iNeed a new iPod

[badseed1980]

Well, it's not just the battery anymore.

The night before last, when I put my battery-depleted iPod into the charger, it made the little beep and the whirring sounds that mean, "Ah, fresh power! I'm turning on and charging now!" The screen, however, did not come on. It has not come on since then, even when I rebooted the device. Note: I really seriously doubt that I managed to somehow accidentally turn the screen contrast all the way up or down, or anything like that. The lock was on when the battery died, and the screen had been on prior to that. So, it looks like it's time to get a new iPod, not just a new battery. I really doubt I'm going to be watching a whole lot of video on my iPod, but if I have the ability, I might do some. My whole iTunes library is not all that big. It's definitely under 50G, probably under 40G. Any advice, lovely friends list people? Some thoughts I've had are:

1. My options are probably a) buy a brand spankin' new 120G iPod for assloads of money ($249); b) buy an Apple-certified refurbished iPod, either the 80G ($169) or the 120G ($209), for a slightly smaller assload of money; c) buy an iPod of some description on eBay. Recommendations?

2. I definitely want an iPod classic, not a shuffle or nano. I like the ability to have all (or at least the vast majority) of my music on there at once.

3. Are there any things I should be aware of, like a particular generation/style/whatever that has flaws of some kind?

Thanks for any help and advice!

Comments

[pir.livejournal.com]

Poor old iPod.

The screen is connected to the motherboard with a flat cable and a push in connector. If that's come loose the screen would go off... worth checking.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

sometimes you can't do a proper reboot without SOME charge as well.

is it worth going to apple [store] and making sad eyes at the genius bar to see what they do?

3rd party batteries might be possible if otherwise it's working, but i'm sure you know that :)

a refurb is certainly a good option for the money.

the solid state models have a certain utility i suppose.

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[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

It can charge, but even when it says it's fully charged, it doesn't hold enough of a charge to play more than, say, an hour's worth of music or so.

I've determined the iPod can sync with my computer, so the hard drive works, but the screen doesn't. The reason I'm hesitant about spending money to get this thing working again is that I don't know if this is the beginning of the end or not for it. It's a third generation that's taken a really severe soaking that caused it to malfunction for a day or two until it dried out, but it's given me issues from time to time since then. In addition to the ongiong problem with the battery life, it's occasionally refused to charge at all, and now this screen thing.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

it sounds like it might be worth taking apart, resetting connnectors, and cleaning, if nothing else. if THAT works, a new battery. worst case, new ipod. best case? new ipod and give the old one away, or use it for "severe duty". does sound like you got some values for it.

related: i just bought a battery for an older appliance for $12 - woot and while i'm in there, reseating the screen cable will happen...

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[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Well, worst case is cost of new iPod plus cost of failed repairs. I can't do 'em myself.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

ifixit.com ?

but yeah, i hear ya. some repairs just aren't worth doing sometimes. (ask me how i know for valuable coupons!)

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[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure I could get the parts, but I couldn't do it myself, so I'd have to pay for labor too, to get someone else to do it.

[j4yx0r.livejournal.com]

I'm with everyone else on the repair option. The instructions aren't that tough to follow but if you're understandably nervous, maybe a tech-savvy friend? Wish I was around for you.

If you do end up getting a new iPod, you should take into account that some of your peripherals may not work with it (such as the charger). The newer models don't support firewire anymore and that makes some of the older peripherals incompatible.

~j

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's all you tech-savvy people who are going, "Oh, repair it! It's easy!" Easy if I know what I'm looking at and can diagnose the problem and figure out what part(s) I need to replace, sure, if I can even manage to get the thing open without breaking it. Oy.