iPod ClassicIt was inevitable. That lovely little friend known as my iPod kicked the bucket last week. I was trying to sync it up so I could listen to some recent podcasts on the road and it was fighting me the whole way.

First it synced about 4 of the dozen or so that I wanted. After a few more attempts at getting it to sync the rest, I got fed up and decided do a full reset. It meant having to re-sync every song in my library (6500 songs takes about 3 - 4 hours), but in the past, it’s fixed my issues.

Well, I think the reset was about as much as it could take. Shortly after plugging it into AC power, it stopped responding entirely to button pushes. I plugged it into my PC, it recognized it, but still wouldn’t transfer. I’ve had drive problems since a few months after I got it. It would randomly freeze and the only fix was a hard smack against the palm of my hand. I’d also done a self-install of a new battery after the original stopped holding a charge and the warranty was up.

Yesterday, I stopped by the Apple store and picked up a 160GB Classic. I’d been planning on only getting an 80GB, but I remembered Apple’s recycling program. Bring in any iPod, working or not, and they’ll give you 10% off any iPod purchase the same day. Not only did I get rid of the old brick, but I got a nice little discount. When it was all said and done, I got double the space for only $40.

My biggest complaint is that they no longer include an AC adapter in the box. Something that’s not a problem for me because I still have my old one. The other minor annoyance is that the backlight now stays on the entire time the iPod is connected to a PC or in my car whereas the previous version turned off after a few seconds.

Griffin Reflect case Update: Yesterday, I got a Griffin Reflect case for my iPod too. It’s shiny!