Apple - iPod Video White (30 GB) Media Player Review

We have a collection of several hundred CDs. They used to reside in a CD Jukebox by Sony. Now they are moving to my iPod 30 GB with video. The reason is simple: space and portability. We are moving to a place where a huge stereo system just won't work. We will be in a car for many days while we get there. Afterward we still want to hear some of our music. Thus the investment.

For us, the video is a bonus, not part of the purchase reason. The 30 GB capacity was key. The fact that Bose has a docking station that makes the iPod sound as good as the stereo system was a key. The fact that the car has a plug for the iPod was a key.

Our main complaint is the lack of openness inherent in all Apple products. You are limited to using their iTunes Internet service to handle the loading and manipulation of the material you want on your iPod. This limitation is a real downer. For instance, we pay a monthly fee to another internet music service for the privilege of downloading songs. These cannot be placed on the iPod. Well, they can but first we have to record a CD and then use the iTunes vehicle to load the CD to the iPod. The same with legal music we have already loaded from our CD to our computer. We have to find the CD and use the load CD function of iTunes to get it on the iPod. The same is true for videos like music videos. We had to buy a conversion package to allow our music videos to be loaded to the iPod.

Once our music is on the iPod we are much happier. The first thing we did was trash the cheap headset that came with the iPod and get something that could reproduce the music usefully. The second thing we did was get a Bose docking station so we could share the sound. The touch and slide functions to work through the menus takes a little getting used to and like any of the current crop of touch-sensitive controls is not very tolerant of moisture on the fingers being used.

All of the sorting and classifying options that are expected with large-scale storage are there. We have many pictures of family that we can now carry with us to bore others. We have a couple of our favorite music videos and we are loading more and more music. Too bad that Apple is so paranoid that they didn't add a card slot for extra memory.

Although this review sounds a little harsh, we really do like the iPod for what it gives us.