Product Reviews

Apple is celebrating the iPod's first birthday by releasing a new range that collectively addresses just about every criticism made of the original - and adds other improvements just for fun.

The most significant changes to the line-up are the addition of a 20Gb model and an iPod specifically designed for Windows users. The 20Gb model will please those with large CD collections for whom 5Gb and 10Gb weren't sufficient. The penalty for this added capacity, other than the relatively high price, is that the 20Gb model is around 3mm thicker than the 10Gb model, which has a new slimline design. It's also 19g heavier. That said, the 20Gb model is only marginally bigger than the original iPod.

Other than the increase in capacity, the most significant enhancements to the iPod are a new scroll wheel and a wired remote control unit. The scroll wheel is now solid state and touch sensitive. While this makes very little difference in everyday use, it should extend the life of the iPod as it eliminates the only mechanical moving part. Happily, the reassuring click as you manoeuvre the wheel has been retained.

We'd rather jack

The clip-on remote control unit connects between the iPod and the earphones. Although the unit is as stylish as you would expect, the buttons are rather small and may prove troublesome for users with large fingers. We also had to make a considerable effort to ensure the remote's jack was pushed far enough into the socket to get it to work.

There are new, smaller earphones, which, according to Apple, have a new Neodymium magnet that improves bass response, mid-range transitions and allows for more accurate high-end reproduction. While the quality of sound is better than the original iPod earphones, the bass still lacks oomph in comparison with a good set of headphones, and the high-end frequencies tend to be a little too shrill.

Dust jacket

One other welcome addition to the iPod's exterior is a flap over the FireWire

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port. This will help prevent dust from settling in the socket and addresses a small criticism of the original iPod.

The new version of the iPod software, 1.2, that ships with the new models, features a calendar and a digital clock in addition to the contacts database introduced this year. The calendar allows you to export a calendar and schedule from iCal, an add-on for Mac OS X 10.2 that will be available in the autumn.

Just to prove that its generosity knows no bounds, Apple has thrown in a carry case, complete with belt clip. The company describes it as a 'designer carry case'. We can only assume that this is Apple's idea of a joke as it's one of the worst designed cases for the iPod we've ever seen. It does nothing to complement the aesthetic attractions of the machine and worse, it's impossible to operate the scroll wheel or view the LCD without removing the iPod from the case. There's also nowhere to store the earphones or remote control when they're not in use.

The new iPod's integration with iTunes 3.0 is excellent. For example, if you download content from www.audible.com and listen to it on your iPod, synching with iTunes retains your place in the audio book so you can listen on your Mac from where you paused playback. When you synch again, the same happens in reverse so you can continue listening on your iPod.

Likewise, the iPod maintains equaliser settings assigned in iTunes 3.0 and keeps a record of how often you listen to each song, and when each song was last played, so when you synch with iTunes it can update the information in its Smart Playlists feature. The iPod also supports iTunes' Sound Check feature, which ensures all the songs are played at the same volume level. There are some additional neat touches, such as the way the iPod icon in the Source window flashes red when the iPod is updating.

In Pod's country

The 20Gb iPod isn't perfect. It still gets alarmingly hot when connected to a Mac in FireWire hard disk mode, and the remote control, while useful, is fiddly. The new earphones are of reasonable quality for a portable device, but the case is something of a disappointment.

That said, the iPod is still streets ahead of any other MP3 player we've seen. The various enhancements and new features, together with the improvements to iTunes, add significantly to its overall appeal. If you're a Mac user looking for an MP3 player, your only decision should be which capacity iPod to go for. This 20Gb iPod is the daddy and worth every penny of its admittedly hefty £399 price tag.