What to do with a broken iPod?

[yesthattom]

Ok, I've done a month of testing and my original-style 10GB iPod has a bad hard drive. It's the $255.95 kind of repair, not the $99 battery type.

So the question is: Do I spend $255.95 on the repair, or do I spend $299 plus sales tax ($316.94)? If I buy a new one, do I sell it broken on eBay, or to I pay to have it repaired and sell it as "like new" on eBay?

Comments

[ex-mommabear187.livejournal.com]

I say:

write it off as an end of lifer, and buy a new one.

spending money and seeling it won;t get you anywhere but the same point it would have been if you wrote it off.

[xeger.livejournal.com]

Good question. I've got the same problem with mine. I suspect that I'll end up paying to have mine fixed, because I like the older setup better. I don't have to worry about carrying around a dock to charge it, and it runs happily off of a standard and easily available firewire drive.

FWIW, I've got instructions on how to open her up and what sort of drive to swap in, if that has any bearing on your decision.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

You don't have to worry about a dock, just, um, the fancy cable.

Which probably doesn't change your conclusions anyway, but I thought I'd point that out.

[origamislayer.livejournal.com]

You don't need the dock to charge the new ipods. You can just hook the connector directly into it. I've just brought the firewire cable and the AC adapter with me on trips.

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

Indeed, the new 10GB model doesn't even come with a dock at all, or the inline remote.

[xeger.livejournal.com]

Heh. Fair 'nuf. I try to stay away from any cable that I can't buy at a comodity computer store, having had a few... uh... irritating momments as a result of fancy cables ;>

buy a new iPod by mail order ...

[sierra-nevada.livejournal.com]

... and save the sales taxes by buying from an out-of-state company. Since it's a small item, I bet the shipping cost won't eat even 50% of the savings.

-Erik

Re: buy a new iPod by mail order ...

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

Being that I'm leaving my job, I don't think spending $400 is an option right now. I think I may just go music-less for a while. I'll add a 20G iPod to my Amazon wishlist and think good thoughts.

Re: buy a new iPod by mail order ...

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

Smalldog.com is in Vermont. ;)

Also, of note is that as of today the low end for new iPods (well, regular iPods) is 15GB at the $299 price. The new iPod mini is $249, but is only 4GB. It's also about half of the size of a deck of cards.