Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Hardware Review ( iPod Touch 8GB )

Although I got this awhile ago, I've been playing with it a LOT since. I've finally gotten around to writing a review... anyway, I finally got it. The iPod Touch 8GB, the same day the 2nd gen, 16GB, built-in-speaker-same-exact-price version came out... don't know why I didn't get that one.

Anyway, I'll start out with the look - sexy. Looks just like the first-gen iPhone, but it just doesn't make calls. ( Well, actually, there is a free "App" in the "App Store" that-- well, nevermind. ) The back of it does have the much hated ( at least by me ) chrome that gets scratched super easily. Transversely, however, the front is nearly impossible to scratch. I saw a YouTube video where a guy tried to scratch the screen with a box cutter to no avail. Being in disbelief, I tried something similar with a bottle cap - I'll just say the video is legit. It's hard to believe that this thing is that hard to scratch. It smudges easily, and a lot, but doesn't scratch.

Secondly, the features - several. Unless you have the 2nd-gen iPod Touch, you can download the "App Store" to your iPod Touch for a fee of $9.95. ( Unless you Jailbreak it - good luck though. Nearly bricked my iPod. ) Basically, the "App Store" features a whole lot of "Applications" made by people and companies, and there are literally thousands. Here you can find games, travel, education, entertainment, music, and a whole bunch of other apps. Although most of the good ones you have to pay for, they are generally pretty reasonable, and you get a good idea of how good an app really is just by reading a few reviews or trying the "Lite" version of the app, if there is one available. Once an app is downloaded, it will download to your - what I will call - homepage, where you can have several pages of apps. Also at the homepage is the other stuff. Music, videos, photos, settings, calender, contacts, among other things that come with the iPod upon purchasing. The most notable however, being Safari, which is the internet. And, if you are in a Wi-Fi hotspot with decent/good bandwidth, works very well for the most part. My only real complaint is that sometimes, for no reason, pages will lag, causing you to mess up your typing, and sometimes even throwing you back to the "home page" for no reason at all. That's actually just about my only biff with this iPod - the thing is great.

Basically, if you don't have an iPod or MP3 player by now, you shouldn't get this iPod Touch. Why? Because you should get the NEWER and BETTER iPod Touch that also costs $300 but has 16 GB instead of 8GB. I do however recommend you get a warranty, seeing as how Apple products seem to fail in the long run. ( I know they do for me, anyway. ) If you don't have a cell phone yet for any reason or need a new one, AND have the money to pay $70+ a month for it, get the new iPhone 3G which is essentially this, just with a phone, obviously.

4.75/5

No comments: