 A worthwhile, guilty indulgence 79 of 82 people found this review helpful.
I bought the iPod Touch 2G for my wife as a X-Mas present and I have to say, it was worth it. The apps are varied and add much to the experience of having the touch by expanding upon its basic functions and abilities. There are piano emulators, apps to check the weather, apps to stream radio and of course a decent amount of games. My wife certainly enjoys the ability to have a nice and quick diversion at her fingertips (literally) and I have also enjoyed my experiences with the touch.
That is not to say that there have not been a few hiccups along the way. First and foremost is the issue of battery life. Out of the box there are several things you really NEED to do to get the most out of the touches battery life. From changing the brightness setting, to making sure you turn wi-fi off when you can't get a connection to NOT turning the touch on and off and putting it to sleep when you will be using it regularly-semi-regularly. There are certain things that you have to do that seem strange or are just be the kind of things that a casual buyer/user would not be aware of and I encourage you to look these things up if you are looking into buying one. There are tons of little tricks floating around the internet in regards to the touch. My wife certainly would have used the touch as-is without giving it a second thought, and I suspect that many people, enticed by the whole "OMG I have to get a touch" phenomenon would not bother to even go into the settings or question the battery drain until they notice they are getting very bad battery mileage. Also there is an issue of response time. Occasionally, the touch will become rather sluggish and respond very slowly to commands. The most prevalent issue, at least for me, is the screen tends hang in a layout occasionally or it takes a serious lean to get it to change from the landscape to standard view and vice-versa. It's not a big deal though and usually a nice sleep-wakeup click does the trick.
Also it should be noted that the touch, in my opinion, is NOT a serious gaming system as the PSP and DS are much wiser choices for those interested in that, but it's fun for what it is. Also if you are looking for something just to play music, don't bother blowing the $200-400 as there are MP3 players out there that can be had for far less and work just as good, if not better, for those who need music, and only music, on the go. The same could be said for those looking for a multimedia device, there are better options out there, although they may not come in a package as appealing or compact as the touch. But if you have the interest and the $$$, by all means read up on 2G Touch...there are things I haven't talked about here that would certainly be of interest to those laying down the cash and might influence you better than my rudimentary review could.
Review ID: 10000000010171372  Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our guidelines, it will be posted within 24 hours. You cannot vote on the helpfulness of a review you wrote. Your request cannot be processed at this time. Please try again later.  DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND GENERATION Review created: 02/27/09(updated 02/27/09) 38 of 38 people found this review helpful.
The main differences:
- The 1G has a flat backplate, the one on the 2G tapers out and becomes thinner at the edges like with the iPhone 3G.
- 2G has a redesigned Wi Fi receiver cover - it's a rectangle in a corner of the 1G, but on the 2G it's more curved and moved closer to the centre of the backplate.
- The 2G is slightly (0.5mm) thicker than the 1G.
- 2G has a speaker.
- 2G has external volume controls.
- 2G is not FireWire compatible while the 1G is (that's not important unless you have any old iPod accessories that use FireWire that you want to use with the 2G)
- 2G has longer battery life.
- 2G has a better-looking screen (the 1G seems more washed out in comparison)
- 2G has Nike+iPod support.
Wi Fi receiver
- The Wi Fi receiver on the first generation iPod touch is situated in the upper left-hand corner of the backplate, and is very square-shaped.
- The receiver on the second generation touch is more of an oval shape and is situated between the upper left-hand corner and the center of the backplate.
Backplate
- The backplate on the first gen touch is rather flat, and curves only at the edges.
- The backplate on the second gen touch is tapered; it's thicker at the middle and curves around to become thinner at the edges (much like the iPhone 3G).
Thickness
- Contrary to what some people say, the second gen touch is actually 0.5mm thicker than the first gen.
Bezel
- The first gen touch has a black aluminum bezel around the screen.
- The second gen touch has a chrome bezel, like the iPhone, which is in fact a continuation of the chrome backplate that curves around to "hug" the screen.
Volume controls
- The first gen touch features no external volume controls.
- The second gen touch has volume controls on the left-hand side of the device (when looking at it from the front).
Packaging
- The first gen touch comes in a black box. "iPod touch", the Apple logo and the device's capacity are embossed on the sides. The front of the box shows the iPod touch playing music (usually the box will display either a Macy Gray or John Lennon song playing).
- The second gen touch comes in a clear plastic box, like the iPod nano and shuffle. Over the iPod is a sticker which shows the default look of the Home screen.
MISCELLANEOUS
- The second gen touch has an inbuilt speaker. The first gen does not.
- The second gen touch has Nike+iPod support, whilst the first gen does not.
- The second gen supports audio recording and headphones with a microphone and volume controls.
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