Anyone bought IPod Photo???

[009randy]

I am considering the IPod photo for a trip to Italy. It has 15 hours of battery life for MP3s and 30+ gig storage. The display is smaller but I only need it to verify the files transferred properly. Any input would be appreciated.

[thomasrhee]

Depends what it's going to be used primarily as. If you want primarily a great MP3 player that can fill in as a storage tank, it's a nice solution. The main issues are that upload speeds are pretty slow, you can't review RAW image files on the display, and battery life isn't that great. The Apple quoted battery life for iPods are pretty optimistic and you won't get the full 15 hours, especially if you're doing things that require constant access to the hard drive such as uploading pics to the iPod.

If you're looking at it primarily for it's storage tank function, there are much better and faster solutions than the iPod. The storage tank feature of the iPod Photo is really an after-thought convenience feature when you think about the disadvantages.

Having said all that, I LOVE my iPod, but mainly as a MP3 player.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Depends what it's going to be used primarily as. If you want primarily a great MP3 player that can fill in as a storage tank, it's a nice solution. The main issues are that upload speeds are pretty slow, you can't review RAW image files on the display, and battery life isn't that great. The Apple quoted battery life for iPods are pretty optimistic and you won't get the full 15 hours, especially if you're doing things that require constant access to the hard drive such as uploading pics to the iPod.

If you're looking at it primarily for it's storage tank function, there are much better and faster solutions than the iPod. The storage tank feature of the iPod Photo is really an after-thought convenience feature when you think about the disadvantages.

Having said all that, I LOVE my iPod, but mainly as a MP3 player.

Good points and accurate.

I am a 60GB IPOD user and am glad it can fulfill the role as a photo dump. It is not the best solution though.

If I did NOT own the IPOD, I would buy a different product for this purpose.

I do own the IPOD, so I'm going to try to make it work.

Most of my off loading has occurred when I am already using the IPOD and it is connected to AC power (or DC power via auto). I haven't attempted to use it "in the field" so to speak, and don't know what the download limitation is on power draw. I haven't run into a scenario where it has been too slow in downloading where I would need more than two CF cards (although I own 4).

I do not want to have to take TWO HDs every time I go on vacation!