Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation) [Previous Model]
by Apple Computer
![Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation) [Previous Model]](/images/Apple-iPod-touch-32-GB-2nd-Generation-Previous-Model-B001FA1O0E-L.jpg)
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List Price: Our Price: $393.40 You Save: $5.60 (1%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $105.99 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation) [Previous Model]
Customer Review: Really Poor Battery Performance Sinks iPod Touch 2G
Summary: 1 Stars
All of the neat lights & whistles in the world become irrelevant if the battery life of a device can't support the functionality. Amazon.com was great in its customer support--providing prepaid shipping for the return and, I assume, a full refund once they receive the product. Now, on to comments on the product.
First, Apple seems to believe that its products are self-explanatory. There is not even a "Quick Start" guide included with the product--everything is online. Maybe folks who are on their third or fourth or n-th iPod can learn as they go, but those of us who are new to iPods need support and guidance. Perhaps, Apple doesn't care about expanding its market (to us). But, what led us to return this item was the really, really bad battery life--consistent with the vast majority of blogs on the Touch 2G. Case in point, with about 20% battery life left, iPod was shut down for the night (fully shut down, not just sleeping). The next morning, "critically low battery" was how we were greeted. And, we had not even graduated to video downloads--just CD rips and internet surfing. Further, each time we put the iPod on a charger, it would power up--kind of counter-productive to recharging the battery. In one case, it glowed like a night light for the entire time it was charging, and the next morning still showed "low batt." Nothing in the online owners' manual suggested that this was normal--or, for that matter, what to expect while charging. This goes back to my opening comments about owner support. Why does Apple keep useful information so secret?
I bought the iPod Touch, rather than an iPhone, because I didn't want my use of neat functions (fun & games) to leave me with a dead cell battery (not good, in case of emergency). My experience with the iPod Touch 2G has confirmed this thinking--a cell phone is for making calls & (maybe) texting; if you want toys, get another device.
Conclusions: At best, give Apple some time to improve the battery performance of the iPod Touch 2G. Without battery life, you've got nothing! At worst, move on to another toy.
Customer Review: Good Enough for Me
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased the 32GB iPod touch 2nd Gen to replace a stolen Zune player (I believe it was a 1st Gen). I opted for Apple this time A) because my Zune had a multitude of annoying quirks that had been slowly driving me mad, and B) I can't stand the Zune software.
That being said, I have been fairly pleased with the iPod thus far. Things I love about it include:
*A big, beautiful, bright screen
*Easily navigated interface (I especially love being able to touch the first letter of the artist I want and go straight to that area of the list)
*Good sound (though I honestly can't remember how my Zune compared)
*Syncable with MediaMonkey (only the best music software I've ever had the pleasure of using--and it's free!!)
*Much thinner and sleeker than the Zune
*The shuffle algorithm seems to be much better than the one I had in Zune, which would play the same songs over and over
*Internet browsing wherever there's wi-fi is pretty dizamn sweet
Things that I find less than thrilling:
*Having to unlock the player by sliding my finger across that bar every time I want to interact with it--there should be an option to disable that
*The Zune had a feature that would allow me to go straight to all of the current playing artist's music from the now playing screen (not just the album that song is on), and I miss that
*All .wma formatted music must be converted to something the iPod will play before you sync. That means HOURS of waiting for the first sync to complete if, like me, you have a ton of these formats.
*The volume leveling feature seemed to make no difference, as I am still adjusting the volume like a madman from song to song
*You can't interact with the player with gloves on
*Video syncing is tricky unless you buy directly from iTunes, of course.
I've decided that no player is perfect, and the iPod is certainly very usable and delightfully quirk-free. I should add that it's compatibility with MediaMonkey is a HUGE influence in this rating, and makes me very happy indeed.
Customer Review: WOW!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had the IPT for a few months and wanted road test this product before I reviewed it. This is my first ipod, though I have another small/featureless mp3 player for running. I am not a big fan of Apple products in general - but this is another story. The IPT is amazing. I am surprised at how much I use it. I don't have a car adapter, so my use is typically not when I'm driving. I use it 75% of the time for music and 25% for the other applications. I would recommend looking at the app reviews before adding them on your IPT (I have found the apps with negative reviews really are not worth adding). I have not figured out how to delete apps, I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't gotten 'round to researching it!
