Apple iPod Classic (80GB, silver)
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September 17, 2007 03:29
Spectacular
2.5/5
I'm sending my silver 80gb ipod classic back to Apple and here's why. I'm comparing this to my 3g 60gb ipod. The improvements in the ipod classic come at an unacceptable cost in terms of speed. At first, I thought the touchdial was broken because of its uneven response to my input. Then I realized that the software was just catching up to the sensory input. The nice graphics in the classic are enough of a drain on the dynamic memory that scrolling becomes way laggy. I find myself concentrating really hard to make sure the song I want to select is the one that actually gets selected. Graphics are nice and surprisingly crisp. The lag is surprisingly annoying. They may fix this in an update, but I'm not risking $250 on that. The calibration of the touchdial is really not great either. I find that I have to press and drag for a relatively long time to scroll up just one song.
Oh, and the sound quality out of the earbuds still really really stinks compared to other players out there. The player has millisecond breaks within songs for no reason. My 3G had those qualities too, so I don't mark the classic down too much for those issues. -
January 6, 2008 12:35
4.5/5
Current Update Version: 1.0.3 Mac
After reading several negative reviews on this site, I was nervous about having just purchased the 80GB iPod Classic. The rantings of the frustrated users who encountered serious software and hardware issues scared the bejeezus out of me. Although I can't speak for their experiences, I can honestly say that I haven't encountered any problems with my iPod, and it's been running non-stop for the last couple weeks.
I did, however, decide to take the advice of the users here and basically disable any features that have to do with cover art or cover flow. I think it's helped to ensure that the interface runs as smoothly as possible.
I currently have an eMac running OS 10.4.11. I've encountered no problems or issues with iTunes 7 and Syncing audio or video.
DVDs transferred to the iPod look great with no noticeable skips or flaws. Using iTunes and Safari in conjunction with iSquint to download and convert Flash Videos works well.
I hope my experiences with my iPod remain positive ones. If anything goes awry, I will be sure to post it here. -
September 15, 2007 11:42
Excellent
2.0/5
it seems to have the potential to be a good product, but Apple really needs to work on making sure that they ship quality products. There is over 10% defection rate among new iPods. Mine broke within hours, and tech support is very hesitant to send me a box to get it shipped in to get fixed. Apple stores are not all that common, so it is an inconvenient to get it replaced. The new iTunes, which is what apple tells you to use to manage the content on this iPod, uses quite alot of system resources and crashes often. plugging in the iPod will bog your computer down much further, you may have to wait a few minutes for the iPod to be recognized and then further to sync. The iPod itself seems to lag pretty easy, and the click wheel isnt very sensitive. if you have a large music library with many different artists, you may become frustrated going from the top to the bottom as the click wheel doesnt seem to register everywhere so you can't quickly scroll. the good part is that it looks very good (but you really need to get a protective case or it will get scratched very very quickly), it has nice sound and video quality, and its fairly simple to reset (click hold on then off, then hold the central button and menu for 6-10 seconds) -
September 13, 2007 07:50
3.5/5
New to the Ipod scene, thought maybe it might be time to give in and get one. Went to the apple store and looked at about 15 to 20 80gig models.
After listening to the first one I noticed that when listening to music and menu'ing back to cover flow it seemed a bit sluggish. Once in coverflow, when browsing through albums the music begins to skip and makes a loud screeching noise. Obviously thought that was odd tried again and sure enough, same thing. So I moved on to the next 80gig and the same thing happened. Moved to the next and the next and the next and the next.....they all did it. Incredibly annoying, especially when it has to do with a feature that is so heavily marketed(a bread and butter feature of the new marketing campaign). I suppose alot of people will be able to overlook this.
But I mean c'mon apple.............really? Your better than that. -
September 10, 2007 01:19
4.0/5
I bought an 30gb video iPod prior to the September 5th annoucement. A friend of mine informed me of the upcoming announcement and I returned it to the Apple Store. I already bought speakers, a case, an armband case and the video/ audio jacks. I kept these items hoping it will fit the next generation of iPods.
