Having owned my ipod for about 5 years, I feel well placed to write a decent enough review about it. Over the years, my ipod has suffered from numerous accidents (dropped mainly), has been misplaced more times than i care to remember and yet has consistently shown itself to be highly durable. I have only ever owned Ipod's and so for the purposes of this review I can't comment on other Mp3 players.

Design

The thing that has always attracted me to apple products is the simplicity used in their design (even the Apple Logo is cool), the 30GB Ipod Classic is no exception. In my opinion the Ipod Classic is well designed (simple to use - controlled using click wheel, practical - long battery life and as previously mentioned rugged). I feel that this simplicity of design makes it universally appealing (anybody from 10 upwards would feel comfortable using it) and a style classic (6 years on it still doesn't look out of place). Similarly, the menus on the Ipod are well designed, black text on a white background (doesn't get much simpler than that!), with highlighted options in blue (text scrolled over). In the same way, although it seems like nothing now, the Ipod Classic 5g was the first of the Ipods to be able to play videos, a big leap forward at that stage.

Practicality

Although the 30GB Ipod Classic doesn't do as much as the later Ipod Touch (use off apps, no internet connection etc), I feel it is far better made, as it doesn't seem to be as delicate (you wouldn't believe the amount of cracked Ipod Touch screens I have seen!). Similarly, although Apple still insists on retailing the Ipod Classic for nearly £200, I have seen second hand versions go for £80 (a bargain compared to the Ipod Touch, which I have rarely seen go for less than £100) which makes it handy for those on a budget. Although battery life is relatively good (mine tends to last for at least 14 hours, there or therabouts), I do have a complaint about the battery status bar which never seems to be accurate (one minute it's in the red and then it's back into the green). Although the ipod Classic is relatively small in size, it seems hardly worth mentioning, as most Ipod's are similar, or indeed smaller (such as the Nano). In terms of sound quality, I feel the Iopd classic is fairly poor (although this may be more to do with the age of mine rather than the model as a whole), as often I have to turn the volume up far louder to hear my music and even then the quality still isn't perfect.

In conclusion, I feel that although the 30GB Apple Ipod Classic (5th generation) is 5 years old now, it still hold's up well when compared to newer, later Ipod's (such as the Ipod Touch, Nano etc). Indeed, I feel that the Ipod Classic is far more robust than its later counterparts (which if you're as clumsy as me is a godsend), retains its style (due to the simplicity of its design) and although it has its faults (such as the aforementioned problem with measuring battery life and quality of sound) offers good value for money (30GB of memory for under £100) and would still be acceptable to anyone as a gift . As such, therefore, the Ipod classic 30GB is an Mp3 Player that I would definately recommend to a friend.