Advise Me, O Internets

[ladysprite]

It's time to play a rousing round of Help The Luddite!

As far as I (and my far more technologically literate husband) can tell, my antique Ipod just had a serious aneurysm, and is in the process of dying. It's making odd ticking noises, refusing to sync, and crashing Itunes every time I try to plug it in. It's also doing "strange things" according to umbran; he won't specify what exactly. I assume this is because he knows full well that my imagination is capable of supplying far more interesting images than reality; odds are it's only lagging and skipping instead of wearing a basket of fruit on its nonexistent head or ritually slaughtering chickens for its circuit-laden pagan god, but a girl can daydream.

Anyway. Did I mention this thing was an antique? It's an Ipod classic, with an 80 Gb capacity, that was given to me as a gift about 4 years ago. The practical result is that I know precious little about mp3 players in general, and what's available right now in particular. And now I find myself needing to replace it, with no idea of what my options are or what I want.

This thing is my daily companion. No matter where I'm working, odds are I face an hour commute each way. I don't listen to it that much at home or on foot, but it's hooked into my car stereo and playing almost every day. I need something with a display big enough that I can glance at it at a stoplight and see what's playing, so the little fingernail-sized thingums probably aren't for me, and while I never used the full 80 Gb of memory, I need more than 8 - my music and audiobook collections are only getting bigger.

I've been browsing Apple's online store, and mostly it just seems to be full of Shiny! and Whizbang! And made-up words and phrases that mean precious little, but are designed to sell me little pieces of colored metal and plastic. So, I figured I'd come to y'all for advice instead.

What would you recommend as a replacement for my dear dying baby? It looks like I'm going to be dropping a couple hundred dollars no matter what, and I'm going to have to do it but soon if I want to stay sane driving to Sharon and Salisbury later this week. So, if I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd like to make sure I'm getting the right toy.....

Comments

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

It comes down to two factors: how much space you want (How full was the 80gig?) and if you want any other toys on it. I lvoe my ipod touch, because I have Angry Birds and games and apps that make my life a little bit easier, but if you need more space and don't want or need any other toys, then just get another Classic and you'll be perfectly happy.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

I don't need more space; I had about 10 Gb of stuff on my old Ipod. The other stuff.... hm, it's tempting, mostly because if I spring for a touch I'll never actually need a smartphone. On the other hand.... how awkward is the interface for actually playing music? Is it something I'll be able to fiddle with, at least minimally, while I'm driving?

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I think the Touch interface is easier than the Ipod interface, so yeah, you'll be able to deal with it while driving, no problem.

I mean, I have a ipod touch and a smartphone, but one of the things that I use the smartphone for the most (other than twitter) is looking up where the hell my bus is, which is not a major concern for you.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

The Touch interface is terrific. I have one and I love it to death. It is really very easy to use. It's extremely intuitive for the most part.

The one thing you may run into that is less intuitive is that if you hold your finger down on the main app screens, the app icons will start to jiggle and have Xs by them. That means you are in the mode where you can move them around or delete them. Press the home button to get out of that. (:

Everything else is super-easy, you'll see. (: And with a Touch and a wireless connection, you can use Pandora! I <3 Pandora for the iPod -- I just leave it docked, pick a station, and have music all day ...

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

I can recommend the iPod Touch; I have one of the first-generation 32Mg models, and I can listen to roughly 16 hours of music without repeats. I also have several movies and music videos on it, use it as an ebook reader, and, in places with wifi, get my e-mail and have Internet access on it. A fantastic little machine.

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

The Classic never really changes; they just keep making the disk bigger so that the price point remains the same. I prefer it to the rest of the lineup simply because of the economics of hard disk space vs. flash memory - a 160GB Classic costs less than a 32GB Touch, and since I don't have any need or use for all the various I Can't Believe It's Not iPhone features they've crammed into the Touch, I'm just as happy to stay with the Classic. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I'll also note a bit of dissatisfaction with the iPod Touch as a music player - this is partly because I have a very short walk to my car, and it takes longer than that to boot from "off" and then, I have to hit a button or two to get to music.

Now, add in that it has all kinds of other nifty features, and I'm happy to have an iPod Touch - but I'm using my old Zune to play music, most of the time. (But if the Zune dies, I'm probably going to buy an iPod classic.)

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

A couple hundred dollars? A basic MP3 player with gob-loads of storage should be well under that nowadays, what with how prices have come down. Unless you want one that sings, dances, and takes colour photographs and movies of itself doing both.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I am wedded to ITunes, since all of my music is there - so I need to stick with an actual Ipod. And the nanos and shuffles are too small to hold all my music. So, it looks like I'm stuck with either an Ipod Classic or Ipod Touch.....

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

When my ancient 40-gig iPod Classic started having problems last year, Russ found a perfectly serviceable 80-gig model on eBay that's doing just fine for me now, for a lot less than paying new-model prices. If that feels too risky for you, check the "refurbished" section of the Apple Store -- it's a crapshoot what's in there on any given day, but they do come with the assurance that they've been checked over by Apple.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

If you get another iPod, the Apple Store will give you 10% off if you bring in the dead one. Just so you know. (:

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good to know! I was planning on heading down there today anyway, to see if there was any way they could resurrect my poor dead toy, and to see if I could even vaguely figure out how to work a touchscreen....

