Suggestions to replace a dying 160gb iPod Classic?

[Magnetized]

Alas, it looks like my 160gb classic iPod is nearing the end of its lifespan. Despite the fact that it has no wireless or Bluetooth capabilities, I love being able to have my whole music library at my fingertips. I also subscribe to several podcasts and used to sync up my iPod with iTunes every couple of days, so I always had everything I wanted available to me in the car, in the office, etc, without having to stream and use up battery life on my phone.

 

But. . . I guess everything comes to an end. About a week ago my computer stopped recognizing my iPod, so no more syncing up. I took everything to the Apple store and they couldn't get any of the computers to recognize my old dinosaur, which they said is likely due to a dying battery. They could replace it with an unused (but of course discontinued) identical model for $299, but I'm thinking maybe now is the time to make the leap into the 21st century.

 

I'll just hold onto the iPod for as long as it lasts as essentially an external hard drive with a static collection of music, but I need something to load new music, new podcasts, etc. on, and I'd like it to have as large a capacity as possible. I really like the ease of syncing up with iTunes for music and podcasts, so I think I'm only in the market for Apple products. I know I can stream, and I know about the cloud, and I do use Spotify, but I really like having a device that allows me to to have everything at my fingertips without having to drain the battery on my phone or be connected to the internet.

 

There's an iPod Touch 128gb model for $399, but it seems like it just duplicates everything I already have on my Android phone (paid for by my employer) and offers less storage than my old iPod for $100 more. There's also an iPad mini with 128gb of storage for $599, and that might be a decent option to replace or supplement my current early model full size iPad. (Not having any problems with the current iPad for the time being, but I've had it for several years now and it's probably just a matter of time.) I kind of like the smaller size of the mini iPad, too, but . . .$599. I don't think there's any Apple product that offers more than 128gb of storage other than the iPad Pro, which would be close to $1,000. Uh, no.

 

So, having said all that, any suggestions for me?  

[brownie]

The same thing happened to me. I ended up buying the 128 GB iPod touch, but I'm not totally happy with it. It is not as easy or intuitive to use as the old iPod classic, and annoys me in many ways. For example, I can never remember how to get it out of shuffle mode, and I have to figure it out every single time and it is not obvious. I guess I justify the purchase to myself by reminding myself that it has a very good camera, which I do not have on my oldish, cheapish Android phone. It is nice that I can still easily sync it with iTunes on my Mac.

 

Not much of a suggestion, I know.

[Magnetized]

The same thing happened to me. I ended up buying the 128 GB iPod touch, but I'm not totally happy with it. It is not as easy or intuitive to use as the old iPod classic, and annoys me in many ways. For example, I can never remember how to get it out of shuffle mode, and I have to figure it out every single time and it is not obvious. I guess I justify the purchase to myself by reminding myself that it has a very good camera, which I do not have on my oldish, cheapish Android phone. It is nice that I can still easily sync it with iTunes on my Mac.

 

Not much of a suggestion, I know.

It helps to hear that you've had the same experience and to hear about the problems with the Touch. I was already not inclined to go in that direction, so this helps in the decision-making.

 

I haven't heard any hints or rumors that Apple is even considering bringing back the old classic iPod, although it sure seems like there's a market for it. The only thing I can think of is that they want to drive more traffic to streaming services. Bastards.

[BeShakey]

There are lots of options if you're willing to look at people refurbishing on ebay. The refurbishers are taking new ipod classics (or sometimes old ones, which are cheaper but obviously likely to have a shorter life) and replacing the 160gb hard drives with larger ones (mine is 240gb) and sometimes including a larger battery. Even if they don't add a better battery, you get more life from them because the 240gb units are SSD. There's obviously a risk to it, but I've bought three of them. The first lasted about the same amount of time as the old ipod classics and was great. The second one had problems with the battery and the seller was great about returning it and refunding, since he couldn't replace for a few months. The current one is going strong after six months and cost $US330.

 

For me the advantages are the large capacity and being able to keep my iTunes library (you'd get that with the Touch, but not with other large capacity players). You also get to keep the ipod classic interface, which sounds like it's a plus for you.

[howdjadoo]

Wouln't go for apple-crap(way too expensive anyway)
 
Check out:
 
Fiio x7  (one micro slot only,200 gb) & San Disc Media Drive(32gb intern ,200gb micro card)
 
iBasso DX80 (2 mico slots=400gb)
 
 
 
 http://www.head-fi.org/

[Vacant Horizon]

Similar situation. Had a classic and loved the low tech interface. Got a touch used for $80. I absolutely hate it. I actually prefer to just keep all my music on the Mac and just put current obsessions on a shuffle. Alas, I lost it.

 

I really can't believe how much classics are. They are as much as when they came out.

[Doug C]

I've been wondering about this issue, too. I love my 160 iPod Classic. I bought a new one about a year and a half ago. Nothing beats the easy to use controller and having every song that I own in one place that I can carry around. Putting my Classic on shuffle is bliss. 

[Chez]

I'm dreading the day when my iPod classic craps out.  I'm also dreading the day when I run out of storage -- I've only got room on my classic for about 100 more albums and I've found myself being far more selective about putting new stuff on it.

[Atticus]

went through the same thing.  I still have mine but it's just about non-functional.

[PopTodd]

I have an 8G iPod Touch and I love it. But, I think that I use it for different things than you.

I keep my whole collection on a (nearly full) 1/2 TB hard drive, and change around what I have loaded on to my iPod, which I only listen to in my car.

