Up 'till about 2 months ago i was proud to be one of the few people who didnt own an ipod of some sort. I considered myself to be going against the trend, standing against the monopoly that is the ipod. How wrong i was, it wasnt untill i'd got through about my 3rd MP3 player in a year, that i decided enough was enough and i would go against my beliefs and take the plunge. One of the best retailing decisions of my life.
Firstly, you dont realise the true elegance of this machine untill you have it in your hand. No picture shows the incredible lightness and the beautifully styled metal backing, you really have just got to try one out. Also due to the removal of the conventional hard drive from the previous models, its new flash memory based system is completely and utterly silent. The one drawback i have with the design is that is smudges and scratches very easily, personally what i would recommend is purchasing a relatively decent case (£15ish) and due to the popularity of ipod cases you wont be left wanting for choice.
Now enough with the aesthetics. Usability is something apple has always prided itself on and it definitely doesnt disappoint. The scroll wheel feels comfortable to use and it is very easy to select what you want with minimal fuss. This gives the ipod the edge over its creative competitors as their scroll system is deeply flawed as its very fiddly.
Audio quality is where the ipod has been challeged in recent generations, but having conducted stringent tests with its competitors i can safely say that is audio quality is no worse than anything sony or creative can throw at it. Audio quality generally comes down to two things, the quality of the music and the quality of the headphones. Personally im not a huge fan of the ipod headphones so i have bought a £20 pair of sennheisers that do the job nicely.
In terms of video playback the screens quality is very good, but its its size that limits it. It becomes very tiring when watching a feature length movie, but if you only wish to watch 20 minutes here and there its more than sufficient. Also itunes software helpfully converts all of your videos into mp4 (ipod video format), making transfering videos easy.
Battery life is where the ipod truly exels, i can easily get a couple of weeks music time out of this - and i listen to it all the time. With video its also very acceptable, watching about a 2 hour movie only drains about a third of its life.
One of the main advantages of having an ipod is its compatibility, there are truly thousands of gadgets available for the ipod. I have bought an ipod comaptible JVC mini system so i can listen to my music out loud, which also handily charges it when docked - but this is for another review!!
In general the ipod classic has been refined and perfected from its 5th gen cousin and i would highly recommend it, and all this for less than £140, its a downright steal!!