With a new iPod in hand I have to ask: was this a good upgrade or not?

First fact: I didn’t get it for video. Something in me refuses to spend any cash for currently airing TV shows that I can get for free. Expecially with what I pay for cable already. Exceptions to this include getting whole seasons in DVD box sets for older shows that may or may not be in syndication. Seinfeld I won’t buy: why should I when it’s on twelve times a day, every day? Cheers? Same thing. Soap? Bought seasons one and two; I can’t seen to reliably find it on any cable channel and it’s commercial free… I can also foresee myself watching it more than just once. But for Lost? Or Desperate Housewives? They’re on regular TV… that makes that my DVR can pick them up if I wanted them to – and in HD in most cases – but I don’t watch either show anyway, so pft on that!

Given the above, it’s safe to say that I use my iPod for music. Not video, photos, contacts, or calendar items… I have a Smartphone for the PIM items. I don’t have enough photos to carry them around with me. Video? Enter the notebook (14″ screen) or PSP (4″-ish screen). I don’t believe in the one device fits all solution anyway. If I did, the only device that could qualify would be a notebook and that’s sorta big to carry around everywhere, so for me, I need a collection of specialized devices.

For portable video, why the PSP for video over the iPod? UMD discs, make it easier to watch movies for the PSP – in spite of the iPod having a hard drive, there’s still the time to encode and transfer files to and from the iPod… dropping in a UMD disc is faster and easier. Besides, I’ve got a 1GB Memory Stick Duo for the PSP and I’ve yet to put a video on it so far… maybe for my next flight. Anyway, the PSP is a premier portable gaming machine, in my mind. Video is just an extra thing that it does, much like it’s built in web browser.

So why the new iPod purchase? A bump of 10GB didn’t do it – I got the 30GB to replace my old 20GB – but it’s certainly a Nice To Have. The color screen? Yep. That was a huge draw actually, especially after playing with the nano for a while now: it has spoiled me and made me expect color from my MP3 player. The new size of the 30GB? Definitely! The new iPod is much thinner than my old iPod and frankly, size does matter.

Why do I worry that it’s a bad purchase? Battery life. The trade off from the thinner form factor comes at the expense of a longer battery life. It’s simple Geek physics: smaller battery = shorter battery life. How much shorter, is the question. People have reported dismal battery life while watching video, but that’s to be expected: movies keep the back lighting on and that makes for a wicked short battery life, in any device. That’s a fact across the board: back lighting is a greedy fucker, when it comes mobile devices.

Another oddity is the Click Wheel. I can’t tell if it’s because it’s smaller or if it’s because of the new firmware, but man the thing is touchy. I always seem to jump up or down one item when I click the OK button. So far I’ve written it off to my thumb hitting the wheel, but I’m going to keep an eye on it.

Also the accessories all change. The good news is that I don’t have many! I do loose the clip on remote wire thingy, but that’ll be fixed by a new set of headphones. The old dock still works with it, which is nice, but I’ll probably upgrade my power supply (currently the Firewire style) and get a universal dock. I dunno though… it used to be $299 for the iPod, the on the wire remote, dock, and other fun stuff. Now it’s $299 for just the iPod, mostly… makes me feel like I’m getting jacked on the accessories front, but that’s life, I guess.

We’ll see what comes of it – the pros outweigh the cons at this point, so I’m not suffering buyer’s remorse, but the long term experience should be interesting.