I bought a 64GB Touch direct from apple on the day it came out -- I find it often takes longer to get newly released stuff from Amazon. I replaced my 32GB 2nd generation -- and to tell the truth, the extra 32GB is the main difference I notice. Now I can fit all of my music and video/tv shows and apps besides with room to spare, I love it!
A little about me, I'm a diehard mp3 player fan so I have owned a broad variety of iPods and iPod alternatives: Archos 604/605/5, iRiver Clix2, Sony Walkman X, iPod Classic/Nano/Touch 1,2,3,4,5, Creative Zen/X-Fi, Cowan U2, Samsung P2 etc. I will be comparing the iPod Touch 3rd Generation to all of these other players.
Let me just say that I'm not rating the quality of the update, but rather the unit as a whole. Admittedly, this is a pretty weak update especially if you were hoping for GPS or a camera. I am a little envious that the Nano gets a camera and the Touch doesn't, what's that all about? But ultimately, this is not a video camera for me (I have a Flip for that!) so I really don't care. I am rating the whole package as an MP3 and video player. I am considering how the Touch compares to competing products.
One other comment -- as to sound quality, I can't say that is either pro or con. If you want really good sound go get yourself a Sony Walkman! However, I find the sound (through my UE11 Pros) to be respectable, especially if you tweak the sound settings to your tastes. Neither remarkably good nor remarkably bad so I don't list SQ on either pro or con list.
Lets get to it then, what I loved about my Touch:
1) Beauty -- just raw esthetic pleasure, the Touch is without doubt the sexiest looking MP3 player I have ever owned! And it feels darn good in my hand too.
2) Software/iTunes -- what's the point of even mentioning an iPod without discussing iTunes? iTunes is for sure the best media player/store interface that I have ever seen. Definitely gives every iPod a leg up over the competition -- although Media Monkey is pretty good in many ways and that's what I use for my other players.
3) Apps -- nobody can compare with apple's App Store and the amazing assortment of Apps now available for the Touch.
4) Firmware/updates -- the apple firmware is probably the best out there. Sony Walkman is pretty good too, but I think apple gets top honors. The update process through iTunes is the smoothest software update process of any MP3 player I've ever seen -- although Archos comes close.
5) Play screen -- the Touch play screen really sets the standard that everybody else is aspiring to. I love how they fill the entire screen with the album art. The only other one that even comes close is the Walkman.
6) Accessories -- in the apple happy place there are accessories galore and readily available at your local store. Most of my other players require online shopping to find cases and whatnot.
7) Dedicated volume, home button, power button -- much as I love touch screens, its really nice to have a few dedicated buttons that you can hit without being able to see the screen.
8) Browser -- The Safari is one of the better browsers for an MP3 player, especially the pinch multi-touch interface for zooming is really nice. Keyboard is a little hard to use but can be done with practice.
9) Apple support -- these guys are fantastic about fixing/replacing faulty units. I should know because I've had to send a few items back over the years.
10. Speed -- they say its faster and I do notice the difference when playing with my apps which seem a bit snappier now. At this rate, the Touch is going to replace my laptop...
10 solid marks gives the iPod Touch 5 stars for being top of its class in so many categories! However, being an engineer, I always see room for improvement (I sure hope apple is listening!)
Things I don't like so much:
1) Play button? No dedicated play button means this is almost impossible to pause/play by touch. My first Sony Walkman had the best play button ever, the Archos 605 had a nice dedicated play button even though it was a touch screen. I just don't think touch screen should have to mean everything has to be done with the touch screen!
2) Battery -- its not pretty if the battery goes bad on this thing. Unfortunately, removable or even accessible batteries are becoming a thing of the past with MP3 players! Luckily they keep putting out new ones every year so I never use the battery up :)
3) Dock -- seems to me that the apple dock options are pretty weak compared to the Archos DVR dock.
4) Video cable -- if you want to watch those tv shows/movies you buy on iTunes on your TV you're going to have to buy a special video cable -- mine cost like $50!! Just keep that in mind...
5) Stylus won't work -- since this is a capacitance touch screen you can't use a stylus as much as you (or I) might like to. Looks shinier, but hard to use -- I like Archos better here.
6) Onscreen keyboard -- not great, Archos is definitely better for me partly because you can use a stylus if you have to.
Well there you have it -- 9 big pluses, 6 small minuses makes for about 4.7 stars by my calculations! If you don't need huge storage space or HD video resolution this is a great MP3/video player, not necessarily the best in every category but I would say it is the best overall unit available today.
My recommendations depending on your personal preferences:
- iPod touch if you just want an all around great music player, browser, video player, game playing, or if you are an App head (I'm rapidly becoming one myself!). It does everything!
- Sony Walkman if you want really good sound (the best I think) and/or you like Rhapsody
- Archos 5 if you want a big HD screen, great DVR capabilities, stylus friendly touch screen, and/or a big hard drive (500GB coming soon!)
- iPod Nano if you want a really small sleek player in fun colors and a @$*()^)# video camera!Get more detail about Apple iPod touch 64 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL.
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