New iPod Warning and Update
A few days ago I wrote that there were a lot of bad reviews of the new iPod Classics. The form factor and increased storage seem enticing, but people complained about the user interface.
Today I went to Best Buy and tried them out. Yuk!! Scrolling through the menu, even with the album cover flip thing off, is really bad. All sense of precision is lost, and the speed is much slower. Just to get "artist" in the top menu was hard -- I kept scrolling past it. There is just no sense of precise control.
I urge all of you to go try one before you buy, particularly if you are like me and are upgrading from a gen 5.5 classic. Do not just buy it online sight unseen assuming it is just like the 5.5 but with more storage and a thinner form factor. I am also told, but can't attest to the fact, that it is much harder to get video out to a TV, say in a hotel room, and takes new adapters and cradles to do so.
This may get fixed in a software patch, but I an not entirely sure. I have heard that new hardware on the touchpad is partially to blame, and there is no patch for that. I can confirm that it did not feel like the old touch pad.
eCurmudgeon:
Unless you *really* need an iPod for something like on-line iTunes music support, I'd instead recommend something like the Creative Zen series. I have a Zen Vision:M 30GB, which has worked flawlessly, other than the lack of native-mode gapless playback. If they ever have a version with the Toshiba 80GB or 160GB drive, I may upgrade.
Why yes, I *did* own a Rio Karma. How can you tell?
September 21, 2007, 6:48 pm