On September 5, Steve Jobs presented the new generation of iPod Video, which was renamed to Classic. At the same time, Apple presented iPod Nano 3rd generation and iPod Touch. New iPod Nano is more square-shaped than 1st and 2nd generation. iPod Touch is very similar to iPhone, but it lacks mobile phone features as well as E-mail (POP3) client.

What’s different?

Why would anyone wanted to buy a new iPod if he already has iPod Video 5G? One of the factors is larger hard drive - iPod Classic is available with 80GB or 160GB 1.8″ hard drive. Apple has also changed the material of front side, which is now made of anodized aluminum instead of polycarbonate plastic - default color is now silver. And finally - the most obvious change: user interface. The interface is now split into two parts - basic menu, which is the same as in all iPods, is on the left - and images, descriptions and artworks are on the right. The interface also features CoverFlow - list of album artworks in 3D space.

Specifications

Size: 103,5 mm x 81,8 mm x 10,5 mm (height x width x depth)

Weight: 140 g

Display: 2,5″, 320×240 px, LCD

Supported audio formats: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, Audible, Apple Lossless , WAV and AIFF

Supported video formats: H.264, MP4, MOV

Connectors: dock connector (USB 2.0), 3.5 mm stereo jack (32 Ohm)

Boxing

iPods’ boxing is getting smaller and smaller - iPod Classic’s boxing includes iPod (we surely didn’t expect this, right? :)), Apple’s basic earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter (but unfortunately not the dock itself) and Quick start guide. The box is a bit larger than iPod itself and it is stylishly designed, following Apple’s design tradition of course.

First connection

I had many problems on my first connection of the iPod. The first problem occured when I connected iPod to the PC for the first time. Windows XP SP2 almost instantly showed up BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), but it showed BSOD if I connected any other USB device anyway, so I couldn’t blame the iPod or iTunes for causing BSODs.

After I installed Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit version), the OS didn’t crash, but the iTunes hasn’t recognized iPod. After googling and reading some other users’ experiences I tried to connect the iPod to other USB port and it magically started working.

The iPod i got has had installed firmware version 1.0.2 so I immediately updated it to the latest (1.0.3) - the upgrade is completely automatized and done by iTunes. All you need to do is click Update, read license and click Next or OK a few times and iTunes does the “dirty work”.

iTunes synchronization

To upload your music, videos, photos, etc. on your iPod Classic you need iTunes 7.4 or newer - I used the latest (7.5). The upload procedure hasn’t changed and is similar for all iPods - you can select which playlists do you want iTunes to upload to the iPod - with 80GB or even enormous 160GB you can select All music, All videos, All podcast, etc. since there is almost impossible to find enough material to fill up iPod Classic. Well, you can find it in iTunes Store - although it wouldn’t be very cheap to buy 80GB music or movies

User interface

As I mentioned, user interface is now divided into two parts - left and right. Left side is used as a menu and right side is used for displaying artworks or additional information about selected menu item.

CoverFlow is pretty fast, although it’s loading speed is limited due to large (compared to flash memory) access times of integrated hard-drive.

When you click the Albums menu, there are artworks shown on the left side of each album, which simplifies finding the right album - if we don’t use CoverFlow of course.

User interface is mostly very smooth, especially the transitions.

Playback

iPod Classic (80 GB version) can - according to Apple’s specifications - play audio for around 30 hours and video for around 5 hours. Playback time depends on LCD brightness and use of Click wheel, which is probably the largest energy consumer in iPod.

The playback is smooth, although high access time of the hard drive is yet again noticeable - especially when you try to skip a few tracks up the album.

Conclusion

iPod classic is excelent multimedia player for all Apple freaks and for anybody that needs a lot of space and appreciates the speed and stability of the player.

As we are used to, Apple products aren’t meant to meet price-performance quocient - anyhow, I’ve seen a five years old iPod 1G that has been used for few hours every day. It’s still working, although the battery has been changed.

Well, even if you don’t need all the space and all the power of iPod Classic - it’s still a good way to show off in front of your friends and colleagues.