Iconic player has a new look and feel. Is that enough?

What does the word 'classic' suggest to you? A timeless masterpiece, a nostalgic yearning for the past. Or something that's past its prime? The new / old Apple iPod classic is all these things and more. Let us explain... The arrival of the iPhone and iPod touch, and even the iPod nano have suddenly turned the iconic iPod into something of an anachronism.

It's square 2.5cm screen doesn't look so impressive when you compare it to the 9cm widescreen alternative in the iPhone or iPod touch, and the click wheel? It's just so 2006, you know.

We want to be able to stroke its fascia with a finger, thumb through the album art on Cover Flow. We deserve a 21st Century interface. Suddenly the iPod as we've known and loved it just doesn't cut it any more. And yet...

The iPod classic can still cut it just. Although the form factor's largely the same as the old 5.5G model, it's effectively all new - the easily scratched polycarbonate case has been replaced by a much more robust-feeling aluminium one. The new LED backlit display is a lot brighter and whiter than that found in the old 5.5G too. Sure, the white earphones still suck, but you don't really spend £159 on an iPod and then use the ones Apple gives you for free, do you? The base level 80GB model on test here is also slightly thinner than the outgoing equivalent it replaces, measuring just 10.5mm deep.

Golden ears

Equip the iPod classic then with some decent cans like a pair of Shure S210s and the iPod still manages to sound great, especially with Apple Lossless content - audio with none of the character-stripping compression found on MP3 and AAC. One audiophile at Hi-Fi Voice has said he can detect an electronic haze all over the songs played back on the new iPod classic, so it may all depend on how golden your ears are.

Watching short movie clips and music videos is still a blast on the classic. This is because the new LED backlight makes colour seems both more realistic (no more unnaturally pink faces), and more vivid. It is still a struggle to watch a 2-hour movie on the iPod classic's screen. Indeed you'd have to be a particularly masochistic and dedicated cinéaste to want to hold your arm up in front of your face so you can see the iPod classic's screen.

Many iPod users are also complaining that the classic no longer works with their old iPod docks. This isn't some conspiracy due to secret authentication chip, as some would have you believe. It's more to do with the fact that Apple has replaced the old S-video output of the 5.5G with component video output for the 6G. That may mean your old iPod Universal Dock no longer works, so you'll need either an Apple Universal Dock (£35) and / or an Apple Component Video AV cable (£35) instead. Apple has even posted a support document on the subject.

Slow, slow, slick slick, slow

Which brings us with the made-over user interface. The iPod classic eschews the rather black and blue on white interface of old in favour of something that's a lot more colourful. The main menu, for example, now has the original iPod list view on the left side, with slowly moving album art (using the Ken Burns Effect) pictured on the right. Cover Flow from iTunes, the iPhone and the iPod touch also puts in an appearance, but you have to scroll through the virtual sleeves using the clickwheel, and scrolling quickly is not as silky smooth as we've come to expect - you can blame the iPod classic's lowly CPU for that.

Choose your music by Album and you're now presented with a list containing icons for each record or song you can listen to, the same goes for music videos, TV shows and movies. However the slow CPU again means that it can take a second or two for the viewable tracks to be fully fleshed out with album art or poster frames. Artist and Genre views give you a straightforward list.

There are some other niceties too - click on an album in Cover Flow and it flips around to reveal the tracklisting. Animations and transitions - a key part of the Mac OS X 10.5. Leopard's eye candy - are in evidence too. Overall the experience feels richer and more welcoming than before. It's just a shame then that you know it's being done so much better by devices like the iPod touch which could soon kill off the classic completely.

The last hurrah?

Does this feel like an end of an era, a last hurrah? Yes it does. Apple has probably done enough with its iPod refresh to keep it at number one in the sales chart this Christmas and it's great to go out on a high. Will we still be singing the classic's praises this time next year? Only time and Apple and tell.

Score

• 4 / 5

For

• Large storage capacity
• Cheap for what you get
• Feels more robust than the 5.5G
• Revamped interface adds colour, a little pizzazz

Against

• May not work with old iPod docks
• CPU is a bit under-powered for what's expected of it
• Past its prime?

Verdict