Apple's iPod Raises Bar
For Digital Music Players

Apple Computer's iPod portable digital music player has become the gold standard for digital music fans. No other player has been able to match its combination of elegant design, small size and high capacity.

But other companies are feverishly working on iPod clones. So, in an effort to stay ahead, Apple this week released a totally redesigned version of the iPod, which is even thinner and lighter than the original version, yet packs in more songs. There are also many other new features, including a new desktop dock to hold the iPod.

Like the prior models, these new iPods will work on Windows PCs in addition to Apple's own Macintosh computers. But now, they are compatible with many more Windows computers than the old iPods.

The new iPods also work closely and well with Apple's new online music store, the first really good legal music downloading service. (See my review of the service.)

They play the new music-file format Apple uses at its store, but can still handle regular MP3 files from any source.

I've been testing the new iPod for several days, using a wide variety of music from different sources. I find it to be even better designed and easier to use than the original model. I can still recommend it highly, as I did the first version.

The new iPod does have one big drawback, however. To reduce the size of the unit, Apple had to cut the size of the battery. So, the battery life of the new iPods, while still respectable, is significantly lower than it was on the original version. The old models claimed 10 hours of battery life, but mine got 12 hours. The new models claim eight hours of battery life, but my test iPod lasted only 7.5 hours -- nearly 40% less than my old one.

The new iPods come in three models. For $299, you get 10 gigabytes of storage, enough to hold about 2,500 songs. That's double the capacity of the old $299 model. For $399, you get 15 gigabytes, or about 3,700 songs. For $499, you get 30 gigabytes, or about 7,500 songs. Those latter two models have 50% more capacity than their predecessors did at the same prices.

There are no longer separate versions for Mac and Windows PCs. The box contains the software for both, and a single iPod that automatically adapts itself to whichever type of computer you first connect it to.

The new models are noticeably thinner, and the weight is way down. Even the highest-capacity new model weighs less than the lightest of the old models, and holds triple the songs.

Apple's new redesigned iPod.

One striking difference is that the buttons controlling play, pause, backward, forward and menu functions have been moved from the edges of the famous iPod scroll wheel to a new row above the wheel; and they light up orange when the screen backlight goes on.

All of these buttons, and the wheel itself, are molded into the surface of the unit and don't really depress or turn. They work solely by detecting the touch of a finger, and I found it took a while to develop just the right touch to make them work. At first, I was pressing too forcefully or too lightly, and nothing happened.

The other big change is that the connector for the cable that transfers music files from a computer to the iPod has been moved to the bottom edge of the unit from the top. And the connector itself has been changed so it now accepts cables that work with different ports on a PC.

The standard cable still hooks into a FireWire, or 1394, a port many Macs have but few Windows PCs include. So, Apple offers an alternate cable for $19 that plugs into the USB 2.0 port that's standard equipment on new Windows PCs. It will also work, albeit much more slowly, with the older USB ports found on nearly every Windows PC in the past four years. This opens up many more Windows computers for working with the iPod.

The top two iPod models now also come standard with a small dock that sits on the desktop and holds the iPod for recharging or connecting to a computer. The dock also has a line-out jack so you can easily connect the iPod to speakers.

The excellent user interface has been improved. You can now customize the main menu so that some common commands can be reached more easily. And now you can build playlists of favorite songs right on the iPod, instead of only on a computer.

But the battery life is a weak spot. Even Apple's reduced claim of eight hours is suspect. It's based on tests in which some key iPod features, like the screen backlight and equalizer controls, are turned off and the volume is limited to 50%. You shouldn't have to disable key features to achieve a claimed battery life.

The company says the new batteries still will last for a full day of typical use. But if you were used to the extraordinary battery life of the old models, the drop-off will be a shock. Other than that, you'll find the new iPods to be even better than the old ones, and a delight to use.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com