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First Look

6 September 2007 - Launched at the Beat goes on event in San Francisco and then televised around the world, Apple has announced a new iPod; the iPod classic. But should you drop everything and run out and buy one? We managed to get our hands on one at the London event in the BBC Television Centre.

Sounding more like a nostalgic can of Coca-Cola rather than a cutting-edge piece of technology Apple has decided to refresh the original iPod along with the rest of the range for Christmas.

If last year was all about white and black, this year its all about metal, and the now called iPod classic sports a black or silver metal body.

Underneath that full metal jacket, lies the option of either an 80GB or a whopping 160GB hard drive. 30GB it seems is just too weak an option (even if it is almost twice the size of the iPod touch) to worry about in your pocket. You need a device that can hold 40,000 songs on the go.

Sporting virtually the same tech specs as before the only real difference here is the metal encasing and a change to the software. Like the nano, the menu interface now splits in two so you get a teaser of what you are looking for on the right of the screen and the menu that you know on the left.

Like the iPod, touch, iPhone and iPod classic, you also now get Apple's CoverFlow so you can flick through your album covers easily, alongside the ability to play video and view images in addition to the music functions.

First Impressions

More of an iPod refresh rather than a brand new model (that pleasure goes to the new touch) Apple are clearly not ready to kill of the device that made them what it is today.

So like a founder than needs to be sidelined, its become the Classic. To keep it in the standing its had its storage space doubled, and for that it makes it an interesting offering, especially over the more superficial iPod touch.

If you are serious about your music, video and image collection and want to carry it around with you, then this is the model for you. It might not have the glamour of touch screen, but it is clearly the workhorse of the family.

The iPod classic will be out in the next couple of weeks.

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