Choosing the right Apple iPod

Being holiday season you might be thinking about buying someone an new iPod or maybe asking for one yourself. However there is quite a selection on offer these days and choosing the right one can be tricky. This guide should help you on your way to audio heaven.

The iPod shuffle is your smallest and cheapest model on the market. This iPod comes with 1Gb of solid state storage, so no moving parts, which will fit upto 240 tracks on it. It really is tiny and has a clip on the back so you can secure it to your clothing. There is no display but as you only have a relatively small amount of storage this isn't too much of a problem. The controls are easy to use, the main play button is thumb sized which you click to play or click to pause. Leave it on pause for a couple of minutes and it will auto turn off to save battery power.

The shuffle feature can be switched on or off by a switch on the bottom, so you can either hear your tracks in album order or all mixed up. It comes with a small dock that connects to your PC or Mac by USB which is used to sync and charge your iPod shuffle. A small light on the iPod tells you when it is operational and when it needs charging. Battery life is approx 12 hours.

The Good - Small, leightweight, simple to use, cheap, nice clip to secure to clothing
The Bad - Lack of display can be annoying, shuffle and lock switch is very small

Ideal Present for... Sport types who enjoy the gym or running, people who enjoy a simple interface or younger children
Retail Price $79 (US) £49 (UK) Eur 79 (EU)

Next up is the new iPod nano which has moved on a long way from the previous model. It is now shorter but squarer than the previous nano to allow a 2 inch screen which now supports video. The nano comes as either a 4Gb or 8Gb model, like the shuffle this is solid state so no moving parts, the smaller giving you upto 1,000 songs or 3,500 photos or 4 hours of video or a mixture of all 3. The 8Gb doubles all these to 2,000 songs, 7,000 photos or 8 hours of video or a mix of all. The 8Gb is $50 more expensive than the 4Gb but I would recommend going for the larger if you can afford it. You'll be surprised how quickly you can fill 4Gb once you start adding your back catalogue of CD's! The screen is nice and clear but it is small, I don't think you would want to watch a whole movie on it but it's ideal for watching music videos or TV episodes, which you can download for a fee from iTunes. Battery life is pretty good with up to 24 hours of audio or 5 hours of video.

The Good - Small, leightweight, has photos and video, range of colours, price
The Bad - Screen is small
Ideal Present for... Anyone who wants a small player with video, the girl about town, teenagers
Retail Price 4GB Model $149 (US) £99 (UK) Eur 149 (EU) / 8GB Model $199 (US) £129 (UK) Eur 199 (EU)

The iPod Classic is boasts the largest storage capacity thanks to its internal hard drive. The model comes as either 80Gb or 160Gb so there is plenty of storage for music, videos and photos.

The 80Gb will give you up to 20,000 songs, up to 25,000 photos, up to 100 hours of video, or some of each whilst the 160Gb will give you a whopping 40,000 songs, up to 25,000 photos, up to 200 hours of video, or a mixture of each. These are serious devices! The screen is larger at 2.5 inch and that extra .5 inch really does help when watching videos for longer periods of time. I use mine when travelling between the UK and US when the inflight movies do not take my fancy I know I have a whole library to watch in my pocket. Again if you can afford go for the larger one as the price per Gb is cheaper. Battery life is good with up to 40 hours of audio or 7 hours of video.

The Good - Loads of space for photos and video, excellent screen, good battery life.
The Bad - More expensive
Ideal Present for... The music and video hoarder, the techie who believes bigger is better, movie lovers.
Retail Price 80GB Model $249 (US) £159 (UK) Eur 249 (EU) / 160GB Model $349 (US) £229 (UK) Eur 349 (EU)

The iPod touch really does add the wow factor. Much like the iPhone but without the phone element, the touch has a lovely look and feel to it. The 3.5 inch multi-touch widescreen is very impressive. You use you fingers to scroll through your music, drag them apart to zoom out of photos and back in to zoom in. The touch has built in Wifi so you can connect to the internet via a wireless hotspot or at home if you have a wireless router. You can download tracks straight from iTunes whilst on the move! You can even watch YouTube videos on it. It's truly a fantastic device. The only reason why you would choose the classic over this is size. The touch comes in either 8Gb giving you up to 1,750 songs, up to 10,000 photos, up to 10 hours of video, or some of each whilst the 16Gb gives you 3,500 songs, up to 20,000 photos, up to 20 hours of video, or a mixture. For me, I'd have the 16Gb and live with losing the extra space. In reality, with any iPod, its easy to setup iTunes to only sync your playlists, so you can still hold all your content on your computers hard drive and just sync the music, video and photos you believe you need on your travels. Battery life is good enough with up to 22 hours of audio and up to 5 hours of video. A beautiful device and truly innovative.

The Good - Fantastic screen, innovative and functional interface, wifi, looks and style
The Bad - Most expensive iPod
Ideal Present for... The gadget lover, the professional on the move, anyone!
Retail Price 16GB Model $299 (US) £199 (UK) Eur 299 (EU) / 160GB Model $399 (US) £269 (UK) Eur 399 (EU)



I hope that guide helps you decide. Any comments or questions please ask.