Customer Reviews

Apple iPod 30 GB Photo White M9829LL/A (4th Generation) OLD MODEL

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

SCOPE: Because of the price drop on the color models, this review will be targeted to those struggling over a 20gig b&w screen vs. the 30gig color iPod decision.

BACKGROUND: I own both the 40gig iPod Photo and the new 30gig iPod Photo, and have owned a 15gig regular 4G iPod in the past and I also own a 512mb Shuffle. I use both PC and Mac formats. Note, I am not recommending the 60gig variety.

1) BOTTOM LINE: The new 30gig iPod Photo @ $349 is, in my opinion, the *perfect* iPod. My main complaint with the 40gig iPod photo was its price and size/weight (i gave it 4 stars). The new 30gig is roughly the same size/weight as the b&w 20gig and has all the features of the Photo family --> and for just $50 more, you get another 10 gigs, 3 more hours of battery time and a color screen!!! This price/feature tradeoff is one of the best you'll find anywhere in the Apple product suite. Frankly, the 20gig b&w is currently mis-priced @ $299, i would expect this price to drop very soon.

NOTE:
30gig iPod Photo = $11.63 /per gig -- $23.26 /per hour battery time
20gig iPod b&w = $14.95 /per gig -- $24.91 /per hour battery time

2) PHOTO QUALITY: Good to "pretty good".. but not excellent (no improvement since the first iPod Photos were released in 10/04)... I do realize the size of the screen is only 2 inches, but photos tend to be slightly pixilated, even the full resolution ones that are over 2mb (though you stop noticing after a minute) and color reproduction is not all that great on skin tones and deep reds, but very good w/ greens&blues... which make pics of landscapes quite nice!

3) PHOTOS ON MY TV: Now this is where this thing shines... this is a really cool feature... however you MUST BUY the mini-plug-to-RCA-out (headphone to 3 pronged yellow/white/red) for another $20, which in my opinion is worth it.. you can scroll through your photos on your big (or at least bigger than your computer screen) TV screen.

4) MUSIC: Biggest change here is you can now see the album art... sounds like a tiny feature, but after you get tired of showing off your photo albums, this is probably the single most useful feature. When before you had no incentive to look down at your ipod screen, now you'll find yourself looking at it all the time... In terms of music playback, it's the same as any click-wheel, 4G iPod.

5) SIZE/WEIGHT: Its great!, I cannot physically tell the difference in size and weight between the 20gig b&w and the 30gig iPod Photo... this was my #1 complaint about the iPod Photo 40gig -> it was simply too big and heavy to be practical... that's why I was forced to buy the Shuffle!

6) COSMETIC CHANGES: None on the outside, still scratches as easily as the rest, but has a color screen w/ a new font and screen looks very dark w/out the backlight.

7) BATTERY LIFE: Conditional based on the user... However, so far it seems to run above spec during mixed use = 16hours.

8) STORAGE: Disk access time for photos do have a lag (on both my 40gig and 30gig), and the unit tends to freeze from time to time, but I would consider the severity and frequency of this event to be insignificant to the overall functionality. In terms of size -> i think audio books, photos, and Podcast Radio programs have made -for the first time- the ridiculous size of the hard drives actually justifiable... in my 40gig photo, i used 15gigs due to my podcasts and audio books and would expect to reach 30gigs in 3-4 years of use... I still feel the 60gig to be not very practical... i suggest you stick with the smaller size.

== SURPRISES OUT OF THE BOX==

A) NEED TO BUY SOFTWARE: In order to enable the cooler features - like syncing albums automatically, etc..., you need to purchase or own iLife (iPhoto specifically) 4.03 or better (if you are the rare few that bought your computer in the last few months w/ 4.0, you still have to download an upgrade to 4.03) ... Now I bought my iMac from the Apple website last Christmas and it still shipped w/ iLife 2.0... so I had to purchase iLife 4.0 (according to several company reps, there is no free upgrade from the jump from 2.0 to 4.0)...which took me an additional day to figure out... Yes, you can assign folders and such to sync to your photos to your iPod, BUT having an album editor enables full control of changes and what changes I'm making, to the entire process. Oh Yeah, you need a high version of iTunes as well; my pod came w/ ver. 4.7... IMHO, you \need\ the iPhoto upgrade to enjoy this purchase. If you have PC, you have to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements.

B) TRANSITIONS: Only the "wipe" from right-to-left is included, however, I heard a firmware upgrade with more transitions would be out later this year.

