Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple iPod classic 160GB silver

This is the third Apple Ipod that I have purchased having previously bought a 4th Gen 20gig Ipod and a 2nd Gen Shuffle for the gym. Admittedly my 20gig Ipod is still going strong but with my ever increasing music collection there was no way I could fit it all on it. That is why I purchased the 160gig Ipod classic, it would allow me to listen to music as well as watch movies.

It has been almost a year since I purchased it and as yet I have not had not any problems with apart from it sometimes being slow to respond when browsing through the menu. However this is not a really big problem and may due to the fact that it is nearly full. As you would expect from apple the user interface is intuitive enabling you to interact with the player without any problems. Compared to previous incarnations of the Ipod the battery life is very good enabling me to use it for a number of days when I am away from home without a charge. Overall I would say that I am relatively happy with my purchase the only grievance I have is unlike my 20gig Ipod it came without a mains charger.

I lost my previous 80 GB iPod not long ago, and I keenly felt its loss, so I bought this behemoth as a replacement so it would at least feel like an upgrade rather than a replacement. I guess the best indication of how much value you placed in something is how badly you miss it when it's gone. I bought my replacement the same day I realised it was missing.

The 160 GB model is noticeably chunkier than its smaller sibling, but not so much you'd actually bother. It retains the sleek, clean design and intuitive interface choices, although it shares a number of the same problems. While it usually works without fault, occasionally there are mysterious crashes and syncing problems that can frustrate. The headphones, while comfortable for short periods of time, I found painful to use for longer periods - a set of budded headphones would have been a nice gesture on the part of Apple.

Additionally, I would have liked a mains charger rather than a USB cable only - it's a portable device that I use at home, at work, and in the car. To charge it, I need access to a computer and the USB connection cable for the ipod itself. It's just a bit inelegant.

Despite this small problems, I still rate it a five star accessory. Of all the various MP3 players I have used in the past, none of them have ever been as valuable to me as this one.

iPod has certainly changed and improved my life, allowing me more listening time as well as providing opportunity to re-discover forgotten gems, thanks to Shuffle mode. The 160 is the best yet with excellent / better sound and more capacity. But of course one bummer is that there isn't really 160gb, there are about 147gb. Mine is already full and those extra 13gb would come in very handy. Even so, because I add about 100-300 songs per month, those 13gb and many future gbs are already booked up in advance. So, an urgent message to Steve Jobs: how about 300gb iPod for 2008? Please don't waste time with a 200 or 240. I urgently need a very big baby! Asap! Thanks very much.

In the past I have religiously chosen Sony Walkman for my portable music needs. On a recent trip to the US I was impressed by the amount of storage and GUI the IPod 160Gb had to offer. Given the favourable exchange rate, I purchased!

Sony devices have always offered excellent sound, even better battery life along with ample storage. Apple here have completely missed the point. With this IPod, looks are catered for through the unit itself and it's admittedly quite impressive system of operation (i.e. the touch controls and menu system.) Battery life is OK, I am hoping that it won't start to suffer problems like IPods of old! The sound quality however, is somewhat awful! Things do not get much better when using decent headphones either (I have tried top of the range Sony, Sennheiser and Bose!) The IPod simply does not deliver the punch, nor the depth/range of sound that my Sony Walkman devices produce.

If I am not mistaken, this is the whole point of any MP3 player! I did not expect to pay £200 for a device that produces the same sound quality (in my opinion!) as an MP3 player bought from Tesco for £20. Shame on you Apple!

When Sony produce a 160Gb device in the £200 range I think the time will have come for a change.

I have given this product three stars because of it's other excellent features. Plus, I really wanted to like it!

iPod's in general are the best mp3 players you can get with very user friendly menu's. However for some of the "more mature generation" not so big on technology will find the click wheel a nightmare to navigate. For those people I recommend a shuffle as they are just a few very simple buttons.

The big thing i feel I need to comment on is the massive memory it has. This iPod is only for people interested on putting loads of movies and tv show's on this as, let's be honest, nobody would have as much as 40,000 songs to put on it. Anyway you would need about something like 80 movies on this to make it worth it. The 80GB is a struggle to fill up so think about 160GB. Your right, there is no point.

Great quality machine though with excellent sound from the headphones and excellent colours from the video playback