Apple iPod video 5th Generation Black (60 GB) MP3 Player

Sight unseen (in person anyway), I purchased the iPod from the Apple Store in December 2005. It arrived promptly, and the first day I put all my MP3's on it. I did not yet put any videos on it, because I hadn't found a conversion solution to my liking. Accordingly, I will first discuss my first experiences, which were with music and the interface.

Aesthetically speaking, the iPod, especially the black model, looks amazing. The sheen of the material, and the smoothness to the touch offer an extremely stunning appearance that makes the product that much more enjoyable to use. The screen is 2.5 inches diagonal, but has a much greater size in terms of perception. This illusion is caused by the stunning level of brightness on the screen.

The famous Apple click-wheel design is no longer a mechanical part like in previous generations, but rather a touchpad designed by Synaptics, a company world famous for laptop touchpads. The style is unchanged though. It is still operated by making circular motions, and instead of a mechanical click, the sound is supplied a small speaker in the iPod, and through the earbuds.

As far as sound quality is concerned, this is largely variable, depending on several factors. On the iPod end of things, sound processing is handled by the central ARM7 and ARM9 processors. However, the iPod is not solely responsible for sound quality. Another large factor is the quality level of the encoding on a given song. The songs I tested were 128kbps AAC (Apple format, equivalent to 192kbps MP3), and 300kbps MP3. Naturally, the 300kbps MP3's sounded noticably better, as one would expect. However AAC produced acceptable sound quality as well.

If one is not satisfied with the sound quality, one of the approximately 20 different equalizer presets in the iPod can be useful. Be advised however, that equalizers require the iPod to process and change song attributes in real-time, which significantly decreases charge life on the battery.

The aforementioned iPod battery is an in-built lithium ion battery, not removable or serviceable by the end user. It is stated by Apple to last about 15 hours on music playback, and 3 hours on video. Both estimates are on the proviso that one is not using any equalizer.

Next I will discuss the video capability. The iPod can play videos that are encoded in the QuickTime H.264 codec, with the suggested quality profile of 320x240 resolution, with 128kbps stereo audio. The most prominent place to acquire iPod compatible videos is the iTunes Music Store, which offers TV shows, music videos, and other videos available for download, preformatted for iPod. If one wishes to convert their own videos, this is possible via QuickTime Pro, or a smattering of other applications.

Video on the iPod is extremely good quality, with good brightness and overall clarity. The LCD screen leaves some more contrast to be desired (as do all LCDs), but the backlighting seems to be perfectly even, which is a relief. Given the 4:3 (standard television) aspect ratio, and low resolution of the 2.5 inch screen, this is not a device that would make for a cinematic experience. However, such material isn't intended for this use anyway. The core material for iPod video is music videos and television, both of which are a pleasure to view on the iPod.

Overall, Apple's video-enabled iPod makes a superb portable media device which will provide endless enjoyment for the mobile music and video lover.