My iPod Just Blew Up

Pretty much the same happened to my cell phone while I was at the beach. Phone got hot, battery died. No AT&T store is anywhere near the Grand Strand area of S.C. Was expecting an important work call. Bought a new battery for $60 (clutching my chest in shock) from Radio Shack, and it still would only power it for a few minutes before the phone got hot and died. Got home and the AT&T folks said my phone was the only one in our family not eligible for upgrading (I'd had it for a couple of years.) Got my wife a new one, shuffled my SIM into the old phone she had, stuck my useless "new" LG phone in a drawer, and I'm back in communication with the world. I sure dislike dealing with "wireless" companies. Don't like dealing with Apple much better. But I really don't feel like starting to recount my unsatisfactory dealings with their Customer Service over the 8GB iPod Nano I bought my wife last year. It's bedtime.

Ugh. That bites. I've gone through 2 hand me downs. Finally bought a cheapo for $21 last month. I'm thinking it was a 512 or something. I didn't price out the higher ones. This one stays on the bike. My work one set me back like $250 last year. It was like an 8-gigger. Still sitting there on the desk probably, unless they packed my stuff away.

I think the shuffles are still $100 for the 1Gb. The Nanos are about $200 for 4 Gb. I need to get a new iPod myself, but have been putting it off. I have the 30Gb from a few years ago and it's as full as a tick. I started having to uncheck stuff in my library about 6 months ago and it's getting to the point now where I'm actually unchecking stuff I really listen to.

The iPod Shuffle 1 GB streets for $50. The 2 GB version is $70.

Nano 4 GB starts at around $150.

They don't make these things to last. I'm on my second iPod after a meltdown a couple weeks ago.

You know what? Once I got the new one I stopped thinking about the money and started enjoying it. iPod Nanos have games on them too, so my life is much more complete now.

when my ipod died i bought 2 of these for me and my wife-they are copies of the ipod shuffle and they work great-best of all they don't use itunes you can use any program or just drasg and drop-my only advice is stay away from the ones from hong kong(look around on ebay i got ours for 10$ and they are both 2 gig players) :D
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-1GB-MINI-MP3-BLACK-PLAYER-1G-FREE-GIFT-USB-CABLE_W0QQitemZ370077323499QQihZ024QQcategoryZ73839QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Blueline, have you used the latest version of the "reset utility"? I believe it will erase everything stored on the unit, so it's a last resort thing.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1238

Blueline, have you used the latest version of the "reset utility"? I believe it will erase everything stored on the unit, so it's a last resort thing.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1238
+1

I had the same problem last month. The buttons did not have any function, you only can use the "previous song". It was not recognized by any computer. You can not use it as a "hard disk" just for moving files.

I tried to reset with the iTunes. No. I tried to reset with the original software. No. I downloaded that utility and I tried to reset it with my PowerBook. No. With my iBook. No. The PowerMac at work. No. A couple of Linux-boxes (Ubuntu and Debian) with open source tools and some "magic". No and No.

Finally I used an old laptop with WinXP and I recovered it. Hooray for Bill Gates! :D

My Shuffle is the first version, 1 Gb, the white ones.

Good luck!

I have iPods in the various New Shuffle, old Nano and Touch flavors -- it's a biz thing. Have to say I was very doubtful about the value of the Shuffle until I received one as CES convention vendor promo gift (that corporate logo printing rubbed right off, thank you). The Shuffle is perfect for sports, travel and the city. I started using it more than the others, except the Touch, which is such a different animal given the WiFi and great screen and UI, that it is mesmerizing. Apple has done a great job of evolving these devices of the years.

I did slej. That's the utility that gave me the error message. It said something like...."Dude, call a priest, rabbi or your favorite shaman" I think Paul is correct. These things are not made to last for 10 years. I think its a Gen 1 shuffle. So I suppose it live to its expectency. Details on the funeral to be posted.

Nuno- That's the one I have! I loved that thing. :cry:

gnease, I saw the Touch...wow. Real cool stuff. Get this, one of the kids on my hockey team comes up to me and says "Coach, look at my new iPod..I get stock updates, TV, Movies and games" :shock:

Me: "How many somgs do you have on there?"
Kid: "Um, well I only have about 5 songs" :shock:
Me: "D'you know the rule about giving your coach iPods?" :lol:

I don't these things are meant to last more than two years. Good thing they keep getting smaller. Less waste.

They don't make these things to last. I'm on my second iPod after a meltdown a couple weeks ago.

I disagree about the "made to last" comment. I've had mine (5th gen video 30GB) since Christmas of 2005 and I use it daily. I have the FM transmitter dock in my car and it's in there every time I drive. I've made 8 hour trips where it played the entire time. It's been in my pocket at the gym, my computer bag at work, several plane trips, borrowed by my teenager who has broken every electronic device he's ever owned, dropped, left in a hot car, left in a cold car and rarely powers all the way down. I've had a few occurrences where it acted flaky, but nothing a quick reset wouldn't handle. My only complaint is how easily the front is scratched, it's the black one so the scratches really show up. The only reason I want to replace it is I can't fit my entire library on it anymore.

My iPod has lasted longer than my marriage to the woman who bought it for me (and who's engraving is still on the back :D ).

Nuno- That's the one I have! I loved that thing. :cry:
Me too! It was a gift. Try to reset again. You can recover it. I did some research in some forums and sometimes it needs several trials. I guess it lost the information on the flash memory. I don't think it is a bug in the software because there was several updates.

I tried also to keep connected just for loading the battery... several hours. I tried to mount it by hand. Did you check this?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302110

I use my Shuffle every day for the last three or four years. I use it on the train and bus and also when I go to run. That thing has a lot of kilometers...

Come on! Try it once! :D

gnease, I saw the Touch...wow. Real cool stuff. Get this, one of the kids on my hockey team comes up to me and says "Coach, look at my new iPod..I get stock updates, TV, Movies and games" :shock:

Me: "How many somgs do you have on there?"
Kid: "Um, well I only have about 5 songs" :shock:
Me: "D'you know the rule about giving your coach iPods?" :lol:

I like the Touch, it's basically an iPhone without the Phone, but all those gizmos limit the storage space. I think the largest Touch is 32GB, which is only 2GB more than I got almost 3 years ago. I prefer things that do one thing well, not one thing that does a whole bunch of stuff half donkeyed*. I don't want a phone that plays music and chess, I just want one that does phone calls and text. I want an iPod that plays music and has enough storage to fit every song and album I could even think about listening to.

Did you ask him how his Google stock was doing? :)

*The filter didn't catch my use of the "A" word because I put "ed" on the end, so I filtered myself.