Apple iPod 5th Generation White (60 GB) MP3 Player

before buying the 60gb video ipod i have now, i owned a 20gb creative zentouch. though that player was pretty satisfactory as well.. apple soon had so many features the zentouch didn't, i had to switch.

the layout in general.. quite nice. the screen's big enough to impress someone upon the first sight of it, as is the picture quality. the 30gb is TINY. (i bought a black 30, and exchanged it for a white 60 the next day.) after having both the 30 & 60, it's fair to say that they're both an amazing weight & size for their respective storage capacities. both quite impressive. unfortunately, it still has the same shiny metal back casing that scratches AMAZINGLY easily, as does the front panel/screen. i didn't take the plastic cover off til i got ahold of a case, and mine's still come out scratched a bit.

the music playback. excellent. including the album art on the 'now playing' display is fantastic. reaches great volume, but i haven't heard it on anything but the issued headphones, so i don't really know how it stacks up in terms of bass and whatnot. only complaint i'd have is, after using a creative product for a year.. i miss the 'find' option. that is, with every list of songs, albums, and artists, at the top you could click 'find' and choose a first letter to jump to. once i get completely used to the scrollwheel, i'm sure that won't be a huge problem.

the video playback. most people are complaining about this feature, and what i will say is that i'd STRONGLY recommend buying a fourth-gen ipod or a different brand if you aren't a) computer literate or b) have a computer literate friend that can give you a hand. because if you don't have a good understanding of video file types, qualities, and conversions, you WILL NOT be able to use this feature easily. unless, of course, you use itunes' video purchases. (to give you an idea.. if you want a tv show, you'll be purchasing them for $2 an episode.) unfortuantely, apple didn't make this feature easy to use. the player itself is fine.. in fact, the video quality is exceptional given the fact that it's mostly a music player. i will say that the only time my ipod has frozen, it's been while watching videos. it gets a little fritzy while viewing them in terms of using the scrollwheel, but it hasn't been a major issue for me yet.

otherwise.. it has a great photo storage capability, four games, a clock, stopwatch, contacts, calendar, etc. all kinds of extra features NOT INCLUDING an fm tuner, which would have been nice to have.

and for older ipod users.. if you have accessories that connected at the top of the ipod, they will no longer work on the new ipods. things like the itrip have been rendered useless.

overall - thoroughly research the mp3 players available. creative, sony, and iriver all have great contributions. depending on YOUR personal music collection and intentions, you may be more fit for a nano.

be practical.