C) SLIDESHOWS: You cannot assign multiple music lists in iTunes to specific albums in iPhoto... as of 03/05, you can only assign a SINGLE music list to ALL photo albums when you enable the slideshow feature. Yes, you can change this music list, but need to go back to the menu to do so.

D) COLOR SCREEN: When not backlit, the screen during regular music playback turns \VERY\ dark, much more so than regular B&W iPods... you need a light source reflecting off of the screen in order to see the letters... typeface has changed too, more like "Arial" and slightly smaller. Oh yeah, with the backlight off, the screen still displays in color.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

A) You cannot adjust the color quality, size, cropping or transitions of the photos when detached from your computer, so don't waste your 1 customer service call credit on it.

B) The 30gig package does not come with the TV-out cable, you have to buy it ($20), and it comes w/ a USB 2.0 based charger, not firewire.

C) If you never upgrade your iTunes due to the hacks you can employ on earlier versions, then you cannot use the photo feature (yes I tried).

D) ALBUM ART: For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, you don't have to purchase a song from iTunes to get album art... just drag and drop an image of the album cover into the window where iTunes usually shows the album art.... plus there are programs out there that auto-download the album art into iTunes if you have the name of the album and the name of the artist...

My introduction to the iPod world was through the Mini, which I like, but I secretly envied those who own the 20GB or 40GB. After a few weeks, I grew to hate being limited to only 1,000 songs on the Mini and wanted an iPod that was able to store more music. So when Apple launched a new line of iPods, I jumped on the first opportunity to make the upgrade. I didn't quite need an MP3 player that can store photos, but I recommend the 30GB iPod Photo for its color display screen and its ability to save up to 7,500 songs. That's enough to store my entire collection of Miles Davis, Bob Marley, AC/DC, John Coltrane, and Roxy Music, with plenty of extra space for hundreds more CDs. If you purchase music through iTunes, you'll also be able to view the album artwork on the iPod screen (this feature SOMETIMES works for music not purchased on iTunes). Very cool. I didn't buy this player for its photo feature, but I was able to transfer a few family photos just to test the picture quality. The images are fairly clear for an MP3 player, but in no way can they replace a traditional camera. While I'm happy I got the 30GB, I do have one axe to grind with Apple. The headphones, while stylish in their white design, are weak and flimsy. Within a month's worth of use, the right ear started to give out. Of all the headphones I've used in the last 15 years, Apple's are by far the worst. Audio snobs will most likely throw these out the nearest window and get something else. Beyond that, I highly recommend this bad boy. Those who own the Mini or Shuffle and want to upgrade should skip the 20GB and pay just a few dollars more for the 30GB iPod photo.

One final comment: it is absolutely critical that you get a protective case for your iPod, regardless of which model you purchase. The display screen scratches VERY easily. Cases are available on this website, your local Apple store, and at other retailers. Protect your investment. Would you like to see a few hundred dollars of your money go down the drain in a matter of days? I, for one, wouldn't.

I have used three different iPod models since they were released a few years ago. They keep improving with age and iPod Photo is almost flawless. What's great about this model:
1. previously, I had problems with battery life dissipating after a month or so of use (and I use mine hard; it's on at least six hours a day), but that hasn't happened with this one. I find that I get right around 18--eighteen!--hours of battery life on a charge. However, if I go two or more days between use, the battery runs itself down to almost nothing;
2. the vibrant colors are a wonderful change. Compared to the iPod Photo, the old black-and-white models look positively antiquated. The font on the Photo is updated as well;
3. to my untuned ear, I cannot tell the difference between what I hear on my earbuds and the CD the music came from. Sound quality is, as always, excellent;
4. the price drop. I paid $399 for my last 40g model and $349 for this 30g iPod Photo, a superior product; and
5. picture quality on the iPod is quite (surprisingly) good. It's like carrying an entire photo album with me. I have over 2,200 songs and 1,300 photos stored on my machine and it's still more than half empty.

