iPod Ultimate iPod Classic 7.5 gold 256gb

[robPOD]

Hi All,

I have not posted for a long time but I thought I would share a recent hobby project of creating my ultimate iPod with you all. I have had a broken classic sitting in my drawer terribly scratched up and with a water damaged logic board for a few years.

I desperately wanted an iPod again and saw on amazon they are going for upwards of $500 USD new! I didnt want to drop that much, and knew it was time to breathe life into my old beaten up classic.

I ended up basically creating a new iPod the only original non replaced parts are the Scroll Wheel (lol) and internal metal skeleton. I figured I could basically buy all the parts from the internet at a discount to the price of a new one, get a cool custom result and have a little fun on the way.

I used one of Tarkans excellent SD/CF iFlash adapters, I also ordered one of the great value PNY 256 GB SDXC cards from Amazon. It required a trip onto my Linux box to get it formatted and playing nicely with OS X.

I also managed to crack the screen while opening it up so ordered a new one off iFixit along with a new headphone jack, new original space grey front cover and battery.

After poking around on various websites I saw a replacement back cover that caught my eye. An aftermarket gold U2 back cover (looks fantastic, and yes I know they never made one!) sourced from Alibaba.

I managed to find a cheap and original replacement Logic board on Tao Bao.

After about 2 hours of fiddling with screws, and an hour or so more getting the drive formated I finally had my franken ultimate iPod.

I spent around $280 USD getting it all together.

Hope you enjoy the pics and fire away if you have questions.

Cheers,
robPod

 

[vmaniqui]

Nice..... it is truly an ultimate iPod Classic. looks good and built better than the original one as it's flash drive ipod. congrats.

 

[DVDRAMMER]

Nice job. Should post pics of different stages of build.

 

[z31fanatic]

 

[yly3]

Congrats ! It certainly looks cool. I cannot wait to do the 1TB upgrade for myself.

Unfortunately, I have decided to sacrifice looks to using a case on my 7.5G.
I just got my old broken 7.5G replaced by Apple for 150$ with a new refurbished one and I think it was as good it can get to actually buy a "new iPod Classic straight from Apple" in 2015. I put immediately a case on it because I intend to keep it for as long as I can.

From the SQ standpoint, the 7.5G is finally closer to the 5/5.5G one... The 5G is still better but with only 15-20% if I had to estimate, whereas the 6G iPod from 2007 was terrible.

I sacrificed the 5G (my fav) because I needed the album view UI from the Classic, the one with thumbnails, it helps SO much when you want to find a particular album, where as on the 5G I always had to go back and forth and try to select the right album.


edit: the 7.5 also has a bigger buffer of 128mb if I remember right which will help a lot in those 500-1TB iPods with huge libraries.

 

[robPOD]

Image

LOL thanks,

I just got my old broken 7.5G replaced by Apple for 150$ with a new refurbished one and I think it was as good it can get to actually buy a "new iPod Classic straight from Apple" in 2015. I put immediately a case on it because I intend to keep it for as long as I can.

From the SQ standpoint, the 7.5G is finally closer to the 5/5.5G one... The 5G is still better but with only 15-20% if I had to estimate, whereas the 6G iPod from 2007 was terrible.

Wow I didnt realise you could get iPods replaced by apple? Did you just walk into the store and they sorted you out? If so thats fantastic. SQ is fairly good, I think with a nice amplifier it works it to a similar result as it would on a 5th gen. Good luck with your 1TB upgrade

 

[rgarjr]

edit: the 7.5 also has a bigger buffer of 128mb if I remember right which will help a lot in those 500-1TB iPods with huge libraries.

It is uncertain how much RAM the 7G has. It is definitely faster when dumping tunes into it than the 5G.

 

[9699624]

Hi All,

I have not posted for a long time but I thought I would share a recent hobby project of creating my ultimate iPod with you all. I have had a broken classic sitting in my drawer terribly scratched up and with a water damaged logic board for a few years.

I desperately wanted an iPod again and saw on amazon they are going for upwards of $500 USD new! I didnt want to drop that much, and knew it was time to breathe life into my old beaten up classic.

I ended up basically creating a new iPod the only original non replaced parts are the Scroll Wheel (lol) and internal metal skeleton. I figured I could basically buy all the parts from the internet at a discount to the price of a new one, get a cool custom result and have a little fun on the way.

