Review of the iPod Video
I suppose it was a natural progression - first it played music, then it showed photographs, then it played podcasts…and now the iPod Video (30GB and 60GB models) can play, you guessed it...video as well!

The iPod Video is the fifth generation of iPods and although it keeps the same cool design and good looks of it’s older sisters, it’s slimmer, more powerful and…well, it plays video as well.

Mind you, the iPod Video isn’t simply an old iPod with video capability thrown in. Oh no, it’s so much more than that. And just as podcasts became popular because of the iPod music player, very soon you will be seeing more and more video available which has been specially produced with the iPod in mind.

iPod Video in use
So, what can you do with the iPod Video? Well, there are a couple of things which may keep you busy for a little while like downloading over 2 million songs from iTunes, 25,000 podcasts, 2,000 music videos including all your favorite ABC and Disney TV shows etc. All can be downloaded from the internet on to your Mac or PC and transferred (synced) to your iPod. Want to watch the downloaded stuff on your TV? No problem. Just connect an S-Video cable between your ipod and the TV and you’re set to go! You can even bore your friends by showing slide-shows of your holiday snaps....Aaaargh!!

Of course the biggest benefit to musicians and singers of this iPod is the bigger screen. Most of us singers have grown used to the relatively big display of the minidisc deck and, if you're like me, that's what probably made you hesitate before buying an iPod for your backing tracks. OK, I know that a 2.5" screed isn't a whole lot bigger than before but "every little helps" as they say and you will be surprised at how much more information can be seen froom the screen than before.

The new iPod Video gives up to 20 hours of battery life (5 hours more than before) and although I would dispute that you can really get that much out of the battery in reality, what it basically means is that you should be able to safely use it on stage, powered by only the battery, and there is little chance of it letting you down during the gig (unless of course you’ve been watching the movie “War and peace” on it while you were travelling to the gig)!

Look, feel, performance
Although the front of the unit looks similar in size to the old iPod, if you turn it on it’s side you’ll find that at under half an inch thin, the new iPod Video takes up only half the space of it's older sibling, and even the bigger 60GB iPod is still slimmer than the old 20GB iPod model. So with more features and less space, Apple are really on to a winner with this great machine..and it looks cool as you like!

So, what exactly can it do? Well quite simply, it'll hold more backing tracks than any of the other iPod models (plus it will hold all your background music and probably your whole CD collection), it will hold audio books, all your photos (including slideshows with music), video podcasts, music videos, TV shows…and if that wasn’t enough it can hold your diary, calendar, contacts, email addresses….even tell you the time in Hong Kong if you want it to! You should never miss a gig again or lose the address of the venue you’re traveling to!

The Click Wheel gives you quick access to your backing tracks, music, photo and video library. I can’t impress on you how important this Click-Wheel is. If you are a singer, musician or entertainer, the rapid speed at which this Click-Wheel responds is essential to your performance and is what sets the iPod apart from every other mp3 player on the market - I strongly recommend you buy the iPod for this reason and this reason alone! You see, on stage, quick and easy access to your next song is of the utmost importance. If you don’t get this right, your performance does not flow and you don’t look professional. The beauty of this iPod (and every iPod that features the Click-Wheel), is that it responds with amazing speed, even when the current song is playing. Most mp3 players are sluggish to scroll through the menus when a track is playing so this is where the iPod stands out miles ahead of the crowd. It may not sound much of an advantage when you read it here but, believe me, use any mp3 player on stage for a night and then use an iPod on stage for a night and you’ll know exactly what I mean (or why not save yourself the trouble of testing this excercise out – just go out and buy an iPod Video NOW)!

Features
All the usual features you would expect are there…control volume and browse using the touch-sensitive surface, play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, rate your songs, create playlists on the go, launch photo slideshows. However, this time the unit is available in black as well as the old standard white. All th iPods I’ve owned so far have been white so I jumped at the chance to buy an iPod in black. The colour black looks so much better on stage than white – it just seems to give it that “professional look” that most stage equipment has, even if the iPod wasn’t specifically designed for that purpose.

As you would expect, the iPod Video is quite heavy (due to the increased hard disk capacity) but that’s a good thing as far as singers are concerned. The heavier and chunkier the unit feels, the better it will handle when the adrenalin is flowing on stage and you’re giving it a bit of punishment. The iPod nano for example is much lighter, so you need to be a bit more delicate with it on stage (which isn’t easy to do when the atmosphere is high and 300 people in the audience are screaming, applauding you, and you need to find the next song quickly)!

iPod Remote Control
If you’re thinking of splashing out on any accessories for your new iPod Video, then there is one “must-have” accessory that you cannot do without – it’s the Apple Remote which lets you control your iPod from a distance. Imagine being able to walk around the stage or in some situations walk around the audience, yet at the touch of a button start your next song. All of a sudden the lack of an auto pause on the iPod becomes unimportant! Just remember that the remote control requires that you also have the Universal Dock before you can use it.

Other Uses
Most singers and entertainers today have a DVD or Video that they send out to venues in the hope that the bookers will watch their DVD, like what they see, and book their act. In reality, the business cards you hand out get lost, the posters you send out get used for scrap paper and the DVD you give the guy who you think is gonna book you is never watched.

So, instead of going around the clubs with a big diary and a whole load of publicity junk, why not walk up to the booking agent, reach in to your top pocket, take out your iPod Video and SHOW the agent or booker a Video clip of your act, there and then. He can’t NOT watch it if it’s put there in front of his eyes here and now, and I’ll bet you get a booking on the spot!

Any video you can process on your computer with QuickTime can be put in to your iPod - all you need to do is export it to MPEG4 at 320x240 res with a bit rate under 768Kbps and you’re set to go.

Other benefits
Not only does Video benefit from the iPod Video's bigger colour screen, but long song titles fit in to it much more easily which is great for us singers because the more we can see on the display on stage, the better we can use the equipment. Unlike the old iPods, when you highlight them they scroll horizontally so you can read the in full, pausing again at the beginning before repeating.

The iPod Video also remembers where you were previously in the menu hierarchy. Older iPods were able to do this but could only remember one level back but now if you are in a particular playlist and then back out to the top menu, the iPod will not only remember your position inside the Playlist but if you go in to another menu branch, it will remember your original location. Handy!

The future?
The iPod Video can also display song lyrics so I wonder if it's only going to be a matter of time before we see a karaoke iPod appear on the market...come on Apple...what else have you got up your sleeve?!

Specifications:
One little word of warning. The iPod Video no longer uses Firewire. Every iPod Video now works ONLY with USB 2.0 so if you see any accessories for the old iPods which you think may be worth buying for your new iPod Video, make sure that they don’t use Firewire connections or you’ll be in trouble!

- Holds up to 15,000 songs and full-color album art
- 30GB model = 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 inches
- 60GB model = 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 inches
- 2.5-inch, 320 x 240 pixel TFT display
- Up to 20 hours of battery life
- Up to 25,000 photos
- Up to 150 hours of video
- Play Video / photo slideshows on TV via optional Dock
- Apple Click Wheel
- Accessory-compatible Dock connector
- Dock works with the new Apple Remote
- Charges and syncs via USB 2.0
- Works with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP
- Syncs contacts, calendars and to-do lists