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• Apple iPod Touch (2nd generation)
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Apple iPod Touch (2nd generation)

By Ella Morton on 17 September 2008

Not just an excellent media player — the addition of third-party apps makes the second-gen Touch the portable device to beat in a wide range of areas.

Editor's rating:8.8 User rating:8.3

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  drift king gave 9/10 on 06/11/2008 20:07 Report abuse

  • Good: fun to use, many applications; it is a mini computer.
  • Bad: low battery life. attracts fingerprints and scratches.

  it's a brilliant thing to play with. apps are good to use but not many are free. just make sure you charge it for the full six hours on first charge or else the battery life will be very low

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  langlece gave 10/10 on 29/10/2008 16:54 Report abuse

  I think it's pretty awesome personally!! I do love it.
  
  RE the whole memory thing, apparently it's got a flash memory which has a limited number of uses, like 10,000 or some really high number. Apple limited using it for storing files because it would severely hurt the flash memory to use it for files, so often.

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  Dan rox gave 10/10 on 24/10/2008 23:13 Report abuse

  • Good: IT IS B-E-AUTIFUL
    ease of use
    games
    sound quality
    gunius is a gunius
    so thin!
    bright and pretty
    fashionable
    quick and slick
    cheaper than be4
    and bettr than be4
  • Bad: back and front smudge, and bak smudges really easily

  i hav loved my life since i bought this

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  mattseery gave 9/10 on 15/10/2008 17:25 Report abuse

  • Good: Looks friggin sweet!!
  • Bad: I hear the mail app doesn't support Hotmail..

  Hey, I'm thinking of getting one of these and I was wondering; has anyone noticed crappy sound quality with the apple headphones? I know it's a major rumour going around and I really don't want to buy new headphones. Is the quality noticeably worse and if so, is it just bad by iPod standards or bad by all music standards. Cheers, guys!

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  2nd gen FTL (For the loose, loosas) gave 1/10 on 14/10/2008 10:00 Report abuse

  • Good: None
  • Bad: the "unscratchable screen" has been scratched.
    
    Has the worst built in speaker.
    

  I loved 1st gen

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  kevinhimself gave 8/10 on 04/10/2008 20:55 Report abuse

  • Good: i,m looking at refurbished one,s of the first generation on apple.s website & they of course r down in price
  • Bad: please someone advise me

  can someone tell me if the 2nd. generation is much better than the first

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  aleitu1 gave 8/10 on 29/09/2008 14:15 Report abuse

  • Good: Usability, screen size, apps and software, speaker, slimness.
  • Bad: Battery life, storage.

  Overall the new iPod touch is an excellent device for playing music, watching videos, surfing the web, playing games and using apps.
  
  The iPod's interface, as widely documented is really simple to use for everyone. Browsing for music is very easy and coverflow is a more fun way to choose music. The music screen looks quite nice, and the touch includes a nice feature which allows you to view your music from any screen with a double-tap of the home button. Videos play very nicely on the clear and glossy screen without straining the eyes. Photos also look great and the ability to zoom is useful.
  
  Internet access is amazing, although the lack of Wi-Fi networks in Australia might mean that the only place you will use it is at home. Some apps do allow for pages to be saved for offline viewing, which is handy. The maps feature could be very useful but unfortunately it requires a Wi-Fi network which is probably not available when driving. Mail also is easy to read on the screen and messages are saved for online viewing. A limitation to Mail is that it is almost impossible to access Hotmail.
  
  Apps turn the iPod into a mini computer. There are some really sophisticated applications amongst other more fun ones as well as a great variety of games. All use the iPod touch's multi-touch interface well to make for easy to use apps. There are some good free apps, although mostly, the best apps all need to be paid for which is disappointing, especially for enthusiastic gamers who don't have access to even one free car racing game for example. If you are looking for some nice apps as a bonus for your iPod then the iPod touch is fine for this but if you are looking for heavy applications expect to pay between $5-10 for a good application and in the end this may set you back around $100.
  
  The speaker, although not the loudest, delivers good enough sound quality and volume to be listened to in a quiet environment without straining, and it also allows for system sounds such as alerts and game sounds to be played without the headphones which is a great addition. The speaker can be considered a bonus for an MP3 player and therefore offers great value.
  
  Battery life is pretty good for playing videos and music but start to use applications and the internet and the battery life will diminish very quickly. Expect to be charging the iPod every day if you will heavily use its other features. Another problem that some users may run into is the storage of the iPod. On the 8GB version there is 7.0GB of memory left for the user. If this is enough will depend on your music collection and how many videos you have obviously. An idea is to load the full music collection but to swap videos when you sync the iPod.
  
  Some other things that are worth mentioning:
  
  -The iPod's screen has very thick glass that is hard to damage. The screen can be viewed well from any angle.
  -Typing on the keyboard is pretty easy and fast, and mistakes can be easily corrected.
  -After using the iPod for a while when playing games especially your arms may get pretty sore. Your eyes might get pretty sore too from games and typing.
  -The iPod feels great in the hand and is surprisingly slimmer than what it looks in the pictures, and that is saying something!
  -The iPod does get some fingerprints on its screen, but this doesn’t get in your way and Apple provides a polishing cloth just in case.
  -For normal users, audio quality shouldn't be a problem. If you’re a serious listener, reports say that the sound quality is terrible through the apple headphones.
  
  The iPod touch is really a great device for its price and easily beats any competition with its larger screen, great usability and sleek design.
  

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  chjrelf gave 10/10 on 24/09/2008 10:37 Report abuse

  • Good: Everything except cons
  • Bad: Fingerprints, need to buy nike+.

  Astonishing, what we can now put into something that thin.

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  vivekdoshi87 gave 9/10 on 22/09/2008 12:03 Report abuse

  to good to be true!!!!

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  jmitt gave 4/10 on 16/09/2008 05:51 Report abuse

  • Good: speaker
  • Bad: terrible back cover

  Pretty much the excact same thing as the 1st generation just with a speaker not worth getting another touch if you have the first generation