Yes, I know how much I really do not like Apple… but I had to get my hands on an iPod, what with all the music and video I have on my computer that I love. So yes, I own one, and I’m very proud of it.

I got the 8GB version since that’s really fine for me. It cost me £165 but I did buy it from The Gadget Show Live event so you know, it’s gonna be a little pricey.

Anyway, what do I think? I love it. It’s fantastic – no other word. It plays my music perfectly – the sound is really good. Videos are great too – I can rent movies from iTunes and stick them on my iPod (although they do take up a large amount of space) or I can put my own on too. Photos look nice on it too with it’s decent LCD screen.

Plus there are small things that are really. The iPlayer site for iPod/iTunes being a prime one. I love iPlayer on the PC, but being able to have it on my iPod is fantastic.

There are some really cool apps as well. I’ll do another post sometime on my favourite apps for the iPod Touch and iPhone. They are some that are just helpful, and others that are just fun to use.

I still do not like iTunes, but I don’t mind using it with my iPod – I can cope for now. I much prefer Windows Media Player to iTunes but you can’t use that with the iPod so I’ll have to make do. Still, iTunes does sync well and backs up my iPod regularly just in case I brick it by mistake.

The battery life isn’t brilliant but it’s enough to be usable. A few hours of apps, music and video will kill the battery in a few hours, but if you listen to music alone and try to keep the screen off, it’ll run for a pretty good time.

Anyway, no matter what, it’s become one of my favourite gadgets. It’s more practical than the PSP (that just feels like a brick now I’ve got my iPod) as it has a better web browser and is in general much more usable, and works as a good personal organiser. It’s got a decent calendar, alarm clock, notepad and calculator, plus it can read DOCs and PDFs from email (did I mention it sorts email as well).

So yes, I love my iPod. And I can’t imagine why I didn’t have one before now. Get one! Yes, there are MP3/MP4 players that have better spec, but there’s nothing like having the pleasure of owning an iPod (please let me know if I ever say that about a Mac – I won’t don’t worry!). I love the GUI and the usability.

This is one of the few times I’ll ever say this, but, good one Apple – great piece of kit, worth every penny!