Customer Reviews

Apple iPod Video 60 GB White MA003LL/A (5th Generation) OLD MODEL

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Unlike a lot of reviewers who post reviews on a product they've never seen or held (Apple Stores were told they wouldn't get theirs until the end of October--per Charlotte NC store) ----- I actually have one.

I ordered mine on Oct 12, and it arrived Oct 20. I of course ordered the 60GB device.

It was easy to swap out my old 40 GB device with this new one. I'd previously installed the new iTunes and the iPod software version 10-12-05 that I'd downloaded. It was plug in, register, and download. (And I had to swap cables on my dock***.)

Some observations:

The screen is very bright when you turn the backlight on and leave it on, it's very dim if you don't (probably how they get the stated 20 hour battery life).

***No more Firewire connections. I was sad to see that, as the Firewire connection saved me from getting a new USB hub.

The Holy Grail is video here...however, converting it to iPod standards isn't easy. I have a lot of DiVX video, to which the QuickTime Converter isn't up to recognizing, much less converting. Forget about 3rd party converters that you already own, it seems the iPod only wants Apple-converted video. But rest assured, there are software developers frantically scrambling to solve this. I have a couple of beta converters I found, but with very mixed results. I'd give it a couple of weeks then good software will be available for converting video to the iPod.

The sound is as good as ever, no worries there.

It has the same width and height as my 40GB iPod, so your cases should fit nicely, and maybe a similar thickness to the old 10/20 GB iPods. It fits in my auto transmitter/charger, but I have to slightly angle it back as I'm inserting it to hit the dock squarely.

All in all, the video situation was disappointing, but with lots of money at stake, it will get worked out by all these 3rd party developers. I did manage to get a couple very short preexisting QuickTime videos converted successfully to the iPod standard, so I know it DOES play video - the problem is just the conversion process. Not necessarily Apple's fault, except that their video standard is maybe a little too rigid.

The iPod first appeared four years ago, and the features continue to grow, with each update.

I have owned the 60 gig iPod with video playback, for several days now, and I continue to be impressed. Its physical appearance, quality, craftsmanship, and the wide array of features, which it has are keeping me entertained!

The iPod with video playback was introduced on October 13, 2005. However, one should not necessarily consider this player a video player, but a great iPod music player, with video capabilities as a fantastic bonus. Nevertheless, the iPod with video playback is the most capable and feature-rich iPod ever produced by Apple.

Video Playback - The iPod plays back H264 and MPEG4 encoded video. The iPod's new display is larger than ever at 2.5 inches, giving it a resolution of 320x240. What video content can you play on your iPod? This area is limited, at least currently. You can buy music videos on iTunes at $1.99 per song, which will play beautifully on the iPod. Furthermore, Apple has made available select television shows, for download on iTunes. They cost $1.99 per episode, for titles including ABC's hits Lost and Desperate Housewives. You can also watch the episodes you purchase on your computer. If you want to put some of your own video, onto your iPod, you will need to use an application such as QuickTime Pro to convert the video to the specific requirements to play on the iPod. You can also find video podcasts, which will play on the new iPod. Even if you do not plan to view video on the new iPod, its primary purpose is to be used as the world's best music player. You can still benefit from the beautiful new display, for it will help you find your favorite music faster, and you can view the album art that accompanies your music.

The video played back on the iPod looks very good. People say that you cannot enjoy video on a 2.5-inch screen, but consider it will be relatively close to your body. The video and audio provides a quality entertainment experience. I find myself excited to watch a show on my iPod, after only a couple days.

Size of new iPod - Does the picture of the new iPod make it appear larger to you? Well, it did to me. The iPod looked wider, in the photos I saw. However, it is not. The height and width of the iPod are identical to the previous generation iPod with click wheel. The only change in dimensions is the depth. The new iPod is actually thinner than what came before it! Yes, even this 60 gig is thinner than the previous 20 gig photo model. What does all this mean? The iPod continues get smaller, making it even easier to carry. It feels good in your hand too.

