The hard drive on my iPod Classic from 2009 just went belly-up, and there are no other satisfactory portable music players - I need that tactile response of the click wheel and way to skip songs without having to look at a touch screen. My 128-gig iPhone 7 doesn't satisfy those needs, and I need as much space as possible. (The 256-gig iPhone is way out of my price range!)
So iFlash Solo to the rescue! I invested thirty-some bucks in this device, and then another $70 on a 200-gigabyte microSD card recommended in the description.
Final verdict: it absolutely works, and my iPod Classic is once again alive and well and playing podcasts and music like nobody's business. There's a bit BUT to it:
Installation was absolutely a beast and a half..and I'm a tech nerd. I literally went through eight plastic opening tools that the video said to use. Eight of them. They all snapped in the process. Seriously, the iPod case is attached a bit too well. I ended up having to use very thin flathead screwdrivers to pry the case off, leaving it permanently distorted (and now sealed with electrical tape). The time listed for the installation is half an hour; it took me two hours just to open the iPod.
That's the main reason I docked a star from my review.
Attaching the hard drive cable was a bit of a challenge, and in fact when I reassembled the iPod the became disengaged, so I had to re-pry the case off and start over. Battery cable is hard to put in, too; be sure to pull the black lock up as far as it will go before you slide the battery cable in!
My advice: if you like your iPod Classic but the hard drive is going south, ABSOLUTELY get this thing. BUT -- if you can find someone to do the installation for you, please do so.
