It’s a classic

Hi all techheads, apple fans or just plain geeks,

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Well here’s my review of the new 80 gb ipod classic for those that might be interested. This is the first apple product that I’ve purchased and while I didn’t have any major preconceptions going in I must admit that I’m actually not a fan of apple computers as I have to use one for work and they shit me up the wall. Don’t get me started on why as I could write a whole post on it.
I’m not going to do the whole pictures of me opening the box and looking at it from 50 different angles, but check this link if your interested in seeing what it looks like (Flicky Flicky).
I think it’s best to begin by talking about the new interface that’s been introduced in the new ipod range. While the old music menu lists are still present there is now an option to view your music collection via ‘cover flow’. This allows you to browse your music according to album art and I must say it looks a treat.

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I’ve been a big fan of this feature since it was incorporated into itunes last year and I definitely prefer it to the old plain music lists. Mind you while it looks impressive if you have a big music collection it can be rather a chore scrolling through it in this view as there is no search feature available. If you’re not as anal as I am you probably haven’t organised your cover art correctly and therefore there may be a lot of missing items, which can look quite ugly.

The main differences between this model and its nearest equivalent the iPod video are an increased screen size (2.5 inch) which is slightly indented. The main body is now curved around the edges and has a slightly slimmer build coming in at 103mm X 61.8mm X 10.5mm. The new brushed metallic finish is more durable and should alleviate the problems with previous models which were said to be magnets for smudges and scratches. It’s still probably a good idea to stick on a plastic cover over the screen for protection but at the moment there’s none available that will fit perfectly due to the slight indentation.

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The screen displays a 320 X 240 pixel resolution and is capable of playing 640 X 480 videos. Images and video’s look brilliantly crisp and bright and the ability to manual adjust the brightness is useful for reducing glare while viewing outside. However the screen size just doesn’t do it for me but this could be the fact that I’m used to looking at images on my psp screen, which is vastly superior to the iPods. I also get the feeling that viewing anything apart from short videoclips or movie previews over a prolonged period is liable to give you a headache. Speaking of headaches watching movies or T.V shows from a DVD is a hassle. It first requires them to be decrypted from .VOB files into one format and then from this file into mpeg-4. However since movies or shows can be downloaded in this format it’s not a big deal. Playback time of at least 30 hrs of audio or 5 hrs of video is offset by the fact that when the battery goes completely flat the iPod will need to be sent off to get a new one fitted in.

Now a little discussion on the actual sound quality. First off Apple has to learn to stop providing shitty quality headphones with their iPods as these buds are shit. As I don’t have a real good set of headphones yet I can’t accurately comment on the audio quality. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t found the correct equalizer setting on the iPod but I must admit that the music on my psp sounds better.

As I’m an avid gamer I was interested to learn that apple is now in partnership with the one of the biggest game company’s in the world EA games. While the lack of any real controls is a bit restrictive simple games like tetris, pac-man, soduku are said to work rather well. Each of these games comes in at $7.50 Au on the itunes site. One of the games you get free with the iPod classic is called iQuiz. This give you a selection of movie,T.V show or music trivia. The music quiz is rather interesting as it goes through your own music collection and asks a number of questions such as which song does this album come from, what year was it released and so forth. However some question are a bit odd like when it asks which band released this album after showing you the cover art. This is pretty stupid as nearly every album has this stamped right on the front. Anyway it’s a lot of fun and is a pretty interesting way of learning more about your music.

Since the whole ipod/itunes interaction is rather new to me I thought I would give a little overview of the updated software. Unfortunately I couldn’t rush into playing with my new toy as it isn’t quite plug and play friendly. Following a compulsory installation of the new version of itunes (7.4.2.4), an overnight charge, a 4 hr synch of my music (34 Gb) and installation of the ipod software I was ready to go. As the only documentation provided in the box is a piss poor guide I would suggest that people download the real manual from the apple site before getting started. After ticking a checkbox in itunes I was happy to learn that the ipod can act as a hard drive which could be useful in transferring, videos, documents, podcasts, etc amongst computers. While the ipod will automatically synch and update any new music there is also the option to manually manage your playlists and movies by directly dragging files from your itunes collection. Unfortunately you can’t have the manual and automatic synch features active at the same time. This means that when you try to switch back to automatic synching again the whole iPod contents are removed and replaced again which is a royal pain in the arse as it can take 2 hours or longer to synch a lot of music. Also I don’t know if it’s my computer but the itunes software seems to run a bit slow at times. Just clicking on items on my iPod seems to cause the software to briefly freeze sometimes which is a minor inconvenience.

I’m not quite sure if this is a new feature but the ability to copy your address book contacts, calendars or notepad text files from your mac or PC is a boon to busy people on the go. It would be good to alter these lists directly from the iPod but considering it wasn’t designed to be an organizer it’s nothing to complain about. Additional features include multi time zone clocks, sleep timer (automatic shutoff) stopwatch and an alarm (The internal speaker is crap so hook it up to a stereo if you really want to wake up).

The only major disappointment that comes to mind over this new iPod is the omission of wireless internet access. I guess the ability to stream music, videos or radio is left to those who can afford the iPhone or iTouch. Damn your genius marketing apple! While it may be a bit presumptuous considering this is the first major update from them in about 3 years there are some other missing features that I would like to see in future versions. Being able to delete and organize music directly from the ipod would be useful while a manual equalizer options would improve the sound for some of the cheaper headphones out there.

While I think every product in the new iPod range is missing certain features (more space needed in the iTouch, faster internet speeds for the iPhone and less flab on the nano) the iPod classic is near perfection.
If you’re looking for a portable jukebox able to carry all the music, videos and photos in one slimline sexy package then look no further.

Final Remarks

Looks: As a lot of people are likely to buy the ipod on looks alone its slim line aesthetics don’t disappoint. The new 2.5 inch screen is more than adequate for playing short videos but is no substitute for ones found in other portable video players (psp I’m looking at you). Best summed up as sleek, sexy and svelt.
5/5

Features: While the interface has had a nice overhaul with the cover flow feature its best to stick to the old menu lists if you haven’t got your cover art sorted or if you’ve got plenty of music to browse through. The addition of calendar and contact information is a nice touch but doesn’t compare to the features found in the iPhone or itouch. Absence of wireless internet connectivity would have made this the killer iPod.
4/5

Quality: The overall build quality feels quite solid; however I wouldn’t like to test this out by dropping it. The hardrive isn’t likely to skip but I often feel it clicking and whirling when being held and therefore care should be taken not to shake it around too much. Audio quality could be better but can be improved with a proper set of headphones.
4/5

Final Verdict: 4.5/5