After the announcement of new iPods, I decided to get the iPod Classic 80gb since it was the same price as the 30 gb I returned. I fell in love with the graphical interface, especially the cover flow feature. I spent hours updating my music so that the album covers could be displayed. I also like the fact that it is thinner and lighter. And with more space, I can put more videos on it. I was fortunate enough that all my accessories still works except for the video/audio cable I bought so I could hook it up to my DVD player in my car. I'm really upset with this because now I have to buy another cable which hooks up to the docking port. This cable costs about $50 (yikes). Fortunately, my speakers have a video out so I can use this to link up to my television. Why did Apple take out the video function from the headphone jack? This was one of the reasons why I sold my Sansa, so I could have library of videos without needing any discs.
Sorry Apple, I would have given you guys a perfect 10 if you just left the good features alone! -
September 19, 2007 08:04
Good
1.5/5
Last week I bought the iPod Classic, though the storage is great (80gig), but who wants to watch a movie on that small of a screen?
Sound quality, not what I expected. I have some excellent headphones (not the junk standard in-ears) and I am an audiophile. That makes me very picky. It won't matter on the generic MP3, but if you want to listen to lossless files. You will quickly be disappointed. The whole reason I got the 80gig was to listen to lossless audio files.
The looks are great, until you touch it... then finger prints everywhere&..
I loved the support of audio books and podcasts. The touch sensitive scroll pad is very cool. The down fall of the scroll pad is I kept hitting buttons and screwing up the song I was listening to. I am sure with more use I would get used to putting it in the locked position.
One other great part to the iPod, setup was very easy. 2 thumbs up for Apple on the config!!!!
So I dont like the iPod. I do see why many do, so it is back to looking around for a MP3 player and the iPod goes back to Apple. -
September 12, 2007 09:24
Excellent
2.0/5
The new eye candy introduced (imagery to the right of menus) w/ the iPod classic has made navigating the menus unacceptably slow. There are frequent pauses and delays as images are loaded on the fly.
With no way to de-activate these graphic elements, these navigation delays make the iPod classic very frustrating to use.
And Coverflow, though it looks cool, is too twitchy to be useful.
My advice: wait for either a revised model or, at least, a major firmware update before purchasing. -
June 18, 2008 01:36
3.5/5
Being my first Apple product, I must say I'm not overly impressed. ITunes seems to be made for the complete novice that just wants the program to do everything automatically. You can turn all the auto stuff off and then upload to the IPod manually. A huge flaw that I found was that you can upload the same song multiple times which is very annoying if you don't already know it's on the IPod. As for the IPod itself I'm satisfied. Good interface that is easy to navigate. I wish I could erase songs without being hooked up to my computer. Earbuds can be thrown away upon opening the box. They're pretty cheap. I have a pair of Shure SE530's on order that I have high hopes will solve this problem. My Sennheiser muff headphones do sound great on the IPod, however. Overall, I went for the IPod Classic bacause of the enormous memory for the money. I was really considering a Creative Labs Zen, but could not get it into my budget. I must say I'm satisfied, but not blown away by the IPod and may even try a Zen in the future. Good buy for someone just entering the MP3 player scene that doesn't want to break the bank. -
April 1, 2008 07:53
3.0/5
I own a 1st generation iPod nano which, overall, I like a lot, but the storage capacity is limited and the battery life is short, so I thought it could be nice to have an 80GB player. Having read the mixed reviews on the iPod Classic, I decided to test it myself in the Apple store. My conclusion is that the Classic is not a bad product, but it is far from what I expect from Apple: I expect a very refined and high quality product. With these expectations in mind, the iPod classic fails to deliver. First, I don't like the way it sounds (I tested it with my Shure E4C earphones.) It's not terrible but I would describe it as mediocre. I found the sound to be harsh at times, and to completely lack soundstage. Bass was strong enough, but was messy dynamically. In comparison, the ipod touch and nano both sounded to me significantly better than the Classic (Both were more than acceptable.) Second, the user interface in the Classic is surprisingly sluggish. The clickwheel is difficult to control. The overall response of the interface is slow and a little bit erratic. Where is the attention to detail that we have come to expect from Apple? -
January 25, 2008 10:54
3.5/5
Purchased this in November 2007, and have been using it in my car and at home through a Kenwood THX receiver and Polk speakers extensively. While I can say that my Creative Zen V sounds better through headphones, the iPod sounds just as good in my car and over the stereo. The capacity can't be beat, I love video Podcasts and I have Mac desktop computers. So for me this is a slam dunk!
