IPod 160Gb review or why I bought Classic twice

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    I was going to write an iPod Classic review for so long that I already managed to steal my 120-gigabyte from me and ... I bought myself the same one, but 160 GB. And here the question arises: are you an idiot? what for? Yes, because it is more or less ideal, at least for me.
    UPD: Added + and -. Thanks @MrMmka, Piom and Kane

    UPD2: Thanks for the karma, transferred to the thematic blog

    Here I received such a box.
    box

    It is slightly smaller than that of 120GB, but inside everything is the same.
    Comparison of boxes from 120GB and 160GB
    • iPod classic
    • Headphones
    • USB 2.0 cable
    • Dock adapter
    • Getting Started Guide

    We reveal. Here are the insides, without technical details.
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    Well, let's start with the hero of the occasion.
    iPod 160Gb
    iPod classic The black. I used the previous year, so you don’t have to get used to it.
    Well, I’ll tell you right away what attracts me to this series:
    • A huge amount of memory (I carry with me almost all the favorites from my personal library 560 GB)
    • Quite convenient control (Click wheel)
    • Good wear resistance (except for a couple of minuses)
    • Bright screen even without backlight
    • Long working time
    • Charging fast (Fast charging time: about 2 hours (80% charge))
    What still do not like:
    • Hard drive (mechanics from impacts break)
    • Small screen (although there is no fear of breaking it like in Touch)

    Dimensions and Weight


    Height: 103.5 mm
    Width: 61.8 mm
    Depth: 10.5 mm
    Weight: 140 g

    Display


    • Color LCD with LED backlight; diagonal of 2.5 inches
    • Resolution 320 x 240 pixels (163 ppi)

    Sound

    • Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
    • Supported audio formats: AAC (8 to 320 kbps), Protected AAC (for files from the iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX and AAX +), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV
    • User configurable maximum volume

    Now we will pass from technical characteristics and theory to practice and sensations.
    To the touch it is a matte and slightly rough device on the front side and with a mirrored rear surface.

    Mirror side

    What we touch


    It is made with Apple's minimalism. Screen and 2 connectors: 3.5 mm for headphones (I’ll talk about its features later) and a special connector for synchronizing and charging from a PC or Mac via USB. Of the buttons, there is only a 5-way Click wheel joystick and a lock lever. In the hands it lies very conveniently, the wheel without a cover is easy to control, with a silicone case sometimes there are difficulties when scrolling.
    Tip : If you want the back surface to always remain mirrored, you better wear it in a case (or stick a film), it gets scratched even if you just put it on a table (a slight minus).
    Bottom view

    Where we poke and insert


    Buttons: Track backward, track forward, play / pause (play / stop) and the Menu button (return to the previous menu). Also, the central button with which you can select options in the menu or while playing music, and with a long press allows you to select additional options.
    Well, actually, the wheel itself: clockwise - down / left, against - up / right. Allows you to select tracks, change volume, or navigate a song. Also actively used in games.

    Observation: the surface of both the iPod itself and ClickWheel, compared to the 120GB iPod, has become more rough and, in my opinion, slightly less sensitive. This does not bring a tangible decrease in convenience, but this fact will not be out of place to indicate this fact.
    Connector: standard iPod connector. Used to connect via USB, to charge and sync with iTunes.
    From the answer : if you are leaving for a long time, get an original charger from 220V. They are really high-quality, and are suitable for other devices that can be charged from USB. Non-original ones often break and some are incompatible with the iPod (even if it says that they are compatible), so check it out!
    view from above
    3.5 mm jack: Noteworthy, ordinary jack. However, there is one interesting lotion: there is a latch in the connector, so if you pull out the headphones or accidentally fall out of the socket, the player pauses the track. It’s convenient when you really accidentally pull out the wire so that you don’t look at what you’ve stopped at (for example, movies, podcasts, etc.)
    Locking lever: quite convenient, I do not use it very often, because the player lies in a pocket and is not accidentally pressed, but the lever itself sometimes blocks the player itself, it is a little annoying, but not enough to stick it with tape to carry the player on the belt.

    Where we look


    The iPod Classic has a two and a half inch diagonal display and 320x240 pixels of resolution. Not to say that it is very convenient, but still it is clearly more durable than in the iPod Touch, which you are afraid to break in your pocket. In any case, the display gives a very nice soft image with good colors. It is very bright and even in the sun can work without backlight. There are practically no reflections. The
    menu also looks wonderful and convenient to use. The list of sections occupies approximately half of the display. And in the second half, either pictograms corresponding to the section or part of a randomly selected photo, cover or frame from the video are displayed.
    The convenience of the menu is at a high level, all the elements are in place, and mastering the menu is very simple. There is the ability to configure items and sections of the main menu.
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    So, the composition of the main menu “by default”: Music, Video, Photos, Podcasts, Add-ons, Settings and Now Playing.

