HeadphonesSUMMARY:
NB: Review based mainly upon 3rd Generation, 20GB iPod.
The iPod. Is there any other music player quite as well known? Quite as popular? The answer, no. Many people wonder just what makes it so damn good, what sets it above your run of the mill $30 MP3 players, what makes it one of the most popular fashion accessaries and what is really behind the unexplainable phenomenon. The truth is, it's a combination of things. The sleek portability, it seems weightless at times, and with it's very slim design fits perfectly into your pocket or bag, rather than those small and chunky MP3 players which are very uncomfortable. The 20GB and 40GB models are a moderate size, and the mini and nano are miniscule. The capacity. One of the biggest selling features, 20GB of storage. Most competitors find it hard to top that, and with the ability to hold 5000 songs it's no wonder. That's right, you can leave this thing on for days and it still won't have repeated the same song. Not only that, but how many other 20GB portable hard drives slide into your pocket? The look. This is another thing which draws people to the iPod. A clean white outer covering, a sleek LED display and a seemingly flawless click wheel which allows you to scan through thousands of songs in seconds, without even lifting a finger. Another thing that you'll find yourself lost in when you buy the iPod is the Extras. If holding 5000 songs wasn't plenty, this thing can do everything from setting reminders, waking you up to your favourite songs, leaving yourself notes, playing games and closely monitoring your contacts. Ease of use is my favourite feature of this phenomenal unit. Adding hundreds of songs to the iPod is only a matter of dragging them on, and by the time you can listen to a song, have thousands of songs transferred, right there, waiting for you. My only minor gripe with adding songs and connecting your iPod to your PC or Mac is the different cords. I have a Mac and a PC, but if I want to go from one to the other, I can't just change one plug, I have to unplug one, get out the other one, then plug that one in and connect it to the computer. PC's use a simple USB cord, and since Macs have USB ports I can't see why they need a different cord. However, this doesn't affect most people and isn't a huge hassle anyway.
Now that I've pretty much praised the iPod and given it what it deserves, now it's time for the part the anxious soon-to-be-iPod owner has come for, its downfalls. While there are a few, they don't ruin the actual listening experience too much, but can sometimes be annoying. Firstly, as sleek and light as the iPods are, they are more fragile than your mind could comprehend. One drop of these things can almost be the end, with a weak outer casing and an easy scratch screen, if you're rough with your iPod it can be smashed beyond recognition before you can even blink twice. However, having a bit of care goes a long way in extending the life of your iPod. The battery life is one other slight problem, I guess I can't complain really, but having a few extra hours would make satisfied iPod customers the happiest people in the world. Although the sound quality is generally good, the default headphones themselves aren't awfully special. More stylish than practical, these flimsily things are easily tangled and can often get damaged, reducing the sound quality by drastic proportions.
So in closing, if you like to carry one of the hottest pieces of technology in your pocket, as well as your entire music collection, the iPod is definitely for you. Nothing quite compares, and although you may think of things like games as trivial rubbish to start with, when you're bored and waiting at the bus stop, you'll have great fun trying to see if you can guess what song is playing before the timer runs out, as well as trying to beat your friends in games like Brick.
