iPod iPod 5th gen (with video) questions

[RedCroissant]

I have a 5th gen iPod with video 30GB and I would like to upgrade it a bit. Does anyone here know if replacing the HDD with either a SD of CF card make it work faster at accessing music/videos and also increase battery life?

Thanks for your time!

 

[yly3]

Hi ! The video iPod is one of the most modable ones. So you are lucky.
Because you have 30GB model (2005, 5th Generation) you only get 32Mb of RAM so if you go the HDD way, I think you can top only at 120GB ones.
I recommend putting CF card over SD(XC/HC) cards because the CF for some reason has better sound quality and I think it is also a bit more power-efficient (I may be wrong though..)

The 80GB model released in 2006 (5.5th generation) has double the RAM so it can keep the 240GB Toshiba hard-drive. I tested already with mine and it worked ... for 3 months until it failed. Last summer I paid 100$ for my hard-drive but now it costs around 180-200$ while a CF card can be found around 230-250$ so it's not worth it anymore.

Your best bet would be the CF card with an adapter and stick a new battery while you are there.

For much more info you can check this head-fi forum :
http://www.head-fi.org/t/566780/official-ipod-video-classic-5g-5-5g-6g-6-5g-7g-ssd-mod-thread/1830

I'm stilll lurking almost daily because I want to go the 512GB CF card way.
Good luck !


EDIT :

btw, the battery life will be significally better and speeds should also be faster. Not day & night speeds but enough to sense them.