iPod Classic: Worthy Upgrade

Tonight is the last night as the owner of my 5th generation video iPod, and I am not unhappy in the least bit. I can hardly contain myself as I anticipate the arrival of these new Apple products due to be unveiled by no one other than Steve Jobs. The announcement is scheduled to begin at 10am Pacific Standard Time in California, so at 1pm sharp at my cubicle I plan to be fixated on any kind of live feed from any of the tech websites.
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I am now the proud owner of a brand new 80GB iPod Classic in silver and I am so far loving it. This current model is much slimmer than my old 60GB fifth generation model and the new aluminum face is striking at first glance. I am glad that Apple has rid this iPod of the one sheet of plastic that covered the entire screen and body surrounding the click-wheel of the 5th generation lineup.

I am so far very impressed with the new interface that features split-screen navigation with album art and icons for menu items. I really believe that this is a much needed overhaul on that predictable white screen interface that graced the screens of all the iPod photos and iPods with video. Those white screened menus got the searching jobs done, but there was no finesse to it and hardly any aesthetic quality. If the iPhone can get by with a great interface, then the iPod is due for a makeover and it's about time. It is also very exciting to see CoverFlow on this new iPod as well.

There is one problem that I have run into that involves video playback on the iPod itself. Any video clip that had been shot by a Nokia smartphone will not play in its entirety. There is only a brief moment that passes before the video starts to fast forward and then immediately freeze. In this situation the iPod controls still work, but they have no effect on the frozen video image on-screen. Playing the video again only repeats this problem and there seems to be no solution. I will convert a couple of these videos shot by a Nokia smartphone to the iPod format again and see what happens. The fact that these same videos played just fine on my fifth generation iPod makes this even more puzzling.

Overall the iPod Classic is surely a worthy upgrade to my previous 5th generation model with its slimmer profile, increased capacity and remodeled interface.