5g vs 5.5g?

[PigMaster]

Hi,
Not only do I not have Rockbox, but I don't even have an iPod. Crazy, I know. However, Rockbox and iPodLinux seem really interesting, and I need something to store all my mp3s, so I think it's time to buy an iPod. However, the question is which one to buy? I want to either buy a 80gb 5.5g or the older 60gb 5g. I know that Rockbox doesn't run on the 80gb Video, I was wondering whether Rockbox will be available for the 5.5g in the near future or is there something wrong with it. Also, are the improvements in the 5.5g worth the extra money?
Thanks.

[bro2baseball]

There hasn't been a breakthrough yet for the 80gig 5.5g, so its hard to say. It's most definetly possible that Rockbox could be working on the 80gig within the next couple monthes, but it's equally possible that no one will be able to figure it out.
The 5.5gs have better battery life... that's pretty much it. Though I'd say that is a pretty big thing. The battery life on the regular 5g's is pretty bad.

bro2

[Llorean]

In terms of hardware improvements, the only difference is that it's more space, and possibly a different battery.

It's pretty much impossible to predict when Rockbox will come to the 80gb. There are some people showing a lot of interest in it, and working on it, and honestly they could stumble across the breakthrough this week, or this month. Or, they could be looking in completely the wrong direction, and it could be quite some time away. I *think* it's likely to be sooner rather than later, but don't take that as a statement with any real value other than my personal guess that it'll happen.

[lachlan]

I would advise you to buy a 5g. I have an 80GB 5.5 and the wait until Rockbox will work on it is driving me insane. At least if you get the 5g you've pretty much got Rockbox straight away.

[PigMaster]

Thanks for that. I'm thinking I might try and get my hands on a 5g, because although battery life is a big thing, I'll probably have it mainly for home use. I have a smaller mp3 player for taking places (and breaking).

Has anyone got any thoughts on buying a refurbished iPod? My worry with buying one of these is they might have fixed one broken aspect of the player, but the rest of it might be a year old. Hmm...yeah...

Well, I can't wait to try out Rockbox some time. I'll be back to these forums when I do.

Thanks.

[soap]

The 5.5gs have better battery life... that's pretty much it. Though I'd say that is a pretty big thing. The battery life on the regular 5g's is pretty bad.
bro2

In terms of hardware improvements, the only difference is that it's more space, and possibly a different battery.

The 5.5th generation only claims better battery life when playing videos, the Apple claimed music playback time between the 5th and 5.5th generation is identical.
This strongly suggests improvements to Broadcom chip usage, or decreased LCD/backlight power consumption, not a battery capacity increase.
As for the battery life on the regular 5th generation being pretty bad - I get ten hours with Rockbox on my 60GB player day-in, day-out.

[GodEater]

However, Rockbox and iPodLinux seem really interesting, and I need something to store all my mp3s, so I think it's time to buy an iPod. However, the question is which one to buy? I want to either buy a 80gb 5.5g or the older 60gb 5g. I know that Rockbox doesn't run on the 80gb Video.

I would also point out that that iPodLinux doesn't run on the 80GB 5.5G either - for exactly the same reason we can't get rockbox running on it - the disk access doesn't work.

[johnnyhaggis]

Do you think this is something that Apple did on purpose to thwart people develloping things like rockbox?  Isn't it strange that it you can access the disk on the 60GB but not the 80GB?  Aren't they the same kind of MK..GAH drive and motherboard?

I feel like a dork, I misread something and thought that the 80G rockbox was ready, and then I got a 80G ipod for a really great price.  But now it's just sitting in my underwear drawer and it hasn't been used a single time!  I'm still using my 40G iriver h140 that I was going to sell to make up for the money spent on the ipod!  So i have a hole in my bank account and a shiny black piece of 80G junk in my underwear!  I should have just bought an MK8007GAH for my iriver.

THe itunes tag based system is completely unbearable for me.

[lachlan]

It is something to do with the harddrive controller. Check the 80GB 5.5G port thread in the New Ports section to see the sepcifics of it.

[someone]

It is something to do with the harddrive controller. Check the 80GB 5.5G port thread in the New Ports section to see the sepcifics of it.

All this reminds me of the psp... Gets cracked all the time, but not because of a stupid hdd controller...

I also want to buy an 80 GB Ipod. (The more space, the better...).
I think part of the linuxpod thing is working a bit...

I really hope that someone gets a clue there, or I am stuck with a useless brick...

[GodEater]

We *have* got a clue. Check the New Ports thread as was suggested.

[reid]

What about buying the 80 gig hd seperate and installing it in the 5g along with the battery upgrade? Is it the actual hd causing the problem?

[saratoga]

What about buying the 80 gig hd seperate and installing it in the 5g along with the battery upgrade? Is it the actual hd causing the problem?

That would probably work, and yes the main issue is the particular hard drive Apple uses.

[reid]

The toshiba drive? Im just hoping they keep making larger 1.8 drives so I dont have to buy another ipod just hd's.