Apple iPod touch 3rd Generation Black (32 GB) MP3 Player
- Number of Songs: 8000
- Usage: Music Video Photo Viewing Gaming / Apps Internet
- Interface: USB 2.0 Wi-Fi
- Screen Size: 3.5 inch
- Main Storage Type: Built-in Memory
- Operating System: Apple iOS
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Happy at last... or not... I don't know
Pros
browser, email, performance, screen, memory capacity, apps.
Cons
format support, charging, iTunes, accessories, battery, no mic, no GPS, bluetooth support.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Much improved performance in the 3g. Very fun device, but does not play nice with other devices.
*Update*
I've been playing with the bluetooth functions with absolutely no success. I tried pairing with my phone to trasnfer contacts and with my HP Laptop to see what features would possibly be available. The Touch did not see either device. Both my phone and my laptop saw the touch and attempted to pair with it, but neither was successful. The phone said "connected" but didn't show any available services and the Touch said "not connected". My laptop attempted to connect, but said that "driver for the device was not installed successfully" even though iTunes was running; the Touch still said "not connected". So in short - I couldn't use the bluetooth connection for anything.
I tried both the 1st and the 2d generations iPod touch and was not happy with either of them. I decided to give the 3g a try because I was tired of my 5 year old iPaq's constant crashing and was very disappointed by the Zune HD, which I tried before buying the iPod Touch 3g.
Physically the 3g looks exactly like the 2g, which is a good thing because the same accessories will work on both (I had a nice leather case for the 2g, which I never got to use before.)
The price has come down somewhat, although it is disappointing that they decided to leave the 8GB version at the $200 price instead of the 16GB, which has been eliminated. The 8GB 3g is essentially the exact same model as the 2g, but with the updated firmware.
I chose the 32GB model not so much for the storage capacity or relative value, but because it includes the headphones with built in mic that otherwise would cost another $30 or so. This was an important feature to be because I frequently use the iPod for Skype calls. The Skype application is free and works very well, much better than it worked on my iPaq. The voice quality is quite clear, the interface is nice and easy to navigate, and the tiny mic picks up voice surprisingly well.
Skype is only one of the thousands of applications that make the iPod touch difficult to beat. My main problem with the Zune HD was its extremely limited functionality. The Touch does almost everything I need it to do and almost everything that my iPaq used to do. The only thing it wasn't able to replace was the GPS navigation. When all the talk about the inclusion of a camera in the 3g was going on, all I kept thinking was "who needs a camera? please put in a GPS chip in it." Regrettably that never happened.
The iPod touch is a really fun device to use, but with the first two generations I was more frustrated with it than happy, because the first generation lacked some important features (speaker, volume control, skype support) and the second generation did not work well for me - I could never get good WiFi connection, the OS froze frequently and the overall experience was not as smooth as I expected it to be.
My initial attitude to the 3g was highly influenced by the overall negative general reception to the minimal updates to the device. I wasn't expected to see much difference from the 2g. To my surprise the differences are night and day and I am really glad that I went for the 32GB version - the one that uses the new hardware.
While I found the 2g unacceptable to the point of useless, the 3g Touch has so far been flawless. I have not had a single freeze up, the interface is fast and smooth, the sound quality is much improved, and the WiFi reception has been consistent and strong. The most noticeable improvement is probably in the web browser. Web pages are rendered at least twice as fast as they were on the 2g. The browser also never shows the checkered pattern anymore while scrolling or waiting for the entire page to load.
The email client has also been improved tremendously by one simple addition - landscape support. Until now mail was only shown in portrait mode, making reading hard and typing messages even harder on the narrow keyboard. This new feature is available with the new firmware, which can be loaded on the previous generations as well, but it is not a free update. The new firmware includes some other new features like copy and paste, unified search for the entire device, and some genius features that I never intend to use. I also noticed that they have fixed the navigation controls in the photo viewer - before they used to remain in portrait oriantation even when the device was held in landscape mode, now the on screen buttons switch orientation to match the screen.
