Ipod classic turning off when not in use

It's not clear from your post what exactly your question/problem is.

- You want it to turn off, but it doesn't??
- You don't want it to turn off, but it does??

It's supposed to turn off when not in use, that's how you get good playing time out of a small battery. To "make it turn off" once you've finished using it, press-and-hold the Play/Pause button until the iPod turns off and the screen goes dark.

.... stays on when i am playing music or watching a video.

Well, I'd want the screen to stay on while it's playing a video, I assume you do too.
However, while playing music, the best practice is to let the screen turn off (while the music continues to play). This ensures longer playing time between battery charges. If your screen stays on all the time while playing music, then presumably you have the Backlight setting set to *Always on,* which is not recommended. Go into Settings/Backlight and make sure that it's set to something other than "always on". Mine is set for ten seconds.

Then, while music is being played, the screen will go dark ten seconds after you last touch the wheel. After a short while, the screen will change to the clock but the music continues to play. To bring the screen back on, simply touch the wheel.

Phil

Okay, I'm still not clear exactly what you're doing though...

You mention "when you press menu and the center button it brings up the apple logo and fully reboots". It will, that's how you do a Reset. So is that what you're doing "to turn it on"? If so, you don't need to.

If the iPod is fully off, you should only need to unlock the Hold switch and press any button once to turn the iPod on. It may take a second or two longer for the screen to light up than if the iPod has only been off for two minutes or so. (I'm currently listening to my Classic and waiting for two minutes to test what you are doing was long enough!)

A Restore is drastic - if that doesn't fix a problem with an iPod, then either the iPod is faulty or it's the way your doing it. I've made the assumption that you're fairly new to iPods (so if not, I apologise for the liberty), which is why I've emphasised the method you are using as a possible problem.

So if the iPod goes through a logo re-start +every time+ you turn it on, and you are "turning it on" rather than using the menu/play buttons you mentioned previously, then try a Restore, which is done with iTunes (the Restore button on the Summary screen). If that fails to sort it out, then it suggests the iPod is faulty.

Phil