Customer Reviews

Apple iPod Video 80 GB White MA448LL/A (5.5 Generation) OLD MODEL

5 star:		(300)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

First of all, this is, to my knowledge, the cheapest 80GB Hard Drive MP3 player on the market, and with a name like Apple backing it up, this rendition of the iPod is well worth your time to look at.

*Technically this is still not the iPod Video, this is still an iPod with video playback; rumors are still buzzing about a Widescreen iPod, but still no official word*

NEW:
-Longer battery life
-Games
-iTunes 7 has movies
-Search feature
-Larger capacity
-Brighter screen

GOOD:
-Great GB/$$ ratio
-Great build
-Bright screen
-Battery life on video is double what it was before
-Great interface
-Innovative search
-Games are pretty fun
-Excellent design
-Minimal buttons
-Oodles of potential accessories

BAD:
-Still scratches easily
-Prone to fingerprints
-Sometimes a little sluggish (not as much as before)
-Battery isn't removable
-Still no FM tuner, line-in, or voice record
-Expensive accessories (not many in box)
-Cheap earbuds

BOTTOM LINE: If you are too hardcore for the 30GB version, than this is definately your cup of tea. This is the perfect MP3 player for any causual music and video enjoyer's needs!

I have been using the 80gb iPod Video for several days now, and I am extremely pleased. First, a note of caution. The surface of this unit is identical to the earlier iPod video, so it is extremely prone to scratching. My 60gb iPod video was always transpored in the $99 Apple leather case, and it still attracted scratches! This one comes with a chamois-like form-fitted pouch which does a nice job of protecting the finish, but provides no protection from hits or drops. The screen is bright! Much brighter than the earlier models. The integration with iTunes 7 takes the hardware/software experience to a new level. I purchased some games and TV shows, which downloaded flawlessly, and playback time appears very impressive (read: better battery life). I'll know better on my next 12 hour flight to Asia, of course! 80gb is a staggering amount of storage space. I have nearly 10,000 songs, several music videos, several FULL seasons of TV shows, my contacts and my date book data, and a few purchased games, and I am barely halfway to filling the drive. The new iTunes interface screen for the iPod is much more friendly, allowing different settings to be made for, say, music, TV shows, PodCasts, etc. from within a tabbed browser environment. Apple still demonstrate that less IS more, and the total user experience blows away anything else in the market. It would be hard to imagine another solution (player/online store) emerging that could get the experience any better than Apple does. Though I realize several are trying... Zune anyone? :)

I've owned the 60GB Video iPod for close to a year now and with 11,000 tracks, 10 (Music) videos, and about 30 photos on it, I had 2.13GB free and was wondering what to do for more space.

Then along came the 80GB video iPod. More than enough room for my growing music collection, well at least for another year or so. Meant for those with large music collections.

Exactly the same size as the 60GB model, this too comes in black (which I got) and white, and it is cheaper than the 60GB model was when it came out.

It seems Apple finally acknowledged complaints about the earphones as they have been redesigned and fit better and less painfully in the ear for a long period of time, something I could never bear to do with the previous earphones. Oh, and sound quality is great too!!

I'll move right to the major changes with this version. First up is gapless playback of tracks. No more gaps between your tracks on Madonna's 'Confessions On A Dancefloor', or those Donna Summer 70s albums, or your live albums. Note, if you update the software on your 'older' video iPods, gapless playback works on those too.

Next is the new search method, you can now search for artists/albums by alphabet or numbers, still by using the scroll wheel to type out the names. This makes it much easier for someone like me with over 1000 albums stored.

Battery life has been improved for video playback, to 6 and a half hours. The screen resolution is brighter and sharper, making viewing of videos and images an even greater joy.

And finally, iTunes has also been updated. Among other things is a new interface, showing at a glance, how much space music, photos, and videos each take up, and space left. You can also set it to search the internet for CD artwork for CDs you've ripped yourself.

Still remaining are all the usual cool iPod features: You can attach CD artwork (doesn't make the iPod sluggish, or even skip like it used to), include individual track lyrics (both of which are essential to a music buff like me), screen lock, contacts, stopwatch, video playback (this responds faster now and resolution has been increased), photo display (you can do a slideshow of your photos while music plays) and downloadable games. You can also use it as a removeable hard drive, for backing up your data.

You definitely must get a case for your iPod, if you don't want it looking like your cat's scratch post within a week of use. There are loads of cases out there; rubber, leather, to clear hard plastic, the latter which I favour as it protects better, and you still get to see your iPod in all it's glory. XtremeMac, and agent18 (do a google search) make great tough plastic cases which snap on and off with ease, and protect all parts, especially the screen.

Also on the downside, as well as still scrimping on a wall charger (it charges by USB), there isn't an iTunes CD in the pack. You must now download iTunes (for free) from the internet.

Still, this is definitely my favourite gadget of the moment (it feels awesome to be holding over 1000 CDs in the palm of my hand), and yet again raises the bar for other MP3 players.

