I just bought an Innioasia Y1, which is an iPod classic clone for $50.
Put an unofficial Rockbox port on it and installed a 512gb micro SD card. Ignoring the mediocre DAC and comparatively unresponsive click wheel it’s pretty good. I finally have my entire music library with me again and look at my phone less often (both of which were goals of getting an mp3 player again).
I was big into mp3 players 15-20 years ago and used Rockbox on all of them so this is really nice especially at the price point.
PS: They are working on a Y2 that improves upon a lot of things. The Y1 was marketed as a kids device but is awesome with Rockbox on it and went viral the past few months.
Just gonna leave this here: https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-digital-m500
Neat!
I have a U2 branded iPod… Whatever generation those were that I found lying in the gutter years ago, cleaned up and still works (screen’s scratched to shit but it’s still readable). I just use it to store pictures.
I bought one of those used for my daughter a couple of years ago. It was quite the hassle to replace the apple firmware win with rockbox, but it’s been working well since then. It’s copy and paste mp3s now instead of using apples spying bloatware just to get a few files onto the device. The battery is not great but still lasts a couple of hours after 15(?) years.
The clickwheel ribbon cable on my iPod mini broke a couple of weeks ago, so at the weekend a friend of me very kindly donated his own mini to me, so I’m back on my iPod bullshit.
iPod gang rise up.
Oh, and if you’re using Linux, or don’t want the hassle of installing iTunes, TunesReloaded seems to be a genuinely great tool.
I really should get around to refurbing the 5th and 7th gen Classics I have too. They’re more versatile than the mini. But the mini is by far and away the easiest to flashmod.
I have a 3rd gen nano, it’s used everyday. Battery is still fine. Now to charge up my Zune HD.
Breaking news: A journalist just discovered that the thing he stopped using while still functioning normally still functions after a lng time left in a drawer.
Actually not that common for battery powered devices
Not to brag, but this is my mp3 in 2026:
It plays wonderfully. But only works with Windows XP for transfers…
https://gnomad2.sourceforge.net/
Amarok or Rhythmbox will also work if you just setup the device as an mtp device.
I had a red Sony Walkman E395 when i was in middle school. Not the most high-end player but it was good and I’m still mad it got stolen.
I still have a functioning iTouch but Apple sucks and the older iTouch isn’t able to do the neat tricks.
My wife still blames me for advising her to buy this instead of an ipod. It wasn’t as easy to use inho. It was drag and drop in file management and didn’t require software, but… ok?
I’ve used both, and highly prefer this over any of the ipods of the generation. This is partly because of the drag and drop, but mostly because it didn’t gaf whether the mp3 came from itunes or ripped with Audio Grabber. Ipods all cared, and I had to trick them into playing Audio Grabber files by encoding them to m4a. Absolutely bonkers.
I was so sad when mine died. It only lasted 5 or so years.
I charged up my gen 2 shuffle very recently as well, but got the spicy pillow treatment instead. RIP to a real one!
I wonder if apple still provides battery replacement for it.
Apple does not, but you can still get them for cheap: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod+Classic+Battery+Replacement/561
Eh, I’m over it. It was cool to see it again, but it really did not play nice with modern Macs.
Apple products are great. The Apple ecosystem, not so much. If you’re into FOSS computing and FOSS media formats, you’re not going to have a good time.
Rockbox runs on apple ipods. Best thing to do is always buying a device compatible with open source software if you plan to use it fir years on end.
Is all your music in opus?
mine is in flac
And the battery didn’t bulge a few hours after a full charge?
Doubt it.
And the battery is an absolute nightmare to replace on any of the Nanos…
I find the nano to be the easiest. The itouch is the hardest
The regular iPods (non-classic) are the easiest IMO. No glue, no flipping over mainboards and no soldering. The iPod mini is actually the first modell I ever did a battery swap on and it would be just as easy, if it wasn’t for the trim pieces that break way too easily.
I did the ipod classic first and that was very scary just because it was my first. But yea soldering is intimidating if you.dont know what you’re doing and don’t have the right equipment.
Jealous yours works. The battery on my 1st gen 2gb bloated and killed the screen. But apparently there was a recall on them years before, so I sent it in to apple and they sent me a 7th gen 16gb, which I still use. At the time it just felt like an upgrade, but now I kind of wish I just fixed the 1st gen
Recently resurrected a nano; it’s 20 years old. Works fine, but I haven’t done the music transfer yet.
My full size iPod though won’t boot. Just clicks and reboots constantly. I think the hard drive is toast.
Replace it with flash, bonus battery life too.
I still use my iPod mini plugged into a music centre of the same vintage. I don’t update it though, its lovely having my 2004-5 music capsule.
I miss my Zune. Best music player ever.
My wife’s still works to this day. Amazing UI
Your wife do any squirting? Runs away
Same
