TIME's Gadget of the Week

Apple's new 80GB video iPod, introduced earlier this month, is TIME magazine's "Gadget of the Week." The review notes the improved earphones as well as the improved iTunes video resolution for both TV shows and movies, which reduces battery life and are twice the file size--adversely affecting storage and download times--but can be useful for playback on a television: "But the larger-size video is still welcome news. The 80GB iPod can play six and a half hours of it (or more); the 30GB iPod has three and a half hours, up from around two. I connected the 80GB iPod to a dock with an S-Video output, and connected that to a 42-in. high-definition Panasonic plasma. I didn't expect a miracle picture, but I was happy to see that it was as good or better than standard-definition broadcast TV, if not as good as DVDs or HD broadcasts. I would not mind watching iPod-based movies on my TV, provided they weren't movies whose visual effects and subtleties were crucial."

by MacNN Staff