iPod Touch 8GB (2G)

Upon using the new iPod Touch for the first time, I noticed a huge room for expansion. The layout of the main screen is straight forward and easy to use, the touchscreen, while it does not have haptic feedback like my LG Dare, is very responsive and accurate. I plugged my iPod in to my computer in, I already have iTunes 8 installed, and low and behold, the iPod Touch installer started and in just a few quick steps later I was up and running and installing applications from the iTunes app store. The screen on it is the best screen I have seen on a device and the clarity of movies is simply phenominal. The Touch has a full HTML browser running Safari, the only thing I wish it had is Flash support. If it had that, this would be almost a complete replacement for my laptop. Oh and did I mention this post is being made from the iPod?

Panasonic DMP-BD30K 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

One unfortunate thing about this review is that I haven't been able to fully test the Blu-ray capabilities of this player. We currently just have a normal television, without Hi Definition. We do, however, plan to take advantage very soon by adding a Panasonic 42PZ80U 42" Plasma 1080p television to our home theater. We are looking forward to the Viera capabilities. So far this player has been great. It has very fast boot up (for a Blu-ray player), and outputs clear video, as well as being very friendly in setup. I will update this when we have done more with the Hi-Def portion. For now, you will just have to deal with a simple review only using it as a DVD player.

Apple iPod Shuffle (2nd Generation)

We recently picked up a 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle. This is the first iPod I have used, and we are currently waiting on delivery of an iPod Touch (2nd Generation). One of the major enticements for my wife to go with the Shuffle is its small footprint. While it is not the largest in terms of memory, its 1 GB size is more than enough for my wife's music collection. The controls are intuitive and the features are more than adequate. Of course, she got it in pink. I will update if there are any negative aspects that we run into, but as of now there have not been any issues.