Even today, the iPod hardware is excellent and long-lasting; if you ever need a portable music player with a long battery life and that's great for hacking, try getting a 5th-generation iPod Video and upgrading it. It's fantastic: in a matter of weeks (shipping takes time), I made a 256GB iPod Video that could play nearly any format (Ogg, FLAC, WAV, MP3, etc.) and that has an over-24h (I've not been able to run its battery down yet) battery life.
Its main advantage, though, is its ease of repair and upgradeability: an amateur with a plastic pry tool and a screwdriver can do nearly anything in a matter of minutes: replace the battery, replace the LCD (which are extremely cheap), upgrade or replace its storage, replace the headphone jack, etc.
Its main advantage, though, is its ease of repair and upgradeability: an amateur with a plastic pry tool and a screwdriver can do nearly anything in a matter of minutes: replace the battery, replace the LCD (which are extremely cheap), upgrade or replace its storage, replace the headphone jack, etc.