My 16GB 5th gen iPod nano is dying. I'm looking for a replacement. Years ago Apple stopped selling anything except the iPod Touch, which is too large and fragile for me. I want something that fits into my pocket, with a long battery life.
"Long" means can be used for a couple of days without needing a charge, or in standby for weeks. As an example of "too fragile", I had a 7th gen. iPod with touch screen that broke after a month or two of the same treatment my 5th gen. handled for years. I went back to my 5th gen. after that.
I only need it for podcasts. I like dedicated hardware to reduce the temptation to connect to the world.
Since Apple decided to split up iTunes into different apps (I haven't upgraded my Mac yet, to keep iTunes), I'm also fine with switching to a new app to manage podcasts.
Any suggestions?
The iFixit site has nice repair articles for how to change the internals. An upgraded SDXC memory card with 128GB of space runs about $30. You could also buy a modded mini with this kind of storage off ebay for around $125 but it probably won't have the nicer battery life.
If you really like the nano you could also swap out the nano battery to bring it back to life. It doesn't look like the storage is replaceable though.
[1] https://www.rockbox.org/
[1] http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-gigabeats/rockbox... [2] http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-gigabeats/rockbox...
I also have a very fuzzy recollection that the batteries weren't especially replaceable, meaning we've got a finite time before they're all bricks...
The battery lasted around 14 hours when it was new, now I'm getting roughly half of that. I seem to remember someone on the now defunct anythingbutipod.com replacing the battery, although they had to break the player apart to get inside.
Even the damn plastic clip on the back still works!
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What's the advantage of Rockbox firmware over what it comes with?
Killer feature of Rockbox for me is possibility to change playback speed while maintaining original pitch. As most audiobooks and podcasts I prefer to listen on 120-130% speed.
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Was unaware of the Rockbox firmware, looks interesting.
the newer cell-phone-yet-unconnected Sony Walkmans are pretty neat, and they have some nice DAC features.
The price is steep, but not Apple steep.
Which means then figuring out that process. And I couldn't find people describing how they used a Walkman for listening to podcasts.
At least on Android versions of the Walkmans.
Don't know what you could/should use on the software side though to manage the content... Life has changed a lot since I last used strictly offline devices, and not only for the better.
One of the joys of the iPod was that I didn't really have to worry about charging it on a regular schedule. It would hold its charge for a long time. Eg, I took it bike camping and listened to Hardcore History's multi-part episode on Genghis Khan over a couple of days, with no need to charge up.
That's no longer the case. The battery life has gotten worse over the last couple of years, likely from age. It now doesn't hold a charge for more than a couple of days. I suspect that if I buy another old iPod then its battery will also be 10 years old and not in good shape.
If I don't find a good option for new hardware, then used is definitely a backup alternative!
https://support.apple.com/ipod/repair/service/pricing
https://bemighty.com/
There can be some that won’t sync even though you can play them on spotify. This is apparently due to some licensing restrictions. The bbc is the main offender which i find enraging.
Hitting it cycles through the playlists and speaks the name of each one.
You can find regular iPods and modded iPods for more than MSRP. I haven’t yet found anything I like more than an iPod though.
What do you use for podcast management?
I've got this xDuoo X3 (bought it ages ago), which apparently has a pretty good DAC and is able to load from two SDCards, and has a third-party Rockbox implementation.
There's a new version ot (X3 II), which has a much larger display.