---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #333 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Apple
• Model: MB147ZO/A
• Released on: 2007-09-13
• Dimensions: 4.06" h x 2.44" w x .39" l, .31 pounds

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision Review
Apple’s iconic media player now has an all-metal design, new interface and even more storage. What’s not to like?

Manufacturer's Description

 

Hold Everything

Decisions, decisions. Who needs ’em? Why should you have to choose what to put on your iPod? With up to 160GB of storage, iPod classic lets you carry everything in your collection — up to 40,000 songs or up to 200 hours of video — everywhere you go. In a completely new, even thinner, all-metal design, this iPod is a modern classic.

 

 

 

Overview

With 80GB or 160GB of storage(1), iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. It also has plenty of energy (up to 40 hours of audio playback 2), good looks (a sleek, all-metal design), and a great personality (a brand-new interface with Cover Flow). In other words, iPod classic makes an ideal companion. Why not get to know it better?

 

Cover Flow

If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod classic, you can flip through your music to find the album you want to hear. Use the Click Wheel to browse music by album cover, then select an album to flip it over and see the track list.

 

 

Music

Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, browse in Cover Flow, or explore the Music menu by playlist, artist, album, song, genre, composer, and more. Want to mix things up? Click Shuffle Songs. iPod classic makes your music look as good as it sounds, thanks to its big, bright, colour display.

 

Movies

Buy movies from the iTunes Store and you can sync them to your iPod classic to watch anywhere, anytime. The gorgeous 2.5-inch display makes your movies pop. And iPod classic keeps you entertained for up to 7 hours. Long flight or darkened room? Adjust the brightness for even more video playback time.

 

 

TV Shows

There’s always something good on iPod classic. Browse thousands of episodes of your favorite TV shows on the iTunes Store then sync them to iPod classic. Watch last night’s episodes this morning, or buy a whole TV series and play a pocket-size marathon.

 

Podcasts

The iTunes Store features thousands of free video and audio podcasts, including indie favorites and offerings from such big names as ABC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, PBS, NPR, and many more. Browse and subscribe to podcasts, then sync them to your iPod classic. You can even play video podcasts on TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

 

Audiobooks

The digital shelves of the iTunes Store are stocked with thousands of audiobooks — including exclusives like the entire Harry Potter series — so you can catch up on your reading wherever iPod classic takes you. iPod classic recognizes where you left off and bookmarks your place. You can even adjust the reading speed to suit you.

 

Games

Put hours of fun at your fingertips. iPod classic comes with three games — Vortex, iQuiz, and Klondike — and you can download more from the iTunes. All iPod games are designed specifically for the iPod interface. And all of them look great on the 2.5-inch colour display.

 

 

Photos

iPod classic holds up to 25,000 photos you can sync from your Mac or PC via iTunes. Use the Click Wheel to scroll through photo thumbnails the same way you scroll through song titles. To see a photo full screen, click the center button. You can even view photo slideshows — complete with music and transitions — on iPod classic or on a TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

 

 

Search

With up to 40,000 songs1 on your iPod classic, you need an easy way to search your collection. A built-in search function lets you use the Click Wheel to type out the name of the song, artist, album, audiobook, or podcast you’re looking for. iPod classic returns results instantly as you select letters.

 

 

Extras

Calendars, contacts, and a clock appear in the Extras menu, along with a few more handy items. Take the screen lock, for example. Spin the Click Wheel to choose a four-digit combination and protect your iPod classic from prying eyes. If you forget your combination, just reset when you sync. Or use the built-in stopwatch to log your best times.

 

1. 1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.

2. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2007 using preproduction hardware and software. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings.

Box Contents

• iPod classic
• Earphones
• USB 2.0 cable
• Dock adapter
• Quick Start guide

---

Customer Reviews

Unreliable
I have half filled my two week old ipod classic with 7500 songs, and it has just lost all the cover art. It started to show signs of freezing up - slow to respond in cover flow mode, then nothing. I can get it to play manually selected tracks still, but if it's getting temperamental when half full is there any point in trying to put the rest of my music library on it?

I am NOT impressed.

3 stars only because 80gb for £150 is cheap compared to its comtetitors and, as you'd expect, it looks nice.. It does not, however, do everything that the glossy ads say it will do, and i'm not confident that it won't end up causing me loads of grief.