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

Cool! Good luck! (: Touchscreens are easy -- you'll figure it out quick, and they'll be sure to show you how they work, anyway.

[kittyblue.livejournal.com]

I can't offer much help, as I have an iPod pre-classic that's 30GB. I took it in because the battery was dead, and they kindly called it "vintage" and ordered a replacement for it. It's before the days of batteries being separate from the housing, so I got a whole "new" iPod for the price of a battery. :D That said, it managed to last about 7 years, so... color me impressed by Apple products. I'm looking at a 120GB classic once I have a system that can support something newer than my vintage peripherals, so I'll cast my vote that-a-way. I do agree that you can probably find a better price in the refurbished section of the Apple store.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

If you don't have a pressing need for all the iPhone apps that the touch can do, just get another Classic. Gb for GB it's the best value if all you want it to do is play music for you.

(Tangent thought: Now that line-in jacks are practically standard on all new stereos, how long before ipod ports (with full control integration) and SD card slots are included?)

[cristovau.livejournal.com]

It looks like you might be able to use the simple iPod nano 16gb. It is teeny, and it plays music. That is it.

The touch screen may be a bit odd. Play around with it and see if that is a deal-breaker, but it is about $70 less than the classic and might suit your needs just as well.

[laurion]

It sounds like it might be a dying hard drive, or just some bad sectors on it. I've repaired many iPods in the past (I've replaced screens, batteries, and hard drives), and if you wanted to go the less expensive route, you could get a used ipod on ebay, or just replace the existing drive.

BTW, I too have an 80gb classic. I don't think they're antiques, I think they're better at managing music than some of the newer models, and are certainly a necessity with a collection my size.

In general though, there are some questions to ask. You've already answered some of them nicely, in regards to a lower minimum of storage, and a factor of size. Rufinia has the right of it of the usage. Do you work out a lot with it? If so, flash based storage is less sensitive to being jostled. Do you want a shiny thing with lots of whistles, or do you want the thing that does one thing well?

I'm willing to take it a give a free diagnosis though, to see what is wrong with it, and if it can be repaired, and if so, what that entails. If nothing else, I can't make it worse than non-functioning, and it won't cost you a thing.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Bad drive was my guess as well, given the small tic...tic...tic sound it was making.

I wasn't aware drive replacement was an option, given how closed Apple tends to want to keep their wares.

[laurion]

It's not an Apple provided, supported, or approved option. But for a device that is nonfunctioning and out of warranty anyhow, it is an option. The folks at http://www.ifixit.com/ do a pretty good job with online manuals for the process, and can help with getting parts too.

[laurion]

For example, too, a 30GB replacement hard drive (likely enough storage?) would run about $50. http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-MK3008GAL-internal-ATA-100-buffer/dp/B000YJ2SB6

[medeaschild.livejournal.com]

Go for the refurbished!

If the nanos hadn't become so itsy, I'd say one of those - the old style mini-classic nanos sound like about what you are looking for.

I like my touch, and the quasi smartphone whistles are useful and fun. (e-reader! games and time wasters! memos to remember stuff for later!) Flash memory is more resilient to getting dropped and bonked around than disks, and I put out a lot of abuse on my tech, so that is important to me.

However, the ipod classic isn't broke. There are a laundry list of reasons why this could make sense for you, the first being that your fingers already know the drills. When what entertains you is *listening to music now* rather than *learning new techie bits*, sticking with what you know isn't a bad thing to do. Deciding not to spend a couple of hundred dollars on something that may infuriate you for the first three weeks of ownership is a solid decision. No matter how easy the learning curve, there is still going to be one.

So, in short - I would balance amount of abuse you expect your toy to live through vs. amount of crap you are willing to put up with through the learning curve.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I'm of the non-Apple persuasion...

One of my birthday gifts was a Sansa Fuze+. It works quite well, and apparently supports iTunes format.

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

I had the same quandry about 6 months ago. Replacing the 80 gig classic with one of the same would have cost me about $100 (because Apple were willing to take the old one as a trade-in, so go to your neighborhood Apple store and see if they'd cut you a deal).

I ended up taking the leap and moving on to the iPod touch.

It is indeed full of shiny. More to the point, it's _useful_. It's not as useful as an iPhone, simply because the applications which call for being online are only available where it can be online. BUT, it's still a life-saver. From Arisia program that actually fits into a pocket to assorted list-keeping to the ability to snap a photo of a price tag at the store to compare it with the simiar thing at the other store to emergency reading material to being able to look things up if there _is_ internet but I don't have a laptop. Very, very handy.

In addition to which, the music navigation is much improved. Search with a keyboard instead of the wheel; being able to go from an all-shuffle directly to the album that the current shuffled song belongs; being able to make a playlist on the fly... I'm entirely a convert. If you can justify the budget, go for it.