iPod Options

Last night I was given a used iPod (4th generation) with a damaged 20 GB hard drive. (probably due to being dropped, or something similar) The hard drive, when powered on would click and grind. Once on, the pod wouldn't respond to anything. As all who know me will attest, giving me this is a recipe for disaster. Tracy was not happy to hear about this.


I hastily opened up the device, adding a couple new scratches to the case, and found the drive. It's a 20 GB hard drive, manufactured by Toshiba. These drives are used in several small laptops, as well as iPods and, surprisingly, Microsoft's Zunes.



In looking up how to open the device and replace the hard drive, I found some sites that included other options for this thing. I'm going to list them and let you readers suggest options for what I should do.

First, I can simply replace the hard drive with the same stock model, close it up and let it run. No major changes, it still uses iTunes, still acts like a 4th gen iPod should. I can pick up a drive for about $30.00 online. total cost? $30 plus tax and shipping

Second, I can replace the hard drive and install a drive with more capacity. Instead of a 20 GB iPod, I can have a 30 or 40 GB drive. If I look around, I may even be able to get an 80 GB drive for this thing. Cost? depending on the drive, anywhere from $30 to $200.

Third, I can go the other way: ditch the hard drive entirely in favor of a solid-state option, like a Compact Flash card. This will give me less storage space, but will make the iPod completely shock-proof, so no more HDD failures. I will have to buy two parts: a CF to IDE adapter and a CF card of my choosing. I can choose any card from 2 to 32 GB, providing me with a storage range from an iPod shuffle to a full-sized one. The price will be about 5 for the adapter and between 20 to 100 for the card, depending on size.

There's also two other options for me to do to it:

A: Replace the battery. It doesn't really need it, but it can't hurt, especially since this battery is a few years old. I can't tell just how much life I can get out of this battery with the drive damaged, but as long as it's open I don't see why not. I could get more battery life that the original OEM spec, especially if I go to a CF card. It's cheap, too: about $6.50 for the battery and parts to (further) dissasemble the device.

B: Replace the Apple firmware with an open-source replacement known as RockBox. This stuff lets you do all sorts of stuff to your iPod, while still being able to play music, and even dual-boot back into the Apple firmware if you need to.

So, the vote: Choose one of 1, 2, or 3, and include options A or B if desired. I'm not going to use any widgets, or anything, so just leave your vote as a comment.