Rotten apples

I'm having problems with my iPod. Again. Worse, my warranty expired nine days ago.

This is the third iPod that my wife and I have had in the last two years. It's also the third that has developed problems within or just outside the one-year warranty period. The first was a third-gen iPod, the second was an iPod mini, and this is a fourth-gen iPod. I'm now getting seriously pissed off.

My wife took the damn thing to ACT today to see if they could do anything to help. They were great when we had problems with her mini, arranging for a replacement with no charge, even though we bought it in the US. However, that was still under warranty. Today my wife was was told that Apple prohibits them from dealing with malfunctioning iPods outside the warranty period (why?), so we've been given a 1-800 number to call instead.

The main problem is that my iPod is now only holding its charge for about an hour. But on a couple of occasions in the last month, it refused to turn on until I did a forced reset. My PC is also occasionally refusing to recognise it.

Is it worth the cost and hassle of trying to get this thing repaired? If not, what should I buy to replace it? With reliability like this I'm loathe to give any more money to Apple, but are any of its competitors any better? And would I have to rip my entire music collection again?

Comments

[Marcus on 26.01.06 at 04:52]

SmokingGun,

Yep no problem. I know a few other people on the Island who are into Linux. I learnt all I know (which still isn't that much) over the last year or so, and know lots of places/people which help people who are new to it.

Billy,

Will do. Drummy Boy is actually my favorite Army track.

Steve,

Still finalising that at the mo. Had a load of interviews over Christmas and a technical phone interview last night.

Big Bad Wolf
Thanks for the comment on my blog.
I hope my reply answers your question.

[SmokingGun on 26.01.06 at 11:31]

Uncle E - In a round-a-bout way. Sort of like Johhny Barnes waving as you pass him by.....

[Kate on 27.01.06 at 16:42]

Limey

Listening to podcasts may be your problem. The iPod photo has problems with some podcasts, have a look at the message board on the apple site (not their own help info). The podcast problem was what started the downfall of my first iPod to die. It has something to do with mono podcasts which most spoken word seem to be. There is no problem with stuff from audible.com but other mono podcasts cause weird problems - I can't claim to understand it myself!