This may be Apple's least innovative
newly released iPod... except for maybe the shuffle, but that doesn't
mean you shouldn't buy it.
This iPod is essentially the same as
the previous Generation iPod video. The screen is about the same, the
controls are the same, and the size of the player is essentially the
same (a little smaller and in aluminum).
What then is new about these iPods?
First, and foremost, the whopping
hard drives. 80GB is now the smallest size and 160GB is for the power
users. This amount of storage is ridiculous, but for anyone looking to
create an archive of almost any song they can think of, it's ideal. The
next major change comes with the OS inside this bad boy. Apple has
upgraded their menu system, but it still does the same stuff. The menu
has sort of been built around CoverFlow, that stupid system where you
see the album art scrolling around. I personally find this to be a waste
of time. As a lot of my digital music does not have cover art, it ends
up just being a bunch of blank covers flowing by. The last major change
is the battery life. This one gets 5 hours of video or 30 hours of songs
in the small version and 7 hours of video and 40 of music in the larger
160GB.
This iPod is a workhorse. You should
get it if you hate docking your iPod to your computer and reloading
songs with iTunes.
Pros:
-Only new iPod that will hold
over 16GB (it's too bad there's nothing between that and 80GB...
yet).
-Improved Battery Life.
-Keeps life simple... which
is (or at least was) the mantra of iPod.
Cons:
-Coverflow based operating
system is not useful, just looks cool at first.
-Price, $249 is a bit much
considering that the only major upgrade is a hard drive. The
iPod touch is just a bit more money and really introduces some
cool new technology.
-Will not work with many of
the accessories you used with your iPod video or other previous
iPods.
iPod Classic Interface Video
The menu system (dual screen menu)
The menus in this ipod
only cover half the screen, which would be nice, but only if
you had any need to see anything else. I consider the dual
screen to be a complete waste of time.
Search by spelling
Pretty useful upgrade.
You are going to have a lot of files on this thing, so it
actually is good that Apple added a more powerful search
system.
Better Battery Life
5 hours of video and 30 of music for the
80GB
7 hours of video and 40 of music for the
160GB
Video
Not much different
from the iPod Video, the quality is marginally better. The
only really new thing is that the iPod can now safely play a
couple of full length films on one charge. No more being
afraid that your iPod is going to die after playing less
than one.
New Games
Games include Vortex,
Klondike, and iQuiz. These games are all new and sport much
improved graphics. Honestly, they re basically the same as
what Apple put on previous iPods anyway. I see these as
basically a non issue. There will eventually be more to
download from iTunes.