I used one of Tarkans excellent SD/CF iFlash adapters, I also ordered one of the great value PNY 256 GB SDXC cards from Amazon. It required a trip onto my Linux box to get it formatted and playing nicely with OS X.

I also managed to crack the screen while opening it up so ordered a new one off iFixit along with a new headphone jack, new original space grey front cover and battery.

After poking around on various websites I saw a replacement back cover that caught my eye. An aftermarket gold U2 back cover (looks fantastic, and yes I know they never made one!) sourced from Alibaba.

I managed to find a cheap and original replacement Logic board on Tao Bao.

After about 2 hours of fiddling with screws, and an hour or so more getting the drive formated I finally had my franken ultimate iPod.

I spent around $280 USD getting it all together.

Hope you enjoy the pics and fire away if you have questions.

Cheers,
robPod

Image
Image
Image
Image

well that came together nicely! would you be able to share a link as to where you got the backplate from? I'm currently trying to refurbish my 7gen classic and can't find a decent backplate from any site.

 

[yly3]

LOL thanks,



Wow I didnt realise you could get iPods replaced by apple? Did you just walk into the store and they sorted you out? If so thats fantastic. SQ is fairly good, I think with a nice amplifier it works it to a similar result as it would on a 5th gen. Good luck with your 1TB upgrade

Yes, basically if you want to do it I think you need to hurry. I think they basically are using the stock they have left for the warranty replacement for the people who bought their iPod Classics from Apple less than 1 year ago.

Only the Late 2009 are compatible with this "offer".
What I did is go with my broken iPod Classic Late 2009 and tried to "fix" it by Apple. They said they don't fix them anymore BUT I can buy a refurbished replacement (the same thing as when they were giving you a replacement iPhone) for 150$ and give them my old iPod.

Honestly, what I would do right now is get the most beat-up iPod or dead from eBay for like ~50$ and "buy"a new from Apple for another 150.
It's cheaper anyway than the 250$ Apple used to charge for it and certainly cheaper than the 300-500$ Amazon is asking for a new one.

This is of course, if you are interested into future proofing and wanting to get the most "freshest" components directly from Apple.
If you don't care you can just get one from eBay.


I thought it will last, but my iPod has only 63mb left ... Just when I wanted to load the William Orbit discography.

 

[robPOD]

well that came together nicely! would you be able to share a link as to where you got the backplate from? I'm currently trying to refurbish my 7gen classic and can't find a decent backplate from any site.

Here you go, fits a 7th gen no problems:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Spec...for-iPod-Video-30-GB-for-iPod/1995741966.html

 

[jakefloyd]

Very nicely done! Are there any tutorials or step-guides you used to do this?

Also, would also love to see some process shots as well.

 

[chillywilly]

Great custom iPod classic build. Looks slick.

 

[martindforsythe]

Hi All,

I have not posted for a long time but I thought I would share a recent hobby project of creating my ultimate iPod with you all. I have had a broken classic sitting in my drawer terribly scratched up and with a water damaged logic board for a few years.

I desperately wanted an iPod again and saw on amazon they are going for upwards of $500 USD new! I didnt want to drop that much, and knew it was time to breathe life into my old beaten up classic.

I ended up basically creating a new iPod the only original non replaced parts are the Scroll Wheel (lol) and internal metal skeleton. I figured I could basically buy all the parts from the internet at a discount to the price of a new one, get a cool custom result and have a little fun on the way.

I used one of Tarkans excellent SD/CF iFlash adapters, I also ordered one of the great value PNY 256 GB SDXC cards from Amazon. It required a trip onto my Linux box to get it formatted and playing nicely with OS X.

I also managed to crack the screen while opening it up so ordered a new one off iFixit along with a new headphone jack, new original space grey front cover and battery.

After poking around on various websites I saw a replacement back cover that caught my eye. An aftermarket gold U2 back cover (looks fantastic, and yes I know they never made one!) sourced from Alibaba.

I managed to find a cheap and original replacement Logic board on Tao Bao.

After about 2 hours of fiddling with screws, and an hour or so more getting the drive formated I finally had my franken ultimate iPod.

I spent around $280 USD getting it all together.

Hope you enjoy the pics and fire away if you have questions.

Cheers,
robPod

How do you identify a gen 7.5 ipod? I know they are all 160gb, but are there any numbers on them that will tell?