Excellent, but here are some things it may help you to know.
I bought an 80g classic six months ago. It is really good, and I would recommend it. However, handling such a large amount of data has been a steep learning curve for me, especially when my computer crashed and lost it all. Here are some useful things I learned in my baptism of fire, for any other novices out there. 1)KEEP THE DATA TIDY. I would recommend dragging any songs from your computer that you want in itunes straight into the "itunes music folder", and adding folder to itunes library via file menu to get it into itunes. That way you only have one copy, and can delete any unwanted duplicates in itunes. 80g of duplicated data is no joke! Also, regularly check in the "itunes music folder" that itunes has not generated a new "itunes music folder" as well as the original. (mine seems to do this). If it has, drag all music from the new "itunes music folder" into the original, and delete new "itunes music folder". Otherwise it all gets very untidy. When adding cds, I recommend going to edit- preferences-advanced- check"copy files to itunes music folder when adding to library". This seems to prevent cd data from getting lost. (Incidentally, Iwould recommend having a backup disk. I use WD My Book, and find it very good, but that can have its own problems, please see my review) 2)HOW TO GET YOUR PLAYLISTS BACK IF YOUR COMPUTER HAS CRASHED BUT YOU STILL HAVE YOUR ITUNES FOLDER R click Start-L click explore-tools-folder options-select "view"tab under "advanced settings"-tick "show hidden files and folders"-click apply-OK. Then go to Start-My computer-Disk C-Documents and settings-Your name(if you have various users)-Application Data-Apple Computer-itunes plugin folder-Itunes pref file. Click on this file, and move it using the left hand menu to somewhere that you can drag it into your itunes music folder. Add itunes music folder to itunes library and all your playlists miraculously re-appear. This worked brilliantly for me, but apple have updated itunes since then. You may have to try File-Library-Import playlist to get it in there now. 3)HOW TO GET ALL YOUR DATA FROM IPOD TO ITUNES I have found idump brilliant. (Find it on Google). It is totally free, and beats the really expensive commercial download I bought hands down. It handled 30g of data back into itunes no problem with a couple of clicks. When idump has imported all your itunes music on your computer drag it all into the itunes music folder, then "import folder into library" on itunes file menu. Idump automatically installs itself onto your ipod, so you can plug in to any computer and use it. 3)HOW TO GET YOUR PLAYLISTS FROM IPOD TO ITUNES . This is a bit more time consuming, but idump is the best programme I have found. The expensive commercial applications I tried either got the songs in the playlists in totally the wrong order, missed loads of songs out altogether, or, notably since itunes 8 has come out, could not import playlists at all. Idump is a bit more involved, but it is spot on with getting all the songs in exactly the right order. I would only recommend using this method for playlists which it would take you more than 15 minutes to reconstruct manually, otherwise it is not worth it. After you have got all your music back in itunes, plug your ipod back into idump. Select a playlist from the ipod page of idump, and R click to check all the songs. Then go to the other page of idump(its called export settings or something.) Check the m3u box. Then export the playlist to somewhere other than the itunes music folder. (My documents perhaps). Eject your ipod from the My Computer page using R click. Open itunes. Go to File-Library-Import Playlist. Find the "idump Playlist" file wherever you exported it to, and click on it. Hey presto your playlist is back. Itunes names it "idump playlist" so you just have to change the name. Then go to wherever you imported the playlist to and delete it all including the idump playlist file, as you dont want it cluttering up your computer. Unfortunately you do have to import the whole playlist to my documents or wherever before you can use the "idump playlist" file. I tried the quick way and it doesnt work. Hope this saves you a bit of time. Enjoy your ipod.

Excellent
I resisted buying an ipod for many years and instead had 2 iriver models (the H10 and H320). I found downloading tricky with these but loved the built in radio and line in recording plus the built in mic. Hance the resistance. However, after going to the USA this summer I found I couldn't charge these even with an adapter so I took the plunge and made the change.
WOW. easy to download, itunes store is easy and fast (despite other reviews to the contrary), the sound quality is terrific, no volume problems but I do use other headphones than those that came with it (I don't like the in ear variety). I love the facility to show the album covers even though some non itunes sold covers will not show in itunes or on the ipod.
It does have a tndancy to show fingermarks so I recommend getting a cover/case for it (got mine for £1 off ebay!). Oh and yes a docking station with speakers is a must for listening at home.
Only downside was delivery. Sent by HDNL and was left on drive in plain view of the road (no wall or gate between road and drive) and in the rain. Not good service there hence the 4* otherwise 5* product.