iPod simple mp3 music player for family member

[Sossity]

I am looking for a simple, durable and easy to use mp3 player for father's day, something that will have a good battery life, and is not too big or too small.

I have seen some upgraded ipod minis on eBay, I like the look of them, they don't have color screens, but I am looking for something that is a straight up simple digital music player without all the fuss and distractions of apps. It is for my older dad, who is not very tech savvy, and who's hearing and vision is not the best. He is also hard on stuff, loses stuff and will be using it at the beach.

Also, what would be the lowest kpbs I could go to fit his music onto something that is say, 4 GB to 6 GB. He has quite a few rock albums he wants to listen to.

I emphasize simplicity, since I will be the one managing the device for him, loading music onto it, and he using it.

 

[Muttznuttz]

Those Ipod Mini 2nd Gen conversions are great. I modded one myself recently. Replaced the 4GB hard drive with a high capacity SDXC card. New battery fitted while I was in there. Lasts for ages on a full charge and the sound quality is lovely. It's a good, solid, inexpensive way to go.
Maybe look into this as an option? The only downside for your Father, may be that the text / screen is a little small for his liking.

 

[Slix]

A lot of my smaller iPods use the "Convert higher bitrate songs to 128 kbps" option in iTunes. This lets you get roughly twice as many songs on the iPod as before, assuming most of your songs are 256 kbps.

Any iPod classic or mini would be good. The interface is simple and there aren't any distractions like on an iPod touch. I'd suggest maybe a classic with a larger color screen because of the vision concerns.