iPod touch has always been an amazing iPod. With great new applications, now iPod touch is even better. Watch a movie you rented from iTunes. View rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline. Open PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments. With Maps, find your location and get directions from there. See where you are on a map, a satellite image, or a combination of both. Make Web Clips for your Home screen so you can visit your favorite websites in just one tap. Fill up to nine Home screen pages with Web Clips and arrange them however you like. Browse YouTube videos, follow your stocks, check the weather, and take notes. With the new iPod touch, tap into even more.

Music, Movies, and More
Flick through album covers and find your music. Download and watch your favorite movies, rentals, TV shows, and more from the iTunes Store. Tap into thousands of photos. All using incredible multi-touch technology on a beautiful 3.5-inch display.

Music
If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod touch, flick through your music to find the album you want to hear. When you do, just tap the cover to flip it over and display a track list. Another tap starts the music. Even view the lyrics while you’re listening to the track.

Video
The 3.5-inch display gives you video like you’ve never seen on a portable device. Watch your favorite movie or rental from the iTunes Store. Catch up on TV shows anywhere. Enjoy video podcasts. Play music videos. All using multi-touch technology. With a tap, bring up onscreen controls to play/pause and view by chapter. Turn your iPod touch to switch between widescreen or full screen.

Photos
iPod touch holds up to 20,000 photos you sync via iTunes. Flick to scroll through thumbnails. Tap to view full screen. Rotate for landscape format. Or perform some sleight of hand by opening two fingers to zoom in. You can even play slideshows, complete with music and transitions. Set any photo as your wallpaper to personalize your iPod touch . . .

My Review
First off, I ordered this on a Monday and it came on Wednesday….using free shipping. Wow! Thanks amazon.

Now onto the product….simple, sleek, amazing. Set up out of the box could not have been easier. Make sure you have the most updated version of itunes onyour computer, plug in the USB cord and you’re up and running. Give it a full 3-4 hour charge first time through. Load up your music, pictures, videos. The software is simplicty defined. If you can use a toaster over, you can use this device. The wi-fi immediatley found my home network (and my neighbor’s). Setting up email: simple. Surfing the web: simple. And, oh yeah, using it to listen to music (ostensibly what it is for): a lifting and beautiful experience.

Might as well buy this newer version with the new software loaded. With amazon’s discount, it only a few dollars more than the old version without the upgrade after you pay for it and upload it youself. Save yourself the hassle and get the new version.

So you know, this thing will get fingerprinted fast. I got a Griffin leather hard shell case with a protective screen cover for about $20.00. A bit pricey but worth it to protect your investment.

I went with the 8 gig verion for a few reasons and it’s more than enough space. I am a music nut…I loaded it with more music that I can digest in two weeks and there’s still 3 gigs free. Sure I’ll eventually fill it (I guess…) but I really don’t mind swapping music out for fresh music thereby making my ipod new and fresh again. I also thought if I somehow lose the thing, I’d be out a lot more money with the 16 or 32 gig version. But honestly, it’s more than enough space for me.

The one caveat I discovered the hard way: shut off the wi-fi connection when you’re not using it. I charged it up, thought I turned it off, and then went to bed. In the morning, the battery was fully drained. Instead of turning off, I only put the unit to sleep. (To turn off, you need to press and hold the sleep button until the power off slider comes on-screen and you turn it off fully.) And while it was in sleep mode with the wi-fi still on, it kept checking my email, etc, thus draining the battery. Just turn off wi-fi when you’re not using it and you’re battery will keep running.

Concluding, I love this thing, and don’t know how I got by without it.

TOMZ