Apple 80 GB iPod Classic 6G - Silver (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

by Apple

Product Features

• iPod classic puts your entire music and video collection in your pocket with 80 GB of storage
• An enhanced interface offers a whole new way to browse and view your music and video
• Cover Flow technology lets you use the patented Click Wheel to flip through your music by album cover
• Beautifully designed, iPod classic features a sleek, all-metal enclosure
• 2.5-inch display; measures 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.41 inches (H x W x D), weighs 4.9 ounces

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Product Description

Amazon.com

With 80 GB of storage, iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. It also has plenty of energy (up to 40 hours of audio playback), good looks (a sleek, all-metal design), and a great personality (a brand-new interface with Cover Flow). In other words, iPod classic makes an ideal companion.

Cover Flow
If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod classic, you can flip through your music to find the album you want to hear. Use the Click Wheel to browse music by album cover, then select an album to flip it over and see the track list.

With 80GB or 160GB of storage, iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. View iPod classic dimensions.

Up to 40 hours of audio playback in the palm of your hand. View larger.

Thinner and more compact than ever.

Music
Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, browse in Cover Flow, or explore the Music menu by playlist, artist, album, song, genre, composer, and more. Want to mix things up? Click Shuffle Songs. iPod classic makes your music look as good as it sounds, thanks to its big, bright, color display.

Movies
Buy movies from the iTunes Store and you can sync them to your iPod classic to watch anywhere, anytime. The gorgeous 2.5-inch display makes your movies pop. And iPod classic keeps you entertained for up to 7 hours. Long flight or darkened room? Adjust the brightness for even more video playback time.

TV Shows
There's always something good on iPod classic. Browse thousands of episodes of your favorite TV shows on the iTunes Store, buy them for just $1.99 each, then sync them to iPod classic. Watch last night's episodes this morning, or buy a whole TV series and play a pocket-size marathon.

Podcasts
The iTunes Store features thousands of free video and audio podcasts, including indie favorites and offerings from such big names as ABC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, PBS, NPR, and many more. Browse and subscribe to podcasts, then sync them to your iPod classic. You can even play video podcasts on TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

Audiobooks
The digital shelves of the iTunes Store are stocked with thousands of audiobooks--including exclusives like the entire Harry Potter series--so you can catch up on your reading wherever iPod classic takes you. iPod classic recognizes where you left off and bookmarks your place. You can even adjust the reading speed to suit you.

Games
Put hours of fun at your fingertips. iPod classic comes with three games--Vortex, iQuiz, and Klondike--and you can download more from the iTunes Store for $4.99 each. All iPod games are designed specifically for the iPod interface. And all of them look great on the 2.5-inch color display.

Photos
iPod classic holds up to 25,000 photos you can sync from your Mac or PC via iTunes. Use the Click Wheel to scroll through photo thumbnails the same way you scroll through song titles. To see a photo full screen, click the center button. You can even view photo slideshows--complete with music and transitions--on iPod classic or on a TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

Search
With up to 40,000 songs on your iPod classic, you need an easy way to search your collection. A built-in search function lets you use the Click Wheel to type out the name of the song, artist, album, audiobook, or podcast you're looking for. iPod classic returns results instantly as you select letters.

Extras
Calendars, contacts, and a clock appear in the Extras menu, along with a few more handy items. Take the screen lock, for example. Spin the Click Wheel to choose a four-digit combination and protect your iPod classic from prying eyes. If you forget your combination, just reset when you sync. Or use the built-in stopwatch to log your best times.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

956 of 1,116 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars DOWNGRADE to the iPod Classic September 11, 2007

By Kevin VINE™ VOICE

Length: 1:10 Mins

This is my third iPod. My first iPod was a 4G 40GB, my second was a 5G 60GB.

When I upgraded from the 4G to 5G it was a big improvement. I absolutely loved the new features such as color, photos, video, album art, etc...

Unfortunately my upgrade to the 80GB iPod `Classic' has been nothing but a big disappointment. When I heard Apple was about to release a new line of iPods I sold my 5G and was eagerly awaiting Jobs' keynote. First I must admit I was very disappointed they didn't release a high capacity `Touch'... I mean really disappointed... Although I strongly desire all the amazing features of the `Touch' such as WiFi and the fullscreen touch screen, my first requirement would be enough capacity to hold my entire 63 GB music library. I settled for the 80GB `Classic' since I was iPodless.

My first reaction with the iPod `Classic' was that it looked like a much sexier 5G iPod. This 80GB unit was noticeably thinner. The brushed aluminum front looked really great too. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there:

* The `Classic' does not come with the little sleeve case that 5G's came with.

* The screen is slightly lower than the brushed metal front and I am concerned it will begin to collect dust around the edges.

* The click wheel is HORRIBLE (what the hell happened) it completely lacks response and sensitivity. My 5G 60GB was so easy to navigate and after over a week of using my new `Classic' I find it the biggest pain to navigate. For this reason alone I wish I had my old 60GB 5G back.