    Music: From here, playlists are called up, music is sorted by artist name, album name, song name, genre and music author. Here you can also find the item for the song search function, as well as viewing Cover Flow album art.
    Video . Watching videos. All files are divided into just clips, TV shows and video clips. Here, video playlists are called up and settings are made, such as the image format of the video output, full-screen playback and activation of subtitles.
    A photo. It contains all the folders with the downloaded images, as well as all the settings related to this, from the time between switching the slides to choosing the accompanying music, repeating, activating random order and choosing the type of transition.
    Podcasts: There is no single definition, but let's call it radio offlne. You can upload entertaining, informative, educational and other podcasts.
    In addition . Additional functions of the player: appearance and settings of the system clock, games (3 games: guess the melody, arkanoid and kerchief), notebook, organizer, notes, stopwatch, alarm clock.

    Settings : In the settings, you can build a convenient menu for yourself, set the maximum volume, adjust the equalizer, select work modes, set or remove a password.
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    When playing music, you can use some functions, such as: rewind, volume control, rating a song, add a track to a playlist, change playback modes (in turn, shuffle) and view information about a song or podcast.

    Accessories


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    Headphones: standard Apple headphones. The wire is white, in a silicone braid, which reduces its wear, but after a while it darkens and becomes a little harder.
    The mini speakers themselves are not bad, they are conveniently located in the ears, but do not forget that these are standard headphones and you cannot get great sound from them, we are generally silent about the bass. Yes, and the rubber outline of the circuit peeled after a few months. As it was said somewhere: Apple branded headphones are needed rather not for listening to music, but in order to show that a person has an iPod. I still use them, but as soon as I save up money, I will replace them with Razer Mooray.
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    The mini-jack is not very different from the jack of the headphones of a 120-gig player, but there is one significant difference - the rubber braid in the transition of the jack to wire, it is very convenient, because prevents the wire from bending too much and thus prevents its breakage. However, this braid with a fairly active use and frequent bending breaks after a while.

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    The cable for connecting to a PC or Mac is strong enough, does not cause any complaints. Perfectly compatible with the original Apple charger from a 220V outlet.
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    The connection with iTunes is excellent. The only thing is the problems with the video, because the player only understands MPEG-4. The best in my opinion of the free converters is Videora .
    Tip:if you have several computers, and you do not want to store all the songs from the player on each of them so that they are not deleted during synchronization - turn off synchronization for music in the player’s settings in iTunes. Then you can download music to your player from any computer that only has the necessary software on it.

    What do we hear


    The most important thing is forgotten! Is there a sound in the player ?? And the fact that we need him to play games or something?

    The sound is good. I will be brief. Soft, pleasant, bass gives out well, pleasant timbre. No rattles, jams and other troubles. When working with Razer, Mooray produced an excellent sound, at maximum it was difficult to listen, because loudly. When working with 2.1 from Creative and Velton Maestro, there were also no noise or errors. Everything is fine, chic. In general, the player produces a wonderful sound, the rest depends on the headphones.

    What we pay


    Indeed, about the price. This is perhaps the most ticklish question in this gadget. Prices range from 8000 to 11000. The difference is there in generations, or rather in the time of work. From 24 hours in music playback mode to 36 hours. On average, fast charging of the player (80%) is enough for me for 4-5 days (I have a 24-hour one): this is listening to music for about 4-6 hours a day and watching a video 1-2 hours a day. So you can take cheaper option. I personally think that the price is a little overpriced, but in general - I am ready to pay such money for such quality and such a volume. The price is fully justified, the player failed me only once (and that, due to my negligence), unlike the previous Iriver T10, which broke down 3 times a year for no apparent reason.

    Communication with the service


    The player really broke only once, and that’s because I dropped it into a puddle: the wheel sometimes stopped spinning and the jack stopped responding to the headphones being pulled out (did not pause)
    In general, I decided to take it to the service center. They treated the problem with understanding and said that a new one will be returned in a week (!). No papers were demanded from me. That is, he just brought the player and wrote down the name, then he came and took the brand new player. The only thing is the loss of the library, which for me was not a significant drawback. This is a tangible plus, especially despite the fact that the case was generally not particularly warranty.

    So to summarize:


    iPod classic is a very convenient player, with a slightly overpriced price, but with a huge amount of memory, with a small but bright and roomy screen.

    Ratings:



    Pros (5 - excellent, 1 - not very, but good):
    Large volume - 5
    Bright screen - 5
    Click wheel - 4
    Lock lever - 3
    Headphones - 3
    Video playback - 3
    iTunes - 2
    Ergonomics - 5
    High-quality sound - 4
    Ubiquitous support for iPod devices - 2

    Cons (5 - mega-terrible, 1 - not good):
    Scratching back panel - 4
    Small screen - 4

    Large size - 2
    HDD - 2
    Few games in the AppStore - 1
    Price - 4
    Scanty support for audio formats - 3

    In general - The average rating for this player is 4+ out of 5.
    Reduced mainly due to price and screen. The rest personally satisfies me to a greater or lesser extent.
    For the notorious music lover - iPod Classic is what the doctor ordered!

    The original is on my blog .

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