Thinking about getting an ipod

I'm a complete noob with ipods and I'd like to get one so I can play my mp3s with it in the car. My question is, what kind of storage media the ipod uses? I'm guessing a 2.5" laptop hard drive? If so, then is it possible to put in your own hard drive or they made it so you won't be able to modify it? The reason I ask, is 'cause I checked ebay and the cheapest ipods run for at least $300 with a 60gb storage. I know if I can get the ipod housing without the storage, and then put in my own hard drive, it will come out much cheaper in the end. So if anyone can enlighten me on all this ipod stuff, I will greatly appreciate it.

this short answer is you cant, of course it is possible but the amount of time and money it would consume isnt worth the effort.

The old ipods used 2.5" disks i dont think the new ones do, at least its not a regular 2.5" disk, the casing is too small for that, and where are you going to get the ipod housing from?

here is some more info if you are really keen

https://www.macuser.co.uk/macuser/features/67347/replacing-your-ipods-hard-disk.html

(note this wont work with the latest generation of ipod, the video one)

check out ilounge.com great ipod forum.

I don't know if they sell ipod housings without the hard drive. I was only thinking if they do sell them, then it's an option. I know with portable hard drives (laptop or pc) you can do that, so I thought maybe it's the same with ipod. From that article posted by NicP, it looks like 3rd and 4th generation ipods work this way, so this is exactly what I need. And it'd be also cheaper to get an older one, because all I need is the ability to play mp3, then hook it up to an Alpine hu with that adapter to control it from the hu. By the way, what is the current generation of ipods? 5? And how do I distinguish 3 from 4, and 4 from 5 or whatever is out now?

the current generation is 5, they play video. i cant remember the differances between the others 1->2 added the click wheel i think, most of the 4's were in color.

You cant buy the housing seperately, but you might find some on ebay with broken hard drives, more often than not its broken screens though.

https://www.scoutingaround.com/computers/ipod/ipod_generations_old.html

Why?

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

haemphyst wrote:

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Why?

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
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Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.

I was just going to mention you, auex, seeing how you are such fan of i-pods. How many have you got now? like 4 or 5 and every accessory made for them?

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I knew I was probably going to be brought up here. And I am proud to say I don't own a single ipod or any accessory for such device. I do however own a portable mp3 player for fishing, biking, or other away from the car activities(256M and holds about 20 lossless songs ripped from MY cd's). It has never been hooked up to a radio.

A yuppie device that is overkill and overpriced for what it is. Not that yuppies own them but they seem to be more of a status symbol. Sorry but who the hell needs to have 100's of hours of music with them at all times? Brake it, drop it, or damage it and all your music is gone. Not saying that it would be a total loss but alot of "time" will be lost replacing the songs.

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.

auex,

while i dont think that ipods are the greatest thing in the world, i dont even own one, i understand why they are so popular. They look nice, they work nice and they are reasonably priced.

Some people like to have hundreds of hours of music with them at once, i know i do. Theres 160 hours of music on a computer system in my car. If ipods were gapless between track transitions i'd replace my car system with a head unit and an ipod, its a hell of a lot cheaper than all the gear ive got installed there at the moment.

As for if its broken, i dont see that much "time" will be lost when all you have to do is get another ipod, plugging it in and telling it to sync. Sure you have to wait for the music to copy across but its not like you have to sit and watch it.

I have about 30+ gb of mp3, and my collection is constantly growing. It'd take about 47 CDs to get all of this on CDs, plus enormous amount of time to manage them. I think the convenience and flexibility you get with ipod is worth it. It is easier to find what I want since all of it is organized into folders sorted by artist/album/song. Why do I need so many songs in the car? Freedom. I'm free to listen to whatever I want, whenever I want (in my car). Or I could just set the head unit on "random" and never listen to the same songs twice for the next month :) What if ipod loses all my songs? I have the exact copy on my home pc hard drive, plus another exact copy on my backup hard drive, plus 1/3 of the collection on my portable hard drive...so it's not likely to happen. Anyway, I think it's worth it to me, especially when I'm going to drive for 40 hours moving from east cost to west.