apple will once in a while post refurb'd 3d gen ipods on their site. if i recall, the refurb'd 10gb goes for about $169, and comes with apple's warranty. BUT, it's very rare that apple will have any for sale. they put me on a "call list" about 6 months ago and they still havent called me.
i honestly think they have a deal with some ebay vendors because i see them selling the refurb'd on ebay for well over apple's $169 asking price

 

Wow this griffin iTrip looks nice! No batteries, a wide range of frequency choices, small, no cords. Same price as the belkin. This looks perfect! thanks mrforgetable!

I guess the only advantage to teh belkin is that it can be used in any portable music device where the iTrip is only iPod.. but really, that's ok.

 

Ipods irreplaceable battery only lasts 18 months...


http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

 

Wrong. The battery is replaceable, both through apple and other websites.

http://www.info.apple.com/support/applecar...od_service.html

http://www.ipodbattery.com/

 

i think what the guy in the video meant was that the battery dies after 18 months then you have to replace it. but replacing it means you'll have to end up purchasing a new battery, which means spending extra $$ when you've already dropped $300-400 on an ipod. i think that's why that guy was pissed off.

 

I think the video was made before Apple started offering a battery replacement program. If you watch the video, you'll hear an Apple tech support guy tell them it will cost them $250 to replace the battery because that is the blanket repair cost for any ipod problem. There have been independent websites up for a while that have offered replacement batteries. A lot longer than it's been since that video was made. Maybe those guys should have spent five minutes on google before spending hours making a video. It was still pretty funny though.

 

Well, I can't view the video from work - but if somebody's worst complaint is that a replaceable lithium ion battery only lasts 18 months - well, I think somebody needs to get a life!

My cell phone rechargeable battery needed replacing, my laptop rechargeable battery needs replacing - I've already replaced my S2000's lead-acid battery, in fact.

And good lord! Alkaline batteries need replacing too!

Anyway, I've had my 2nd gen 10gb Windows based iPod for quite a while now and I'm very pleased with it.

 

I love my 30 gig Ipod. Changing the earbuds to Sony's best made a huge difference (forget the name, but $50 to $70 price). These seal deep in the ear and the bass is incredible.

I ripped most of my tunes at a very high bit rate and my one complaint is routing the output into my car's Alpine Aux input nets significantly muddier tunes than MP3 CD's.

 

that battery thing is crap, there's a huge thread on slashdot about it. apple's replacement battery costs $99, pdasmart.com will do it for $69 and has a DIY kit for $59.

 

in any case, how much do you think you spend on AA batteries in a year for a discman or something? I bet if you kept all your reciepts it would be more than $99.