New iPod, Old Accessories

Ahh, 2002. The Patriots won their first Super Bowl, Attack of the Clones was in theaters, and the President had a run-in with a pretzel. Though it seems like a lifetime ago, 2002 was also the year I purchased my first iPod—a second-generation 20GB model that today, when compared to my recently-acquired iPod Video, looks about the size of your average doublewide. But faced with the daunting prospect of shelling out potentially hundreds of additional dollars for all-new accessories, I wanted to see if anything could be used with the latest model.

Good news for more up-to-date iPods

Before I get into my particular experience, it's worth noting that if you already happen to own an iPod model with the now-standard Dock connector on the bottom of the unit, it's quite likely that most accessories that were designed for said connector should still work identically with the newest iPods. However, one annoyance is that these new iPods (the nano and the full-size 5G models with video) will no longer sync over a FireWire connection. So while you may already have a cable with a FireWire plug on one end and a Dock connector on the other, you'll still be able to charge your iPod using that cable, but you won't be able to sync the iPod with iTunes. Whether that particular annoyance is minor or major depends on your situation; if you're stuck on a machine without a USB2 port your experience is probably going to be less than ideal. Anyway, the upshot is that most accessories designed for the Dock connector should still be usable on the latest iPods with little hassle.

And for the rest of us...

I didn't go too hog wild with accessories for my 2G iPod, but I do like to think that I have a pretty standard line-up of add-ons. Since the older iPods did just about everything through a standard FireWire port and a headphone jack (fig. 1), at first glance it would seem that one would be stuck starting from scratch with a new iPod, especially since Apple no longer ships any accessories save for a USB cable. However, being the cheap skinflint that I am, I was determined to find out for myself whether I could reuse anything I already had before I was forced to give the ol' credit card yet another workout. To my surprise (and delight for the aforementioned credit card), I was able to put most of my old iPod accessories to good use with the 5G iPod Video.

Figure 1: All the magic happened at the top of the old iPods.

The lineup

As I've already said, while not extensive, I have what is likely a pretty typical selection of accessories, some of which came with my 2G iPod and some of which were purchased later. Here's what I have and what I did (or didn't do) to use them with the new iPod:

Item One: Wall Charger
Included with the 2G iPod, this little brick plugs into the wall at one end and attaches to any 6-pin-to-6-pin FireWire cable on th other, providing power to charge the iPod.

The Problem: The new iPods get their power from the Dock connector. So obviously, I can't just plug this thing into the new one.

The Solution: I can't not have an external charger, and since Apple didn't include one with the new iPod, I made my first purchase—SendStation's PocketDock FireWire. Now, this is normally a $19 accessory, but I was one of the lucky ones who got one for free during a recent holiday promo SendStation was running. I just had to pay in the neighborhood of $6 for shipping. Score.

Anyway, the PocketDock FW is very simple, yet very useful. On one end, it plugs into your iPod's Dock connector. On the other, a standard 6-pin FireWire port. So the chain goes like this: 2G wall charger, any 6-pin-to-6-pin FireWire cable, PocketDock, iPod. Bam. Saved my wall charger. Even if I had paid the full price with shipping, the PocketDock probably still would have been worth it, as we'll see in just a moment. The one drawback is related to the new iPod and the previously mentioned inability to use FireWire to sync the unit, and therefore you can't use the PocketDock and a FireWire cable to sync the iPod with iTunes. You can recharge your iPod through a FireWire port on your computer using the PocketDock, just no syncing. Damn you, Apple!

Alternative Options: The new USB version of the wall charger, which is more or less identical to the older FireWire version, is available for $29 from the Apple Store. Incidentally, the iPod accessory section of the online Apple Store is a good resource to research not only Apple-branded accessories, but also a large selection of third-party ones. It doesn't necessarily have the best prices, but it's usually a good starting point to figure out what's available.

Current Total: $5.80

Figure 2: The PocketDock is tiny, but oh-so-helpful.

Item Two: Car Charger
I have a basic car charger that plugs into the lighter jack on one end and has a FireWire port on the other. I have no idea what brand it is (it's not labeled), how much it was, or where I brought it from. How's that for senility? I do know, however, that I used it pretty much all the time with my 2G iPod, and would like to keep doing so.

The Problem: Same as the wall charger—FireWire and the Dock connector don't mix.

The Solution: Stretching my $5.80 even further, the PocketDock saves me again.

