ladysprite: (Default)
[personal profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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.....

Date: 2011-03-21 03:52 pm (UTC)
laurion: (Default)
From: [personal profile] 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.

Date: 2011-03-21 05:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 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.

Date: 2011-03-21 05:16 pm (UTC)
laurion: (Default)
From: [personal profile] 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.

Date: 2011-03-21 05:19 pm (UTC)
laurion: (Default)
From: [personal profile] 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

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