Dead ipod

HeraldS

My 3rd gen ipod seems to have finally given up the ghost. I've had the thing for about three years and the battery isn't holding a charge anymore. I know this used to happen with the oldest versions; didn't realize it was an issue with the 3rd gen. More problematically it seems to have wiped out all 5000 or so songs I had on it. For multiple reasons I don't have many of them backed up anywhere else. Ideally I'd like to keep the ipod and replace the battery as I think the newer ones don't look as cool as the 3rd gen, but that may not be the best option. So:

-Is there a way to recover my music?
-How expensive is replacing the battery?
-Is this liable to be a recurring issue with this ipod?
-How expensive is a new 20G ipod?

Thanks.

corcorigan

Well, replacing a battery is easy. Use a credit card-style thing to open it, unplug battery, plug in new battery. eBay seems best place for batteries, they are cheap, about $10 maybe max. It can't have wiped your songs because the hard drive doesn't need power to maintain memory. Hard drive could have died though independently.

I've replaced my battery several times, then merged my 15GB with my Dad's 30GB because I managed to break my screen and he broke his headphone socket. It's quite fun.

HeraldS

Are there instructions w/ pictures anywhere? I'd hate to snip the wrong thing and worsen the situation. Also, what could cause the hard drive to fail? Any way I can test that before I replace the battery?

As far as I remember, it was working fine, the battery died, I had my brother charge it for me, and when I turned it on a few days later there was nothing there. I had to change all the settings again as far as language/contrast/timestamp/etc.

saltiness

The batteries are pretty easy to replace and should come with instructions. Basically you just crack open the ipod at the seam between the metal back and plastic front then the rest of it is pretty straight-forward. Keep in mind all rechargeable batteries eventually die. So this is not just a problem with older ipods, it's a problem with everything that has a rechargeable battery. Ipod batteries just happen to be a little annoying to replace.

corcorigan

It's possible time etc changed when your battery died, as these wouldn't be stored on the hard drive. I don't think it's possible to actually wipe the hard drive without plugging the iPod in and deleting stuff off it. If the hard drive failed I doubt the iPod would start up at all.

Replacing the battery is not difficult at all, and as has been said, instructions are freely available on the internet. Don't be afraid! Electronics are easier to replace than you might think. Be careful with those connecting cables though.

HeraldS

I can't tell you guys how happy I am to hear that it's probably just the battery and not the ipod. Do I have to use a specific battery for my 3rd gen or will any replacement battery do? Thanks.

corcorigan

HeraldS wrote: »

I can't tell you guys how happy I am to hear that it's probably just the battery and not the ipod. Do I have to use a specific battery for my 3rd gen or will any replacement battery do? Thanks.

I have always bought specific 3rd gen batteries (well, manufactured by generics but the right size, connector, voltage, etc). You can get higher capacity ones than the usual ones Apple shipped them with though, I'd do that. Last longer.

HeraldS

Cool. If you've got a specific brand or tech specs for ones you'd recommend I'd appreciate it.

corcorigan

No idea, I have always just ordered random ones off eBay... Not exactly a big investment, and they die anyway. It's just a battery. Not much scope for making an amazingly good one.

Proto

I bought a battery for my 3rd gen from here:
http://www.newertech.com/products/ipod.php

They have a instructional video on the site which makes it much easier to see how to open up the case.

My first replacement one lasted me nearly a year, but because the battery comes with a one year warranty, they gave me a new one for free.