Whew, it's been a long day and night, folks, but we got the iPod touch review up for you as soon as we could, without sacrificing quality. Now, some answers to iPod touch questions floating around, as well as a defense of my highest-possible rating of 5.

First, to clarify some things not explicitly addressed in the review:

-Yes, you can manually manage your music, photos, videos, and podcasts, just like any other iPod.

-No, the headphone jack is not annoyingly recessed like it is on the iPhone--same is true for the new nano and the classic, by the way.

-No, it appears you cannot use it as an external storage device--so there will be no dragging and dropping of files onto the iPod's icon on your desktop...because there is no icon on your desktop. Not a concern for most people, but a bit of a bummer. I am still awaiting confirmation from Apple on this, however.

Now, PC Magazine rarely gives out 5-star ratings. This is the first I've awarded any portable media player, and I had to vehemently defend my rating against the skeptical likes of Head Honcho (Editor-in-Chief and all-around nice guy) Lance Ulanoff and Editor, Reviews Dan Costa (also nice). Is it really worth a score of 5? What if the untested Starbucks feature doesn't work, or works but sucks? What about those crappy earbuds? What about the cost? What about the as-yet-untested battery life?

Here is my point-by-point response to these lingering questions...

-Yes, it's really a 5. It's the best portable media player I've ever used.

-Let's say, hypothetically, that the Starbucks feature doesn't work well or works but is just lame. Who cares? It's a minimal extra. I couldn't care less about Starbucks or this feature, but when was the last time Apple released something that flat-out didn't work? Regardless, we will update the review on October 2nd when the feature is activated. Since it is basically an extension of the WiFi iTunes Music Store, which we know works, I don't anticipate any real issues. This feature is innocent until proven guilty, and there will be no verdict until Oct. 2nd.

-Every portable media player comes with lousy earbuds. They want you to accessorize with other manufacturers' products! This may be annoying, but it's hardly unique to iPods, so it isn't going to keep the player down in the ratings (nor does it keep other players down in my ratings).

The cost, I think, is reasonable. First off, 16GB is as big as quality Flash players get right now. Creative's new (unreviewed as yet) ZEN, which is offered in 16GB for $300, is $100 less. But does it have a Wi-Fi music store, Internet access, and a huge multi-touch screen? No. I'd say those features are worth an extra $100. That said, I'm excited to play with the new ZEN.

Generally, PCMag.com and other sites we compete with tend to publish a rated review first, then update that review with the battery tests, so this is a not a unique situation. We are currently testing battery life and should have some results for you on Monday, but if we are going by Apple's history, their battery ratings are usually not too far off the mark. (Our recent battery rundown of the new nano, for instance, yielded a slightly higher audio life than Apple had rated it for, while our video results came in a bit lower.) I have a feeling our tests will have come close to the rated 22 hours for audio and fall slightly short of 5 hours for video (this particular result can vary depending on screen brightness settings). Three hours or more, however, is a decent showing for video battery life.

The iPod touch has taken the portable media player to new levels. It worth every bit of it's 5-star rating! Once you play with one, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Now, I'm going on vacation.

Post by Tim Gideon