best ipod for rockbox

[Alex M]

just overall, sq, bass, powering, video, battery,ease of rockbox and dual booting, and controls for games.  All the good stuff.
Thanks

[soap]

just overall, sq, bass, powering, video, battery,ease of rockbox and dual booting, and controls for games.  All the good stuff.
Thanks

sq:  The primary iPod failing is bass roll off.  See bass.
bass:  From what I've seen the Mini is the worst offender and the iPod Video is the closest to flat (ideal).
powering:  Don't know what you mean. 
video:  Full frame full speed on Nano.  Near full speed 16:9 on the Photo.  Half speed on the Video. 
battery:  The 60/80 GB Video has better battery life than the 30 GB video.  The Nano and Photo (you do appear to want videos (in color?)) significantly less than the Video.  http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodRuntime
Ease of rockbox and dual booting:  Identical across models 3rd gen and up.  Can't speak as to the 1st and 2nd gen.
controls for games:  Well, the Nano has a smaller version of the touchwheel which is pretty much the same since the 4th gen (Color/Photo and 4th Gray).  Obviously the 3rd gen has buttons under the screen instead of incorporated into the wheel and the 1st and 2nd have buttons next to the wheel.

[Alex M]

whoops, when I said powering I meant booting and stuff
Would you say video is most manageable on the 5g though?  Cuz I don't care to watch on a 1.5" screen.  The YP-T8 and E270 are the smallest(1.8") I've watched video on and it sucked.

[Chronon]

The frames are obviously largest on the 5g.  But you won't be able to get anything approaching full speed on it.  I would advise sticking with the original firmware for videos on the 5g iPod since then you can take advantage of the Broadcom chip. 

Why are you only considering iPods?

[Alex M]

for now I'm thinking about something with more different...idk.  I have an E270 now but I'm not crazy about the navigation.  I know you're probably gunna recommend the H1X0/3X0 or the uhh M:robe.  I should take a  look but the ipod is sleek...
I've usually figured not to go with iPods but I'm tempted.

[Chronon]

My favorite target so far has been the Gigabeat F, actually.  It's fast, responsive and has as many pixels as the 5g iPod. 

[Alex M]

if I were to give up video support, what would you say to go for?

[saratoga]

I have an E270 now but I'm not crazy about the navigation.  I know you're probably gunna recommend the H1X0/3X0 or the uhh M:robe.  I should take a  look but the ipod is sleek...
I've usually figured not to go with iPods but I'm tempted.

The Sansa and Ipod interface is nearly identical.  I think we even reuse a lot of the same wheel code on both targets.

[Alex M]

would something like one of the irivers' have potential to drastically improve SQ possibly w/an amp?  Cuz I heard one of them(the h120?)has an optical out or something like that.

[crzyboyster]

If you want to get an iPod, I would highly recommend the iPod Nano 1st generation. It is very responsive (you will find the iPod Video lagging a bit on the menus), the video playback is great, battery life pretty good, sound (in all aspects) great and it's a solid rockbox target!

Another amazing part about it is that the body of the player is tiny! You won't believe how small it is to have a full media experience!

You can also get one pretty cheap. You can get a 2 gb model from around $50!

You can consider getting a Sansa e200, which is a lot like the iPod Nano 1st gen except with a bigger screen to enjoy those beautiful wps' on. 

[psycho_maniac]

wait a moment...i thought the nano had the best bass? well to me compared to my ipod 5.5 80gb the sound from the nano was better

[Alex M]

If you want to get an iPod, I would highly recommend the iPod Nano 1st generation. It is very responsive (you will find the iPod Video lagging a bit on the menus), the video playback is great, battery life pretty good, sound (in all aspects) great and it's a solid rockbox target!

Another amazing part about it is that the body of the player is tiny! You won't believe how small it is to have a full media experience!

You can also get one pretty cheap. You can get a 2 gb model from around $50!

You can consider getting a Sansa e200, which is a lot like the iPod Nano 1st gen except with a bigger screen to enjoy those beautiful wps' on. 

will the nano sound better than the E200?

[Llorean]

One really can't say. "Better" is entirely subjective. The Nano doesn't have the the same noise issues the Sandisk does, at least, but these are only present on low impedance earphones.

[Alex M]

would these headphones count as low impedance:
MylarOne X3i
JVC HA-FX55
AKG 81 DJ
Thanks, I'm not too sure how to judge impedance. 

[Febs]

Anything below 32 Ohms or so would be considered low impedance.  The Mylars have a 16 Ohm impedance.  The JVCs are 14 Ohm.  The AKGs are 42 Ohm.