* Coverflow... I was really looking forward to this feature. I make a lot of effort to maintain my music library and I'd say 95%+ of my music has cover art.... Unfortunately the coverflow is so slow and laggy that it renders the feature completely gimmicky and not functional. 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".

* Another big disappointment is that you are no longer able to view album covers full screen as you are playing a song. (You used to be able to do this by clicking the middle button a few times when playing a song)...

* Also overall I find the GUI pretty slow when browsing my library... Sometimes it takes a few seconds to view the next layer of navigation when you push the button.

* I think Apple added some cool visual aspects to the GUI like animation in between menus etc.... Unfortunately these are sometimes choppy making me wish I just had the simple less-fancy old menus back.

* My iPod has frozen a few times. Sometimes I can scroll through the main menu but when I actually click on something (such as Music, Podcasts, or Extras) nothing actually happens...

So yes I am terribly disappointed with the iPod `Classic'. Keep in mind that this level of disappointment is relative to the high level of quality I expect from Apple on their iPod line. Although I am really disappointed this is probably still the best high capacity music player on the market. (Definitely better than the Zune)... It just isn't much better than (and is actually worse) than the 5G Video iPod. So my advice: if you currently have a 5G or 5.5G and are considering upgrading, don't, wait for Apple to release something better.

UPDATE: (9/18/2007)
I previously mentioned that the Classic doesn't come with the white sleeve/case that 5G's came with. Now I know why. When the 5G iPods are in the sleeve the click wheel is still functional.. if you press your finger against it you can pause, skip the track, adjust the volume, etc... (granted you can't see the screen).. Today I tried this with the Classic (in the old 5G sleeve) I can no longer adjust the volume on the iPod when the sleeve is on. I wonder if this is related to the overall click-wheel problem.

UPDATE: (9/19/2007)
Games purchased from the iTunes store for older iPods ARE NOT compatible with the Classic. This means the $20 I spent on four games for my previous iPod is completely wasted. Apple has said to customers that they must 're-purchase' the games in the new compatible format.

UPDATE: (9/20/2007)
I've added a video demonstration to show how slow and sluggish the cover flow feature is. The demo is using the new firmware update which supposedly addressed the cover flow issue.

UPDATE: (9/25/2007)
Two more issues are really annoying me. If anyone knows a solution/fix for either of them please post it in this review's comment section.

1) If you are playing a song and you don't touch any buttons for a while (after the backlight has already turned off) the clock "screensaver" comes on and you cannot see what is currently being played. This is particularly annoying when I am shuffling through all my songs and I have to touch the clickwheel just to disengage the "screen saver" to see what song is being played.

2) When I charge the iPod via USB (using Vista) the backlight on the iPod is ALWAYS on and there is no way to turn it off. So when I charge the unit overnight the backlight is still on when I wake up in the morning.

Update: (10/1/2007)
see [...]

Update: (11/6/2007)
So my iPod totally died... Or rather the screen died. It was covered under warranty and Apple ultimately sent me a brand new iPod Classic. Apple Support handled the issue very fast and efficiently. The scroll wheel on my 'new' Classic is PERFECT!!! It's just as good as the old iPods, I was truly surprised... Also it generally seems to be running much better. Has Apple modified the hardware since the initial release? Or is this all a matter of a software fix? Either way I am much happier with the Classic. (On another note I recently switched to the iPhone and it is the best thing ever!!! 6 out of 5 stars) Read more ›

97 of 110 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars bad reviews are misleading October 14, 2007

By J. Ventura

I read the bad reviews here and they are all very particular and specific and odd (i.e., the problems these people are having will probably never happen to you). This version of the iPod is probably going to be the last in its line before they switch over completely to the iPod Touch version. But when I was trying to figure out which one to go with RIGHT NOW, the Touch is 400 freakin' dollars and it only has 16 GB on it! That's nothing as far as I'm concerned - maybe I'm spoiled but I like putting all sorts of things on my iPod besides my entire record collection which is around 35 GB right off the bat. The iPod "Classic" is not perfect or ideal (starting with its stupid name)- the ideal would be an iTouch with 80 GB or higher - but its pretty sweet. The games on it work really well once you get used to the wheel, as far as I know there are no games on the iTouch. The video looks really good on the iPod Classic too. As far as the meat is concerned which is the music, the cover flow works fine - all that stuff about it being too sluggish is b.s. - the sound quality is really good and it comes with about 20 preset EQ settings which are nice. Sync with iTunes is really easy and almost fun and in short its just really simple to use and does the job. My advice is to get this one and wait for Apple to release an iTouch with more GB later, which might take awhile but I just have a hard time paying 400 dollars for 16 gb just so I can move an album cover across the screen with my finger. p.s. yeah, the itouch has the wi-fi internet capability but I have trouble digesting what I read about it, like no java - that's a big setback, most of my favorite websites rely on that -otherwise I'm just looking at an incredibly shrunken version of a website and that doesn't really do much for me.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It all depends on your level of expectations.. October 22, 2007

By Francis A. Castellanos

Amazon Verified Purchase

My review is gonna be a little long but I hope it brings some light to people who don't know whether to buy or not this product.

