The Original - Survives

The updated iPod Classic was probably the least exciting of the new iPods announced in the September 2008 update but that does not mean it should be dismissed.



I own the 160 GB iPod Classic that has now been discontinued but there are few differences (perhaps the biggest being the much slimmer shape of this 120 model) and I did get to check this updated 120 GB version out at the store when picking up the new nano and touch.



Firstly the 120 GB version is again smaller than the largest capacity available last year but it is a single platter hard drive which allows it to maintain the slim shape of the 80 GB version from last year. More storage a hundred dollars less and just as small. That is progress despite calls from others that the classic isn't exciting. It still serves its purpose as the original iPod idea. Big capacity in a simple to use device.



Next the software has been slightly updated on the iPod Classic. It now includes Genius like iTunes and the other new iPods. This allows you when on a song you enjoy to select the genius feature. The iPod will then compile a list of songs (playlist) which goes together with the original song you were listening to. This helps you rediscover music in your library with a playlist to fit your mood at the time. I have been using the genius feature for a few days now and it is impressive the way it compiles these playlists. I was skeptical but overall it does a good job. Furthermore as another review mentioned the iPod does seem more responsive with this update from what I saw at the store compared to my original 160 GB iPod Classic. Some speculation has been that the older iPod Classics will receive the software update of this new one but I'm not holding my breath on that.



Overall the original iPod concept was so good and that is why the iPod Classic is still a solid choice for a music and media player. It will hold thousands and thousands of songs (up to 30000 according to Apple at 128 bitrate). I also backup some important files to my iPod Classic in disk mode so that I have that additional extra copy of my most vital files. When you have such a large iPod you can do that. It shouldn't be forgotten either that while the display of the iPod Classic isn't as good as the iPod Touch or iPhone it is still quite good and you can play music videos TV shows and movies purchased on the iTunes Store.



Battery life for this new 120 GB model improved over the 80GB model from last year. Apple now estimates it at 36 hours audio and 6 hours video.



I'd recommend the iPod Classic without hesitation to those who have more than 8 or 16 GBs of music in their iTunes library and want to carry their entire collection. Furthermore if you have videos and video podcasts you want to always carry with you again you can't beat the storage. I have the lower capacity flash devices as well but the big hard drive based iPod Classic continues to play an important role in my iPod Collection.More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...

My favorite iPod to date. (A.K.A. The iPod Apple should've released in 2007.)

NOTICE: This review is for the NEW 2009 160GB iPod Classic NOT the 2007 160GB iPod Classic!



The new 160GB iPod Classic is easily Apple Inc.'s best iPod to date and out of all of the iPods that I own this is my favorite.



First the capacity of this iPod is simply unbeatable. I've yet to see another portable media player that can match the iPod Classic in capacity. I have a huge music library and it's nice to be able to carry every song that I own on my person at all times. What's more thanks to the iPod Classic's capacity I also have room to carry a few videos with me and some of my photos. If you don't like having to pick which songs to load onto your portable media player the iPod Classic is the way to go.



The second thing that I love about this iPod can be summed up in two words: it works. The 160GB iPod Classic that was introduced in 2007 was extremely buggy had a non-responsive Clickwheel on many units crashed frequently and required a hit-and-miss firmware update to stop the hard drive from spinning even when the device was "off" which often lead to dead batteries. All of these problems left the 2007 160GB iPod Classic warming shelves and earning it the infamous "honor" of being the "worst selling iPod ever" according to Apple. I'm pleased to say that the new 160GB iPod Classic released earlier this month has virtually none of these problems. There's no "spinning hard drive bug" the Clickwheel is incredibly responsive and the device isn't crash-prone. While it's true that many of these issues were fixed with last year's iPod Classic there hasn't been a truly functional 160GB model until now. To put it bluntly this is the iPod that Apple should've released in 2007.



Another thing that I really like about this iPod and the iPod Classic in general is it's ability to double as an external hard drive. While I believe that the iPod Nano is also capable of this the only iPod that really has enough space to function as an external hard drive is the iPod Classic. The hard drive functionality admittedly reduces the number of devices I have to carry on me at any given time. If you regularly work with large files and are considering a new iPod the iPod Classic is the way to go plain and simple.



So what are the caveats? Well for starters as with every other iPod Classic this is a hard-drive (rather than flash-memory) based device. As a result it has moving parts which make it unsuitable for running or any physical activity that exerts mechanical shock onto the iPod. Unless you exercise constantly with your iPod though this really shouldn't be an issue. The only other caveat which is more of personal taste than an actual flaw that I can find is that Apple has not made any cosmetic changes to this device since they introduced it in 2007. Now don't get me wrong the point of an iPod "Classic" is to retain the "Classic" design but after seeing how much better a black Clickwheel looks on the silver iPod Nano I'd have thought that Apple would have given the silver iPod Classic a black Clickwheel as well. However I admit that this is entirely my personal preference and not a "flaw" per se. I've put a quick list of pros and cons together which can be seen below:





Pros: Largest iPod Capacity-wise long battery life "Genius" feature excellent value for your money well-built doubles as an external hard drive and improvements to Cover Flow.



Cons: Hard Drive (rather than Flash memory) based storage medium; device is cosmetically identical to the 2007 80GB model. (I still don't understand why Apple hasn't colored the Clickwheel black on the silver model to match the iPod Nano.)



Finally I would highly recommend this product which is why it gets five stars from me. I don't like the iPod Nano; it's too small for my hands and the screen is too small for my eyes. While the iPod Touch may have app store access and Wi-Fi I find it to be a really gimmicky device that makes for a poor portable media player (Apple was wise to position it as a handheld game system) and is really an "iPhone without a phone." In contrast the iPod Classic is an excellent portable media player it has an excellent interface and it only costs $249 dollars. To put things in perspective the 2009 160GB iPod Classic costs $70 dollars more than a 16GB iPod Nano and $150 dollars less than a 64GB iPod Touch. All in all I highly recommend this product.More detail ...