Capacity - This 60 gig iPod has room, for a lot of entertainment. With storage, for up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 150 hours of video. The great thing I love about my 60 gig iPod is that my music, photos, and video only take up about 15 gigabytes. However, I use the additional space to backup data, from my computer. This is incredibly helpful, and could be a real saver, if something happened to your computer. See, the iPod functions as an external hard drive, so you can backup all sorts of data. Furthermore, with the video capabilities on the new iPod, you may find yourself needing the extra space that this 60 gig iPod provides.

New Software Features - Apple has added features, to the new iPod besides video support. First, they have a clock feature, which quickly allows you to view the time, in up to four different time zones simultaneously. Furthermore, there is a stop watch, and a screen lock, which you can enable to keep people from snooping on your calendar and/or contacts.

Battery - The battery life is one of the most important specifications that you, as an iPod user, are going to care about. This 60 gigabyte iPod sports a battery that will last up to 20 hours, when playing only music. Also note that repeatedly changing songs manually, and turning on the backlight will use up your battery considerably faster. Furthermore, the iPod's battery lasts a maximum of three hours, when playing back video. This version of the iPod no longer includes an adapter to charge the iPod, at an electrical outlet. You will have to buy that adapter separately, or always charge the iPod via USB 2.0. The charging works fine, from your computer's USB 2.0, but if you're traveling you might want the ability to charge, with the adapter. Also note that the iPod no longer supports syncing via firewire cable. You will have to use USB 2.0.

Mac or PC? This iPod works beautifully with either a Mac or PC. The iPod syncs your contacts, video, and music via the iTunes software.

Podcasting - The iPod continues to support podcasting. 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, for this iPod supports Podcasts out of the box. There are also video podcasts, so with the new iPod, you will be able to watch video podcasts, on the iPod's display. Video podcasts are truly a great new way, to get original new content on your video iPod.

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. The new iPod is available in a black or white finish. The black color is quickly becoming the most popular, but the white iPod is still the signature color. Do note that the black may show fingerprints and scratches more than the white iPod, much as a black car shows these blemishes more than a lighter colored car. Apple is including a small sleeve-type case, to help you protect your new iPod.

Audiobooks - I'm always using my iPod, to listen to audiobooks. You can store literally hundreds of audiobooks on here that you buy from iTunes, or Audible. The iPod even has a feature that can slow down or speed up the reading of the audiobook, so that you hear it at just the right pace.

Output - The iPod connects to your PC or Mac via the dock connector at the bottom of the unit. You will connect the included cable, to the computer via a USB 2.0 port. Furthermore, accessories are being made that will also connect to the bottom dock port, and you may purchase Apple's Universal iPod dock, for easy syncing to your computer. The dock (available separately) also includes s-video output, so you can show off slideshows and video, on a television. There are also iPod A/V cables available that allow composite video and audio output, for connecting your iPod to your television. This might interest you, not only to display slideshows on a television, but also to display TV shows or music videos on a television, which you purchased from iTunes.

Value - For the capacity, features, and function, this 60 gigabyte iPod is a great value. 60 gigabytes allows you to store a huge amount of data, video, pictures, and of course, music. There are more features here than has ever been offered on an iPod, making it a very good value indeed.

Overall, this is another excellent product from Apple Computer. The design is elegant, simple, and intuitive. It will provide hours of entertainment and convenience. Enjoy your iPod experience.

After a long research on different types of MP3 players and many visits to shops to see them in person I decided to buy the 60GB iPod video. I don't regret the buy. I think it is an amazing player and the features are great. I'm very happy with the iPod. So far I had it for four weeks and everything has been running smoothly.

I have used the video features only a few times and it is very cool, the display is very small but clear, also you have the iPod close to your eyes so I don't see it as an inconvenience.
NOTE: The battery doesen't last long when using the videos. Remember this is an MP3 player with video feature, so if you want it mainly for videos I would not recommend it, this is for the occasional video every now and then.
The photo feature is very cool, again the display is small but clear.
The software iTunes is a good piece of software, it has some annoying faults, but overall is o.k.

The reason I rated the 60GB iPod Video four stars and
not five is because of this:

·It is not 60GB as advertised, it only comes with 55GB
of usable capacity

·You can't fit 15,000 songs as advertised (maybe if
you only put punk songs). I have 20GB so far and I have
around 3,200 songs in it (but I do put the album cover
jpegs for each song, so that uses some memory but not
that much).

