Solid little device

Author's Rating:

Pros: Well built, decent battery life, adn one of the cheapest iPods

Cons: Sometimes freezes on podcasts

The Bottom Line: 
Perfect entry iPod due to cost. Very reliable and goes anywhere due to its size and durability.

Author's Review
I got this iPod (and it's my first) over a year ago and it's been very solid. This was my first introduction to the Apple products and has since spurred the purchase of an IMac.

I literally use this iPod daily (about an hour or more each day). I bring to almost everywhere I go. I especially use it in the car (with purchased tuner to listen on my car radio). I've dropped it about 2 or 3 times on the concrete floor of my garage and the only damage is a small chip in the metal of one corner. After a year of use (about 1 or 2 recharges a week) battery life has not dropped off at all. They advertise about 24 hours of playtime, which is definitely over exaggerated, I get about 10-12 hours tops, but I also have a tuner attached much of this time.

About my only complaint is sometimes the device will hang when I'm about to start a new podcast (the title and cover art will start to slide onto the screen then the whole thing freezes). I quick reboot of the device fixes is, again only happen about once every other week or so.

The headphones that come with it are okay for normal listening, nothing great. This model also does not have those little black covers over each ear bud, which I like because they always fell of on older models anyway (according to friends). Like the other iPods, Apple stopped shipping the iPods with and AC charger, so you have to charge via USB from your computer, not a big deal for me.

The 2GB storage is slim but hold enough music and podcasts for any time I'm away from my computer. Using smart play lists in iTunes ensures a decent mix of music will always make it to the iPod when syncing.