Apple iPod 5th Generation White (30 GB) MP3 Player

Ah, the Ipod. A marvel in it's own right. It can play music and videos, read text documents, and it even has a few games on there too. Better yet, you can acsessorize it! The Ipod 30 gig Video seems like the perfect gift to just about anyone, including yourself, right? Well, in my own opinion, I think it is. It's pretty user-friendly, certainly not too many buttons, and it works on both windows and macs. All you really need is the usb plug and you're ready to go. Apple has a website that covers just about everything you need to know about it, how to use it, what different symbols mean, etc. A couple of the only bad things I can think of about it would firstly be the battery life for videos. It's only about 2.5 hours (for only music, it's more like 14). Depending on what movie you watch, that may not be enough juice to get by, but luckily, there's an accessory for that! One of the other down falls, but really only a minor one, is that the bodys scratches and shows dirt and fingerprints easily. An easy way to this is to just buy a case for it for no more than $30, usually less.
Now that all that's covered, how well does it work? The sound quality i have found to be excellent. I'm not too partial to the little white earphones Apple gives you with the Ipod, but that's only because they hurt my ears. The video quality is stunning. The first time I saw a movie on my Ipod, I was awestruck. In fact, the quality is so good that you can buy a cable that lets you play movies/music from your Ipod through your TV (radioshack, $15). Yes, your TV. Granted, it will be a little pixelated, but I watched V for Vendetta from my ipod that i burnt from a dvd, and on the TV, the quality was about that of VHS. I think I'd rather carry around my Ipod and a cable than my VHS player and all my videos. In summary, a high quality machine. And it doesn't take long at all to charge. Something like 2 hours for 80% (from it being completely empty) and an extra 2-3 for the full 100%.
And what's more, there tons of stuff online that works nicely with the 30 gig Ipod video, such as Handbrakelite, which lets you save and play dvds (in proper format) on your Ipod. wow. There are various programs out there that let you boost the max volume of your ipod to your liking. And one of my personal favorites, Yamipod let's you take music OFF your ipod, which apple generally doesn't let you do. For example, you go over to your friend's house, and after asking to check out your new, totally cool sleek black (or white) Ipod video, your friend notices a song or video that he likes and doesn't have. All you have to do is plug your ipod up to his computer, open yamipod and copy the song over to his computer. bam. oh, podcasts, there are also podcasts.
In conclusion, I love the apple ipod video. It has become an obsession for me, and I hope it does for all of you potential ipoders. Good luck doing whatever your ipod related activity maybe, and happy biddings!

I used to be 'what is so special about the ipod?'. Well, with the purchase of my white, 30GB video ipod, I now know the answer. I'm more than thrilled with my ipod. First, it's great looking. Simple, elegant, timeless. Size for me is perfect. Not to big, but big enough to hold easily. It's got a good weight to it. The screen is a nice size with great viewing angles and colors. Easy to use-before buying, I was looking at the Creative Zen Vision M. I went to Best Buy to test them both out. I was able to figure out the ipod with no problem. The ZVM wasn't as easy. The user interface on the ipod is darn easy to use and understand. And now for features. Holy smokes. I'm doing things with my ipod I didn't think I would. I'll list them.
1. Music-yes, it's the obvious use of the ipod. But my entire collection of songs and other MP3 files (close to 2000) fit on here. No more redoing what's on my MP3 or burning CD's. I've got it all in one device!
2. Photos-I have 9800 digital pictures. And every single one of them are now stored in my ipod! I can now take my vacation pictures everywhere and show everyone! Plus, the color screen makes them look great, and the slideshow with it's fun transitions is cool.
3. Notes-I'm always jotting notes onto the 'notepad' feature on my PC. And now, I can take those .txt files from the notepad and put them on my ipod for viewing! Recipes, directions, list, reminders, etc. It's super nice to be able to keep such documents handy.
4. Podcasts-Now, these aren't exclusive to the ipod, but having video makes my world of podcast open. I can watch Tiki TV or the latest Edmund's New Car Test Drive. And most podcasts are free!
5. Video-As mentioned above, video for the podcasts is great. But I can also download popular tv shows. It sounds like overkill, but how about those waits on the bus, at the airport, in the doctor's office, etc. Or how about being able to watch a show in bed and never wake the other half up? The quality is great, even on a little screen.
6. Calendar-I can sync up my Outlook calendar so that I'll have my schedule with me at all times. How awesome is that? Plus you can set reminder alarms. All entrys happen on the computer, but I synch up everyday, so not a problem.
7. Contacts-You can also synch up your contacts list. So now I'll have my whole email and telephone list at my disposal.
8. Other fun stuff-4 games, world clocks, alarms, sleep timer, stopwatch.
9. iTunes-Now you don't have to have an ipod to use itunes. And I guess you don't need iTunes to use your ipod. But it will make life soooo much easier! Auto synching, buy, listen and manage everything within iTunes!

