug). All in all the packaging deal is nice. Nicest of all is the seeming improvement of the ear-bud quality. The gray parts of the headphones are rubberized, leading to a tighter, more isolated fit in the ear which of course leads to decreased environmental noise getting in (as well as a tight pack punch to more rapidly deafen you I am sure). All and all, A+!
I will end the shameless praise here and simply sum it up with: “I love this little bastard more than a mother could love her bastard child.†I look forward to many hours of eye and ear abuse at the aid of this device… thank you oh so much Mrs. Clause!
*Notice: before you notify my wife of my infidelity, Mrs. Clause has your address… be warned beotches… oh yea, and obviously, Mrs. Clause = Mrs. Kristy Ezell…. No autographs please.
Awesome! I’m stuck with the mini, but I still love it.