What I'm not crazy about:
1. I'm not sure how the album art is stored; namely, why some have it and others don't. Anything downloaded from iTunes will have it, and some stuff from my own music collection does, too, but I can't figure out a pattern and have been too lazy to research it. Less than half of my music has album art to display;
2. I know that the "random" feature is the result of a complex algorithm and has, in fact, been proven to be truly random, but my iPod has a propensity for picking certain tracks while never playing others;
3. to lower the price, Apple's skimped on the accessories that come included with the iPods. In this model, no dock or case as were provided as when I bought my 40g b-&-w model;
4. the display on iPods scratch ridiculously easily. I recommend picking up an iSkin which is a colorful jacket that fits over the iPod and comes with a screen protector that works really well. Apple sells these for about $30 but they can be had on eBay for a third of the cost; and
5. no way to delete songs directly from the iPod and no way to load photos onto the machine. Both of these things must be done from a computer.

A quick word on Apple's customer service: if you register your iPod with them, you can request repairs or replacement parts for accessories at (usually) no charge within a year of purchase. So when your earbuds begin to fray (and they will), you can get a new pair simply for asking. I've done this four times with no problems, free of charge. They even ship new parts for free via FedEx. Whoa.

I love my iPod Photo and am seldom without it.

As I recieved the 30GB Apple iPod for a gift I was thrilled. I had been wanting to get one for a long time and finally had one in my hands. Man, was I excited. There are many things that make the iPod Photo VERY different from the 20GB iPod and the 60GB iPod Photo.

I will compare the Apple iPod 30GB to each of it's competitors that most buy may buy instead.

Apple iPod Photo 30GB vs. Apple iPod Photo 60GB

You may think: "Wow, 60GB is a lot of memory and it can't be much more bigger than the 30GB, right?" Wrong. You will NEVER use all of the 60GB unless you have the enourmously large music collection of somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 songs. If you just so happen to have 15,000 songs waiting to be put in an iPod, knock yourself out and go for the 60GB. 7,500 songs is still a great deal of songs, and if each album has 20 songs, then it would fit 375 Albums. The main thing that comes to mind is that the 30GB is WAY lighter than the 60GB model. I messed around with my Uncle's 60GB and it was very heavy. It was also very thick, also. When I opened the 30GB, it was as light as a feather, and extremely thin compared to the 60GB. Also, my Uncle was having all sorts of problems with his 60GB iPod, and I have yet to have one single problem with mine.

Apple iPod Photo 30GB vs. Apple iPod 20GB

There really isnt any contest here. The overly priced 20GB comes in black and white while the 30GB comes in color. Also, you can see the album cover on the 30GB and nothing on the 20GB. You may not really need the Photo feature, but if you do, the 30GB holds a ton of photos, where the 20GB does not have the capability to store photos. Basically for only $50 more, you get many excellent features that make the iPod much more fun. The color screen, photo storing, album cover viewing, 10 more gigs(2,500 more songs), AND more battery life. The 30GB has a 15 hour battery life while the 20GB only has 12 hours. If you ask me, that's well worth a 50 Bucks.

Overall, I Highly reccomend the Apple 30GB iPod Photo. I love it and wouldn't change anything about it!

i agonized for many months before getting one of these. for one thing, i'm a pc user, so i looked at all of the imitation players from dell, diamond, creative, etc., and even among the ipod's i was torn between the 20G model and this 30G model.

but i really believe this ipod -- compared to all of the imitation players out there and all of the other ipod's -- really hits a sweet spot in terms of physical size, hard disk capacity, features, and price (well, maybe not price :).

compared to the 20G model, the 30G has the following advantages: it's about the same size, has a color screen, holds 10G more for $50 extra, can show the album art (very fun), and has a slightly longer battery life (12 hours compared to approx. 8-10).

if you're still wondering whether you should get an ipod in the first place, here's my number one bit of advice: itunes is an outstanding program and it blows other music-management programs out of the water.

you might not think about the software much when buying a player, but you really should.

consider that you have 100's of cd's you'd like to add to your digital collection. you need a really well-engineered program that can handle your collection now, and possibly 5-10 years from now.

itunes rocks. it's the kind of program that understands that your needs will grow over time. certainly you'll add more music, but what if you hook up your computer to a hi-fi stereo and suddenly it becomes more than just an mp3-generator? you might want higher quality recordings on there. or what if a new compressed format comes out a few years from now and blows aac and mp3 out of the water? suddenly you might want to convert all of your music to the new format. or maybe you just don't give a damn and just want to easily convert all of your files quickly.

the best way i've discovered to allow your collection to grow over time is to first rip all of your cd's using apple's lossless format. once this is done, you change the import setting in the preferences to a compressed format (mp3, aac, etc.). i personally like using mp3 192 (VBR). then you simply right click on all of the files you generated using apple lossless format, and click 'convert to mp3'. go have a cup of coffee while itunes converts all of your lossless files to mp3.

