Apple's Latest MP3 Player Offers Expanded Features, Familiar Problems

The fifth-generation iPod boasts many improvements over its predecessor, the 20GB iPod. For one, both the 30GB and 60GB boast more battery life – 16 and 20 hours, respectively, so users can enjoy their digital files longer. There’s also a bigger display, an improved signature Apple click wheel, a world clock and stop watch, and of course, like any iPod product, it is integrated for use with iTunes, the world’s biggest music catalog.Good things really do come in small packages.

The 30GB is only a half an inch thick – that’s 45 percent thinner than the original iPod. But don’t be fooled by its small size. The iPod can hold 15,000 four minute songs, 25,000 photos, or 150 hours of streaming video with 128 kbps audio.

Perhaps the biggest addition, though, is the new portable video capacity of the iPod. Now home movies, short films, and music videos can go from the school bus to the boardroom and back again without ever leaving the palm of the hand. And, in a deal with iTunes, select ABC, NBC and Disney shows are available for download, for a charge of $1.99 an episode.

With all of the changes, it’s hard not to get excited. "I think it is a really amazing advance in technology," said freshman physical education major Maria DePeters of Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio.

All of the improvements mean retailers can’t keep the iPods in stock – one Syracause-area Best Buy sold all 45 of their units within an hour.
Yet the rush to the stores might not include one of the most coveted demographics. With a $299 price tag for the 30GB and an even heftier $399 for the 60GB, the video iPods may be out of reach for cash-strapped college students. "I would buy one if I had the money," DePeters said.

But for as much as the revamped iPod has improved features, critics take several issues with Apple’s latest addition to the iPod family.

James Kim, an editor for CNET.com, a popular product review for the tech savvy, points out the video iPod’s fatal flaws. For one, there are no extras included in the package, meaning that cables to play video on a television, docks to play music on a stereo, and a power adapter are all extra out-of-pocket expenses by the consumer. There are also still kinks to be worked out on the video capabilities: among the problems is grainy picture when transferring the video to a television, a slight delay when attempting to play the videos, and no guarantee that non i-Tunes videos will play. In fact, a third-party software converter is required for some time of files to be compatible with the iPod interface.

"I think the new iPod is a great idea and a great advancement, but I think they still need to work out some of their video compatibility issues before I would buy one," said Matt Milligan, sophomore at New York University majoring in music technology.

In addition to the video iPod-specific problems are also the larger problems that have plagued other items in the Apple product line. This iPod, like its relatives, is unreliable when it comes to the battery. Video seems to drain the battery much faster—Kim noted that he only had two hours of battery life when using the video capabilities on the iPod. And like its smaller compatriot the Nano, the screen of the video iPod is prone to small scratches, which impairs the viewing quality of the videos.

Battery issues, though, haven’t deterred some prospective buyers.

"I was concerned about the battery issue at first, before I bought my iPod," said William Brawley, an Earth and Atmospheric Sciences major at Georgia Tech, speaking about an earlier iPod model. But Brawley couldn’t resist the lure of an iPod. “The battery is a non-issue. There are way too many cool features, easy-of-use, style and simplicity with the iPods, that battery and screen issues seem very minor."

Others, who dealt received upgrades to the new video iPods after their previous players had died, aren’t complaining either. Andrew Monsen, a sophomore music education at the University of Rhode Island, had a 40GB iPod for a year and a half before the iPod broke and lost all of his music.

"I took it to the MAC store and even though I was past my warranty they offered me a new iPod of the exact model I had for 70 bucks. Or I could trade it using a student discount and get the new 60GB," he said. He opted for the newer model.

Although he has not had his new and improved iPod for long, he is one happy customer. "I couldn’t be happier," said Monsen. But he does note the lack of an extended battery life. "If you are playing videos all the time, the battery will drain much faster."

Pocket lint, move aside. The video iPods and the iPod product line are coming to a nearby pocket, and they don’t look like they’ll be leaving anytime soon.