Let's back up a little though, I have recently found a few annoying things about the Touch's charging procedure. Apparently to charge the device, the power source has to send a specific command to initiate the charging. This means that not every USB source works as a power supply. Even a standard computer will not work unless it is running iTunes. I haven't been able to use the USB port on my DVD recorder for instance, or the USB adapter that came with my digital camera. My XBOX 360 worked to an extent - it charges the Touch but does not recognize it as a storage device so I can't play music from the Touch through the Xbox.
Speaking of charging, let's talk about battery life. I am not thrilled with it although it is not bad. I get about 5 hours of battery life with WiFi on or during video playback. Music playback is much longer, more than I'd care to test. The device charges quite fast, I would say in less than an hour. The battery is non-user replaceable (well at least it's not designed to be.)
Transferring file to the Touch is done by syncing with iTunes, which is fortunately available for Windows also, unlike the Zune software that is not compatible with Mac. I used to loath iTunes on my Windows PC, but the latest version of the software has been greatly improved in terms of speed and smoothness. I am also more used to it now, so the illogical way of file selection doesn't bother me as much.
Just to explain what I mean by illogical: music file in particular have little check boxes next to them, but for syncing they are not selected by ticking the check box but highlighted with the mouse. The check boxes are for... actually I still don't know what the check boxes are for. Video files have no check boxes, neither do photos or apps. By default iTunes wants to automatically sync your entire library to the iPod, which is something I don't want to do. The default method has to be changed to "manual" before you can drag individual files over to the iPod (again drag and drop of files is only possible in iTunes, the iPod cannot be synced without it.) I also can't seem to find a way for iTunes to "watch" my video folder and add new videos to the iTunes library automatically, I have to add them every time. My music folder however, is somehow automatically updated. Grrr, now that I think about it - I still loath iTunes.
One of my biggest concern with switching from my iPaq to the Touch was format support. So far all of my videos were converted to xVid, which the iPaq played but the Touch will not. Converting my existing videos to h.264 or whatever the iPod format is will be a big project. In case anyone is wondering I use "any video converter" to convert my video files from one type to another - it's free and relatively fast.
Once I am done it will still be a problem because the Xbox won't recognize the iPod file... Why can't all these devices just use a unified format... it's ridiculous.
Video playback on the Touch is really nice though, the only problem is listening through the built in speaker, which is still almost inaudible in most case. The included headphones are fine for Skype calls, but for anything else they leave much to be desired. The sound quality with the included ear buds isn't horrible, but lacks in the low end, not to mention in physical comfort. I guess that's another headache I will have to deal with - carrying around two pairs of headphones for the Touch - one for Skype calls and another for listening to music and videos.
There I go again - when I am writing down all these compromises I start questioning my judgment in spending so much money on a device that demands so many compromises. Now I am starting to wonder again if I should return it and just buy another iPaq...
There is one feature I haven't used yet and not sure what exactly it can be used for - bluetooth. I am not sure how much Apple allows you to do with it - can you sync with car stereo? Can you transfer contacts from a phone? Can you use a phone headset for Skype? Hmmm, if anyone know please share. I will update if I find out anything about this.
I already mentioned Skype, but it is only one of plenty of very useful applications available for the Touch. Some of the ones I find very useful are my favorite units converter, which includes a currency converter that updates its rates automatically from the internet; the Pandora radio, netflix manager, chase account manager, fandango movie service, a little piano simulator, and some simple games - all of which are free. I do like browsing for new music in the iTunes store, simply because it is built into the Touch and allows you to hear previews, but I usually end up buying the songs from Amazon because it's normally cheaper there.
