[marlor]

I have both a Walkman (for music) and an upgraded/rebuilt iPod (for audiobooks) and prefer them for a few reasons:

- They don’t use any mobile data, and work when in a mobile-phone black spot (e.g. the national parks I go to most weekends). This is the main one.

- I can store all my music on there, without needing to use any storage space on my phone.

- They last forever with some basic maintenance. My iPod was made in 2006. I’ve upgraded the battery and replaced the HDD with an SD-card, but otherwise it just keeps on going.

- I can switch EQ profiles on my Walkman super-easily to suit different music or headphones. No navigating menus, it’s done in under a second.

- Tactile controls and voiced menus on my Rockboxed iPod. I can use the device entirely without looking at the screen. Handy when driving, but also useful when jogging or cycling, any other time you’d rather not stare at a screen instead of being aware of your environment.

- I can load them up with the exact pressing of music I want to listen to. For many old albums, which have gone though a dozen re-releases and remasters, this makes a difference. In fact, for some albums I have several different releases on my player, all with their distinct character, pros and cons.

- Brilliant bookmarking in Rockbox for audiobooks. Super customisable. And dedicated players never do a software update and lose your state. It’s always ready to go, precisely where I left it.

- Car mode. Brilliant for cars like my weekender that predate proper phone connectivity. Rockbox will automatically pause your audiobook when you turn off the ignition and start again when you’re back.

- Ability to enable dynamic range compression to combat road noise. All in a few button presses, without looking at the screen.

Are they for everyone? Of course not. But all of the above things matter to me personally.

[magnetowasright]

I think you’ve covered it all here but I’ll add my slightly different use case to your list

I use iPod Classics, I haven’t tried rockboxing any, though. I’ve been meaning to but haven’t yet.

Many artists I like aren’t on all (or any) of the streaming platforms. I also still buy CDs and generally like owning my copies as much as I can.

I hate user interface changes/companies like Spotify having the ability to disable basic features on a whim

No internet, buy once/no ads/no drm, and no touchscreen are important to me. The click wheel is just so good lol

[jwong_]

What Walkman and iPod do you use?

I’ve started using my old iPod video again, and enjoying it for music, but curious on your use case for it as deviated audiobooks. How did you rebuild it specifically for audiobooks? Just toss RockBox on it?

[marlor]

Just Rockbox. I’m using an iPod Video as well. Then I set up the bookmarking and startup settings to suit. It’s very customisable.

I also generated “talk files” to voice the filenames.

My Walkman is an NW-A45 upgraded with custom firmware from www.nwmods.ml.

[aceazzameen]

I think you're selling me on upgrading my 4th gen iPod. I didn't realize you can swap out the HDD for a SD card. It looks pretty easy too! Also all this talk about Rockbox makes me want to try it.