30 GB Apple Video iPod Review
- Product:
- 30 gig Apple Video iPod (company site)
- What’s Good:
- Slim design, comfortable to hold, lots of storage space
- What’s Bad:
- Doesn’t come with power adapter/charger, scratches easily
In November of last year, i finally gave in to the ever present “cool gadget purchase pressure” in our office, and bought a 30 gig video ipod.
Actually, that’s not entirely true.
I had originally ordered and received a 20 gig picture ipod and had it for a couple of weeks when Apple decided to release the newer, much cooler ipod video. A little distraught by this turn of events, one of my co workers pointed out Apples return policy, which allows a customer to return a product for full refund if a newer version of said product is released within 14 days of the purchase. Checking my receipt, i made the cut by one day, returned my “crappy” 3 week old ipod, and ordered the newer, much cooler video ipod.
Design
Much has been written about Apples ability to create pieces of hardware that are almost works of art, and the iPod is no exception. This thing looks great! With a slimmer design than the older versions, it fits much more comfortably in you hand, and just seems to have a nicer ‘feel’ to it. The color display is a little large than older models, which gives the feel of this version being a little wider than others. Making a black version available is a nice addition as that option was only available with the special edition U2 iPods in the past. My only real complaint about the design is how susceptible to scratches it is. One has to be pretty diligent in keeping it in some sort of case [it comes with a cloth case] to protect the display from getting too scratched up.
Function
The interface on the new iPod is no different from past ones. It is well laid out, easy to read, and quite simple to use. The click wheel can take some getting used to, and can be a tad finicky at times, but once you catch on it’s smooth sailing. Adding new music through iTunes is quite simple and can be done automatically or manually when connecting the iPod. One complaint i do have is the lack of a separate power supply / charger. The older ipod came with its own plug-in charger, where as this newer model only charges through a usb 2 connection and the plug in charger must be purchased separately.
Video
My main reason for purchasing this iPod was for mass music portability, the fact that it has video capabilities is an added bonus, but to be honest, i haven’t been using it to watch video that much. Though the resolution on the screen is surprisingly good, and the video is quite clear, i find it frustrating trying to watch anything on a screen that small. I suppose if i had a long daily commute, or had to fly somewhere, i might find the video ability more appealing. I do think that in future models, Apple will likely enlarge the screen and focus more on the video aspect, but for now, it just seems like more of a novelty than anything else.
Overall
Being a music lover, the main appeal of the iPod is that it gives me the ability to carry around a substantial amount of music with me wherever i go. The video ability is a neat feature, but not a deal breaker. The fact that it looks great, is easy to use and allows me to carry pretty much my entire music collection with me wherever i go makes the 30 gig video iPod a pretty good fit for my mp3 needs!
Comments
phil - April 13, 2006 3:56 am
Hi, would you know when the 30GB ipod came out of the market? I too bought a 20 GB and not for long the 30 GB came out, many thanks
anomanos - May 9, 2007 8:43 pm
i bought a 30 g i pod amd its asome
J - July 10, 2007 10:10 pm
why does the ipod video freeze?? it pissed me off, doen't ppl know how to make shit anymore
drained by the brain - February 13, 2008 3:28 am
purchased a used ipod 30g video white, it keeps draining it battery within 10-20 minutes of it's being removed from it's charger. I saw a service offer to replace the battery, so I did it has an hours use, isn't this suppost to be more? it just keeps drain itself too quickly. if a resister is failing i could perhaps hardwire something to replace it with some radio shack parts, but the failing resistor(s) could be one or several out of a billion,,at a microscopic level. well, if I can't get it fixed, i guess i just blew a few hundred on a miniture home componet system.
thanks for reading
drained in the brain.
Frustrated iPod Lover - July 22, 2008 5:22 pm
I got the 30 gb iPod Video two years ago for my birthday. Suddenly it stopped working, and the "sad face" icon showed up on the screen. I went to the Apple website, but it had no information on the 30gb Video anymore. I couldn't find anything except that I might have to troubleshoot my iPod. Instead of trying to do all of that, maybe I'll jsut convince my dad to buy me the newer classic version. My sster is 4 years younger than me and she has the 160 gig classic. Guilt tripping still work these days?