Alternative Option: Too many to list. I'll again point to the Apple Store for inspiration, but you're probably looking at around $20 or more for a basic car charger.

Current Total: Still $5.80. Giggedy.

Figure 3: Charge on the go—the PocketDock rides again.

Item Three: Soft Case
Going against the stereotypical geek grain, I actually do work out regularly (for all the good it does me). But after an unfortunate incident on the hard tile floor of the local YMCA which resulted in me having to send in the old 2G iPod for a hard drive replacement, I haven't let that iPod out the house since without my trusty DLO neoprene case. But the new iPod is considerably thinner and has a wider screen, so does this mean I'll finally end up blowing past the $10 mark?

The Problem: In addition to the issues I just gave away in the intro, there's also the added problem of the headphone jack having moved from the center of the iPod to the side, which means one of the velcro flaps that secures the iPod is rendered unusable. Plus, the wider screen doesn't mix well with the narrower window of the case, as it's sometimes terribly difficult to navigate with part of the menu hidden from view.

The Solution: Despite the inherent problems, I'm going to stick with what I have, at least for now. I don't change playlists enough in mid-workout for the menu cutoff to be a true annoyance, and the iPod still fits snugly in the case even with one fastener disabled. Now, I can imagine a time where I'll have my act together enough to have the ability to watch a previous evening's TV shows while I suffer through yet another interminable session on the elliptical, so at that point I'll probably need a case that is actually made for the 5G iPod. But for the moment, what I already have is more than good enough for my usual workout, so it stays in the rotation.

Alternative Option: Cases are everywhere, so the options are again too numerous to list. The going rate seems to be between $25-$40 depending on the material, and again, the Apple store has a wide selection of entries here.

Current Total: We're still at $5.80, but there's probably a better than 50/50 chance of me needing (or at least wanting) a new case in the near future. So no more gloating.

Figure 4: I thought my old DLO case would fare the worst of my old accessories, but it works surprisingly well with the new iPod.

Item Four: Car Adapter
Originally, I got so much use out of my Griffin iTrip that I couldn't imagine ever being without something similar. Over the years, though, I've come to really dislike the entire concept of the FM transmitter (though I do really like Griffin's implementation of it). It's difficult to find a free station, especially in urban areas, and even when you do, the sound quality usually falls somewhere between "stinks" and "sucks." Be that as it may, though, if I could use my original iTrip, it would still be a handy item to have around.

The Problem: It doesn't work. Sure, you can plug the iTrip into the new iPod (it's off-kilter, but this worked with my old iPod if I wanted access to the FireWire port at the same time), but since the new iPods don't route any power through the headphone jack, the iTrip is dead as a doornail.

The Solution: I have to admit defeat on this one, and the solution seems to be to purchase another solution. I must say that the iTrip Auto (reviewed here) seems an attractive option, but at $70, it's a little more than I want to spend on what I consider to be an inherently hassle-filled technology. At the very least, I'll probably be looking at just another base model iTrip, which would run $50.

Alternative Option: If you still have a tape player in your car (which I don't, dag nabbit), I'd definitely look at a cassette adapter. The sound is wildly better than an FM transmitter, and you can usually pick one up just about anywhere for $10 or less. In my case, I may investigate whether I can add an auxiliary jack to my existing car stereo and plug the iPod directly into that. However, I'm considering the auto solution to be relatively low priority, as my recently found affinity for sports talk radio and the fact that I'm not in the car as much as I used to be are both major factors.

Current Total: Depending on what I do, I'll either still be at $5.80, or I'll be somewhere around the $60 mark (with shipping) at least. Still, though, not too shabby, considering I could easily be between $100 and $200 if I started over from scratch.

Figure 5: No power, no dice. Guess I'll be looking for another car solution.

Mission (sort of) accomplished

For moving from a 2G iPod directly up to a 5G video version, I'm actually kind of shocked that more of my ancient accessories didn't get lost in the shuffle. To date, I've actually only spent around six bucks, though that total will probably go up in the near future. However, the moral to the story is clear: even really old accessories can be adapted for use with newer iPods, so you don't necessarily have to budget in a few hundred extra dollars to go along with the multiple Benjamins you've already laid out for the new iPod itself. The requisite your mileage may vary applies, of course, since there are a world of accessories floating around out there and I touched on a scant few of them. In any event, it never hurts to experiment, so see how far you can get with what you already have. Good luck!

Filed under: Feature on January 3rd, 2006

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