so what you end up with is 2 files for each song -- a perfect lossless version AND a compressed version that will go on your ipod. to ensure that only the mp3's go on the ipod create a playlist out of them and have itunes only sync your ipod with that mp3 playlist.

what's the advantage of all of this? well, if you decide that mp3's stink and you want to convert your collection to some other format, you simply change the import setting and right click on all of your lossless files again. no need to import from cd ever again. yes, it requires more disk space, but that's cheap compared to your time.

but, of course, if you're not as obsessive, you can simply import all of your music using the default settings and be done with it :)

I must preface this review with a confession. I am *NOT* an Apple fan, but I'm slowing beginning to see the merit in many of the Apple products today. My first computer was an Apple //e, and then I just moved on...

...Twenty years later, I found myself looking for a birthday gift for The Wife. I decided to get her something she could use to store the hundreds of pictures we have taken of our son. I'm a believer of convergence, so I wanted to also put her music collection in the same device. I immediately looked at Archos, iRiver, and Creative for their solutions. Each one in turn was compared to the Apple iPod Photo. Each one fell short. Some had more storage but less battery life. Some had difficult UI issues, others had navigation that was less than intuitive. If the thing was for me, I'd have gone with the Archos for the storage size. But The Wife doesn't need to be confused or annoyed with UI choices and over-capability. Simple, direct, useful.

It doesn't hurt that the iPod is stylish, either. I ordered one, and the optional dock, and the Griffin iTrip. Took delivery quickly, opened up the well-designed packing, and was suprised at how small the iPod was. Also, Apple will engrave a few sentences for free if you order directly. Since this was a gift, that was the route I took.

Some things I didn't like? Price. The dock being made optional in this iteration of the iPod. The lack of a Firewire cable, or AV cables. Apple should be bundling these items with the iPod; breaking them out to soak customers will likely hurt them later.

If you accept the pricing and grab the optional items, you're in for a treat. It worked perfectly out of the box. Install the software, install the dock, dock the iPod. I had her songs transferred over in less than an hour, her photos of our boy in less than ten minutes. All 30 gigabytes were filled, too. Now she has Axe from Brazil, Depeche Mode, and Metallica to get her to work and back; and now she can show off all 600 pictures of The Boy wherever she goes.

And she can finally stop asking me where all the pictures of The Boy are, because they will always be synchronized to the iPod. And when she wants to hear her music, the iTrip will transmit on any free FM frequency to her car radio, or the kitchen radio, or wherever... and hopefully, she likes her birthday present.

Fred

If you're like me, you see a new product like the iPod Photo and the techno-lust starts to kick in. The price of the new have-to-have gadget gives you pause, so you read online reviews and start to save your soda cans. Then the day comes. You shell out your hard-earned dollars, and you now have that cool gadget in your hands. Then after a few weeks or months, that had-to-have gadget sits on your desk collecting dust. All the fun was in the wanting, and the product never really lived up to the hype.

Well, let me be the first to tell you... This was not the case with the iPod Photo. I love this thing!

All Your Music - Everywhere You Go:
My entire CD collection fits on this thing with plenty of room to spare. Did I mention that this device is smaller than a deck of cards? No more lugging around a handful of CDs wishing that you remembered to grab that other CD on the way into work. Not to mention that with the iPod Photo I can grab the album art from somewhere like say ... Amazon.com, and it displays when I play a track from the CD. You can't do that with the standard iPods as far as I know. The battery life is great. After charging all night, I listen to music on my one hour commute into work, eight hours at work (some days), and then an hour on the way home again. Not even close to running out of power. The sound quality is great, and for headphone listening there's more than enough power to make your ears bleed ... this is a good thing in my opinion.

So if you've never owned an iPod before, what makes this thing so great?

Discover New Music:
The iTunes Store offers more than 1 million songs, some of which you may have never heard of for only 99 cents a song, and sometimes even for free. That's FREE as in Beer (and that's always a great thing).

Discover Podcasts:
What are podcast? Think of them as talk radio broadcasts that you can listen to whenever you want. There are podcasts on just about any topic you can think of: sports talk, political opinion, tech-geek news, movie and music reviews, and my favorite "The Dawn and Drew Show" (which defies definition ... think ADHD Seinfeld with an R rating).

