I'll still use my MacBook as a portable DVD player. However, the gorgeous, svelte iPod touch is just fine for TV shows, YouTube video and the like. Especially as you can also store songs and surf the 'Net with the new device.

Like the iPhone, it features a multi-touch sensitive, 3.5-inch display with 320x480 resolution. In addition to the phone features, the iPod touch also lacks e-mail, phone, text, stocks, maps, weather, and Notes applications. The touch is also slightly slimmer and shorter than the iPhone. Otherwise, it's obvious that they're siblings.

With its silver and black design, the iPhone touch is a stylish, cool handheld. As you doubtless know by now, you can find music, videos and more on a widescreen display with the touch of a finger. The interface uses new software to present the appropriate user interface for each application.

Overall, the iPod touch is a joy to use. Once you turn it on, there's a "slider" at the bottom of the screen that you use to "unlock" the iPod for use (which isn't to be confused with unlocking the iPhone for use with carriers other than AT&T).

I took the iPod touch on a recent biking trip and showed off the gadget to some friends. It never failed to evoke a "wow" reaction. The 16GB version I used was packed with 193 albums, two episodes of 24 and one episode of Prison Break (all purchased from the iTunes Store), an episode of Nowhere Man (ripped from my legally purchased DVD with Handbrake), a Coldplay video, two Pixar shorts and two self-made videos (five and eight minutes). Additionally, I had synced the touch with the calendar and contacts list on my iMac -- and I still had 6.12GB of space left.

The iPod touch includes Wi-Fi wireless networking, the first on any iPod, and three applications that use it: Safari, a web browser that lets you wirelessly view web pages and use Google Search or Yahoo! oneSearch; Apple's YouTube application, which lets you wirelessly watch free videos from the video web site. You can use your fingers to "pinch" and "unpinch" sections of web sites to expand them for better viewing or shrink them for navigation. Touch the URL address field and a small, virtual keypad will pop up so you can type in a new address, if you wish.

The touch will never replace my Macs for regular web use; neither the screen or the virtual keys or big enough for long-term use (at least for me). But it's extremely convenient for looking up something quickly. For example, once I've quit my Macsimum work for the day, I keep my touch by my side when I'm reading or watching TV in case I need to look up something online quickly.

What's more, there's the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, which lets you wirelessly browse, preview and buy songs and albums from the iTunes Store. Alas, I wasn't able to test this feature as the Wi-Fi store as it won't be available in my neck of the woods (Nashville, Tennessee) until sometime in 2008.

In case you haven't heard, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store lets you browse the iTunes Top Ten lists of songs and albums overall or by genre, check out new releases and "What's Hot," or search for your favorite songs, albums or artists. You can preview any song for free, then purchase and download the ones you like directly onto your iPod touch over Wi-Fi. The music you download will be automatically uploaded into your iTunes library the next time you sync your iPod touch with your computer. The service is available now in some cities, so I guess I'll try it out when I go to San Francisco in January for the Macworld Conference & Expo.

With its 3.5-inch widescreen display, the iPod touch is better suited for watching videos, as well as viewing photos and album art, than the 5G iPod. The iPod touch has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When you're in music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork with a flick of a finger (that's one of the "wow" features I mentioned).

When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio; when in Safari it displays the web page horizontally. The iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness. Apple says it can handle up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback. I actually obtained 24 hours of audio on my bike trip and just over six hours of video playback during my at-home experimentation.

The touch does have some drawbacks, however. With its design, it's almost impossible to use the controls without looking directly at the screen, whereas with the more traditional iPods you can learn to navigate to a large degree without actually seeing the screen.

While it doesn't bother me that Apple didn't include an email app (which, IMHO, is a but cumbersome on the iPhone, even with a 3.5-inch screen and virtual keys), it makes no sense that they didn't include Google Map capability, which would seem to be a natural for a Wi-Fi enabled handheld device. Also, what's up with the inability to adds information directly to the touch's calendar, then sync it with your Mac?

Finallly, while it wouldn't have made much sense for Apple to put a hard drive in the touch (it has a flash drive to maintain a slimmer design and longer battery life), the 16GB storage capacity at a price tag of almost 400 bucks doesn't seem too impressive when you can get a 160GB iPod classic for 50 dollars less. If I had deeper pockets, I'd buy a classic and put my entire music library on it and use my touch for videos, getting online and viewing my contacts calendar. But few of us (including Yours Truly) has pockets that deep.

However, 16GB will probably be enough for most folks. I was surprised at the amount of data I could put on the device and still have space left over. If you've been lusting after an iPhone but don't want/don't need/can't afford the cell phone/AT&T connection, the iPod touch will put a big smile on your face. Ditto if you want a pocket-sized device that lets you play your tunes, watch your videos, jump on the web and look at your calendar and Address Book.

By the way, the iPod touch supports the 802.11b and 802.11g standards but not the 802.11n draft specification that Apple supports. I had no problem with this, and doubt you will either. Also note that the included instructions are pretty skimpy; however, the online instructions are very thorough.

The 8GB iPod touch model is US$299 and the 16GB iPod model is $399. The iPod touch requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later and iTunes 7.4; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.4. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. The iTunes Store is not available in all countries.

Macsimum rating: 8.5 out of 10.