I have only purchased one video so far - Madonna's 'Celebration" - it was free for the first two days, but I used my computer for that, actually I didn't even have the Touch yet. The download was very fast and quality really good on the small screen. I haven't seen what it looks like on a TV though. Which brings me to another point - it is difficult to view video from the Touch on a TV. I think there is some kind of adapter that allows you to watch stuff in standard definition. This is one of the big catch points of the Zune HD they have over the Touch - with some ridiculously overpriced dock that should be included, you can output HD (720p) to a TV over HDMI. Frankly I don't care much at this point, I am buying this device for times when I am away from a TV, not near one, but it would have been nice to have the ability.
There is still no Flash support on the Touch, although there is a very nice YouTube viewer. I regularly use this feature, again the only negative here is the quality of the built in speaker.
A very minor thing I noticed missing that was included with the 2g - a cleansing cloth. It's a small matter, but I don't like where this trend is going - the 1g included a little stand that was gone in the 2g, the 3g lacks the stand and the cleansing cloth, what's going to be missing in the 4g? The iPod itself? Come on Apple!
As a gaming device I don't see how the Touch could compete against the PSP and DS simply because of the lack of physical controls. Despite Apple's best efforts to convince us otherwise, I can't get myself to think of the iPod Touch as a gaming device. I do play a few simple card or chess games on it, but anything I've played that tries to emulate physical controls is a pure pain to play.
So let's summarize:
The iPod touch 3g does a lot of things and everything it does, it does extremely well (except for playing games). Unlike the previous generations, the 3g has been a pure joy to use.
That said, I am forced to make several compromises that are extremely irritating, because they feel intentionally designed to make you do things Apple's way for no apparent reason, I would even be likely to understand and forgive if I could see some financial benefit for the company but...
1. Why is there no built in mic on the Touch? They allowed Skype and provided a mic on the crappy headphones. This forces me to carry around two sets of headphones for no good reason.
2. Why is there no GPS? The average GPS software for the iPhone costs $100. They could have added a lot of revenue from the Touch owners.
3. Why is the battery not user replaceable? Again, another accessory that people would gladly pay for.
The remaining problems are clearly financially motivated yet very annoying:
1. Just one video file format support!?
2. Charging system that shuts out the majority of available USB chargers...
3. iTunes... still hate it.
So what do I do? Do I keep a device that I generally enjoy and does almost everything I need it to do, but makes me spend more money on and drag around pointless accessories for the sadistic pleasure of Apple; Or do I return it, buy a newer iPaq and have a device that does exactly what I need it to do, but no nearly as smoothly?
Decisions, decisions.
I've been playing with the bluetooth functions with absolutely no success. I tried pairing with my phone to trasnfer contacts and with my HP Laptop to see what features would possibly be available. The Touch did not see either device. Both my phone and my laptop saw the touch and attempted to pair with it, but neither was successful. The phone said "connected" but didn't show any available services and the Touch said "not connected". My laptop attempted to connect, but said that "driver for the device was not installed successfully" even though iTunes was running; the Touch still said "not connected". So in short - I couldn't use the bluetooth connection for anything.
I tried both the 1st and the 2d generations iPod touch and was not happy with either of them. I decided to give the 3g a try because I was tired of my 5 year old iPaq's constant crashing and was very disappointed by the Zune HD, which I tried before buying the iPod Touch 3g.
Physically the 3g looks exactly like the 2g, which is a good thing because the same accessories will work on both (I had a nice leather case for the 2g, which I never got to use before.)
The price has come down somewhat, although it is disappointing that they decided to leave the 8GB version at the $200 price instead of the 16GB, which has been eliminated. The 8GB 3g is essentially the exact same model as the 2g, but with the updated firmware.
I chose the 32GB model not so much for the storage capacity or relative value, but because it includes the headphones with built in mic that otherwise would cost another $30 or so. This was an important feature to be because I frequently use the iPod for Skype calls. The Skype application is free and works very well, much better than it worked on my iPaq. The voice quality is quite clear, the interface is nice and easy to navigate, and the tiny mic picks up voice surprisingly well.
