Discontinued iPod Classic Sells on Amazon

Vintage is the new black, and folks are lining up to get their hands on the recently discontinued iPod classic—on sale via Amazon(Opens in a new window) for upwards of $490.

After almost 13 years on the market, Cupertino in September removed the iconic MP3 player from its online store.

When the first iPod launched in October 2001, it sold for $399 and promised 5GB of storage. Now, collectors (or technophobes) can pick up the 160GB, seventh-generation portable music player for almost $500.

The device holds up to 40,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 200 hours of video and promises up to 36 hours of music playback or six hours of video playback, when fully charged.

Of course, its 2.5-inch color LCD with LED backlight and 320-by-240-pixel resolution may feel like peering into a mouse hole when compared to Apple’s biggest smartphone, the iPhone 6 Plus ($129.97 at Walmart)(Opens in a new window).

But interest in the iPod classic is more about nostalgia, anyway. Just plug in a pair of padded headphones, crank up Lifehouse, and it’ll feel like the new millenium all over again.

When Apple discontinued the lineup this fall, CEO Tim Cook said the company simply no longer had access to the necessary components, and a redesign would have been too demanding, The Guardian reported(Opens in a new window).

Since Cupertino took away the toy, suddenly everyone wants to play with it again, and the U.K. news site reported that more than 3,000 models of the final iPod classic version, released in 2010, have sold on eBay since this fall. Some never-been-used devices are being sold for as much as $1,000(Opens in a new window).

Used versions are also available via Amazon(Opens in a new window), for a more reasonable $250 or so.

For more, see PCMag’s review of the iPod Classic (160 GB) and the slideshow above.