New 30GB Apple iPod - Great Screen but Cheap Earbuds

This latest player is equipped with a 30GB hard drive and a drop-dead gorgeous 2.5-inch backlit LCD (320x 240 resolutions). The 320 x 240-pixel screen is bright and sharp, and videos look great on it. The included earbuds are better than mediocre, but it took Shure’s superior E4g earbuds to expose this player’s excellent dynamic range. The gloss of Apple’s latest player is tarnished by the inclusion of old-style iPod headphones. Fashionistas and iTunes addicts, on the other hand, should stick with Apple.

“The new iPod supports downloading videos from iTunes 6, as well as video encoded as H.264 or MPEG-4 (in my experience, however, not all third-party encoders worked). ITunes’ inability to convert existing video into an iPod-friendly format is its biggest failing.”