iPod Touch 4G Review

I bought a new iPod Touch about a week ago. I didn't necessarily want a new iPod Touch, but after my old one died, I was left with little choice. Just to be clear, every iPod I've ever owned has died after about three years or so, which maybe is a good lifespan for an MP3 player, but it's certainly a bad track record for Apple products. I bet I could find an original Sony Walkman on ebay and it would work perfectly. Every time one of my iPods die (and this will be my fourth), I tell myself I'm never going to get another one. Obviously, I got another one. Apple always lures me back, not only because over the years I've purchased so many songs and videos over the iTunes Music Store that can only be played on an iPod (unless you got to an insane amount of trouble to rig a work around), but also because their products are just so damn sexy, and as long as they last, they're a hell of a lot of fun to own.

I honestly thought about getting a regular iPod instead of a new Touch (to replace the first generation model I previously owned), but the new features won me over. It has a build in speaker, microphone, faster processor, better graphics, (almost) high def display, and even a video camera that takes HD videos at 720p. And, of course, it also does all the old stuff that the original Touch used to do, like connect to wi-fi and play music and videos. Of course, nobody needs an HD video camera in their music player, but it's pretty nice feature to have, all things considered.

I bought the 8GB version, since I'm fairly poor and even that was a bit hefty in price (but I got a 10% rebate by trading in my old iPod Touch. Nice). The 4G Touch also comes in 32GB and 64GB. If I had it all to do over again (and if I had had a little more money), I'd maybe consider the 32GB version, since these aps, songs, and videos really add up faster than you think. Also, even before loading anything on to my just-taken-out-of-the-box iPod, it actually only had about 6GB of free memory for my stuff, after the operating system and preloaded apps are accounted for. I understand that this stuff is going to take up some space, but using about a quarter of the entire hard drive is really excessive in my opinion. That's about 1200 songs I can't fit onto my iPod because Apple wanted to stick on a bunch of apps like Youtube and Voicerecorder that I'll never use and I can't delete.

Taken on my Touch

The 4G Touch feels about the same weight and dimensions as my old Touch, but I still had to buy a new case because of the added front and back cameras. It's just as thin and lightweight and easy to use as any iPod. The highly touted "Retina Display," looks nice, but it's still just an Apple buzzword to mean "nice screen." If I had the 4G and the original Touches side by side, maybe I'd notice a difference in the displays, but as it is now it doesn't seem to be all that much crisper or more defined. That isn't to say it isn't lovely, however, just that the screen on the original Touch was already fantastic. The only times I've really appreciated the "retina display" is when I'm reading text on a website. I can now read most pages without having to zoom in. But movies and graphics and photos looks about the same to my eyes.

The 46 Touch comes with two cameras, a low res one on the front and an HD one on the back, both of which also take still photos. The low res camera above the screen is mostly used for video chatting, but I haven't managed to get the Facetime ap to work yet. If any of my loyal readers have that ap installed, drop me and email and we'll hook up! The real camera is on the back, and the quality is absolutely fantastic. I mean, you're not going to be able to director Avatar Part II: Electric Bugaloo, but your home movies are going to look great. When Apple says HD, they mean HD. The videos are all recorded at a native resolution of 720p and they look fantastic. They look best in highly lit environments (namely, outside in direct sunlight), but even in low light levels the videos look pretty darn good.

The videos are also going to be shaky as hell, since the Touch makes for an awkwardly shaped camera that is hard to hold, and there is no image stabilizing feature so far. The side of the Touch is rounded, making it impossible to set it down in order to film things on a level surface. I'm sure you can buy some kind of stand, but it's probably 30 bucks. Also, taking photos is awkward as well, since you have to hit the shutter button on a very small, specific part of the touch screen. Holding the camera up to take your own picture is all but impossible since you can't see the button unless you are looking right at the screen. Apple could really solve this problem by having the volume buttons on the side of the Touch act as the shutter when you're in camera mode. Why has nobody thought of that yet? Get on that, Steve Jobs. You aren't going to take many photographs with this thing anyway, however, since the camera pretty much sucks. I'm not sure what the megapixel rate is, but the photos are only slightly better than what you'd get from a normal cell phone.

Taken on my Touch

Charging your iPod and syncing it is just as simple as plugging the cable into your computer. One thing that has always annoyed me about the iPod is how you have to charge it by plugging into a computer instead of the wall. Sure, you can buy a power adapter to work around this, but it's about 20 bucks or so. Why would I buy 20 bucks for something that should come packed in the box? Also, another nitpick is how both my computer and my iPod have Bluetooth capabilities, but I still have to plug them both together in order to sync my stuff. Even my cell phone lets me port music and applications via Bluetooth. Why do I still have to plug my iPod in? Not a dealbreaker by any means, but it is annoying and kind of weird.