First up, I'm surprised at the comments about the scratches. What are people doing to their iPods? I thought I treated mine rough, but clearly some are throwing it out the window. My iPod is completely scratch-free after just over a month of use, and it's been painless to use.
It's my fourth iPod - I bought the first model the day it was released (5 gigs - how I thought that was a lot!) and then upgraded to the third generation model. Finally I treated myself to this in order to a) carry my massive music collection b) watch videos and video podcasts and c) use with my Canon DSLR camera.
(I also have a Shuffle - a great device for the gym!)

The screen looks small but I'm surprised how immersive an experience it is to watch video on it. I thought about waiting for the rumoured large-screen video iPod but reasoned that I actually don't need something so big or battery-hungry and am really pleased with the current screen size.
It's also really good at displaying photos, either on the screen (nice, crisp images and colour reproduction) or on TV or data projector.

Sound is good too, though they no longer provide those little black covers for the earbuds which mean mine keep dropping out (I suppose my ears aren't compatible!) Anyway, I used the ones from the old iPod...

I like the new features such as the letters that pop up on screen when you scroll through long lists, and the search feature. The new games are great too - Bejewelled and Texas Hold 'Em helped me through a tedious train journey recently.

As for my old iPods, well I'm glad to report that they maintained their value and were happily sold to new loving parents ;-)
Personally I'd be wary of any reviewer that says theirs cracked, or the battery failed or whatever - either they got a duff one (and by a the law of averages, there have to be a few in every batch) or they're not telling the truth. Seriously - I've been a happy iPod user for over five years now and I've not only never had a problem with any of mine, no one I know has either (and there are a lot of iPod owners near me!)

Buy with confidence.

Despite being a PC person, I purchased an iPod mini a couple of years back and was impressed with how simple and elegant it was. I followed this up with a Nano for my wife and was very happy with the improvements, even if it was not as tough as the mini.

The iPod Video blew me away. For those of you who wonder if you can really watch a show on that so-called little screen, the answer is a definitive yes. It is bright, clear and large enough when holding to cause you to forget you are watching that sized screen. Everything about this one is better--battery life, brighter screen, unit size, memory.

I bought the 80G version and highly recommend it. The only (minor) downside with the black is that it can hold fingerprints, but with a protective cover--which is recommended--this is a non-issue.

Two weeks before the 80GB came out my wife purchased the 60GB. Fortunately, Apple has a great return policy that allows 14 days to return product. We returned the 60GB and immediately ordered the 80GB and so glad we did!

It was $50 cheaper than the older one and holds 20GB more! Love the new functionality and the brighter display really does help during daytime use. The new search functionality is cool and they did improve batterly life. (We recently took a 14 hour drive down the CA coast and that iPod ran smoothly all day WITHOUT a car charger)

Love it. Highly recommend to anyone in the market.

I first saw the Apple 80 GB iPod Video at a friend's house, and I knew that the only thing standing in the way of getting one of these fine new mp3 players was my wife's permission. One day, she told me that she could use an mp3 player to store all of her worship today praise choir songs. I knew that this was the appointed time, so I offered to give her my iPod if I could have permission to get this new one as an early Christmas present.

Cha Ching! Now I have the iPod! The sound is terrific, the video screen is sharp and pretty, and the controls work like a charm.

But I am sorry to report that these things still have hard drive crash issues. I have already had the thing freeze twice on me during playback, and I had to load my songs three times before they would play properly, and I wasted many, many hours fighting with my new toy. I may have to go back to the store and get another one if I continue to have issues, but for now, I finally have the songs loaded, and they are working well (at leasr for the moment). The videos also work nicely, and you will want to get an audio/video cord so that you can watch your downloaded videos on your TV.

I recommend this mp3 player, but I pray you get one that doesn't have the crash issues where you constantly have to reboot the unit or reload your crashed music library.

