I have to admit that investigating the subject of iPODs resulted in a
similar report to Graham's which I have cut and pasted below - so please
delete now if you are no longer interested!  Happy holidays if you are
having them.

Best wishes
EA


iPod 15GB with iTalk microphone

I took the iPod to two assessor training days and to Ireland for a
disability training day as well as a Welsh e-learning conference and a
series of meetings at the OU.  It worked well with PCs despite what Mac
people may say.  Overall it is not a recorder that I would want to use in
lectures or seminars as the quality for voice recording is still not as good
as most mini-disks and it cannot compete with the digital recorders for ease
of use with speech recognition or personal note making.  It is ideal for
carrying large amounts of data, downloading music or even voice files that
have been recorded to a high standard on another medium.

Resulting comments
Look and Feel
Without a doubt everyone felt that it looked good and that students would
therefore use it and not feel it was a device that had links with disability
or assistive technology.
All attendees were amazed to hear that the 15GB version could hold around
246 hours of recording.

Lectures and seminars
The iTalk was easy to plug in and the iPod automatically recognised the
microphone - it records the lectures as voice memos.  The system worked well
when sitting four to five rows back from the speaker - 10 rows back and the
sounds nearest to the recorder affected the results so 100ft is a definite
limit.  Clarity was not the issue but controlling the recordings was
challenging when in a hurry and would have been impossible if you were
naturally clumsy or dyspraxic.  The backlit LED works well in dark
situations although the out of the box settings are not long enough but then
battery life is shortened

The pause button could be pressed overly hard so that it inadvertently
turned off the iPod.  The dial could be clicked too fast so that the chosen
recording session was missed.  The start (enter) button or middle button did
not always respond.  In fact it was hard to know what type of pressure to
apply as for some it seemed to respond immediately and at other times it
froze.  Attendees at one workshop complained because they could not turn it
off.

It is important to treat the iPod dial and buttons very gently and wait for
a response.  Use the iPod as if it is a computer NOT a recorder.

Listening back on the iPod is easy - through headphones which can be
relatively clear or the microphone output which has more distortion and
white noise.  Finding the correct lectures is based on the order in which
you recorded them with no labelling so remembering the time it took to
record may be important as the only other marker is the date.   Obviously
once transferred to the computer they can be renamed with additional
information added in iTunes via the 'Get info' menu or the name can be
changed directly on the list

Personal recordings
Although the advice is to have the microphone close to the mouth - take care
that breathiness is not recorded and plosive sounds such as 'p's do not
affect output.  It is better to hold the microphone to the side of the mouth
and at a few fingers distance to avoid extraneous sounds.  Recording is easy
and downloading also relatively simple.


Downloading files
The first problem may be reading the minute serial number from the back of
the iPod when installing the software and the accessibility issues continue
with the text size on iTunes only being available in what they call large
and small (font 12 and 10) with no background colour changes on offer etc.
The software does not respond to desktop changes or accessibility options
available through the Microsoft Windows Accessibility wizard.   I did not
test this on the Mac and should have done.

 As the software installs it is important to make sure iTunes does not take
over your system if you want a more accessible format, but on the other hand
it is a very easy application for the storage of lecture notes or sound
files.

Plugging in the iPod to the firewire connector can be fiddly and USB adapter
may be helpful. The connector jack for linking the ipod to the plug or
computer also required squeezing and gently easing into its jack point.

iTunes automatically downloads the latest files and wipes them from the iPod
at the same time. You cannot use the iPod whilst connected to the computer.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is unable to transcribe the version of wav files
stored on the iPod.  They have to be converted to suit the mono wav format
required.  This takes time and virtually renders the combination of iPod and
dictation software useless but the iPod hacks web site has discussed the
subject so no doubt there will be changes soon.

Battery Life

Having received the initial charge it is possible to have the player up and
running again in one and half hours but the batteries only last around six
hours when playing sound files although eight hours is about right when it
is just sitting on the desk with occasional playing and recording.
http://ipodbatteryfaq.com/

Mr Perry has an alternative to an expensive second battery pack
http://drewperry.co.uk/index.php?do=iPod&ipod=battery