·It does not come with an AC charger. You need to
charge the iPod via the USB cable into a computer.

·It is vulnerable to scratches very easy.

·And... The thing that I really hate about this and any
other iPod is the fact that the batteries are really
expensive and complicated to replace, but, that's part
of APPLE's strategy.

Overall, I do recommend the 60GB iPod Video but remember all these electronic gadgets are in a way `disposable' because in 4 years from now this model will be completely obsolete. That's the way all technology is...

I bought this 60GB iPod a month ago. I had lots of concerns because of people's bad reactions to it, but I decided to buy it anyway because it looked like the best way to go for my needs.
Now, a month later, I just don't know how I ever lived without it.
First of all, the iTunes: I really feared this software because of people's reactions and stories: how they can't work on more than one computer, and how they had to reload all of the content on their iPod when restalling the software, etc. This is the sort of things that happens to people who DOESN'T READ INSTRUCTIONS! A quick adjustment in the preferences can tell the iTunes to only synch manually, which means - you don't need all the songs to be on the computer, you can choose what to put on the ipod, and you can use 100 different computers and load songs from these computers (I used it on 7 different computers to this date, and it works like a charm). To switch to manual, go to Edit -> Preferences -> iPod, and there are the options.
If you want to sae songs from the iPod on any computer you want, all you need is a simple freeware called Yamipod. Its really simple and easy to use.

The only bad thing that I can say is that it is really a delicate machine... but once you get a silicon case and a high quality screen protector, its perfect. I put my entire music collection on it, and I can listen to it all in shuffle mode, listen to albums, songs, specific artists... its a true delight. So please, read the manual, and you'd find out that MOST of the problems are just misunderstanding of the machine.

I was a little hesitant about buying an iPod after reading about so many people having problems with them. The iPod bought has only locked up once, but other than that I haven't had any other problems. It sounds great and the video quality is excellent. It's hard to believe that something this small can have such good video quality.

I decided to check this model out at the store before I bought it...sure enough the floor model looked terrible! I checked the Nano and the video and they both has horrendous scratches.

I love iPods, I have a mini, so I'm not against the platform. I think Apple needs to do something about the cosmetic scratches before I'll upgrade.

We are very excited and pleased with our recent purchase. The only thing which we did not anticipate while buying this product was the size difference between 30 GB and 60 GB. 60 GB is a lot more bulkier than the 30 GB and it was not mentioned anywhere.

Also, most of the cases and other accessories are made for 30 GM or below.

But overall we are very pleased with the purchase and love it.

By now, if you are contemplating the purchase of the iPod video, you have probably seen one and know you want it. So I will just confirm that the product works great and is a joy to use. The user interface is simply a breakthrough in human engineering and with 60GB you can afford to store songs in the highest quality and not worry about space.

If you are a PC user and this is your first iPod, this could also be your first exposure to iTunes. It was for me. And here, surprisingly, I am a little disappointed. I already had a sizable library of CDs that I had ripped using Windows Media Player in .WMA format. While iTunes can read .WMA, the iPod will not play these files. iTunes offers to translate all your .WMA files into iTunes format. Don't worry it will not destroy your existing files. However, don't make the same mistake I made: while Apple would like you to use its proprietary format, there is an option to use MP3 instead. I did not realize that until I had translated 10GB worth of songs. I believe using MP3 is a better choice because it is now a universal file format. Even my cell phone can play MP3 files.

It is fashionable to assume that any piece of software from Apple will be better than a corresponding product from Microsoft. Sadly, that is not the case with iTunes. While iTunes will translate your existing files, it will not copy album art. Silly, since the iPod does a great job of displaying album art. Fortunately, you can associate graphic files manually with your files. I also find that iTunes does not offer as many sorting options as Media Player and that it runs slower.

Despite my gripes with the software, I give the product 5 stars because once you have all your files in the iPod, you should not have to use iTunes very often. With so many accessories to use an iPod in you living room, kitchen or car it can easily become your only music playing device.

