Touch vs. Classic vs. ... What I decided on

TechLarry

RIP [H] Brother - June 1, 2022
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Having a 5 year old Gen 2 10GB, and a year or two old 1st Gen Nano 4GB, it was time for something bigger. My CD lilbrary has out-grown everything.

The decision was Touch, Classic or ???

My local BB got in some Touch's (both models). Went in, and bought one.

First, let me say that this thing is an engineering marvel, and the user interface simply wonderful.

If Apple ever gets around to building a tablet computer, they are gonna kick ass with it.

Operation is very smooth. 16GB won't hold everything I have, but I could work with that.

Wifi worked well and was easy to set up.

HINT - If you are using MAC Address Filtering, and need the MAC address to plug into your router, just go to the information page and scroll down. Apple wisely put the MAC address in clear view at the bottom, but you have to scroll down to see it.

Then, I started noticing the little problems:

1. No exterior volume control. Didn't think I would miss it, but I do.
2. No ability to show up on desktop as a hard drive.
3, While the user interface is very speedy, I thought syncing was slow for some reason.
4. Does not play most current iTunes video's !!!
5. While cool, I tired VERY quickly of web browsing on a 3.5" screen.

#4 was particularly troubling. Any video's in widescreen format seemed to work fine. However the vast majority of video's on iTunes are formatted for the iPod Classic style display. When one of these are played on the Touch, you get the music, but instead of video you only get the cover art. If you tap to view the video screen, you get NOTHING!

#4 was the final straw for me. For $400, regardless of how much an engineering marvel the thing is, it just wasn't ready for prime time @ a $400 price. At least for me.

Ok, now what...

Just to be thorough, I did some research on non-Apple players.

Creative Zen W. Nice device. Chunky as hell though. It is also expensive IMHO and not a challenger for the Touch given it's price and feature set. If it was $100 cheaper, maybe... Low res screen, but reviews indicate it's really not that bad.

Archos 605 WiFi - Folks, this one almost had me! 4.3" screen. Wifi. Touch Screen. 30GB for $299.

Eventually, however, I took it off the list for a few reasons:

1. $299 gets you the basic player. Everything else is an added cost option. Hell, even the Web Browser is a $30 option! To use certain types of Audio, you have to BUY separate plug-ins. It looked to me like this thing could nickle and dime you to death.

2. Starting with the 605, the battery is no longer removeable. What a TERRIBLE idea. This was one major point the 604 had over the Touch and other iPods.

3. I've never seen such a mixed bag of reviews on one device. Some people love the thing. Some people hate it to the point they want to throw it. Bizarre...

4. One thing consistent in reading reviews is that everyone things Archos support sucks. Badly.

5. To _effectively_ use the touch screen, you have to use an included stylus. That's just bad user interface design, especially for a device with such a big screen.

6. You pretty much have to use a stylus, yet they didn't engineer in a stylus holder! How the hell did that get past the useability tests!


Which brings me to the Classic.

When I first saw the Classic, I didn't like it. But that was a Silver one. I thought the top looked cheap. Like Pot-Metal.

I also felt the display model had a jumpy menu system. Like the unit wasn't powerful enough for the new MacOS X based Operating System.

Those were the two main reasons I skipped on the Classic in the first place.

But, talking all the above into account, I finally decided that the 80GB Classic, in Black, at $249 was the sweet spot for me at this time. It's not a huge investment like the Touch, Archos or Creative, and it gives me a player that will last me the 2 years or so I figure it will take Apple to fix the final mars in the Touch design (including the storage space).

After getting it home and using it a while, I have to say I am much more impressed than I was initially.

First, in black, the iPod Classic looks damned good! It doesn't have that cheap pot-metal look that the silver one had.

I also thing the screen asthetics are much better when the screen is set in black.

I also found that, unlike the silver demo unit I played with at the store, this one doesn't have the jumpy menu's or sluggish operation that I witnessed. Maybe it's a factor of the test mule being nailed down to a wooden stand and immoveable that made it feel that way.

None of that on mine.

Finally, this is unexpected, but iTunes synced to the Classic in half the time it did to the Touch. I don't really understand that. You'd think the touch's flash would be faster.

At least in my case, it wasn't.

So this should last me a couple of years until Apple gets the (otherwise excellent) Touch "Just right".
 
I agree with a lot of what you said... The touch looks fantastic as it is, but it's hard to justify the upgrade from my 60gb Video when I've got 55gb filled and wouldn't be able to take much of my music with me on a touch. I was a PDA fiend for a long time, too, so a touch with the storage that I need would really make my day.

I'll be keeping a close watch on the next generation of the touch.
 
Just letting you know the classic uses the same operating system as the last generation iPods and nanos, not OS X.

The video problem you had with the touch was probably an issue with how the video was encoded. There should be no reason why videos encoded for the iPod shouldn't play on the touch to my knowledge.
 
Whether you like the iPod touch depends on how you treat your media player, I think.

When you've got a lot of music and you treat it like a big-bucket-o-songs, the touch just isn't ready yet. I'm sure we'll have a 32GB touch by late 2008, but that won't be enough for you who actually 'need' 60GB or more of storage.

On the other hand, if you're like me and 16GB holds most or all of your music, then it's great. You get much of the same experience but a more advanced interface and a rocking display for the web and videos.
 
Thanks for the correction on the OS. It's entirely different from my older iPods, so I thought they had transitioned it to OSX as well.

It looks a lot like what's on the touch.

As for the video's, these are all iTunes store purchased video's that do not work.



Just letting you know the classic uses the same operating system as the last generation iPods and nanos, not OS X.

The video problem you had with the touch was probably an issue with how the video was encoded. There should be no reason why videos encoded for the iPod shouldn't play on the touch to my knowledge.
 
