iPod Ipod Music transferral to new macpro/dead pb

Good afternoon! I have just today purchased a macbook pro to replace my 12 inch powerbook which has died. I had many tunes on that powerbook which still reside on my ipod. I would like to transfer the music from my iPod (third generation iPod, I believe, 80 gig, had it for three years now) to my new mac pro and asked at the apple store if they would do that for me. The guy that was helping me claimed that it wasn't possible but I know it must be as other people must have this same dilemma. I LOVE my tunes and I LOVE my new mac pro and just, basically, want to get my life back the way it was. I did read an earlier post where someone asked how to transfer their music but the advice was to plug the ipod into their old computer and tell it to manage the music manually. I can't do that as the old computer is fried and I don't want to erase the music on the iPod by just plugging it in to the new computer. Many, many thanks in advance to anyone that can give me simple, straightforward advice on how to accomplish this so I can get my mac stuff talking to each other again! Bridget