Apple iPod 80GB

The icon is refined, searchable... and has a huge 80GB memory

Apple has long since stopped upgrading its iconic MP3 player in any major way. Instead, it tweaks, primps, slims dimensions (although not in this case) and fattens storage, gradually making the iPod ever more lovely.

The best upgrade in this latest generation is the battery. We got a whopping seven hours and 51 minutes of video and around 20 hours of music.

The headphones have been improved, meaning Love Like Blood by Killing Joke sounds meatier, with improved bass response. The screen's been enhanced too, looking much brighter than before.

The search facility seen on the nano (T3 131, 5/5) really comes into its own when yomping through the gargantuan 80GB of storage here. Just dial in letters using the Click Wheel and the 'Pod pulls up everything that matches. Similarly, if you scroll through tracks for more than a few seconds, the player will let you jump through track lists alphabetically.

A long-overdue addition is gapless playback - vital for both dance-music mix CDs and 70s prog-rock concept albums. Last (and possibly least) you can now download and play retro "classics" like Pac-Man and Tetris for £4. Which is nice.

On the down side, the casing seems flimsy compared to the new aluminium nanos, and common video formats like Xvid and Divx aren't supported because Apple's just too damn hoity-toity.

However, given that you get more storage for less dosh than the last lot of iPods, improved battery life and some great interface tweaks, it feels churlish to quibble. The evolution of The Perfect Thing continues...