Although Apple's redesigned iPod Nano and iPod Touch have stolen most of the limelight in recent months, the iPod Classic hasn't disappeared.

It may not have all of the bells and whistles of the new Nano, or the good looks of the Touch, but the Classic has one large advantage: the amount of space it has.

To find this many gigabytes on an MP3 player, you need to look to Archos and its 5 and 7 models, both very much rivals to the Touch, rather than the Classic.

Handling

Apple hasn't changed its smart packaging, and what's inside is largely the same, too. 

The same slightly rounded corners of the first generation of the Classic are there, and it's difficult to see what else has changed, other than the "120 GB" now proudly engraved on the back.

And while we're talking about the shiny reverse side of the Classic, it is, as it was before, more use as a mirror, until it gets covered in greasy fingerprints.

The interface covers the same ground too, including the famous Cover Flow display of album art. 

One of the big announcements from the new line-up of iPods is there--Genius, a system designed to automatically choose tracks that complement each other--but another isn't: while it's a cute idea, shake-to-shuffle probably won't have done the Classic's hard drive very many favors.

A few small changes have made their way in, though.  Pressing and holding the central button no longer adds the current track to an on-the-go playlist, but instead gives you the option to browse through other tracks by the same artist or on the current album.

It's hardly a revolutionary change, but it seems sensible enough to prioritize exploring your music when you have this much of it, and you can of course still make playlists on the fly, just  via a different part of the interface.

Audio & Video Quality

Apple hasn't updated its list of supported file formats, but the existing collection was neither appalling nor excellent.

Plugging it in, the quality of the audio signal has all the usual weaknesses that we've come to expect from Apple including irritating feedback and treble that jumps out too much when the volume is turned up.

It's far from disastrous, but given the years that have passed since the first ever iPod, it would have been nice to see a little bit of effort from Apple on this front.

When it comes to video, you'll have to first make sure you convert all your files using iTunes, which doesn't break any speed records.

One pleasant surprise is that the screen is a lot brighter than in previous versions, which makes watching videos a lot more pleasant.  Although the screen is arguably a little too dominated by blues, video is hardly the iPod's killer application.

For both music and video, though, you'll need to use a pair of headphones to hear what's going on, but they're just as awful as they always have been. 

If we're going to cut Apple some slack for not quite having a perfect screen on a device that's more aimed at audiophiles than video lovers, then there can be no excusing the appalling earbuds they supply. 

In the end, we remain fairly unmoved by this 'new' iPod Classic.  The majority of people who've seen our test model have responded in exactly the same way: "Well, it's just an iPod, isn't it …" and that just about hits the nail on the head.

The fact that it hasn't seen a very big evolution doesn't mean that the iPod Classic isn't one of the best audio players out there--especially for those with huge music collections.