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Magnus · 10th April 2007, 21:53

Review: iPod video 5.5G and iPod shuffle 2G
by Magnus

In September 2006, Apple announced the 2G iPod shuffle as well as the updated 5G iPod video, which some refer to as the 5.5G. Someone have called it the sixth generation although most people see to hold off on that label for the “true”, fullscreen, video iPod. With this we complete the look at Apple’s latest lineup of iPods. For a review of the iPod nano 2G, check out the February 2007 issue of shuffle.

iPod video 5.5G
To sum up the updated iPod video, you get more for less. More storage, more battery life, more functionality, all for less money. First, let’s deal with battery life. Apple claims the new iPods play music up to 20 hours and video up to 6.5 hours. Although we cannot confirm those claims, during our use of the iPod video it seems to be about right. Battery life seem to have increased considerably from the previous versions, and you should now be able to enjoy several movies during a long-haul flight without running out of battery. While improving battery life it seems Apple have also made the iPod’s screen brighter, by up to 60 percent according to Apple. It’s noticeably brighter which makes movies much more enjoyable to watch. Perhaps the most obvious difference with the updated iPod is that the top model now has an 80GB hard drive up from the previous 60GB. This obviously means more music, more video, and more data. Concerning software news, for the real music fans gapless playback must be the most important new feature. Longer dance mixes can be broken up in individual song-files and classical pieces can be enjoyed without annoying gaps of silence. Apple also enhanced other parts of the iPod’s software. You can search for tunes through the same interface we covered in our previous iPod nano review. If you have a lot of media on your iPod that can certainly help, although personally I don’t find it very useful. With the 5.5G iPod video Apple introduced some enhanced games. The games can also be played on the 5G iPod. This is good since games is probably going to become an increasingly important aspect of the future iPod models. So while we wait for the 6G “true” iPod video with touch-scren a la the iPhone, if you want maximum storage space, watch video, and play games, the 5.5G iPod video is the device for you.

iPod shuffle 2nd generation
Screenless, just like its predecessor, this MP3 player is minute. I guess you could say it’s the size of a thumbnail but you’d have to have pretty big hands for that to be true. So it’s bigger than a thumbnail but it’s still small enough to be worn almost anywhere and still not be noticed because of weight or size. Steve Jobs said it was the smallest MP3 player in the world. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s certainly possible. So the shuffle is of a much smaller size but what else is new? Not much actually. It now comes only in a 1GB version and I guess it makes little sense to manufacture a 512MB version anymore. Battery life according to Apple is 12 hours on a single charge and I would say that’s probably true and you may even get more out of it. The control for locking the shuffle has shrunk in line with the whole device, and is now harder to get to if you have the device somewhere like in a pocket. Apple has also made it harder to see what the shuffle is doing since they put all the indications in one light and it’s really tiny making it hard to see sometimes. In January 2007 Apple updated the shuffle again and it now comes in five colors. Everything else stayed the same however. One thing I find a bit disappointing, is that it no longer has a regular USB port. You have to connect it to the docking station, which in turn connects to your Mac. I carry around a 1st generation shuffle at work and I can stick it into any computer and it doubles very conveniently as a USB flash drive to store files on. But I guess Apple didn’t consider that a very likely use of the new shuffle. Another thing that may disappoint some music lovers is that the shuffle does not support Apple lossless audio format, a format that is popular among those who want only the best quality audio. The main selling point of the shuffle is clearly the small size and low price. It’s the perfect compliment to other iPods, because you can take it anywhere and you don’t have to worry about screen scratches like on other models. Everyone should have a shuffle, I think.

BOX
The iPod shuffle sell at MacStores for AED399, the iPod 30GB for AED1099, and the iPod 80GB for AED1499. Apple IMC ME provided the iPods for this review.

10th April 2007, 21:53	#19 (permalink)
Magnus Administrator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dubai Posts: 8,397	Review: iPod video 5.5G and iPod shuffle 2G Review: iPod video 5.5G and iPod shuffle 2G by Magnus In September 2006, Apple announced the 2G iPod shuffle as well as the updated 5G iPod video, which some refer to as the 5.5G. Someone have called it the sixth generation although most people see to hold off on that label for the “true”, fullscreen, video iPod. With this we complete the look at Apple’s latest lineup of iPods. For a review of the iPod nano 2G, check out the February 2007 issue of shuffle. iPod video 5.5G To sum up the updated iPod video, you get more for less. More storage, more battery life, more functionality, all for less money. First, let’s deal with battery life. Apple claims the new iPods play music up to 20 hours and video up to 6.5 hours. Although we cannot confirm those claims, during our use of the iPod video it seems to be about right. Battery life seem to have increased considerably from the previous versions, and you should now be able to enjoy several movies during a long-haul flight without running out of battery. While improving battery life it seems Apple have also made the iPod’s screen brighter, by up to 60 percent according to Apple. It’s noticeably brighter which makes movies much more enjoyable to watch. Perhaps the most obvious difference with the updated iPod is that the top model now has an 80GB hard drive up from the previous 60GB. This obviously means more music, more video, and more data. Concerning software news, for the real music fans gapless playback must be the most important new feature. Longer dance mixes can be broken up in individual song-files and classical pieces can be enjoyed without annoying gaps of silence. Apple also enhanced other parts of the iPod’s software. You can search for tunes through the same interface we covered in our previous iPod nano review. If you have a lot of media on your iPod that can certainly help, although personally I don’t find it very useful. With the 5.5G iPod video Apple introduced some enhanced games. The games can also be played on the 5G iPod. This is good since games is probably going to become an increasingly important aspect of the future iPod models. So while we wait for the 6G “true” iPod video with touch-scren a la the iPhone, if you want maximum storage space, watch video, and play games, the 5.5G iPod video is the device for you. iPod shuffle 2nd generation Screenless, just like its predecessor, this MP3 player is minute. I guess you could say it’s the size of a thumbnail but you’d have to have pretty big hands for that to be true. So it’s bigger than a thumbnail but it’s still small enough to be worn almost anywhere and still not be noticed because of weight or size. Steve Jobs said it was the smallest MP3 player in the world. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s certainly possible. So the shuffle is of a much smaller size but what else is new? Not much actually. It now comes only in a 1GB version and I guess it makes little sense to manufacture a 512MB version anymore. Battery life according to Apple is 12 hours on a single charge and I would say that’s probably true and you may even get more out of it. The control for locking the shuffle has shrunk in line with the whole device, and is now harder to get to if you have the device somewhere like in a pocket. Apple has also made it harder to see what the shuffle is doing since they put all the indications in one light and it’s really tiny making it hard to see sometimes. In January 2007 Apple updated the shuffle again and it now comes in five colors. Everything else stayed the same however. One thing I find a bit disappointing, is that it no longer has a regular USB port. You have to connect it to the docking station, which in turn connects to your Mac. I carry around a 1st generation shuffle at work and I can stick it into any computer and it doubles very conveniently as a USB flash drive to store files on. But I guess Apple didn’t consider that a very likely use of the new shuffle. Another thing that may disappoint some music lovers is that the shuffle does not support Apple lossless audio format, a format that is popular among those who want only the best quality audio. The main selling point of the shuffle is clearly the small size and low price. It’s the perfect compliment to other iPods, because you can take it anywhere and you don’t have to worry about screen scratches like on other models. Everyone should have a shuffle, I think. BOX The iPod shuffle sell at MacStores for AED399, the iPod 30GB for AED1099, and the iPod 80GB for AED1499. Apple IMC ME provided the iPods for this review.