Strengths: Large harddrive, user friendly new interface, longer battery life, thinner and lighter than previous version

Weaknesses: No power adapter, battery life not so good when playing videos

Summary: The new 6th generation Ipods are another great product by Apple and the best MP3 player you will find. The larger hard drive, new interface, smaller size and weight all make this a great uprade over the previous model. I would defiently reccommend this

Strengths: Better-looking interface graphics, face is less scratch-prone, cleaner sound

Weaknesses: Sometimes sluggish menu transitions, less responsive clickwheel

Summary: With the iPod Classic, the original, hard-drive based iPod gets a long overdue refresh (after the stopgap "5.5 G" update last year) with some promising features. By far the biggest change is the interface. Finally making good use of the iPod's color screen, which heretofore wasn't much more than the original iPod interface in color, the Classic splits top-level menus into two panels, with menu titles on the left and floating graphics on the right. In the main menu with "Music" highlighted, the Classic automatically displays album artwork from your music files drifting along in the "Ken Burns" style that Apple has used for years in several of their software programs. Go down to "Extras" and you'll see an analog clock displaying the current time, complete with second hand. Further down the menu hierarchy, album covers are shown to the left of menu items in the Albums section. The interface refresh doesn't stop at the pretty graphics, though. The Albums and Songs sections shows the artist name under each album/song, while Playlists are shown with song count and Genres show artist and album counts, all rendered in crisp, easy-to-read type. Other areas, including the Photo section and the display of cover artwork while tracks are playing, also get a similar refresh, giving the iPod's interface a sleekness that has been a part of the player's physical appearance since the beginning. The biggest eye candy, though, is saved for the new Cover Flow feature. Added to iTunes last year, and previously available on Apple's iPhone, Cover Flow (accessible as its own submenu in the Music section) lets you browse music by using the clickwheel to push through album covers like a virtual CD rack. It's a beautiful effect, complete with reflections of artwork shown on the "surface" below the album covers (another Apple software graphic mainstay over the past few years), but, like the other interface enhancements, it appears that it comes with a price. Many of these visual flourishes are choppy and cause the iPod as a whole to become sluggish. I've often found delays when clicking on a menu item, where past iPods would jump to the next menu level immediately.The iPod Classic's physical appearance continues in the trend of previous updates, packing more storage into less space. The lower-end 80 GB version packs as much storage as the previous higher-end iPod into the space of a 30 GB 5.5 G iPod. This feat is stupendous unto itself, but the thinness of the unit can make scrolling a little uncomfortable. Imagine circling your thumb while simultaneously pinching a half-inch notepad, and you'll have an idea of how arthritis-inducing the chore can be. On the other hand, the face's new anodized aluminum face is a welcome relief from previous iPods' scratch-prone lucite faces. This comes with the loss of the iconic white facade, but alas, progress much march on. That said, the chrome back, which is a magnet for both scratches and fingerprints, remains.Also changed is the iPod Classic's clickwheel. The new ones seem to be less touch sensitive than before, which can make scrolling, especially in light of its thinness, oftentimes difficult and choppy. Then again, this comes after only a few days of using the new iPod, so I won't rule out the possibility of merely needing time to adjust to using more pressure than I'm used to.Okay, but how does it sound? Looks and interface are great, but ultimately, it's a music player. To my completely untrained ears, music sounds "brighter" than my previous 5G iPod. Songs seem less muddy and compressed, but take this with a grain of salt, as I am using $30 headphones and am in no way an audio professional.Bottom line: in spite of its interface shortcomings (some of which may be addressed by future software updates), the iPod Classic is still one of the best digital audio players out there. If you're a fan of the iPod and would like more than the relatively scant 16 GB that the iPod Touch offers, the Classic is a great choice.

Strengths: I have had the old ipod 30gb and this new 80gb battery life is out of this world, brighter screen and easier to use.

Weaknesses: Volume on the unit is not so good, headphones need to be replaced, not a good sound.

Summary: I have had the old ipod 30gb and this new 80gb battery life is out of this world, brighter screen and easier to use. I am very happy with this new unit, works well and the look and brighter screen rocks!!!

Strengths: Huge Capacity, Excellent Sound Quality, very slim and easy to carry and handle, easy user interface with split screen, artwork with navigation, quick search feature

Weaknesses: No Power adapter, No video ouput requires separate cable, Click lacks quick response and senstivity.

Summary: This is a great product. Has excellent battery life and huge capacity and light weight. Has bright LCD with split screen. Navigation with added artwork. Worth the price. Has 3 Games but no software provided for dvd to video uploads with conversions.

Strengths: Well-priced, Sleek look, lightweight(not as light as nano though), all metal casing, a super bright screen, loads of storage space

Weaknesses: doesnt come with the iTunes CD, the soft covers for earphones, sleeve case for ipod missing, no FM, no inbuilt speakers, clickwheel response sluggish as also the song artwork takes time to show up!

Summary: I would like to start my review for this iPod by saying that I have owned a 30 GB video 5th gen iPod for 2 years which was stolen from me. When I saw that the prices on these classic iPods have been slashed because of iPod touch launch I decided to buy this one. I like it when taken for the overall look and feel needed in a MP3 player but as i have used iPod before there are some things that I noticed have changed PROS: 1. Unbelievably slim for an 80 GB player. 2. All metal design is really impressive (less scratches). 3. Cover flow definitely adds a lot of pleasure to the user experience. 4. Preview for the selected menu option is impressive. 5. Excellent sound quality. 6. Great Battery life. 7. Great Extras (especially the games) CONS: 1. Menu to Cover flow transition is slow. 2. If there is an album in which there are songs by various artists, the album shows up as many times as the number of artists in the cover flow mode. 3. Although certain photos get copied but they don't open but are are visible as thumbnails 4. Can't change EQ settings from a song. Need to go to the menu- setings- EQ to change it. 5. Artwork for certain albums don't show up even though iTunes shows them correctly. 6.Coverflow feature is something new in this ipod but it is slow and laggy. When I flow through albums all I see are "question mark albums" and it takes a few seconds for the actual album covers to replace the "question mark albums". 7.Games purchased from the iTunes store for older iPods ARE NOT compatible with the Classic 8. When charging the iPod via USB (using Vista) the backlight on the iPod is ALWAYS on and there is no way to turn it off. 9.The new iPod classic has a big problem for all users of the photo and video functions. You cannot display photos, videos or video podcasts on your TV screen, as you cannot change the TV out function on the iPod from OUT to ON. All in all it is the best capacity Mp3 player in the market as compared to other brands but when it comes to Apple you just expect a lot and they need to live upto their name.