Skype is only one of the thousands of applications that make the iPod touch difficult to beat. My main problem with the Zune HD was its extremely limited functionality. The Touch does almost everything I need it to do and almost everything that my iPaq used to do. The only thing it wasn't able to replace was the GPS navigation. When all the talk about the inclusion of a camera in the 3g was going on, all I kept thinking was "who needs a camera? please put in a GPS chip in it." Regrettably that never happened.
The iPod touch is a really fun device to use, but with the first two generations I was more frustrated with it than happy, because the first generation lacked some important features (speaker, volume control, skype support) and the second generation did not work well for me - I could never get good WiFi connection, the OS froze frequently and the overall experience was not as smooth as I expected it to be.
My initial attitude to the 3g was highly influenced by the overall negative general reception to the minimal updates to the device. I wasn't expected to see much difference from the 2g. To my surprise the differences are night and day and I am really glad that I went for the 32GB version - the one that uses the new hardware.
While I found the 2g unacceptable to the point of useless, the 3g Touch has so far been flawless. I have not had a single freeze up, the interface is fast and smooth, the sound quality is much improved, and the WiFi reception has been consistent and strong. The most noticeable improvement is probably in the web browser. Web pages are rendered at least twice as fast as they were on the 2g. The browser also never shows the checkered pattern anymore while scrolling or waiting for the entire page to load.
The email client has also been improved tremendously by one simple addition - landscape support. Until now mail was only shown in portrait mode, making reading hard and typing messages even harder on the narrow keyboard. This new feature is available with the new firmware, which can be loaded on the previous generations as well, but it is not a free update. The new firmware includes some other new features like copy and paste, unified search for the entire device, and some genius features that I never intend to use. I also noticed that they have fixed the navigation controls in the photo viewer - before they used to remain in portrait oriantation even when the device was held in landscape mode, now the on screen buttons switch orientation to match the screen.
Let's back up a little though, I have recently found a few annoying things about the Touch's charging procedure. Apparently to charge the device, the power source has to send a specific command to initiate the charging. This means that not every USB source works as a power supply. Even a standard computer will not work unless it is running iTunes. I haven't been able to use the USB port on my DVD recorder for instance, or the USB adapter that came with my digital camera. My XBOX 360 worked to an extent - it charges the Touch but does not recognize it as a storage device so I can't play music from the Touch through the Xbox.
Speaking of charging, let's talk about battery life. I am not thrilled with it although it is not bad. I get about 5 hours of battery life with WiFi on or during video playback. Music playback is much longer, more than I'd care to test. The device charges quite fast, I would say in less than an hour. The battery is non-user replaceable (well at least it's not designed to be.)
Transferring file to the Touch is done by syncing with iTunes, which is fortunately available for Windows also, unlike the Zune software that is not compatible with Mac. I used to loath iTunes on my Windows PC, but the latest version of the software has been greatly improved in terms of speed and smoothness. I am also more used to it now, so the illogical way of file selection doesn't bother me as much.
Just to explain what I mean by illogical: music file in particular have little check boxes next to them, but for syncing they are not selected by ticking the check box but highlighted with the mouse. The check boxes are for... actually I still don't know what the check boxes are for. Video files have no check boxes, neither do photos or apps. By default iTunes wants to automatically sync your entire library to the iPod, which is something I don't want to do. The default method has to be changed to "manual" before you can drag individual files over to the iPod (again drag and drop of files is only possible in iTunes, the iPod cannot be synced without it.) I also can't seem to find a way for iTunes to "watch" my video folder and add new videos to the iTunes library automatically, I have to add them every time. My music folder however, is somehow automatically updated. Grrr, now that I think about it - I still loath iTunes.
One of my biggest concern with switching from my iPaq to the Touch was format support. So far all of my videos were converted to xVid, which the iPaq played but the Touch will not. Converting my existing videos to h.264 or whatever the iPod format is will be a big project. In case anyone is wondering I use "any video converter" to convert my video files from one type to another - it's free and relatively fast.
Once I am done it will still be a problem because the Xbox won't recognize the iPod file... Why can't all these devices just use a unified format... it's ridiculous.
