As I’ve noted I haven’t bought one yet since I don’t have USB2.0 and Firewire is no longer supported. Before it was even shipped though there were already reviews about the iPod Video having a smaller screen then it’s competitors. This is nothing new as there are constant poor reviews because of this or that feature. I was interested in seeing some actual reports.
Well Russell Beattie has a couple posts now. He owns both the iPod video and some of the competitors and the iPod Video is a winner even with the smaller screen. This doesn’t surprise me as Apple has always pushed quality screens in many of their products. I also have to agree that the content is the killer feature. Releasing a Video iPod without the associated content would have been ok but with the release it really puts it ahead of the competition. I’m sure Apple could have come out with a video iPod earlier but waiting to have the TV shows, etc was a good choice. I can only see this expanding in the future.
Read his full post for even more insight (vodcasts, etc).
The second complaint I’ve seen is the limited size of the videos. H.265 is supposed to scale well but I haven’t seen too many tests. Again Beattie did some tests and found while not so great at large widescreen tv’s, the output looks fine on a 32" normal television. This is, of course, dependent on the quality of your source to begin with. I’m sure some vodcasts will look like shite just due to the recording quality.
Read his full post for more review and comments.
This is good to hear as it fits well with Apple’s market. Apple has pushed home movies with iDVD, iMovie and the like. Having the ability to take your home movies easily with a ipod and dock/cables makes the experience that much better. Even if the family members you visit don’t have a DVD player (or you don’t have a burner) it’s likely they have RCA jacks.
When various players started supporting video I thought it was cool but would likely be a nerd toy, not mass consumption. What would be the likelihood of Netflix or other studios offering worthwhile downloads. Jobs caught some slack when he stated he wouldn’t do a video iPod but I agreed with him. But in usual Jobs style he created the market and demand. I hope it pays off and more “official” content keeps coming out. I’ll be waiting patiently for my BBC world news.
If I can find a way to get USB2.0 I might be in the market for a new iPod.