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Consumer Reports: New iPod "No Better Than Competent" as a Video Player

Friday, October 28th, 2005 at 4:50 PM - by Staff

Venerable product assessment magazine Consumer Reports has reviewed the new video-capable iPod, calling it "no better than competent as a video player, with limitations in display size and quality, and battery life."

The publication also noted "a durability problem that arose with some of the Nanos: a scratch-prone screen." Consumer Reports said that the new iPod's screen seemed softer than the ones found on previous versions of the MP3 and added: "We could easily scratch it with fingernails."

Among the pluses, the magazine pointed toward a "slimmer and lighter" form factor, "more storage for the same price," "a better display," similar performance when compared to previous iPods and the new video capability. On the downside, the review pulled out the lack of screen brightness and contrast controls, thus making video watching in direct sunlight nearly impossible, an irreplaceable battery and weakness in the images when viewing video on a TV through an AV cable.

In addition, Consumer Reports said: "The jury's still out on the long-term future of using the iPod for TV shows and movies, since holding it (or any other portable device) near your eyes for an extended period of time can be tiring. But it's an engaging way to watch rock videos and the like."

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Billy K said:

member since 06 May 2004 with 297 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:03 pm

Bull crap!

I think the video capabilities are the best new feature of the 5G. I didn't buy it for them, but i find it to be well-done.

The 5G has problems - lots - but the video playback is not one of them.

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Engine Joe said:

member since 29 Jun 2004 with 413 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:12 pm

I agree - I didn't buy mine for video, but I'm using the video features far more than I expected to do. That said, CR's comments are particularly inapt - the iPod is not primarily about video, it's essentially an "extra". So shortcomings are there, but not really - no one should be buying a new iPod to be their new video player, as a primary matter.

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 1018 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:15 pm

Heck, my 32" television has shortcomings...it's not a flat screen, uses a lot of electricity, and takes up WAY too much space in my living room.

There just is no pleasing everyone, so the CR report should be taken with a grain of salt.

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:44 pm

CR reports are notoriously off the wall, at least in my opinion... I just don't think they get it.

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:14 pm

The article above is misleading. If you read the CR piece, you'll see it's very positive. Some quibbles about video, but basically a rave review.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:21 am

I think CR is dead-on when it comes to the battery life being too short when watching video (its only 2-3 hours), but otherwise, you have to kind of take anything CR says with a grain of salt.

They are pretty notorious for being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. They don't know that much about whatever they're reviewing... its like "Here's Product X" and lookee at all the nice bar graphs we made to look scientific.

Cars is really the only thing they know well, since its their bread-and-butter.

Interesting though that they found the screen material to be softer than on previous iPods. If they used the same material on the Nano, that obviously explains the scratching problem. Seems like Apple really blew it there.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:49 am

Well I would say that being 'competant' as a video player considering that this is a toe in the water and a free extra on what is after all an audio player is pretty impressive. After all it was setting itself up to be shot down as a half hearted effort on the part of Apple was it not. The fact that the response has been so positive generally is a real bonus I think and frees them up to add capability and a dedicated video player as and when it is felt necessary and consumer demand wants it. A great first hurdle successfully negotiated a first step on a long road that can't as it would be in danger of if it were a dedicated video device be considered a failure before it can get established.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Oct 29, 2005 1:46 pm

somebody needs a time out.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Oct 29, 2005 4:43 pm

Anonymous wrote:
I think CR is dead-on when it comes to the battery life being pathetic when watching video (its only 2-3 minutes of grainy video, even grainier than salt).

iPod video is notorious for being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Apple doesn't know that much about whatever they're benchmarking on their web site... its like "Here's a G5 and a G4" and lookee at all the nice bar graphs we made to look scientific.

Mousepads is really the only thing they know well, since its their bread-and-butter.

Interesting though that they found the screen material to be softer than on previous iPods. Seems like Apple really blew it there.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:59 pm

Consumer reports is accurate in that the new Ipod is being promoted as a video player. There are much better video devices on the market for the same price or a few bucks more. Palm's Lifedrive does everything the ipod does with the added benefit of wifi and lots of other useful software goodies and the display is about 3 times larger. Ipod is OK for teenagers who want portable tunes, but not for adults who have a few other things to do with their lives.

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Nookster said:

member since 27 Oct 2004 with 111 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:27 am

I considered the Lifedrive initially, however, it's bulky, heavy, it's screen isn't great quality, and looks washed out, it's also lower resolution (320x480), it's slow to load apps, the battery gives up after about 6 hours, and at nearly Ј300 for 4 Gig capacity, it doesn't hold much, relatively.

One good thing, it's screen plastics can withstand being wiped with a cloth.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:34 pm

Guest wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I think CR is dead-on when it comes to the battery life being pathetic when watching video (its only 2-3 minutes of grainy video, even grainier than salt).

iPod video is notorious for being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Apple doesn't know that much about whatever they're benchmarking on their web site... its like "Here's a G5 and a G4" and lookee at all the nice bar graphs we made to look scientific.

Mousepads is really the only thing they know well, since its their bread-and-butter.

Interesting though that they found the screen material to be softer than on previous iPods. Seems like Apple really blew it there.

LOL, lay off the crack, buddy.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:14 am

Anonymous wrote:

LOL, the new Apple Remote's poor reception won't let you lay on the couch, buddy.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:56 am

Guest wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

LOL, the new Apple Remote's poor reception won't let you lay on the couch, buddy.

Can I have the name of your dealer?

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:22 pm

Your review is totally baseless and without merit. Most industry reviews of the video iPod find the screen the best in the industry. I think today's announcement of 1 million videos sold in 20 days puts an esclamation on this point. It seems your review is bias in every way possible and I just don't see how you could write such a false review.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:47 pm

Guest wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

LOL, the new Apple Remote's poor reception won't let you lay on the couch, buddy.

Up, up, and Away, Crack-Boy!

Quick, to the CrackMobile! â„¢

.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:47 am

Anonymous wrote:

Up, up, and Away, Crack-inTosh!

Quick, update the Apple Mobile phone to compete with superior competition! â„¢

.

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A guest said: (hide)

Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:36 am

Ipod is just a brand name, you are not buying quality, but more a 'status symbol' but because it is the only Mp3 with any publicity its imprinted in everyone that Ipod is the way to go, there are a lot of cheaper Mp3 players on the market but with apples overwhelming advertising they don't have much going for them. Ipods I hear are having a lot of technical difficulties so is it really worth it?

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