But it's perfect for that type of thing.

As to an iPod with that much memory... I have no idea. But I love my own setup.

[Sir Stewart]

I haven't heard any hints or rumors that Apple is even considering bringing back the old classic iPod, although it sure seems like there's a market for it. The only thing I can think of is that they want to drive more traffic to streaming services. Bastards.

 

I'm nearing the end of a three-month free trial of Apple Music and it sucks in so many ways I can't imagine paying for the service. For one thing, say you're listening to an album and you quit the app. The next time you open it, you get a welcome screen with no way to play from where you were. You have to search for the artist/album again to play it (you can also open History but that only goes back so far). It's ridiculous, and there's a hundred little fucked up things like that about Apple Music that turn me way off.

I wish there was some simple way to stream my own music library.

[Atticus]

agreed.  I lasted 2 days in the Apple Music free trial.  And they've just about all but wrecked their default music app.  So clunky.  

[Hixter]

It's ridiculous, and there's a hundred little fucked up things like that about Apple Music that turn me way off.

I wish there was some simple way to stream my own music library.

I'm fairly happy with Apple Music, although I mainly use the app to play my own tunes from the cloud. There are plenty of ways to stream your own library; I use Plex for movies and TV, but it also does music.

 

I used this app many years ago before there were any cloud music services and it seemed to work well. I can't vouch for it in its current version, but you can give it a shot: http://www.codewave.de/mytunesrss.php

[Sir Stewart]

Thanks - I'm confused as to how Plex or MyTunesRSS (or similar software) work. You keep a computer on at all times that stores your files?

[Hixter]

I'm confused as to how Plex or MyTunesRSS (or similar software) work. You keep a computer on at all times that stores your files?

Yes, that's the only way to do it if you aren't using cloud storage (and that's essentially just using someone else's always-on computer.)

 

You could probably use a $35 Raspberry Pi microcomputer or some other piece of cheap gear. It may take some geeky knowhow, but if you Google it someone probably already has step-by-step instructions.

 

I think Google Play Music used to allow you to upload 50,000 songs for free, but I don't know if that still holds true.

[Sir Stewart]

Yeah Google Play may be the way to go, since I only have about 19,000 songs.

I had uploaded all my files to my own server space a while ago thinking I'd figure out some way to stream directly from there, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

[Hixter]

I had uploaded all my files to my own server space a while ago thinking I'd figure out some way to stream directly from there, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

It may not be within your host's terms of service, but you might be able to try something like these:

 

http://ampache.org/

http://www.fomori.org/cherrymusic/

[Rusty Shackleford]

I have my whole library--probably around 20,000 songs--on Google Play, too.  I'm not wild about the Google Play interface, and I'm also not a huge fan of streaming on the go due to network performance and stinginess on data, but it's real convenient when I'm on wifi and it sounds just fine.  And of course, the price is right.

 

I still have a 160GB iPod classic as well, but I pretty much only use it on long road trips.

[Vacant Horizon]

The itun s music app is an absolute nightmare. For the most part I've just gone back to CDs.

[BeShakey]

The FIIO X7 is twice the price of a classic so I wouldn't bill it as inexpensive. I bought one of the second generation x5s and on the positive side the build quality is great (it's a lot bigger than a classic, but that generally doesn't worry me) and it was nice having two micro sd slots, but the interface was pretty bad, it didn't track metadata (which I use pretty extensively to manage my library), and I found the library management options (mediamonkey etc) pretty bad. If all you're looking for is a lot of capacity (and are willing to pay a lot for it), it might be a good option, but I sold mine pretty quickly.

[lost highway]

I'm seeing a trend here. My ipod classic fell after 10 years and 150 gigs of music from 7-8 different computers (half of which belonged to family and friends) which I managed manually. One drop on the sidewalk and it was all over.

 

The fact that they quit making the classic was the first indicator of the great apple decline. I'll probably buy a used one.

[Doug C]

 One drop on the sidewalk and it was all over.

 

 

I have mine in a Super Quality Strong Case (not the actual brand name). It has saved my Classic on more than one occasion.

[Lammycat]

My 160 GB Classic is still, barely, kicking. Some of the functions stopped working (e.g. Volume control) and the screen has the streaky lines of death on it. It's a shame. 

[Sir Stewart]

I think Google Play Music used to allow you to upload 50,000 songs for free, but I don't know if that still holds true.

 

Thanks for mentioning this! It is indeed free and I did it - my iTunes library is now uploaded and streaming from the Google Play phone app. Hot DAMN!

[Hixter]

Thanks for mentioning this! It is indeed free and I did it - my iTunes library is now uploaded and streaming from the Google Play phone app. Hot DAMN!

Glad it worked for you!

 

I still dream of the day when we can access any song, any TV show/station, any movie, any radio station and any book from any device, without having to amass huge stacks of physical media or terabytes of physical storage. I think the media companies would be pleased as punch if every person paid $50 for cable TV and bought one CD/DVD/book per month and attended one movie, so just charge us $100 per month and give us access to everything without restrictions. They're still mired in the past, but they'll have to come around eventually. As it stands, it's cheaper, quicker and easier to pirate content than it is to obtain it legally. It's infuriating to buy a DVD that's packed with unskippable advertisements and FBI warnings, yet the same content can be acquired for free without all the annoyances. Services like Hulu make you sit through commercials, but 10 minutes after a show finishes airing, helpful pirates have already uploaded it sans commercials.