The iPod's 5 GB hard drive holds 100 hours of high-quality music, and it connects to your Mac via superfast FireWire. We were able to transfer a single CD in about 10 seconds and a full hard drive in 10 to 15 minutes. If you lack a built-in FireWire connector, which all new Macs ship with, you can add a FireWire PC Card to most older PowerBooks or a FireWire PCI card to most G3 and G4 towers.

Plug the iPod into the FireWire port and the iPod is mounted as a hard drive. The included iTunes 2 software automatically launches and will synchronize your computer's digital audio collection with the iPod. You can also manually manage what files get transferred. The iPod plays the MP3 music format, but it also plays old AIFF and WAV formats.

The iPod's 10-hour-plus lithium battery also recharges over the FireWire port. An AC adapter comes with the unit for charging away from a computer. The battery recharges to 80 percent of capacity in about an hour, full capacity in about three hours. The iPod has a 32 MB built-in RAM cache that buffers about 20 minutes of music. This is extremely helpful when you're exercising, and it keeps battery life high. When we've used the iPod on long trips and travel about town, it's been hard to run the battery down at all.

The iPod is simply laid out with five buttons and a shuttle wheel. The interface uses hierarchical menus that you select from by rotating the wheel and pressing the selection button in its center. The LCD screen was also large and easy to read, and it has a backlight nearly as powerful as a flashlight.

The one slightly vexing interface detail was the lack of an Off button--attributable to the iPod's overall design aesthetic. You won't really need to turn the iPod off, as the unit conserves power when it's not playing. But we did find ourselves using the Hold button often to ensure that we didn't start it playing or stop it playing when transporting the iPod while in use. You can turn it off by simply holding down the play/pause button for a few seconds.

Apple includes a set of earphones that we felt compared favorably with listening to high-quality speakers in an acoustically balanced room. Volume control, always an important point, is in tiny increments that can be easily set up and down while music is playing. A startup volume level can be preset as well.

A few provisos: the iPod doesn't come with a carrying case, the stainless steel back collects fingerprints like an overzealous FBI agent, and the plastic front can scratch if you're as careless as we are. Also, the unit's initial release has no balance control (left/right), equalization panel, or monaural setting. Apple does plan free software upgrades for the iPod, which may add these features.

Considering its range of features and small package, the iPod is definitely a top contender for best Mac add-on. --Charles Kinbote

Pros:

• High-capacity MP3 player in small package
• 32 MB buffer enables you to use the iPod even when exercising
• Utilizes FireWire for superfast transfers
• Automatically synchronizes with your computer's MP3 collection

Cons:

• Not compatible with Windows (this isn't a negative to Mac owners--it may even be a plus)
• No equalization or balance settings