PRODUCT REVIEW
32 GB iPod Touch: Best in Class, If Not Value

While I didn't care much for the iPhone itself -- see here -- the notion of a touch-based device that focuses just on movies, music and WiFi Web access called to me. What gave me pause, though, was its limited storage capacity and price. When it was first launched last fall, it was available only in 8 and 16 gigabyte models, at US$299 and $399, respectively.

The 30 GB Line of Demarcation

That's a lot of money for not a lot of headroom. For that kind of coin, I'd expect to be able to carry all my music and video in a device. I have about 14 GB on my current iPod -- a 30-GB fifth-generation model -- and so the 8 GB iPod touch wouldn't work for me. The pricier 16 GB model is better, but doesn't leave much room to grow.

So I was very interested when Apple earlier this month announced a 32 GB model. Suddenly, the iPod touch, which uses flash memory, is playing in the same league as hard-disk-based media players. It makes sense that the company would release it now, because it recently also started offering movie rentals via its iTunes Store.

However, while the new capacity makes me happy, the price makes me sad. It's $499, which is a lot more than competing, flash-based media players with the same capacity. The Sansa View is $349. Hard-drive media players of the same capacity run in the $200 range.

You're paying more, of course, for the ability to access the Internet via WiFi, and to do so via a touch interface. Oh, and you're also paying a premium for that cute Apple logo on the back.

So is it worth it? Is having access to both the Web and potentially an entire digital music collection in a pocket-size device with a slick touch interface worth $500? I decided to test the 32 GB iPod touch and give it a try.

Thinner Than iPhone

If you've seen or used an iPhone, then you now know what the iPod Touch looks like. It's the same design -- a simple black screen on the front, with a single button at the bottom, and chrome back.

It's a little thinner than the iPhone, and about the as wide and long as a playing card.

You control the iPod Touch almost exclusively with your fingers on the screen. There are just two physical buttons on the device -- the one at the bottom of the screen, used to bring you back to the home screen and another on the top edge, used to put the touch to sleep or turn it completely off.

The Touch's latest software lets you edit the position of the icons on the home screen, or even make additional screens filled with icons. To do this, you just press and hold on a single icon, and all of them start wiggling in place. You then use a finger to move them around. I never dreamed editing a start screen on a device would be such fun.

iPod Applications

In January, Apple announced a software upgrade for its existing touch models that added features. It cost $20 then, but if you buy an iPod touch now, it will come with those new goodies, which include e-mail , weather and stocks applets, as well as Google Maps. The previously mentioned ability to edit the home screen and add icons is also part of the package.

The touch connects to the Internet via a simple WiFi control panel. If you're in range of a connection and the touch's WiFi radio is turned on, you'll be prompted to connect. It supports a variety of security schemes, so you should be able to log in to almost any type of access point.

At the heart of the browsing experience is Safari, Apple's browser brought to the touch and the iPhone from the Mac OS. As I wrote in my iPhone review, it's probably the best mobile browser out there, but it has enough quirks to make it maddening at times. I still, for example, can't edit blog posts using our very common Movable Type software in Safari. It also won't display Flash animation -- but then, neither will any other mobile Web browser.

On the Map

The application I most like on the Touch is Google Maps.

It now includes a killer feature that will tell you where you are within a few hundred meters. It does this by triangulating your location by looking at the WiFi signals around you. Of course, if there are no access points in your vicinity, it's useless. However, that's increasingly rare, particularly in urban and even suburban areas. It has worked most of the times I've used it in Houston.

For playing music and movies, it's almost unsurpassed.

The touch interface is wonderful for scrolling through albums, songs and artists. The audio is very good -- in fact, it sounds better than my iPod, which has very good sound. The screen is great for watching video, though I prefer the display on Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) hard-drive-based Zune 80 for video.

Overall, I think the 32 GB iPod Touch is the best media player in its class, as well as the best hand-held Web access device. It's not, however, the best value. I'll stick to my current iPod for now.