But I like it. No wait, I love it. It's not perfect and there are lots of annoying little things that I would change, but it's still the best, most versatile, and fun MP3 player money can buy. I've had a Touch for maybe three years (whenever the original model came out), and with the exception of the month or so when my old model was broken, not a day has gone by that I haven't used my Touch for... something, be it checking my email, calculating a tip in a restaurant, watching a movie on a plane, reading a blog on the toilet (sorry), or playing a game on my couch. It's just incredibly useful and a lot of fun. But it.

Oh, and I didn't really mention this above, but it also plays music!

In Memoriam: Irvin Kershner (1923-2010)

Oh no again!

Filmmaker Irvin Kershner died today at the age of 87. Over the course of his career, he directed at least one great movie and a few pretty entertaining ones. The great one, of course, is the second Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back, which is on my list of the top ten best films ever made of all time ever. For that film alone he earned himself a spot on the Geeks Hall of Fame. But he also made his mark on the James Bond series by directing the much maligned but actually not that bad Never Say Never Again, that brought Sean Connery back to the role after about twenty years or so. He also directed the much maligned but still better than part 3 Robocop 2.

Go honor his memory by listening to his fantastic audio commentary on the Empire Strikes Back DVD. He was a smart guy and a fantastic director who deserved a better career.

Video Clip of the Week: Police Squad

In honor of Leslie Nielsen, here is a great clip from the short lived, but brilliant, TV series Police Squad:

In Memoriam: Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010)

Oh no!

Leslie Nielsen, star of stage and screen, has died today at the age of 84. I can think of few actors more universally beloved than Leslie Nielsen. And for good reason, since he was incredibly talented, absolutely hilarious, and effortlessly charming. He was the kind of actor who was funny even in movies that were otherwise unwatchable, and even when he wasn't, we still forgave him because we loved him so much.

Go honor his memory by renting Airplane, Naked Gun, or Dracula: Dead and Loving It. All funny. He will be missed.

Christmarathon: Coming Soon

I was inspired by my friend Anna who attempted to review a different horror movie during each day of October. I don't care much for Halloween (although I do enjoy horror movies if they are good), Thanksgiving movies aren't much of a genre, so that leaves Christmas, the best holiday of all! For the entire month of December, I'm going to review a different Christmas movie. Why? Why not? That's all that's going to be on anyway, so I may as well get some blog content out of them. Also, it'll be a good writing exercise that might give me a little more discipline at my desk. Also... I love Christmas movies!

Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome. I'm going to try to watch as many new Christmas films as possible (that is to day, Christmas films I haven't already seen), but I'll mix in a few classics here and there too.

So... we'll see how that goes.

Wild Blue Yonder

I'm posting this in a plane, midflight, at however many thousands of feet in the air. Just because I can.

Happy holiday, everybody!

Happy Birthday, Robert Vaughn!

Robert Vaughn, who has been mentioned in this blog more than a few times recently, turns 78 today.

Robert Vaughn is a vastly underrated actor who is probably best known as Napoleon Solo in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. and as villain Ross Webster in Superman III. Vaughn has won an Emmy, and been nominated for several Golden Globes and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for the Young Philadelphians. He also appeared in those commercials for lawyer Mark E. Salomone. Anybody else remember those?

Go honor the man's life and career by renting Pootie Tang. You'll be glad you did.

Video Clip of the Week: Lord Flashheart

I can say without any fear of exaggeration, that this is my favorite scene in television history. I've been watching this scene off and on for the past fifteen years or so, and it never stops making me laugh.

The performance by Rik Mayall is just the funniest thing I've ever seen. American Audiences may know Mayall better as the titular character from the film Drop Dead Fred, but for me he'll always be Lord Flashheart from Blackadder.

Bruno

This wasn't very funny.

It certainly wasn't unfunny, and if you loved Borat and laughed out loud at the trailer for this one, you'll certainly find it entertaining. But I just didn't find it all that funny. In fact, I didn't even finish it, turning it off about an hour in because I just got bored and could think of a handful of better ways to spend my time (like doing my dishes or going for a walk). But it was ok. I laughed out loud a few times, but not enough to keep me watching.

