So I have an aging iPod Nano (4th gen bought in 2008) and I love it. Big reason being the scroll wheel. Nothing has come close to topping it's ease of use. I don't care to "touch my music" as SJ put it when debuting the first iPhone. But my Nano doesn't hold a charge for very long now and the screen has a couple lines of death pixels. Otherwise it's in great shape as I've had a cover on it since day 1. But now I'm looking to upgrade since the iPod Classic is long gone there is only the Nano and Touch left. No point in getting the Touch as it's just an iPhone without the phone function. As for the Nano is it worth it in 2017 or is there a better option like a Fiio player. I'm only familiar with the iPod so I don't know how I would load music onto other music players. Does anyone have experience with non-Apple music players?? Any good recommendations?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPod What is a good dedicated portable music player?
- Thread starter bigpoppamac31
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If you've got steady hands and you're comfortable with electronics, you can buy a replacement battery and replace the battery in your old Nano.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod+Nano+4th+Generation+Battery+Replacement/1161
Thanks. Is it possible to add more storage or replace the screen? It's only 8GB and the screen has a few lines of dead pixels and burn in. See pics.
It's possible to replace the screen. I don't know about increasing the storage. The memory is part of the logic board and I don't know if you can get replacement logic boards aside from finding a donor Nano.
A new replacement screen is $30 US on the iFixit site and it's a lot of work to do all this repair, especially if you're wanting more storage. I'd say you should just buy a used Nano off of eBay. The battery replacement is definitely doable, but looks like it'll eat up a good chunk of time so extra bonus if you can get a used one that still has decent battery life.
Yeah possibly. But I don't buy from eBay as I don't have nor want PayPal. if I can find a used Classic locally then great.
[doublepost=1490357437][/doublepost]
I can see if there is one on Kijiji. I don't shop on eBay.
How much is an SSD for an iPod? I could just buy a used iPod off Kijiji and install it myself.
It'd be the same as an SSD for a laptop, but you'd have to have a Classic version. The iPod Classics were pretty much hard drives with a tiny display.
wouldn't it be a 1.8'' drive instead of a 2.5'' drive traditionally found in laptops?
You're correct. I was wrong about this. I've never taken apart an iPod Classic. I just knew there was a hard drive inside. Indeed you need a 1.8" HD and ouch those are pricier than I thought.
I wonder if an Apple Store tech person would install it for me? I'd have to get one of these things and an SD card to put in it. https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Tarkan/SOLOUSD/
You can probably get an indie repairshop to do it, but I doubt Apple's going to touch 3rd party parts. Besdies that, do they even support iPod Classics anymore?
Not sure. But I have an ad up on Kijiji stating that I'm looking for an iPod Classic and I got the following reply.
"Hello, Very shortly I will have a 160GB Ipod available with New Battery, New Chrome back housing, New headphone jack, and converted to a solid state memory. Meaning it does not have a mechanical HD. I will sell this for $230.00 once it is all together. the conversion to flash memory uses less than 1/3rd the power that the HD used, meaning the new battery will give you days of play between charging. This is a little project I do on the side, And can contact you when my next one is ready. Let me know. Cheers. PS, with this upgrade, I can make it a 256GB Ipod, but it increases the price by $76.00 for the memory card."
