CNET editor's take - iPod Photo Rates 9 out of 10

CNET Editor's Take ^ | Reviewed March 25, 2005 | Reviewed by James Kim - Edited by Jasmine France

[Swordmaker]

Editors' rating: Excellent - 9.0 out of 10

Thanks to a much lower price and a new, photographer-friendly feature, the latest version of the iPod Photo should get more than its share of looks. Offering a full-color, 16-bit screen as well as 30GB and 60GB capacities, the iPod Photo displays photos and album art in an interface that's undeniably Apple. From the ease with which one loads photos on to the device to the browsing of thumbnails and images on the iPod itself, the overall experience is positive and warm. Plus, the mammoth 60GB iPod can hold as many as 15,000 songs or 25,000 photos. The original premium price tags--$499 and $599 for the 40GB and 60GB versions, respectively--dismayed many prospective buyers. Now, at $349, the 30GB version costs only $50 more than the 20GB iPod, while the 60GB version costs $449, down from the original price of $599 (the 40GB version has been nixed). Add a firmware update that, with the help of an optional Camera Connector, will enable users to transfer and view digital images directly from cameras to the iPod, and you clearly have a better value. Just note that you'll have to pay extra for a dock and an A/V cable, accessories that were included with the original version.

[Swordmaker]

iPod Photo rates a 9 out of 10 from CNET Editors PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[HKTechBoy]

I've got my 10 Gig iPod and I love it more than my girlfriend. I was on a train trip from Berlin to Budapest and the iPod was on it's last bar, it lasted the entire trip for me.

But I don't see the thing in putting a picture on an iPod.

[Yossarian]

But I don't see the thing in putting a picture on an iPod.

Here are some reasons:

1. Album Art - so you get a little of the feel of the real CD
2. Your own album art - instead of a picture of the CD cover, put in whatever picture is meaningful to you for any particular song
3. Portable presentations: Just render your PowerPoint presentation down to a JPG slide show. Then all you need is a TV, your iPod Photo, and the TV interfacing cables;
4. A much nicer, color, user interface; and
5. Baby pictures. 'Nuff said.

[Swordmaker]

But I don't see the thing in putting a picture on an iPod.

WHAT!? You don't want to see my 15,233 pictures of my grandchild?

Neither do I... I don't own an iPod, nor grandchildren... and certainly don't have a need to look at pictures on a teeny, weeny screen.

On the other hand, ask me in a few years when I have a grandkid... I may have an entirely different opinion...

[glorgau]

Some friends of mine just went to Death Valley the weekend before last. It is supposed to be the best wild flower season in our lifetime. While there, they took _lots_ of pictures on their digital cameras. They used iPods to dump the pictures and just kept snapping at whatever they had a hankering to shoot. It is easy to take thousands of pictures, but a pain to manage the media.

[antiRepublicrat]

Portable presentations: Just render your PowerPoint presentation down to a JPG slide show. Then all you need is a TV, your iPod Photo, and the TV interfacing cables;

And the best thing is that the slide show has on the iPod's screen a preview of the next slide to be displayed on the TV.

Helps stop those "How the hell did that get in there?!" presentation moments.