A Fine Gadget (Apple iPod touch 16 GB)

Name: Recon

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Product:	Apple iPod touch 16 GB
Date:	01.05.08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Many features, Widescreen videos, iTunes store, Youtube on your iPod, Good quality

Disadvantages: Takes a while to switch on, Back scratches easily

Quite recently, I bought an iPod touch from amazon.co.uk with a gift voucher and some money of my own. It cost me £245.99 for the upgraded version, which means there are more applications to make use of. It really is a fine gadget that was well-worth buying. You can do so much on it and it is very small to easily fit in your pocket. I decided to get the 16GB version so I can hold plenty of songs on top of videos, photos and all the rest!

It is very fun to use and easy too. Although there are no instruction manuals that come with the iPod touch, you can figure it out for yourself. When using the iPod touch, it is quite self-explanatory as you can see all the different options in the menus and you simply tap around to progress through the menus.

The applications that are on the iPod touch are very useful. Some of the features make it even nicer to use such as the sense of gravity in the gadget. If you turn your iPod touch on one side, it will recognize this and flip the screen appropriately. Sometimes, the visuals change when you do this so you can flick through your album artwork instead of going through a list of songs. You can do this when using the Safari web browser too, as some internet pages are easier displayed in the widescreen mode.

Safari is a the official web browser made by Apple. It is very quick, simple and easy to use. You can visit any site but flash does not work on the iPod touch to this date. However, you can use the application of Youtube to watch Youtube videos on your very own iPod! You watch them in widescreen and can surf Youtube looking for videos as well as viewing the featured videos and top 10s, which is useful too. There is also a calculator, which can do simple sums, which I have made use of in the supermarket.

There are detailed settings that you can view and change to your liking. Also, there is a Clock section that features much more than previous iPods. You can set an alarm that can actually be heard without earphones from the in built speaker. However, you cannot do this with music or videos - only the alarm clock. You can add cities from searching so you can see the live time when out and about. You can do a similar thing with the Weather application. This one is only available with the upgraded version. You can add cities and check up on the latest weather, supported by Yahoo. It seems to be extremely accurate and useful to use if you are wondering what to wear the next day for example.

Another new application on the updated version is Maps. This is identical to Google Maps and you can plan your very own route. You can view the map in satellite, hybrid or just viewing the road names. It plans your route with internet connection nearby (wirelessly) and the good thing is, you can get in the car and still use it without internet. It saves each turning point so you can see on the map where you turn. As well as this, there are detailed directions that tell you where to go. When you reach a checkpoint, you press the arrow and move on. You can also use Stocks, which isn´t very useful for everyone but still works well. Last but not least is the Mail application. This can be assigned to several mail account such as Google Mail, Yahoo Mail and AOL. You can view your mail on this special application from the main menu or the desktop if you like. You can even check your mail without wireless connection as it will load the old ones previously loaded, however it cannot load new ones without a wireless internet connection nearby.

You can even visit the iTunes store on your iPod! You can search and listen to a 30 second preview of any song on the iTunes store and believe me - they pretty much have every song you can think of! You can also link your iTunes account to here and directly download music and videos to your iPod after purchasing them, which is great to do whilst you are out on about. If you need to leave yourself a note, then you can use the Notes application on the main menu to type a note. The keyboard is easy to use and you get used to it after a while. I find that tapping at where I think is a little to the left of the letters, manages to hit them directly.

Many places out and about have wireless connections, so you can pretty much do anything you want with the iPod wherever you are. The sound quality is great and the widescreen is ideal for movies. You can watch them on the train to work, the bus or even a plane journey. It really feels great to use too. The way you can just slide your finger across the screen to flick through photos, music and more is fantastic. You can also use a pinching motion to zoom in and out on pictures and internet pages as well as double tapping to do similar things. It is very easy and quick to use, and the touch screen is pure pleasure - not a hassle at all.

The design is very good too. It looks great with a black surrounding of the screen, which brings out the beauty of the widescreen. It has a shiny back, which can be used as a mirror. The only problem with the iPod is that finger prints easily make the screen look dirty and the back look terrible. The back is a kind of metal and can easily get scratched, but i protect mine with a good case made by Belkin that can also be bought on amazon. The touch screen however is very well made. You cannot scratch it with keys or anything in your pocket. It can only get finger prints on it, and these can be wiped with the soft cloth that comes with the iPod. As well as this, you get a charger, earphones and a doc for the iPod to rest on whilst charging on a desk. There is also a quick start guide for the applications new to the iPod.

Overall, it is an excellent gadget and well-worth buying if you are into your music and videos. It has loads of potential for future updates that may even include flash for the internet, which would give access to many more possibilities. It looks fantastic and feels great to use. It is very easy to use once switched on. It does take around 10 seconds to switch on, which can be seen as a pain but in reality isn´t all that bad.

Thanks for reading,

- Recon -

Summary: A great little gadget that can do many things with its touch screen and built in wifi

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