Two things I would love to see added: bluetooth -it's just handy- (edited later: someone commented that blue tooth should be available this summer as a software upgrade - so keep that in mind) and a built in camera (like the iphones offer). This brings me to another point, I debated about an ipod vs iphone. I simply did not find the iphone as comfortable to talk with as my current cell phone - that's just me- though I think all of the capabilities of the iphone are amazing.
One funny problem that I have -- I am now so used to the touch screen- that my brain thinks everything ought to be a touch screen - like my Kindle, phone and sometimes I go to touch my computer screen for IPT style capabilities. Creature of habit!
I got the 32gig version because it was not that much more than the 16gig, and I had no idea how much room the apps or movies would take up. (as it turns out, I have not downloaded any movies- may do so for future travel, though). If you plan to keep your IPT for a long time (I don't upgrade with every new version), I would suggest the 32gig -- if you upgrade your tech with each new revision, the 16gig would most likely be fine.
Customer Review: Don't Buy!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought an ipod touch 2nd generation with 32GB about 6 months ago.
My Ipod was working fine for 4 months and it was great while it did. Then it crashed and the sleep button and the volume up and down buttons malfunctioned. I sent the unit back and was told that they could find nothing wrong with it and shipped it back. It continued to have the same problem and than about a week later somehow started working correctly again. Now two months later the unit literally died right in front of my eyes while I was holding it at work. Only six months old! I sent the unit back and this time it was returned with a note saying "we regret we were unable to complete the service you requested due to one of the following conditions - a diagnostic evaluation has determined the ipod has internal damage related to a liquid spill or contamination". The unit was never exposed to any water or other fluid as I treated it with TLC complete with a skin and screen cover. The only way it could have had water damage was if there was condensation. However, this seems unlikely since I live in the desert southwest. Anyway, i called apple after receiving the letter and they could offer no help at all.
I have always been an early adopter of new technologies and guess I have just been lucky not have any issues with any of my electronic equipment. However, this series of events has frankly left me feeling very cheated. I had already bought an additional Iphone for my wife and another Ipod touch for an another family member. So far without issue. However, I wish I knew how apple treated its customer before hand! Never would have bought them.
As it stands, I had four people at work convinced that they needed to have an ipod touch prior to my experience. All of them have since reconsidered. Economic times are tough, to tough to throw $400.00 in the trash!
Customer Review: I may well have to return this
Summary: 2 Stars
I own four iPods, well 'we' do. I have two 4G disk based iPods and our daughter has a 16Gb Nano. I bought this 32Gb Touch for my other half... but despite the super high ratings and our long history with Apple we are not happy with the Touch.
So what's the problem? iTunes. Neither of us has any like for the way iTunes organizes music. It took me years to fix the damage iTunes did to my music library, helpfulling filing all the collections by artist and thus scattering them across my hard drive. In retrospect I should have tossed all 60Gb and just started ripping the disks again.
So I use WinAmp which manages both my music and my iPods perfectly well. Our daughter has always used iTunes, she knows no better, so she's thoroughly happy with her Nano despite the awful user interface. She used to just keep everything in one huge directory anyway, but then she has a great deal less music than me, a mere 13Gb.
So what is the problem with the Touch? It does not support file transfer mechanisms. So despite having a 1TB network drive with an iTunes server on it the Touch can't see any of the music there. It needs the brain dead iTunes to access the library for it. But the Touch has a perfectly good 802.11 WiFi interface, it can even control the NAS drive through the web interface, but it can't touch the music there.
The Touch also does not support USB Mass Storage, so WinAmp and other 3rd party iPod wrangling software can't do anything with it. Apple tightly control access to their interface specification and are not helping others provide support for their toy.
Now the Touch can be hacked, unlocked and hijacked. There are third party tools that will get round Apple's decision to tie people to their software. I may try those options before I return this piece of high tech jewelry.