[9 of 9 customers found this review helpful]

Apple 16GB iPod touch (2nd Generation) Review

not just for music anymore

"I went from my 30 gig video iPod to this. I would leave it locked in my car and connect it to my stereo when I had new music, but not enough to burn a whole new cd. It worked well for what it was, but I practically live on the internet, so an upgraded model like this was a great idea.



1. The iPod touch has wifi. Even though you cannot wirelessly sync the device to iTunes, you can browse the internet, IM people on various chat networks, access email, and waste time on youtube anywhere with a wireless network.



If you are sitting somewhere bored, you can get online and download applications from the app store to keep you entertained for a while, without the need to connect it to a computer. Wasting time playing with google earth is great example.



2. Flash memory is used in place of a hard drive. This means the device is much less fragile, and even faster than previous models. It also uses less energy so you get more out of a charge than previous models, even with wifi enabled.



3. The headphone jack is placed on the BOTTOM of the unit. Holding some of the old ipods felt awkward with the cable on the top, or in your way when watching videos. This just feels more natural in my hand.



4. It has a beautiful screen. Watch something on this and you will be very impressed! Even looking at photos on this is a treat. And when you turn it on its side, photos are automatically rotated too, so they fill more of the screen. If you want the controls to disappear, just tap the screen in the center. They disappear! The brightness can be set to automatically adjust to the room you are in too, so it wont hurt your eyes to read in a dark room.



5. Like any computer, an app will crash from time to time. However, this device handles crashes VERY well. No error messages, no "please reinstall program x" annoyances, no waiting for a reboot or having to reset the unit. When the touch has an application crash, it simply returns to the home screen. You can go back into your app and try again right away. There is no waiting, no "please submit data to apple," etc. When you sync the unit with the computer the next time, it offers to send the crash data to apple so they can look for a fix, like many computers do. I liked how it waited until you were likely not busy to click yes or no.



6. Browsing the web on this unit is very simple. If something is too small to read, double tap it and it will zoom to make it fit, be it a picture or text. Tipping the unit on its side will make the page display sideways, which makes many things easier to read.



7. It's compact. Like the nano, you can drop this in your pocket and it will fit in there comfortably.



8. Save paper, map your routes on this! You can see your route or a list of turns to take using the built in map application!



9. Using cover flow to browse your albums is a nice alternative to the old scroll methods. If you still like that method, hold the unit vertically and it will revert to that. You can even tap a letter on the right side of the screen to skip to that rather than scroll all that way down.



When held horizontally, cover flow shows up, letting you browse your library by the album cover. (In itunes, make sure you assign the album art if it doesn't automatically show up.) Tap the album you want to listen to and it will flip over, showing you a list of songs on the album. I didn't think I would like cover flow until I sat down and played with it.



10. Simple interface! Some applications, like the safari web browser, will use the horizontal keypad when you tip the unit on its side. This is SO much better than the vertical keypad.



The menus can be customized too. If you see something you won't ever use (like stocks), or if you have too much on the screen, then hold the app button until it wiggles, then drag it to the side of the screen. Now you have another page to work with. Sorting apps like this is a great idea, because there are tons of things you can install on this device.



The free AIM application on iTunes isn't that nice, as it forces you to use the vertical keyboard. It is VERY difficult to type like that. Try using one of the other IM apps offered in the app store.



But there is a nice spell check built into the touch, so if you do mess up (which is VERY easy to do) the spell check can fix it for you as you type. It automatically does this, but if you typed a word correctly that it doesn't recognize, tap your word and spell check will skip it.



To get the most out of this device, get a wireless router, ANY wireless router, for your home so that you can make use of the wireless features. The ipod touch is so much more fun with a network in range.



If you are getting yourself a dock, look at the iphone display in the store. Look at the dock they use in that display as that is the ipod touch dock. It is much less awkward than using the universal dock, however, either one will work on this device."