[dougmcarthur0]

Yo - if anyone has a clue about this I'll be really happy, or even if anyone has had the same problems as me that would be comforting too. Here's what happened ...

I bought my iPod from eBay (probably not the best idea, I know) and when I got it, the damned thing wouldn't charge using the supplied USB cable ... I left it unplugged for 24 hours to let the battery drain, tried it again, nothing, and then I left it plugged in to charge for 24 hours, nothing. The only way I can get it to charge is using a dock that plugs into the wall. The USB cable actually drains battery power from the iPod, even though the battery icon on the screen indicates it is charging.

Then, when I plug my iPod into my car charger, the songs start skipping, and sometimes at the end of a song, it will take *forever* to get to the next song .. long, long silence in between songs. Very strange behaviour!

My dad has the exact same 30GB iPod video that I have and his works fine, everything operates as expected. Did I just buy a bum unit? Is there any way to fix my problem?

If you're thinking of suggesting that I read the iPod FAQ on Apple's site, I've tried that ... I've scoured websites and forums looking for someone with the same problems but to no avail. I'm at the end of my rope here, I can use my iPod as is but it's really a pain in the ### to have to charge it using the dock instead of by USB2.0. I've seen people with that same problem before but never the problem with the car charger.

In short ... help me please! Here's my specs:

Windows XP SP2 build 2600
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ w. 1GB RAM
30GB iPod video 5G black - software vers. 1.2.1