Question of the Day: Repair or Replace iPod?

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I get a decent amount of questions via email covering a variety of topics — Believe it or not, I try to answer everything that comes my way. I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing this sooner, but I’m going to start running selected questions and answers. Perhaps my response will be useful to a larger group, and perhaps you readers will have alternate suggestions worth considering.

First up we have a question from a long-time supporter of the site. The last time I heard from John he was debating between television models at Best Buy. We had a few back and forths and then he didn’t take my advice. Ha! This time around, I think John and I are in agreement:

I bought an 20 gig iPod 2 yrs ago but now it has some sort of – can you believe it – frown face. Apple wants $250 to “fix” it. I have all of my tunes backed up so it’s not a problem to start over. What do you recommend? Also, have you ever heard of the frown face icon on the iPod? Weird I know.


I don’t believe this symptom is unique at all. In fact a work buddy (Alexi, of PS3 fame) got a used iPod off Craigslist and has experienced a variety of issues like this.

The first step is to try reinstalling the iPod software. If you’re unable to go down that path, paying $250 for repair is insane given the pricing of current models. You could try replacing that hard drive yourself, but I wouldn’t suggest it — it requires a decent amount of effort, cash for a hard drive, and no guarantees of success. So, if we assume your iPod is junked at this point, we can try an old network administrator trick: Firmly slap the iPod on a hard, flat surface like a desk or the floor. The thinking is: If some sort of dust has gotten lodged in there and is preventing the hard drive from spinning a little gadget brutality may free it.

If neither a software restore nor hard drive “servicing” revive your iPod, it’s time to consider replacements. If you’re happy with Apple and want another iPod, you have two choices: iPod Nano or video-capable iPod. (The Shuffle is not an option.) Personally, I prefer the form factor of the Nano (I have a 4GB red one) and I think the 4GB model hits the sweet spot in terms of storage for $199. If you currently have 20GB of music, do you need to carry all of it with you at all times? And/or do you want the ability to playback (some) video? If so, the 30GB video-capable iPod runs $250… the same price that Apple quoted you for repair. With either option, you’re going to get a color screen and better battery life compared to your current iPod. Though you still won’t have a built-in FM tuner.

9 thoughts on “Question of the Day: Repair or Replace iPod?”

  1. I believe it was the Lifehacker blog that had a similar question posed. They suggested sending broken iPods to ipodresq.com for cash. I filled out the information on the website and got a reply about a week later. My 4th generation 20gb iPod was showing the frowny face as well. iPodResQ quoted me $30 for my broken iPod and even offered to send me the packaging material for free. $30 isn’t a lot of money, but if the slamming method doesn’t work, it’s 30 more dollars towards a new one.

  3. There’s definitely a market for used iPods, and Small Dog Electronics does a good business in them, including trade-in offers.

    http://www.smalldog.com/

    I’m too into instant gratification to like the idea of having to think about which bit of my music I’m going to take with me. Too much planning involved. So, I like having all my music with me on my 60GB video iPod. But, I had a 4GB nano for a while, too, and damn if I didn’t love the tiny, glossy gizmo. Just didn’t see the point in keeping both, so I sold the nano.

  5. The aforementioned slap method of repairing the iPod is more of a quick short-term fix than a cure to the sad iPod face. Mine will still periodically freeze on certain tracks, requiring more firm smacks to get ‘er going again.
    Go with the new iPod, I say. I should’ve known better than to trust that any used/refurbished hard drive would work.

  7. Dave – we TOTALLY agree on this one… and hey I still love the Plasma!! lol As always thanx for your advice!!
    Going to invest in new “iPod” like device next week. Maybe not Apple but will investigate my options…

  8. UPDATE! I applied DaveZ’s method – hard slap on the back and reformat and dang if it isnt working again. For how long I dont know but as long as it gets me through the Bar Exam I am happy!!!
    So I guess we will call it the DaveZ manuver!
    thanx again Dave!

  10. If hard drive crashed, that’s a huge losses, so we need some technical knowledge about hard disk recovry, backup, format, partition and hard drive upgrade to solve our hard drive failure problems

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