I loved Borat and laughed uproariously when I saw it in the theater. Maybe this film wasn't as funny, or maybe I've just matured a little bit since Sasha Baren Cohen's previous film. I dunno. I just know that this film seemed more mean spirited and misguided than it should've been. Borat was as black a comedy as you could ever find, but it mostly poked fun at racism and ignorance. Bruno just makes fun of the fashion industry and the cult of celebrity. Personally, I don't have anything against the fashion industry, so I didn't care nor did I find most of the more pointed jokes to be very funny. There was one interview, for example, where Cohen (as Bruno) baited a model into saying that her job was very hard. That was the whole point of the scene, and I suppose we were supposed to laugh at this egotistical model for having the audacity to admit that her job was hard. Why is that funny? No, she doesn't clean up road kill off the side of the road, but I still imagine she puts in a hard days work. Anyway, it seemed unfair because I would imagine being a model isn't much easier than being the star of a movie like Bruno. But that was my main problem with this film: It featured an actor in a major Hollywood movie attacking other actors who work in Hollywood movies.

But much of it was funny, but only when he was being silly. Like the extended gay sex scene where Bruno and his pygmy lover performed some of the most ridiculous sex acts ever put on film. I also really liked the seen where Bruno showed up at a fashion show dressed in a suit made completely of velco, but he just ended up sticking to all of the walls and everybody in the building. That was funny. But then going on and destroying a fashion show that a lot of people probably worked very hard to put on wasn't funny.

I dunno. I like to laugh, and I find it hard to laugh when I know that real people are the butt of the jokes. In Borat, the people being ridiculed seemed to enjoy it. In Bruno, it just didn't work the same way.

Skip it.

From the Mail Bag

I received an email from Robert Davi this evening. No joke... but don't get too excited. We're not friends, nor does he probably even know who I am. I mentioned him on this blog a few months ago, mentioning how he was a favorite actor of mine, and it somehow came back to him and he sent me an email to say thanks. Classy move by a classy man. Anyway, I must've somehow gotten put on some mailing list of his or something, so I received this:

Hi.  Hope everybody has been well.  Just wanted to send out a quick email about my upcoming show: DAVI SINGS SINATRA, which will be at the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center on January 15, 2011.

Please come.  You can read details about the show here...

http://www.toaks.org/cap/tickets/events/event.asp?eventID=1655

Take Care,
RD

Man, I wish I lived in California so I could check that out. Robert Davi singing the the music of Frank Sinatra? That's a combination made in heaven. I haven't heard Robert Davi sing since his appearance in the Goonies. Anyway, I figured I'd share this with you all in case somebody happens to live in or near Thousand Oaks. I'm sure it'll be cool.

The Last Airbender

This is one of those movies you might be tempted to rent, figuring, "how bad could it be?" Anyway, that's what I asked myself when I rented it. I rarely agree with the critics. I liked League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I think Vin Diesel is a good actor, and I laughed my ass off at Little Man. But boy was this bad.

How bad could it be? Maybe the worst big budget Hollywood movie I've ever seen. It was just dreadful. I mean, the first hour was, which was all I watched because I had better things to do. Maybe the ending was amazing. Maybe Shayamalan's big twist was that the movie stopped being a huge piece of shit right at the end. If so, my bad. But I tend to doubt it, since it was all so bad. It seemed like the possibilities were there, since the mythology presented was kind of neat and some of the visuals and special effects were well done and quite striking, but the story sucked and the acting was awful. And as cute as that little kid was, the idea of watching him knock people over with his wind blasts (or whatever) just never looked cool.

Oh, and if you are going to have a big villain in your movie who's supposed to be scary and evil, don't get one of the corespondents from the Daily Show.

Bad movie.

Rumor Mill: Man From U.N.C.L.E. Remake

Word on the street (or, at least, on some movie gossip websites) is that Steven Soderbergh is prepping a remake of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. for the big screen. Considering his success with the Ocean's 11 remake (the first one at least), he doesn't seem like a bad choice. Of course, every other film he's made has been a flop (deservedly so, in my opinion), but this could be a hit. The good news is that he intends for it to take place in the 1960s as a period piece, which is as it should be. I would have no interest in watching an updated take on U.N.C.L.E.

Rumors also state that George Clooney wants the role of Napolean Solo, which makes sense because he seems to star in every film directed by Soderbergh. Clooney wouldn't be a bad choice, but I think this was a role Kyle MacLachlan was born to play. David Hyde Pierce would be a pretty good choice to play Solo's partner Kuryakin, but he might be getting a bit old.

Make it happen, Soderbergh.