I have had my 60 gig ipod for aprox 3 months I have taken it on trips with me, I have slept with it on, and used it to help get me through my boring days at work. This product has not let me down yet.I Have lots of music on there right now over 2 thousand songs and aprox 3 hours of music videos or podcasts on my ipod and have only used 10 gigs of memory. The video on the ipod is great quality. There are free podcasts for download to try out this feature. I am a dj and there is a show called DJ Battle TV which is great for me and free. I would check out Itunes to see if the is anything that interest you on the site. I have not tried to convert dvd yet for my ipod but imagine soon it will not be very hard. Below I have listed acouple things you may want to know before you buy this product.

1. Backup all songs you have on your Ipod. I have only backed up about 1/4th of all the songs on my ipod. There for if you lose it or it breaks you may lose all your music. Also the ipod has an annoying feature which will automatically put any music in you library on your Ipod. For memory reasons I try not to store a lot of media on my computer (that is why I went with the 60 gig ipod). So with one mistake click I could erase the songs on my ipod and replace them with songs that happen to be in my library at the time.

2.Buy a case for your Ipod the screen gets scratched by anything, before purchase I heard this and just figured "those people probably aren't being careful". I think I can say with confidence not one person in the world with this product was more careful than me with this and my screen after aprox a month and a half was scuffed up. I did get a case and suggest a belkin case with tough rubberized skin and screen protector has worked great for me.

3.As far as I know once the song is on your Ipod and deleted from your library there is no way to get it from your Ipod to anything else. This was not mentioned in any review I read before I purchased the ipod. This is annoying for me because I bought my ipod to keep my computer free of mp3's and video wasting space on my computer. Again if something happens I will be out alot of music.

4. If you want the most out of the ipod you will invest a long time uploading songs. You have to make sure artists name are spelled the exact same way this is caps sensitive and also space sensitive. For Example, if I spell notorious big, Notorious Big, or Notorious Big , the Ipod will create three seperate artist names on your ipod and split up that artists music. This may not sound that bad but if you put a cd in your computer and Itunes spells and artist name one way or has that cd in a genre, if you put another cd from that same artist in your computer it may be spelled a diff way or in a diff genre and you will have to go in and manually change it.

So far this has been a great purchase I have just been a little disapointed with some things. Overall, this is a great item and I have been very happy with it.

I have only come to the world of iPod recently and, I admit, somewhat reluctantly. I started with a Nano which I have been very happy with. Recently it occured to me that an iPod 5G could serve very nicely as an external backup drive so I immediately ordered one (can you spell "Business Expense"?)

Here is what I love about my iPod:

1) Beauty
2) Clear, crisp, large display for videos
3) Got to love that click wheel interface
4) iTunes, the best software bundled with an MP3 player that I've seen.
5) Great battery life... this thing will last through a full day of travel.
6) 60GB is enough to back up everything on my laptop which only has a 60GB hard drive!
7) The ear buds that come with this iPod are actually very nice, comfortable, stay in my ears (thats the big one!) and have good sound.
8) Equalizer, I got my rock and roll sound goin on!
9) I love the clock feature, I setup all the time zones that I could want with a separate clock; from Hawaii thru Florida.
10) I downloaded my calendar and contacts from Outlook so now my reminders show up on the iPod, how cool is that!
11) I love rating my songs as I listen to them on the iPod; lets face it I'm a ratings-aholic!

Now you may be wondering, why didn't I give this baby 5 stars?

1) Where are the accessories? you might as well tack on an extra $100 to the price of this for the accessories you will need to buy: AC adapter ($30), case ($30), etc...
2) I get frustrated with the fact that I have to plug this thing into a computer to do anything with it. At the very least I would like to be able to delete songs. And why can't I modify playlist settings and stuff like that?
3) You better just buy a case for this before you even take it out of the box, and even with my case on it I see it is getting scratched.
4) I'm a little miffed with Apple that they sabotaged my favorite player (MusicMatch) so it won't work with the iPod :( At least my Rhapsody can talk to it...

You've been warned, now get on out there and buy yourself one of these puppies. I vote the iPod Video my favorite business expense of the year!