I
received my 4th generation 40Gb iPod recently and had a chance
to put together this small review against my current 3rd generation
30Gb iPod.
The
packaging is typical Apple although now the outer sleeve of
the box has the colourful silhouettes on each side as featured
in their print and television ad campaigns. Out of the box,
the new iPod looks and feels roughly the same size and weight
as its predecessor however, putting them side by side is another
story. The 4G model is thinner and a touch lighter than the
3G model. I was also fortunate enough to not have any sticky
residue all over the iPod as some mini and iPod owners have
reported. Here are some pictures to give you an idea.
There
have been reports about the screen on the 4G iPod looking
more blue rather than black and although this is true, the
later models of the 3G iPod also had similar screens. I had
my 3G model replaced in April this year and immediately noticed
the screen was different to my original model. Depending on
the lighting conditions the screen looks black and sometimes
it looks blue. The pictures below will demostrate this.
Being
a 3G user for about a year, I still find myself looking for
the 4 buttons above the new click wheel but know this habit
will diminish soon enough. The click wheel feels solid and
sturdy and doesn't feel cheap or fragile at all. The rest
of the iPod feels exactly the same as before which is reassuring.
Unfortunately, sound quality compared to the 3G has diminished
slightly also - Listening to the exact same tracks and EQ
settings reveals the 4G iPod lacks crispness at the top end
of the audio spectrum. Its not a lot but definitely noticeable
when doing an A->B comparison test.
As
has been widely reported, Shuffle has been added to the main
menu and Audiobook functionality has been enhanced. I also
noticed that the audible click option can now be played through
the speaker, headphones or both. On previous models you only
had the option to turn the speaker on or off. The battery
meter has also been updated when charging and appears to more
accurately represent the iPods current charge status during
usage. My 3G iPod's battery meter was very tempramental and
would change with the weather - very frustrating.
Here
is the 4G iPod playing
and
the 3G (looking blacker than the 4G)
Here
is the 4G's battery charging meter...
And
the 3G's - notice the screen looks very blue in this shot.
Disk
performace has also increased according to XBench - This may
be due to the higher density HD in the 40G model - I dont
have a 3G 40Gb model to test, nor have I seen any benchmarks
- Please post your XBench results here if you have one of
these models. Here are the 4G 40Gb results...
And
the 3G 30Gb results...
Overall,
Im happy with this purchase, although I was hoping for a 60Gb
model this time around. I will be travelling soon and wanted
to use the iPod to store my music and photos while on my journey.
I only had about 2 gig to spare on the 30Gb model which would
not have been enough. Anyone with a 3G 30Gb or 40Gb model
should not bother upgrading as the 4G model does not contain
anything new or ground breaking (apart form the click wheel)
to justify the cost. New users however, or those upgrading
from 1G or 2G models will not be disappointed. :)
