Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation)

One year ago I purchased the 16GB original iPod Touch. At that time, I found that even though it had some flaws, the over-all package made it one of the best iPods available. Now, one year later, Apple has released the next generation Touch. I've now had it for a few days, and here's what I found: the second gen iPod Touch is a marked improvement over the the first gen, and comes even closer to perfection. Keeping this in mind, this review will show one big, and a number of smaller shortcomings. It may also be difficult to justify upgrading from the 1st to 2nd gen unless you simply must have one of the few hardware improvements, and can live with the fact that you may have to re-purchase some of your accessories.

Size and Dimensions: The iPod Touch now sports a more rounded design on the back, making it look slightly thinner and more like the iPhone than the original did (it is not really thinner than it's predecessor, just looks that way). Unfortunately, the back plate is still made from stainless steel, and this plate attacts fingerprints and scratches almost magically. After one year of near-constant use the backplate of my first gen Touch looks a bit like a wild etch-a-sketch (I carry the Touch in my pocket). Interestingly, the glass on the front appears (after one year of heavy use) to be absolutely scratch-resistant. It's the backside (that also carries the custom engraving) that quickly becomes blemished. I would have preferred a brushed metal/aluminium backplate. I had to look it up, but the new Touch is slightly lighter (a few grams) - but it looks thinner (thanks to the tapered edge design). The rounded edges make it fit my palm slightly better, making it feel just right (to be honest, the original Touch was already very, very good in this respect). Other than that the outside dimensions exactly match that of the original Touch. The most visible change from the front is that the steel from the backplate now frames the glass much like it did on the original iPhone.

Touch Screen and Controls: The screen is simply gorgeous. It's bright, crisp, has great contrast, and can adapt it's brightness to the ambient light. In direct sunlight, much like it's predecessor it becomes difficult to read correctly. In shade it's perfectly readable -- a feat considering how bright a display has to be to achieve that. Color temperature of the display has shifted slightly downwards (or, to sound less pompuous: the display's colors have shifted slightly from a blueish to a golden tinge, something you wouldn't notice unless you have the two devices side by side).

Accessories: Unfortunately, Apple has changed the pin-out (*again*) for the iPod connector. As a result, some 'made for iPod' accessories either don't work, or don't work fully any more. For example, my Altec Lansing active speakers can't charge the Touch any more (it was able to charge the 1st gen Touch). This is truly, truly annoying as you don't know if your iPod works with your 'made for iPod' devices any longer, and makes purchasing new accessories a game of chance. My car has a (hideously expensive) iPod integration that luckily still works (including re-charging). Still, the iPod connector compatibility (or lack thereof) is becoming a big mess. Just imagine you want to buy an accessory for your kid or friend, and too late find out that it does not work with it.

WiFi / Internet: A year ago I purchased an iPod, and got a fully integrated web accesory kit. As it turned out, the addition of WiFi and full internet access is a killer feature to me. The web browser (a mobile version of Safari) is very capable. Much has been said about the fact that Mobile Safari does not support Flash. This is annoying if you visit sites that use it. The pinch/slide gesture-based interface works so well that I regularely use the Touch for normal web surfing. The general experience has increased over the past few month, no doubt in no small amounts due to the fact that many sites have beed re-designed with the iPhone in mind. Since the Touch's browser is exactly the same, it inherits the benefit. WiFi speed is good (although it still uses the 802.11b/g, not the n variant) - and mostly depends on the hotspot you are connected to. It remembers the hotspots it has connected to (much like a laptop would), and can also connect using WPA. There are other Web enabled applications that come with the iPod (Maps, which can pinpoint your location by the position of hotspots close to you), Stocks, YouTube, and Weather, which are nice, but remarkable. WiFi reception range is average, but definitely below that of some PC laptops.

Then, the Touch also comes with Mail, Calendar and Adressboock, and these do become killer fieatures, especially when coupled with an Exchange server or (as Apple would prefer) MobileMe. Mail supports 'push' technology, meaning that (almost) as soon an there is an incoming mail (and your Touch is connected to a hotspot), you are notified by a little discreep 'bleep'. Reading emails, including mails with rich content works very well. Composing any but the shortes emails, on the other hand, is bothersome, verging on annoying due to the small virtual keyboard). Still, simply being able to do this makes all the difference. Live Calender updates have saved my bacon a few times already, as you do not have to remember to actively synch your iPod after you have made a change to the calender.

