my original 5 gig scroll wheel ipod and a newer 10 gig solid state (not a really new super thin one)
10GB: cover off
10GB: battery out
10GB: hard drive out. apple made a few changes in the iPod design between my old 5GB and this 10GB including a new HD mounting/cushioning setup
5 and 10 side by side
5GB PCB
10GB PCB has the same portalplayer chip in the upper left and the same ti in the lower right, although the board layout is slightly different
the headphone jack/firewire port/hold switch area is a bit different as well
off with the tops. 10er on the left, 5er on the right
the 5GB scroll wheel and screen sit a bit higher off the board than in the solid state model
scroll wheels off!
the 10GB solid state scroll wheel is a nice one piece package. you can see the pushbuttons for action, menu, play/pause, forard, and back on the circuit board
...and the much more interesting real scroll wheel on the 5 gigger. the wheel sits on a very nice ball bearing and has a metal ring around the edge to provide a weighted feel and a friction surface which rides on the four white plastic columns. the wheel motion sensor is optical! the sensor is right next to the 'back' button
"where's my HD??" silly ipod, it's right there!
the optical sensor is wicked cool. note the position of the highlight bar on the screen...
...slide the screwdriver through, and the highlight bar moves up just like it should!
it LOOKED like it should work, ok?!! the HD fits just fine in the PC card slot!
back together, with swapped HDs
the 10GB cover on the left goes around the headphone jack, which made it much harder to get off than the 5GB cover
and they still work!! now I have a 10GB with a real scroll wheel (which is much nicer) and a 5GB with the solid state wheel. cool!