Apple iPod Touch 32GB

With the gadget fraternity locked in abject love for the iPhone, Apple’s Touch is fighting for attention.

The built-in Safari web browser on this new 32GB version is a pared-down version of the software you’ll find on a Mac, but it offers easily the best surfing experience of any portable device.

Rejecting the whole idea of web browsers designed for handheld devices and mobile versions of web pages, the Touch presents pages exactly as they are on the internet.

Slim chance

Emailing isn’t perfect. Despite being perfectly suited to Google mail and other popular applications, there are things that the slim Touch’s browser cannot do, such as forwarding emails with attachments and showing Flash-based websites.

Using the web, however, is an absolute joy. Zooming in on areas of a website works better on some than it does others, but a limited number of oft-visited web email sites, such as Gmail, Yahoo and AOL, are very impressive.

A software update in January brought new features to the Touch including a note-taking application and viewing of PDF, Word and Excel documents. And if you’re a spreadsheet bore you might even like the new option to check your stocks and shares (yawn), although with a built-in 20 minute delay we’d speculate if it’s of much use.

The best new feature is undoubtedly the Touch’s Google maps, which can pinpoint where you are in either map or satellite form and generally mimics the online version.

Off the menu

Another victory for Apple’s designers is the menu button – the Touch’s only non-touch screen control – which takes you right back to beginning without having to close windows or log out of sites. Another nice touch is the pocket-friendly automatic locking of the touch screen after a short time.

Despite its power and simplicity, surprisingly few music and video files that can be loaded onto the Touch – just MP3, WAV, AAC and AIFF for music, and H.264, MOV, M4V and MP4 for video. The presentation is excellent although the touch screen is wasted – it’s there purely for browsing the web.

Elegant, expensive and oh so enjoyable, this simple MP3 player is a fairly basic proposition for video. But we still love it. One for the muso commuter who wouldn’t mind checking emails from the sofa without powering-up a laptop first.