iPod 5G/Fiio E11 (and questions)

I am currently running Rockbox on my iPod 30GB 5G and it sounds good to my ears. I wanted to get some suggestions from the community as to what upgrade path I should pick.

The HD is still good but has a few bad sectors and reallocations(bad blocks,) per the Apple on-board diagnostics.

I will be replacing the hard drive and the battery pretty soon. Now I have a couple of routes I can take;

• Replacing both with the stock parts. ($50)
• Using an iFlash adapter to go with CF memory. ($60 for 32GB) ($160 for 64GB) (+$10 battery) (+$20 iFlash)
• Upgrading the components of the iPod to support the parts to that of an 80GB 5G. ($110)
• Going with a completely different DAP to go with the FiiO E11 ($??)

The CF route seems the most desirable since it will allow me to use a bigger battery (at the same time gaining battery life by getting rid of the spinning hard drive) and also allowing for the option of doing a iMod/dyiMod. The bad part is that it is also the more expensive route. Another con is that I might mess up the iPod by doing the dyiMod.

The modest approach would be to go with the stock battery and stock hard drive.

The different approach will require that I buy another LOD and it is to get a new player.

The silly (I think) approach is to replace the components on the iPod to have a 80GB (which would be cheaper to just buy a used one.)

I am looking for suggestions and ideas that will help me make the best decision. I don't really need anything more than 30GB but more is never bad...

I will be using this setup for my Ultrasone Pro900's (work/home) and for portable cans/iem's I will be buying. Is the dyiMod worth it?

Here are some pics to make the read worth it...

Any input would be appreciated.

What do you guys think my best choice would be? My HD is failing and my battery life isn't as great...

I am torn :-(

I definitely want large storage to hold my lossless music.

Having to manage two disks (internal and SD) on a Sanza is annoying, can't really deal with that.

I am not sure I want to spend 150 on this old iPod... (100GB) but the capacity makes it look good.

I am not sure if there is anything else out there that would cost ~150 and have 100GB of capacity.

Thanks!

I ended up ordering a 120GB hard drive for $60 and a battery for $10. Hopefully the iPod lasts...

I believe newer drives such as the Samsung 120GB (HS12YHA) I purchased are more efficient. I think that the 32CF is ~$60 and too expensive for the size you get. I payed $56 for the 120GB, a ratio that I am more comfortable with   

I tried the 120GB HD out and the transfer rates were really slow, about 25KB/s. Fortunately, my boss' 80GB classic had a failing HD and I was able to sell and install it for him. The transfer rates were 30MB/s on his iPod.

I guess it doesn't really work on the 30GB iPod 5th gen.

 I will wait for the X3 as well.