Video playback on the Touch is really nice though, the only problem is listening through the built in speaker, which is still almost inaudible in most case. The included headphones are fine for Skype calls, but for anything else they leave much to be desired. The sound quality with the included ear buds isn't horrible, but lacks in the low end, not to mention in physical comfort. I guess that's another headache I will have to deal with - carrying around two pairs of headphones for the Touch - one for Skype calls and another for listening to music and videos.
There I go again - when I am writing down all these compromises I start questioning my judgment in spending so much money on a device that demands so many compromises. Now I am starting to wonder again if I should return it and just buy another iPaq...
There is one feature I haven't used yet and not sure what exactly it can be used for - bluetooth. I am not sure how much Apple allows you to do with it - can you sync with car stereo? Can you transfer contacts from a phone? Can you use a phone headset for Skype? Hmmm, if anyone know please share. I will update if I find out anything about this.
I already mentioned Skype, but it is only one of plenty of very useful applications available for the Touch. Some of the ones I find very useful are my favorite units converter, which includes a currency converter that updates its rates automatically from the internet; the Pandora radio, netflix manager, chase account manager, fandango movie service, a little piano simulator, and some simple games - all of which are free. I do like browsing for new music in the iTunes store, simply because it is built into the Touch and allows you to hear previews, but I usually end up buying the songs from Amazon because it's normally cheaper there.
I have only purchased one video so far - Madonna's 'Celebration" - it was free for the first two days, but I used my computer for that, actually I didn't even have the Touch yet. The download was very fast and quality really good on the small screen. I haven't seen what it looks like on a TV though. Which brings me to another point - it is difficult to view video from the Touch on a TV. I think there is some kind of adapter that allows you to watch stuff in standard definition. This is one of the big catch points of the Zune HD they have over the Touch - with some ridiculously overpriced dock that should be included, you can output HD (720p) to a TV over HDMI. Frankly I don't care much at this point, I am buying this device for times when I am away from a TV, not near one, but it would have been nice to have the ability.
There is still no Flash support on the Touch, although there is a very nice YouTube viewer. I regularly use this feature, again the only negative here is the quality of the built in speaker.
A very minor thing I noticed missing that was included with the 2g - a cleansing cloth. It's a small matter, but I don't like where this trend is going - the 1g included a little stand that was gone in the 2g, the 3g lacks the stand and the cleansing cloth, what's going to be missing in the 4g? The iPod itself? Come on Apple!
As a gaming device I don't see how the Touch could compete against the PSP and DS simply because of the lack of physical controls. Despite Apple's best efforts to convince us otherwise, I can't get myself to think of the iPod Touch as a gaming device. I do play a few simple card or chess games on it, but anything I've played that tries to emulate physical controls is a pure pain to play.
So let's summarize:
The iPod touch 3g does a lot of things and everything it does, it does extremely well (except for playing games). Unlike the previous generations, the 3g has been a pure joy to use.
That said, I am forced to make several compromises that are extremely irritating, because they feel intentionally designed to make you do things Apple's way for no apparent reason, I would even be likely to understand and forgive if I could see some financial benefit for the company but...
1. Why is there no built in mic on the Touch? They allowed Skype and provided a mic on the crappy headphones. This forces me to carry around two sets of headphones for no good reason.
2. Why is there no GPS? The average GPS software for the iPhone costs $100. They could have added a lot of revenue from the Touch owners.
3. Why is the battery not user replaceable? Again, another accessory that people would gladly pay for.
The remaining problems are clearly financially motivated yet very annoying:
1. Just one video file format support!?
2. Charging system that shuts out the majority of available USB chargers...
3. iTunes... still hate it.
So what do I do? Do I keep a device that I generally enjoy and does almost everything I need it to do, but makes me spend more money on and drag around pointless accessories for the sadistic pleasure of Apple; Or do I return it, buy a newer iPaq and have a device that does exactly what I need it to do, but no nearly as smoothly?
Decisions, decisions.