Summary: The 2nd generation iPod Touch is an almost perfect device. It combines top-notch video/audio, world-class UI, great casual gaming, hundrets of apps, and full access to the Internet into a single, beautiful package. To sum it up neatly: Untouchable. Well -- almost. It has one big flaw if you have invested in accessories: it may not be compatible with them, as Apple has changed the iPod connector pin-out (again). With those reservations, I recommend the Touch to anyone. Also great: owners of the 1st gen Touch can get most of these goodies with a simple, inexpensive software upgrade.

Hits:
+ great display
+ good audio
+ gesture-based interface
+ accelerometer for controls
+ great integration with your music library (via iTunes)
+ long battery life
+ wireless music store
+ wireless App store (killer feature)
+ Speaker for gaming
+ Mail, Calendar and Address book with Push
+ WiFi Internet (killer feature)
+ Remote App (free) for your PC/Mac's iTunes/AppleTV
+ SDK freely available for anyone
+ Microphone and remote support
+ Nike + iPod without dongle

Misses:
- incompatibility with 'made for iPod' devices (bad, bad, bad)
- stainless steel backplate (fingerprints and scratches easily)
- no wireless synching
- no wireless playback of streamed iTunes content (an Appstore application can stream unprotected content, though)
- no visualizer
- no search function
- no playlist groups (why, oh why?)
- no GPS nor FM radio
- Notes not synched with MobileMe
- no hard drive mode
- no synching documents (except third party Apps)
- downsampling of photos
- currently tops out at 32GB (would have preferred 64)
- no bluetooth

If you are looking for a mobile computing device, that's not a phone, then the iPod Touch is for you. This thing can play games, run apps, surf the internet, and so much more.

I use this like it is a computer and it works great.

I waited several months to upgrade my 5g 60gb iPod video to a 32gb Touch. I was so excited to finally be able to afford one a few weeks ago. For awhile I was in bliss as I played with my new toy. The storage size limit and battery life were the only downsides I could see to this little gem... that was until I tried to use it with some of my many peripheral accessories. None of them will charge my new iPod Touch. So the hundreds of dollars I've spent over the years on speaker systems, my alarm clock, my car adapters and chargers, my backup battery, my media dock... none of them will charge this new iPod. In this economy I do NOT have the disposable income I used to have. I can not afford to replace all of these products because Apple decided to remove the firewire pin from the dock connector. I am very upset over this. I realize I can purchase a $30 adapter that will at least allow me to use this product in my car, but everything else is useless... just ridiculous that they would do this to long-time iPod users. I started buying accessories when I still had just my 3g 40gb iPod so it's been at least 5 years of accumulation that are now just junk. Makes me very leary of purchasing new accessories and new iPods.

I bought the 2nd Gen iPod Touch 16-gig to replace my 8-gig previous-gen Nano, needing more storage. Setup with my home wifi was instantaneous, and everything was great UNTIL I discovered it will not charge on my home alarm dock or my JBL dock made for the previous gen Nano. From what I've read, when Apple dropped support for FireWire and went to USB-only charging, a lot of fairly new devices were made obsolete. I got the JBL On-Stage dock just last fall, specifically because my older dock had too low a docking seat to allow use of the wheel on the short, fat Nanos. I spent $300 on this thing and I'm not going out and buying all new docks just because Apple thinks I should; I'm returning it. Don't buy this if you expect it to be compatible with all your docks.

Obviously from all these other reviews this is by far the most functional product out there, and I'm not disputing that at all, I loved my iPod touch, but they have a ridiculously short lifespan. The kicker is that if you as much as sweat on it or expose it to rapidly changing temperatures (as is common in the upper midwest) your warranty is voided and your iPod might not last long at all.

I just lost an iPod touch due to moister condensation from taking it from 30 degree weather to 70 degree weather. That created enough condensation to trip the water marker inside the iPod which voids the warranty and shorted out the screen. To top it off; that one was actually a replacement for another iPod touch because the first one I got had a phone jack that broke within a month of normal use, and then this one had a faulty screen due to "water damage" and now Apple conveniently doesn't have to replace it anymore.

Just read some of the discussions on Apples site about iPods and water damage, it literally takes just one drop of water to short it out and void the warranty.

So if your getting one my advice is to live somewhere that doesn't get too cold or put you in situations that allow moisture condensation to happen.