Audio Books:
Listen to those books you've been meaning to read, but never have the time. One Minute Manager, Seven Habits, etc ...

Carry Your Contact List:
Now I've ditched my (dusty) PDA since my contact list was really the main reason I had to carry one. You can upload your entire contact list to your iPod, and phone numbers, email addresses, everything is right there with you.

Photos on your iPod:
Aside from the CD cover art, this is not a feature I've played with yet ... what can I say ... I have to sleep sometime.

My advice is buy the 60GB if you can afford it, but my 30GB is not even half full yet. Either way... Give in to your techno-lust and BUY ONE!

Introduction:
----------------
First off, the iPod 30GB Photo is discontinued; it will not longer be made meaning once it's sold out, it's gone forever. Apple did however, introduce the iPod 20GB (still 4th generation) in color.

Storage:
----------------
For most people, 30GB is a lot of space. Like advertised, it can store 7,500 songs or 25,000 photos. Although it is the 30GB iPod, in reality, there is only around 27.8GB that you can use. This is not a glitch though, companies round up when they sell their product.

Looks:
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It looks absolutely beautiful when you first take it out of the box. Without a good case however, after a few days of use, I GUARANTEE that your iPod will be scratched and full of fingerprints. My advice to you is to order a case along with your iPod. Here's a warning: The metal backing can get scratched by ANYTHING - even your fingernail. Like I said before, a case will solve this problem.

The front is made of a hard plastic and doesn't get scratched as easily as the back. If only apple made the regular iPods like the minis, there wouldn't be a problem with scratches. The iPod 30GB is almost the same size as the 20GB so any case for the 20GB will be compatible with the 30GB.

Oh yea, the font on the 30GB has been changed to something smaller than on the iPod 20GB. Arial I believe.

Functions:
----------------
The iPod 30GB Photo has all the functions of a black and white iPod and more.
Here are some things that are new compared to the black and white:
- store photos/album art
- color

Although this "list" is very short, the color really makes a difference. It's kind of something you have to see in person.

The famous scroll wheel that Apple is known for is back and it's wonderful like always. It can scroll through thousands of songs in seconds yet it is still easy to control when you want to select a certain song.

The backlight is adjustable for those who want to know; you can choose [always off], [2 sec], [5 sec], [10 sec], [15 sec], [20 sec], or [always on]. Since the backlight is an LED, you can expect it to last 100,000 hrs.


The clicker sound is also adjustable; you can choose [speaker], [headphones], [both], or [off]

The headphones that are included are pretty good. They can be worn with or without the black form covers that comes with it. Apple decided to provide 2 sets incase you lose one. The headphone sound is very good and personally I don't think you need to change them unless you do not like earbuds.

On top of the iPod, there is a hold button so you do not accidentally push buttons when it's in your pocket.

Software:
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When you get an iPod, a CD with iTunes will be included. Once you install iTunes however, I strongly suggest that you get the latest update from their website. iTunes is the ONLY program that you can use to organize your songs. Overall, iTunes is very easy to use but if you have thousands of songs jumbled up right now, expect to spend a great deal of time organizing them. On the iPod itself, you can browse songs by Artist, Album, Genre, Songs, Audiobooks, and composers. File transfers are fast with either USB2 or FireWire.

For organizing photos, you can use a basic folder. You can purchase separate software if you want, but using a folder doesn't cost you extra money. To use things like calendar however, you must have iLife or something else - this equals extra money... boo.

Value:
----------------
For a price of $329.99 without tax and free shipping, it's a great deal. If you were to buy this in a store, you would easily have to pay $20+ of tax. The new iPod 20GB Photo is priced at $299.99 and the new iPod U2 color is priced at $329.99. If you purchase the iPod 30GB, you basically get 10GB for only $30 more. That's $3 per GB! Definitely worth the price! If you need more help, here's a comparison:

iPod 20GB = $299.99 | 5,000 songs
iPod 30GB = $329.99 | 7,500 songs
iPod 60GB = $399.99 | 15,000 songs

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Pros:
- Best Value Compared to other iPods
- Color screen
- Comes with a AC adapter unlike the iPod mini
- iTunes is a great organizer
- Scroll wheel is amazing and easy to use

Cons:
- more expensive than some other brands
- You need extra software to use all functions of the iPod (calendar for example)
- Apple does not explain how to copy songs from iPod to computer (you can find this info somewhere on Google)
- Apple warranty gives you ONE phone call to the company. After your one call, you are charged a LOT to call them.
- You can't delete songs directly from the iPod; you must do it via iTunes