Overall, I overcame the anti-ipod feelings and I'm so glad I did. This really is a great little device that does more than you'll ever expect it to.

I didn't really understand the iPod craze, until I got a video iPod. With little effort I can create multiple playlists, create a playlist on the fly, listen to audiobooks and podcasts, and watch my favorite movies, tv shows, and video podcasts. I can even play games and look at my pictures. Sound complicated? It isn't--that's the beauty of iPod!

What's the difference between 5.5 Generation and Generation 6 video iPod? Not a whole lot... improved battery life, brighter screen, and additional search feature. My advice save your money and get generation 5.5. You can watch several hours of video at bright screen setting and listen to several hours of music between charges. FYI at the time this review was written the cost difference between the two was $50 to $ 70.

There are no upgrade items for memory, which means if you buy the 30gb model, then you will be limited to 30gb. If you don't understand what 30gb means it refers to storage capacity and 30gb can hold a double digit number of movies, tv shows, and video podcasts; while still keeping a tripple digit number of audio content. Also, make sure you buy insurance or an extended warranty--historically these unit hard drives crash after 1.5 to 2 years.

To manage content (i.e., put things on and take things off your Ipod) you will likely want to use Itunes, which is free software for both the Mac and PC. Itunes makes it easy to add content to your Ipod. Simply purchase through the Itunes store, insert an audio cd that will automatically be ripped to place the audio content in your Itunes library, or add your existing Mp3 collection to Itunes and connect your iPod to your mac or PC through the included usb 2.0 cable and all content including playlists will automatically be transferred to your iPod.

Although you can connect your Video iPod to your tv it will require an additional craddle/adapater available on eBay for less than $20 shipped.

Bottomline, this is the king of MP3 and video players. Although Microsoft Zune is a new craze iPod offers a trusted name that is associated with reliability, ease, and cross platform compatability.

FYI: If you are trying to use your Video iPod for extra storage space you can quite easily; however, Windows format will not allow you to store files greater than 2 gb; however, this limitation does not exist for Mac formatted video iPod.

The iPod Video 30 GB is the first iPod with video. For a mere $249, the iPod Video plays music, views photos, plays games, shows videos and does some other minor features. The Videos are displayed all as if they were in HD. You can adjust the brightness on the video to fit your need. The music is stored in an organized manner on your iPod making it easy and convieniant to browse through your songs. When you find a song you want to play and click on it, it shows the artist, song title, album, album picture and ofcourse plays the song. You can also rate the song by click double on it. There is also a song search feature that searches through all your songs by typing in just a word or even a letter. The games are pretty good for a handheld device. The iPod comes preloaded with four games: Solitaire, Parachute, Music Quiz, and Bricks. You can also buy games from the iTunes for a small ammount of money. The video is what makes the whole device worth buying for. All you have to do is go on the video folder and select your video. Then you just enjoy your movie/TV show wherever you are. You can also view your videos on your TV with a Monster Cable. The photos are another unique feature. You can view you photos in slideshow with music or just simply view them one at a time. The iPod also comes with utilities like stopwatch and world time. Charging time is only around one and the half hours! It has a built in rechargable battery. The box comes with: The iPod Video, Firewall/USB Wire, Dock, Polishing cloth, and headphones. You may put up to 7,500 songs or around 50 videos. This makes the perfect gift for the holiday!

Two Thumps Up!

What more can one say about this device. Much ink has flown about the wondrous video and audio quality packed into this really manageable and good-looking player.

However, I hear a lot of complaints about the battery life. My secret is simple... let it play, don't fiddle. The iPod has amazing battery life for audio and video if you just let it play. If you keep searching for items, be they video or audio the battery life will surely decrease twice as fast. Remember this is a hard drive. When you're searching for music and video you can actually feel a slight vibration. That's the hard drive. the more you search... the more energy it expends. As I said the secret is simple. create a playlist and let it run. Especially with the higher capacity players, it will obviously take more power to search through.

Videos are a bit more tricky. I have gotten 20 minutes of continuous video with the battery at the level where you can only see red on the meter. the life began to dwindle when i paused it a couple times.

Fellow iPod users and those thinking of getting the most well known and sought after media player in the universe... JUST LET IT PLAY!!!