9 replies to this topic

[Swad]

I’m not normally one that has to have the absolute latest tech, but for some reason the 5G iPod just called to me.  I was jealous of a color screen, and although the video was nice, the thinner 60 GB with 8 hours better battery life really sounded appealing.  Also, I had a good reason to buy one (stay tuned to our site to find out why).

Fifth Generation iPod with Video
Rating: :star_smile:

(I'm shamelessly borrowing pictures from the Ars review since mine didn't turn out very well)

Packaging:
If you’re like me, you love Apple packaging.  The packaging for the 5G seems to be the first of a common theme with the new 5G – less is more.  Well, ok, it’s actually less, but we’ll forgive Apple on the box because it’s just a box.



Contents:
This is about it.

It’s too bad that they didn’t include a Dock with this model, although they do include a Universal Dock Connector (which doesn’t fit any of your old docks, in case you were wondering).  Also missing is the charger and firewire cable.  

Firewire can’t be used with the new iPod, and the only way to charge it with the USB cable and your computer.  These are pretty important, and it’s sad to see Apple cutting so many corners to maintain their margin.



Oh, and you'll need a case - the little sleeve they give you is mostly a joke.  It barely fits the 60 GB and doesn't protect much.

iPod Design:
This is easily the best looking iPod yet.  The screen is nice and large and the clickwheel is just about the right size.  It’s smaller than the 4G clickwheel, but it feels good.  


Whereas with the 4G it was easy to read the screen when the backlight wasn’t on, it’s tougher on the 5G.  The screen looks bright and colorful when it’s on, but when it’s off you have to tilt it to read it. It’s lighter than my 4G and a little smaller, but not much.  It’s still the kind of Nano-like plastic that’s easy to scratch, which really bothers me – for a device as nice as the iPod, Apple should use a good enough plastic that scratches aren’t an issue.

Audio:
Audio sounds good, although it was hard to tell initially since the headphones they sent have a short in them.  That’s ok – I don’t use Apple’s headphones anyway since they aren’t the best, but I will request a better pair anyway. Two annoyances: the clicking sound when using the clickwheel now comes through the headphones as well, but you can’t turn that off without turning off the clicking altogether.  Also, there is some minor static when you raise or lower the volume, which is without excuse.  I bet (and hope) that they’ll fix this with a firmware update soon.

Video:
Well, this is the big new feature and it’s well implemented.  

Not too many complaints here, but I don’t plan to do much video watching.

UI:
They’ve made some subtle improvements to the UI – things are easier to read and there’s more on the screen.  There are also a few bugs, however, such as the Play/Pause icon in the top left corner got stuck on “Rewind” even though it was playing. Overall the UI is more responsive and easier to use than in the 4G.

That's about it.  I was impressed with many things about this new model, but some of the old annoyances are still there (the need for a case) and some new ones crop up as well.  If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them!

-Mashugly

[Ranger]

Wow, thanks for the great review Mash.

2 questions:

In your opinion, is it worth buying a new 5G if you've got the 4G?
Would you get tired of watching video on the small screen?

Thanks!

[Swad]

Ranger-

1. Hmm... if you've got a 4G, I'd say keep it, especially if it's a color.  Unless you plan to do a lot of video watching, I'd say what you have is fine.  Although I'll have to tell you that once you put them side by side, the old one looks old and clunky.

2. The screen size is actually fine - while I'll put things on TV if I really want to watch them for a long time, I don't mind watching short things on the screen at all.

Hope this helps.

[Takuro]

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[Swad]

- No, "5G" as in "Fifth Generation." Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[Takuro]

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[Swad]

Takuro - I'd highly recommend the Agent 18 cases - they're great.  Check out my post in the deals forum, and if the coupon still works, you can get 40 percent off. I bought 3 to keep or to sell!

[Swad]

Well, I thought I'd give you an update, since I've had the unit for a month or so now.

One cool feature is the battery life - I've used mine a lot since I got it and not once has it died because of low battery.  Granted, most of the places I use it are close to a charger, but I've been very impressed with the battery life.

Video is ok, it's a bit sluggish in starting and stopping, and the controls are a little less than intuitive (I think it's supposed to pick up where you left it sometimes, but I haven't figured that out yet, but I've mostly just shown the videos to people to impress them ).

The screen is just amazing.  The UI is a little slow, however, and frequently stalls when loading album art, changing volume, etc.

Overall, I love it.  The old version is still good though, and unless you have a compelling reason, I'd stick with your 4G if you have one.

Did you get one for Christmas?  If so, let us know what you thought.

[xramm]

Mashugly, on Jan 1 2006, 11:10 AM, said:

Well, I thought I'd give you an update, since I've had the unit for a month or so now.

One cool feature is the battery life - I've used mine a lot since I got it and not once has it died because of low battery.  Granted, most of the places I use it are close to a charger, but I've been very impressed with the battery life.

Video is ok, it's a bit sluggish in starting and stopping, and the controls are a little less than intuitive (I think it's supposed to pick up where you left it sometimes, but I haven't figured that out yet, but I've mostly just shown the videos to people to impress them ).

The screen is just amazing.  The UI is a little slow, however, and frequently stalls when loading album art, changing volume, etc.

Overall, I love it.  The old version is still good though, and unless you have a compelling reason, I'd stick with your 4G if you have one.

Did you get one for Christmas?  If so, let us know what you thought.

Mashugly, I have problems with my ipod video while playback movies that converted from DVD . The software I used is Videora. The problem is video stalls and start again but with no sound. It lost sound just after freeze the screen, but after that it doesn t stall again with no sound. Ipod Video doesn t like the sound + video at the same time Any experience about that or do you have any recommendation about converter software ??
Thanks

[xramm]

I also tried Super DVD ipod converter from Lenogo software , my problem with stall during playback of video movie is now seem to be solved. This SW works !