BTW.... I liked the Classic so much, I took IT back and got the 160GB version.

What the hell. It's only money :)

I have a purchased DVD collection of over 650 DVD's.

I've discovered HandBrake :)

I need more computers LOL
 
Yea..I had a debate between the 8GB Touch or the 80gig Classic, I went with the classic. This is coming from a guy who had a Black Zune a week ago. Heh. I love the touch, don't get me wrong but it honestly does not have enough store for my tastes. I'll wait for the ~32GIG SSD Ver.; I'll just say this, my classic will be my last HDD based Media/MP3 Device.
 
Seems like most people are arriving at the same conclusion. I was going to go for a touch until I really thought about it. I also didn't like the fact that Apple crippled the touch.

I'm going to buy a 160gig classic next paycheck.
 
I'll likely be going with a 16g touch. It wont hold all my music of course, but it'll hold everything that I listen to regularly.
 
BTW, Slower sync speed is common with the flash based players (IE Touch, Nano, etc.) vs. the HDD based ones (Classic/Video, Zune, Zen, etc.)
 
Yea..I had a debate between the 8GB Touch or the 80gig Classic, I went with the classic. This is coming from a guy who had a Black Zune a week ago. Heh. I love the touch, don't get me wrong but it honestly does not have enough store for my tastes. I'll wait for the ~32GIG SSD Ver.; I'll just say this, my classic will be my last HDD based Media/MP3 Device.

what he said.

I also picked up a 80GB classic in black. Love the finish.
 
Has anyone with the new Classic purchased any accessories for it? Such as an FM Transceiver or such? Do they work alright? I had heard that they had changed the case slightly on the new classics and while I do want one, I am afraid some of the accessories I purchase for it will not work correctly. I am mainly looking for an FM Transceiver that plugs into my car's cigarette lighter and uses a holster to hold the iPod in place.
 
Totally agree. Apple REALLY got the finish right this time, at least as far as the black is concerned. The texture is perfect too.

I'm sure some will like the Silver, but I don't for two reasons:

1. It looks like Pot-Metal to me.
2. With the Silver, the display stands out like a sore thumb. On the black, it literally disappears into the background. Kind of like watching a movie screen in total dark.

I'm really digging my Classic 160.


what he said.

I also picked up a 80GB classic in black. Love the finish.
 
I've only heard rumors that anything electronic won't work (tuners, transmitters, etc...) because of some 'chip' that was added to the new iPods.

I have NO idea if this is accurate or not. Some googling is definitely in order.

I don't expect any issues with things like USB cables, Power Adapters or other 'dumb' devices. I bought a car charger and I'll report after I try it.


Has anyone with the new Classic purchased any accessories for it? Such as an FM Transceiver or such? Do they work alright? I had heard that they had changed the case slightly on the new classics and while I do want one, I am afraid some of the accessories I purchase for it will not work correctly. I am mainly looking for an FM Transceiver that plugs into my car's cigarette lighter and uses a holster to hold the iPod in place.
 
So far I've put 269 Albums and 43 DVD Concert Albums and Movies on my 160.

And still have 105GB to go.

I have over 600 purchased DVD's in my library. It will take time for all the conversion, but I'll fill it up :)

I'm estimating I'll be able to get ~125 DVD Movies on there along with my entire Music Library of 269 Albums.

Woohoo :)

And you know what? Watching movies on the 2.5" display ain't half bad, and with the audio ripped at 160k AAC the Audio is excellent. In U571 the screen may be smaller, but the explosions are still massive :)

I have every CD and DVD ever releasaed by Pink Floyd and David Gilmour on there. That's Psychadelic, man :)
 
Video at 800 to 1200, depending on content. Using H.264 (iPod).

Audio for the movies/concerts is 160 AAC. It's more than enough.

My movies range from 700MB to 1.3GB, depending on length and content.

The 45 Movie/Concert DVD's I've ripped so far total just over 29GB.

All CD's are ripped at 192K AAC VBS
 
I got my touch last week and love it. Sure there are other devices that do more and they are also bigger devices and not really MP3 players.

It's an expensive MP3 player that does some amazing stuff and is sleek as hell. You pay qa premium with Apple products, in this case, it was worth it to me.

I sold my 30GB Video as I never used all the space anyway and wanted something new.
 
I was wondering how you were doing so well, then I saw you are ripping at 160.

Yeah, 160kbps AAC is roughly around 192Kbps MP3. If anyone says they can tell the difference between 192kbps and 320kbps Mp3 on an ipod they're lying.

The internal DAC's arn't good enough to render that much of a difference.
 
Yeah, 160kbps AAC is roughly around 192Kbps MP3. If anyone says they can tell the difference between 192kbps and 320kbps Mp3 on an ipod they're lying.

The internal DAC's arn't good enough to render that much of a difference.

I can not on my iPod, but I can on my computer so that is why I use 320.
I do not have months of music so I do not worry about space to much other than for my DVD collection and that I do not care to have the best sound quality as long as I can understand it.
 
I've been busy :)

On the C160, I'm up to:

243 Music Albums
26 Concert DVD's
17 Movie DVD's
The entire Band Of Brothers Set, including extra's
6 iTunes Music Video's
And a dozen or so Video Podcasts

Still got 94GB to go :)

I figure it will take me about another week to fill it up. I have one machine that is doing nothing but converting the DVD's all day. When I get time, I just swap in the next one.

Band of Brothers really came out gorgeous.

BTW... you guys vist the new Amazon MP3 site yet? Wow...
 
Agree with ever point, OP. I bought my Classic on day 3, and am lovin' it. If I was to spend as much money as the 16GB Touch costs, I would purchase the new ZEN and save $100.
 
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