Rev. Marc Axelrod

Hello everyone. Well, I purchased my first Ipod about 7 months ago. It was when the 60gb came out. My old one from Dell was about to crash, and I thought I would go with an IPOD. I downloaded Itunes, and it easily transfered all my music on my hard drive to itunes with just one click. All I had to do was install the IPOD software. That wasn't a big deal either.(This is when I was still using my dell laptop. I just recently switched to a macbook. I have now changed sides, and I think I will only get apple computers. You don't have the headaches at all of managing a PC, for example not worrying about viruses.) Even with a pc IPOD is so much easier to upload your music, and pictures. It pretty much does it all automatically when you just plug in the IPOD. I first had a 60gb in white. I loved it. I got white because I heard it showed the fingerprints less. I disagree with the people who stated that an IPOD is fragile. I agree it is prone to scratches. My white one does have some, but not major ones. I have dropped my white IPOD several times. Two of the times have been on my tile floor. And it was still working just fine. I expected the opposite when I picked it, but I was relieved. I just purchase a 80gb black one. I have been using handbrake software to put my dvd movies on my computer so, I can transfer them to my IPOD. A two hour movie takes about a 1GB of space. So, I thought the 80 GB would be a nice upgrade.
When my black one arrived I was very happy with it. It looks the same. I do think it looks better in black. I have a clear hard case on order so, I don't get scratches on it. I didn't order it from Amazon. I got it from Apple because they were offering free engraving for the holiday. Only took about five minutes to load up my entire Itunes library which was a total of 1009 items, plus 200 photos. Just pluged it in, and it did everything on its own. Also, you don't have to get any new accesories if you have a 30gb or 60gb video IPOD. You can still use your current ones.
The menu settings are the same as the 60GB. It does seem to run a little faster then the 60gb, and the screen is sharper and brighter. I notice an improvement in the battery life when watching videos and viewing photos. A nice improvement. I am not saying however that if you have a older 30gb or 60gb, that it is definiyly has to be replaced with the 80gb. The only reason I would recommended it is if you think you are going to need more space on the drive. Or if you are like me, and like to always have to newest model. I am going to keep my white one as a spare, or incase I have a friend who wants to use it when traveling. I am going to use the old one to backup my laptop.
Now on to my thoughts on Apple. I have had nothing but great experiance from them. They are very helpful from my experiance. As to Itunes, I don't see a downside to having to only use them. If I find a song I want on another MP3 website that Itunes does't have, I just download it and burn it to a RW disc, then I use Itunes to rip it back on the computer. Works fine. Maybe a bit more work, but not a major deal. Itunes is very good software, and very easy to use. As with most mac software.
Anyway, my babbling is done. I would highly recommend the 80gb IPOD. Not a necessity if you already have the older version however. The improvements are not that great to completly replace a working older version of the Video IPOD. It just depends on the space needs of the individual. So, I have now became an loyal apple user, and I will never use another kind or brand of MP3 player. Thank you Apple for making a great product!

First of all, I have to say how much I absolutely love my iPod. I am really enjoying using it and having all of my cd's on there (and I have many, many, many cd's). It's such an amazing product and I only wish I'd bought one earlier.
Secondly, I have to tell people out there that if you are like me (or what I used to be like), don't think that this is some complex piece of equipment that you won't be able to use. My biggest concern had always been how to download music onto it and everyone kept telling me just how easy it was to do that. I never believed anyone because everyone swears by how easy it is and I've heard that all before without it actually being easy. This however ... is super easy to use. Just put your cd into the computer and itunes asks you if you want to import the cd. You say yes (untick any songs you don't want) and after you've done a few cd's, you plug the iPod into the computer and sit back while it downloads for you. I wish I'd known earlier.
Itunes is easy too to use. The only problem I have with it here in Australia, is the variety is poor and minimal. We don't have great R&B or hip hop music to download, and no movies or new TV shows. I wish Australia would get with the program and move their behinds.
The quality in the sound and picture (for music videos) are both superb and I really really enjoy this. I have downloaded close to over 650 cd's and I'm not even halfway through my capacity. It's the best invention of late and I hope that people who think it's complex to operate would read this and understand that if I can do it; anyone can. I hope you love your iPod as much as me. And PS. ... Black is the only way to go.

Most of the reviews have done a better job than I could about the details of the good and bad about the 80GB iPod, so I'll talk to the people like me: Mac owners with loads of pictures, a number of songs, and a few videos.

My primary purpose in getting the 80GB iPod was to take around my collection of photos from iPhoto for family gatherings and the like; also some of the short family videos I've done. (Obviously for this I also needed Apple's AV cable, not included, which handles video and stereo audio.) I agonized over the choice between the 60GB and 30GB models; when the new 80GB came out (for a lower price!) it seemed like a sign to go with the higher capacity.

Good choice. Within a week of getting the iPod I had filled it to over 60GB with files that I would have had to delete from my hard drive otherwise in the course of a video project; it makes an *excellent* spare drive in a pinch. And even after finishing the project and moving the files back to the computer, I have 32GB of photos, music, and video. So if you have to choose a size, go with 80GB -- it will be less space than you think sooner than you think.

Synching from iPhoto is as automatic and excellent as the synchs from iTunes. The iPod keeps track of how the photos are organized, making it easy to find groups and sort through them by date. Note, however, that if you are not organized in iPhoto, you won't have an easy time finding things on the iPod.

Video playback is excellent, both on the small screen and on the TV (we have SD, not HD -- I would not expect the HD screen to be kind to the 640x480 output). Slideshows are also very good, although I wish it were easier to customize the tunes that go with different sets of pictures. And now I have six years of photos (over 8,000 pictures) that fit into my pocket.

One thing I did not anticipate was need a remote control for the video and slideshows. So far I have not seen a product on the market that has not been slammed by reviewers.

Side note: using the AV cable, I was able to capture video and audio output from the iPod to my digital camcorder. This let me take a snippet from an iTunes music video and include it on a DVD video project I did for my nephew. Not the best quality, obviously, but the object wasn't to strip off the copy protection, I just wanted to get enough of the video to add some flavor to the other video I was creating.

I haven't given the battery a solid test yet (that will come with an overseas flight in a couple weeks), but while waiting in a store while my wife clothes shopped I went through a couple hours of video podcasts without the battery meter taking a noticeable hit.