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Apple iPod Review - Touch 8GB - Shuffle 2GB - Nano 8GB - iPod Accessories
iPod is a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple and launched for the first time on October 23, 2001.
The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle.
As with many other digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. Storage capacity varies by model, ranging from 2 GB for the iPod Shuffle to 160 GB for the iPod Classic.
New Generations of iPods
All of the models have been redesigned multiple times since their introduction. The most recent iPod redesigns were introduced on September 1, 2010.
Voice over clips and calls via wireless are the most striking news about the new generation of iPods.
The iPod Touch has now the possibility of calls via Wi-Fi with face time.
The iPod Nano features a touchscreen and a rear clip and the iPod Shuffle comes with voice over technology and the genius playlists.
Lets look into the new generation of iPods:
iPod Touch ratings
Ranged from 0 to 10 points
| |
---|---|
Performance
| 9
|
Characteristics
| 8
|
Quality/price
| 7
|
Global
| 8
|
Apple iPod Touch 8GB
The iPhone can now make video calls via wireless. The face time technology present in iPhone 4 was also incorporated in this generation of iPod Touch which runs the IOS 4.1. making the whole system quite simple and intuitive.
In addition to this technology Steve Jobs` company has put an A4 chip on each iPod Touch allowing better performance and allegedly greater autonomy.
The display quality has been improved and now has a retina touch-screen providing clearer images.
This device has the ability to record 720p high definition video and the camera captures 960 by 640 pixels images. When shooting at night is perceptible some noise in images but during daylight pictures look better because of the good quality screen.
It has a battery autonomy of 40 hours for music and 7 hours for video.
With the creation of the Game Center users can now share high scores, play against each other and find which titles are being played the most.
The new retina screen and the A4 chip ensure a good overall performance of the iPod Touch.
iPod Shuffle ratings
Ranged from 0 to 10 points
| |
---|---|
Performance
| 9
|
Characteristics
| 8
|
Quality/price
| 7
|
Global
| 8
|
Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB
The lack of screen to see which song the Shuffle is playing can be suppressed by the voice over tool. Simply click on the tiny buttons next to the headphones` plug-in to hear a voice telling us which music we`re listening to. Also at the top, there is a switch to activate the models and random repeat option.
The new physical controls (four forward, rewind, increase or decrease the volume and a central one to play and pause) are integrated into a wheel well in the middle of the iPod and this is the main difference if you look to previous models.
The computer connection is made through the headphone port with a cable that has an USB at the other end. Thus, we can still transfer music and charge the battery. The autonomy of the Shuffle holds for 15 hours with fully charged battery. There is only one version (2 GB) and is available in five colors.
You`ll get a better sound if you use headphones other than those provided. That said, we miss the basses when playing music.
It is true that MP3 players are cheaper but the design is certainly a factor to take into consideration when deciding which one to buy.
iPod Nano ratings
Ranged from 0 to 10 points
| |
---|---|
Performance
| 9
|
Characteristics
| 9
|
Quality/price
| 6
|
Global
| 8
|
Apple iPod Nano 8GB
Once the iPod Nano is turn on there are four menus through which we can navigate in the style of the iPhone and iPod Touch. On each screen there`s four icons. Having lost some features such as the camera and video capture which makes the new Nano a simple digital music player and photo viewer.
We can still listen to radio and podcasts, and thanks to the standard pedometer we can even manage our physical exercise.
There are two menus that can be seen in reproduction mode. The first one shows the rewind, pause or fast forward controls. The second menu displays the random play mode, the genius playlists and tracks repetition mode. Yes, the Genius feature is also present in iPod Nano.
The rear clip allows to attach the device on clothing and if it became upside down we can rotate the orientation by rotating two fingers on the screen.
It has 24 hours battery autonomy.
With a powerful sound surrounding the reproduction of supported files is made without any problem.
When you're sick of hearing a song just shake the iPod to change tracks.
Conclusion
Although their high prices any one of these devices is a good choice to have music wherever you go.
You can use either iPod with the confidence that yoo`ll get a good sound reproduction.
That is, provided you change the headphones that are delivered as standard.