The classic is nothing more than an update to the 5th gen ipod. Like ANY update in the world, it adds some new features, cuts others and changes others. Plain and simple. I don't consider it fair to judge it a bad device just because you had the expectation that the classic was gonna reinvent the wheel and solve all world problems.

In my opinion, the only thing I really think that should be improved is the sensitivity of the clickwheel. I loved the way it worked on my previous 5g iPod and in the 6g it's not as responsive.

It fits in my Iskin Evo3 which I used for my previous 30gb (I got the 80gb model). It even feels a little less tight in it meaning it's gotta be maybe a hair thinner than the 30gb. I had to cut the part that covers the clickwheel because it doesn't work anymore through anything (I uploaded a picture of it). In the 5g I could change the volume even through my jeans. The 6g should be touched directly to browse or change the volume.

One welcome feature is that you can change the shuffle mode (off/songs/albums) while playing your music by pressing the center button and without going to the main menu.

Another welcome feature is that you can change the brightness of the screen while watching your videos (then again, by pressing the center button)....

One very nice thing I found out is that with my ExtremeMac Tango speakers (since speakers use some standard commands I guess every speaker out there can do the same) if I put the ipod into the much criticized cover flow menu, I could actually browse through my music by pressing FF or REW on the remote and select an album (by pressing play button on the remote). If you selected an album by mistake, just click rewind and it goes back to the cover flow menu and just keep on browsing until you find what you're looking for. This is a very welcome feature since you'd be able to browse by the album cover remotely, select an album and when it finishes you could select another album of your preference without touching your ipod!

What I think of the cover flow? Ok, it's a little slow but I don't think you're into a race with someone to see who finds their music faster. And when I say slow, I'm talking about maybe a second at the most to show the unbuffered covers.. and it happens just when you browse very fast so it needs time to buffer the unloaded album covers. Keep in mind that this little device has more storage capacity than many laptops and desktops out there. There can be lots of information stored in it. Even computers hesitate when showing the thumbnails if you go into a folder full of pictures.

I've read some criticisms about the cover flow menu saying that it should show only the albums instead of the tracks because if you got a large amount of music, it could be difficult to find what you're looking for. Well, this is partially true: if you're looking for an album and you see its cover while browsing because you ran into one of its tracks, just click on it and it will show all tracks in that album so in an album with 14 songs, you got 14 chances to find it. I agree it would be easier and faster if only albums were shown but I don't think it's that bad.

You can't put the album artwork in full screen anymore. No big deal though.

After a couple of minutes, the screen changes to a "Screen saver" mode which shows the current time and the remaining battery life. I'd prefer to be able of seeing what I'm playing instead of the hour but then again, no big deal.

I've used it with the ExtremeMac Airplay FM transmitter and it works but when you push one of the buttons to change the transmitting frequency, it only changes the station one time and then freezes for a couple of seconds. You have to wait until the screen goes back to what you're playing to press it again. This is gotta be some software incompatibility problem since the airplay uses the ipod internal software and screen to show the stored stations and information. It's nothing serious but I hope this would be fixed in the next updates.

With the griffin itrip it worked fine since this one has its own screen and don't need the ipod to show anything through it.

Before update 1.0.2 menus were slower and battery life longer. After 1.0.2 I find menus a little faster but battery life a little shorter. Still, it's endless! Just to test it, I left it playing for more than 20 hours and battery only reached half. Haven't tested with long videos but when playing short video podcasts battery power doesn't drop like the 5g did after playing one or 2 videos. It doesn't drop at all indeed unless you watch a long video or browse thoroughly through videos.

Haven't even gone to the games menu because I use my ipod mainly for listening to music. I haven't tried the video out neither for the same reason. I think is much more than a hassle to convert a video for the ipod so I can play it in a TV. Apple should drop this "we-are-so-picky" thing and accept standard formats like avi and mpg!!!

Well, in summary, this is my personal experience and opinion. I respect the other opinions and by no meanings I'm trying to make a dispute here. Just thought it was worth it to make some things clear. My rating would be between 4 and 5 stars out of 5.

Pros:

- It may be a "less-beautiful-to-some-people" aluminum face but it's much more resistant. I prefer it to be this way though: what's the use of it being beautiful if you have to put it into a case immediately because it scratches so easily and gets ugly so fast? to my taste, it looks very nice indeed.

- Battery life
- Storage space
- Price
- Nice menus
- Thinner than the 5g

Cons:

- Not-so-responsive clickwheel
- Some software-related incompatibility with -SOME- accessories that worked even with the 5 /5.5 gen Read more ›