I do not own a 30 gig model. I actually was able to get a 40 gig on closeout. Although the 30 gig is a little smaller and lighter, it has the same features as the 40. I have never been so impressed with a product before. I have it to where when a song begins to play, it also shows the album cover. When friends view my iPod this helps them discern which cd to buy. It is also just cool. Another benefit would be the photo's features. My family and friends are photo fanatics and this product allows me to carry around all of my favorite pictures and produce them for friends immediately. The small two inch screen does and incredible job with the photos when viewing. Now the 40 gig came with a docking station, fire wire cable, USB 2.0 cable, adaptor, carrying case, and cords that allow you to plug the photo into a television. I do highly suggest the purchase of these accessories. They simply make life much easier. Battery life on the iPod photo is not dazzling but not bad. The weight of this player, although heavier than most, is still not really an issue. The sound quality is remarkable. Whether I am playing music through a television, the ear buds, or in the car, the sound is just as good as if it was from a perfect cd. The only gripe that I have is that it is terribly easy to scratch which really does not affect the performance of the player. As I have said from the beginning, for the price and the features, you simply cannot go wrong. I have muddled with other mp3 players, but iPod is simply the best and this is the premier of their line. With many other products you feel as if you are settling for the product. You will never have this feeling with the iPod photo, it knows it is the best and illustrates that to you every time you turn it on. It is incredible, simply incredible.

Passionate iPod users know at least one thing about the iPod line-up, and that is they are always changing. In late June 2005, Apple discontinued this 30 GB iPod Photo, when they moved to an all-color display lineup. The iPod is now available in 20 GB & 60 GB, but the new 20 GB is identical in every way to this 30 GB only with smaller capacity. That makes this 30 GB iPod with color display the best value in iPods rights now. For only $15 more than the retail price of the 20 GB color display iPod, you can have a 30 GB, with identical features and dimensions. Of course, this model is no longer being manufactured, so get it while you can. It is also thinner than the 60 GB iPod, which is important to many people, unless you truly need the extra 30 GB, which few would.

Battery - 15-hours, which is great as it allows you to use your iPod longer in every day circumstances before charging, while also giving you the power needed to fly almost anywhere in the world, on a single charge. Compare this to some of the earlier iPods that had only eight hours of battery life.

What does the color screen add, for you might ask, "I'm listening to music, why a color screen?" Well, album art is one benefit. The iPod displays the album art, when playing songs, which helps create the feeling for the album. Furthermore, iTunes works with iPhoto on Mac and Adobe products on PC, in order to transfer your photo libraries to your iPod. You can then view your cherished photo libraries on the go, which might come in handy when you're telling the story of that huge fish no one seems to believe. However, the best part of iPod with color is that you can buy the optional photo adapter, plug it into the dock connector on your iPod, and transfer songs direct from your digital camera via USB. This allows you to move potentially gigabytes of photographs to your iPod, while on vacation, freeing up the memory card in your camera. This is truly a time and money saver! You can return from vacation with thousands of images that would have never fit on your camera's memory card alone. Finally, you can view slideshows of photographs, and display them on a television, with optional A/V cables sold separately.

Mac or PC? This iPod works beautifully with either a Mac or PC. However, on a Mac, you'll immediately enjoy the synchronization of iTunes, your contacts, iCal calendars, Backup software, and of course iPhoto. On PC, you will have iTunes, but you'll need a third-party application from Adobe to sync photos the right way, while, you can find some shareware on the Internet that will allow you to sync other information, addresses, etc. that you might be interested in trying out.

Finally, Podcasting! The newest version of iTunes is 4.9, and it features Podcasting support. Podcasts are internet radio broadcasts, and there are thousands covering nearly every subject imaginable, and more are coming out every day. Podcasts are quickly becoming popular content on iPods around the world. Check them out, and this iPod supports podcasting, when you update it with the newest firmware available at Apple.com.

Appearance - The iPod is beautiful, but the back's chrome finish is prone to scratches, and the screen can become scratched as well. It is a very good idea to protect the back of the iPod and the screen in some way. There are many cases and protectors out there, and you will surely find something you like.

Overall, this is another excellent product from Apple Computer. The design is elegant, simple, and intuitive. It will provide hours of entertainment and convenience. Plus, right now, the 30 GB iPod Photo is the best value in podding. Enjoy your iPod experience.