This Christmas the most popular MP3 player is the new iPod Touch from Apple. The Apple brand and the word quality for the iPod go together, with its latest large, bright touchscreen this puts it ahead of all other MP3 players out there.
However there is a give and take, due to its compact slim size it only holds to a maximum of 16GB of storage which is hardly enough for those hardcore mp3 lovers who have tons of gigs of music and specially now videos to watch. But if you want the latest and greatest in technology the iPod touch is it.
The iPod Touch features a 3.5-inch touch-sensitive glass screen in lieu of buttons. It connects to the Internet via built-in Wi-Fi.
There's a full-featured Web browser for surfing the Net. You can even watch videos. But look at it closely, it resembles an iPhone, not surprised it shares the same audio, video, and photo apps as the iPhone, which is a good thing since its slick interface is a user friendly and easy way of accessing your mobile media.
The built in search is fast, sampling tracks and downloads are easy, and syncing tracks back to your host computer is effortless.
The Touch plays photos, videos and music. You can download songs from Apple's iTunes directly onto the player which is no surprise.The Apple 8 GB iPod Touch sells for less than $300, and the Apple 16 GB iPod touch is less than $400. [Check the Amazon Online Store]
If you need more storage, there's the Apple 80 GB iPod classic (Black) or Apple 160 GB iPod classic Silver (6th Generation) with lots of storage.
iPod Comparison Chart
iPod Classic 80GB | iPod Classic 160GB | iPod nano 4GB | iPod nano 8GB | iPod touch 8GB | iPod touch 16GB | iPod Shuffle 1GB | |
Songs Held* | 20,000 | 40,000 | 1000 | 2,000 | 1,750 | 3,000 | 240 |
Plays Video? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Screen Size (inches) | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | None |
Color Screen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A |
Photo Slideshow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Weight | 4.9 ounces | 5.7 ounces | 1.74 ounces | 1.74 ounces | 4.2 ounces | 4.2 ounces | 0.5 ounces |
Size | 4.1 x 2.4 x .41 | 4.1 x 2.4 x .53 | 2.75 x 2.06 x .26 | 2.75 x 2.06 x .26 | 4.3 x 2.4 x .31 | 4.3 x 2.4 x .31 | 1.62 x 1.07 x .41 |
Battery Life | Up to 30 hours | Up to 30 hours | Up to 24 hours | Up to 24 hours | Up to 22 hours | Up to 22 hours | Up to 12 hours |
Case Colors | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
WiFi | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
There's also the Apple 4 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Silver (3rd Generation) or the Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Black (3rd Generation).