Pros: Capacity, battery life, durability, screen quality.
Cons: Back scratches easily, somewhat hefty.
The bottom line: If you're considering buying an ipod, buy this one. This player is THE best choice in today's current market.
This ipod is incredible. I am a music freak, and I listen to it constantly. I needed something that has not only good sound quality, but could also hold my collection. I also needed something that had exceptional battery life. The ipod Classic was exactly what I needed.
To be honest, I am not a video-watcher when it comes to digital media players. Watching something that small for that long tends to make me kind of dizzy. I look at an ipod as what it was originally designed for: to play music in a compact and convenient format. It's totally cool to be able to take my entire music collection (over 5,000 songs) with me everywhere, as well as all my pictures. The Classic more than handles my requirements.
The battery on this baby is wonderful--it lasts for actually LONGER than the advertised 30 hours. The sound quality of the ipod has been knocked by lots of people, but it all depends on the kind of investment you put into headphones that determines most of the sound experience.
The funny thing about this ipod is that the next cheapest ipod to buy is the 8 Gig Nano, which is $200. With the Classic, I pay $50 more and get 72 more Gigs. What's not to like about that? That's all the space I'll probably ever need.
The interface is beautiful. The click wheel is such a smooth way to scroll through the library. At times it isn't super responsive, especially in the cover art mode, but that isn't a huge deal. The way you scroll down the menu is by simply sliding your finger or thumb around the wheel just like you would on a touchpad for a laptop computer. This makes it easy to access the controls with one hand if need be. To select, the middle button is your "left click" button.
Durability is often overlooked in an mp3 player, but the ipod Classic takes care of any concerns you may have in that category. The whole thing is metal, which really gives a confident feel to it. You aren't worrying whether you're going to accidentally break it or not just by using it normally. Consequently, it is a tad bit heavier than some other players out there. The back does tend to scratch because of the polished stainless finish, but that can be easily remedied if you get a decent case for it. And with ipod, you have the luxury of zillions of case choices. The accessories available for the ipod are vast and varied, and half the fun of buying the Classic is finding gadgets to go with it. Get yourself a nice case for sure, though, to protect the back from scratches.
All things considered, this player is awesome.