iPod dead ipod

[susannahyork]

My 3g, 30gb ipod died last night, apple store confirmed it this morning...
I bought it the day the 3g came out, so about 2 1/2 years ago. Has anyone else had an ipod die? How long is the average life span? I had to replace the battery a while back. Not sure if I want to go with the current 5th gen, or wait for the successor.... what do y'all think?

 

[bankshot]

Out of curiosity, how did it die? Just won't come on anymore? Mine is about a month younger than yours, and still going fairly strong. I had some major disk problems earlier this year, but a reformat after zeroing all data seemed to fix it pretty well. The battery probably only gets 3-4 hours now, but I almost always use it in the car with a charger anyway. No big deal.

If you've been happy with your iPod and can afford a new one, I see no reason not to get one. Personally, I'll be trying to hold out for one that properly plays albums without gaps between tracks, but I suspect that'll be a long time (Apple clearly doesn't care). If that's not an issue for you, go for it.

 

[susannahyork]

reason for death...

i believe my hard drive is the reason. I was having trouble getting the ipod to connect to my powerbook(which is also old...500mhz from 2001) my computer said it could not read the ipod, when i ejected the ipod it nolonger showed any of my music. So my entire library is lost. I tried rebooting the ipod, and it went dead. This morning I was able to reboot it, but itunes still couldn't read it... interestingly, when I open the ipod on the desktop (it did show up there) it still showed a word doc. that I put on it last week. anyway, the mac store turned it on, rebooted it, it went dead, they opened it up but said they couldn't do anything, and they said my hold button was broken.

so basically i need a new ipod.

 

[MmmPancakes]

There are a lot of complaints about the ViPods and Nanos scratching, so beware. If you don't mind lots of scratches and scuffs, dive in.

If I were you, I would consider buying a nice 4th gen. Both the B&W and color models are GREAT devices. Excellent battery life, etc. Apple has some great deals on refurbs. For $249, you can get a 40gb 4th gen color, complete with warranty. e-Bay also has some great deals. You can pick up a gently used 20gb for $150-200.

 

[bankshot]

i believe my hard drive is the reason. I was having trouble getting the ipod to connect to my powerbook(which is also old...500mhz from 2001) my computer said it could not read the ipod, when i ejected the ipod it nolonger showed any of my music. So my entire library is lost. I tried rebooting the ipod, and it went dead. This morning I was able to reboot it, but itunes still couldn't read it... interestingly, when I open the ipod on the desktop (it did show up there) it still showed a word doc. that I put on it last week. anyway, the mac store turned it on, rebooted it, it went dead, they opened it up but said they couldn't do anything, and they said my hold button was broken.

This sounds very similar to what mine was doing earlier. You might try reformatting before giving up completely:

Connect the iPod, open Disk Utility, click on the iPod's icon in the sidebar. Go to Erase, click Options... and check Zero all data. Then format it as Mac OS Extended. Finally, run the iPod Updater software and restore the latest firmware.

This worked wonders for me, might be worth a shot.

 

[susannahyork]

This sounds very similar to what mine was doing earlier. You might try reformatting before giving up completely:

Connect the iPod, open Disk Utility, click on the iPod's icon in the sidebar. Go to Erase, click Options... and check Zero all data. Then format it as Mac OS Extended. Finally, run the iPod Updater software and restore the latest firmware.

This worked wonders for me, might be worth a shot.

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I will try that tonight...

 

[iDM]

I bought the 3rd gen 20gig that if my memory serves me correctly, in late Sept whatever day they released the Rev. A Powerbooks. I did not treat the battery very well and made the mistake of charging it when it was fully charged(i didn't think that it got fully charged so quickly) therefore it never got anywhere near the rated amount of time, especially not after you factored in the issues they had with the 3rd gen's original battery. I therefore replaced the battery this summer and i started getting amazing time in between charges for about a month and a half until it was stolen from my apt.. Therefore it was going on two years and going very strong at that, i can only hope the person who lifted it ran into Harddrive problems and hopefully had battery acid leakage while in his front pocket that resulted in severe/fatal burns, or caused him to wander into oncoming high speed traffic.

P.S. I'm not bitter btw.

 

[bankshot]

... until it was stolen from my apt.. Therefore it was going on two years and going very strong at that, i can only hope the person who lifted it ran into Harddrive problems and hopefully had battery acid leakage while in his front pocket that resulted in severe/fatal burns, or caused him to wander into oncoming high speed traffic.

P.S. I'm not bitter btw.

I hear ya. My 4th gen iPod photo was stolen a couple months ago (full story here), which is the only reason why the 3rd gen is back out of retirement. I have had many similar thoughts...