Diagnose My iPod, Please

[pilsbury93]

The other day, I was using my iPod as I would normally when suddenly random lines and bars of varying colors started appearing on my screen and my music stopped.

Now, my iPod will rarely respond to me resetting it.
7/10 times that I do reset it, the random lines and bars show up as it is turning on, rendering it useless (controls/screen/etc. stop working as far as I know).
The other 3 times, it will come to the Home screen only to start the random lines and bars a short time later or will tell me that I need to connect my iPod to iTunes.
The iPod is not recognized by my computer except for the 3/10 times that it comes on correctly and often starts the bars and lines as soon as it is connected to the computer. iTunes does not recognize it when this happens.
I have gotten iTunes to recognize it a few times, at which point I tried restoring to factory settings, to no avail. Halfway through the restore it tells me there has been an error and the bars and lines appear.

I have had my iPod Touch for a little over a year (about a month longer than it's warranty lasted, of course.)
It is a 1st Gen. with 8gb capacity.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[soratheultima]

did you maybe drop it once or put a bad file * virus etc* into it? or maybe its just shake sensitive or whatever you call it

[pilsbury93]

I've dropped it a few times, but never did it fall a serious enough distance to actually harm it.
I hadn't put any files on it for almost 3 weeks prior to it messing up, so there should be no infected files on it.
Shake sensitive?

[studogvetmed]

Sounds like a serious hardware issue.

Could be a loose cable. Never assume that a "non-serious" drop isn't serious. A drop at the wrong time can be very serious. The lines and bars suggest that something in the graphics proccessor of the iPod could be wonky.

If you can't restore it's difficult to rule out software as the issue, and actually if it can't restore it almost implies a hardware issue.

There are a few iPod repair outfits out there that may be able to repair your iPod. I recommend iresq.com for quick and nice service.

[pilsbury93]

I say the falls weren't serious enough to matter because I haven't dropped it for over 3 months and it's worked perfectly up until now.

I was kind of hoping that it was just an issue with the LCD because that wouldn't be too difficult or expensive to fix. If it's something else... well there's not really any way of knowing.

Do you think it will be reasonable to get it fixed or should I just buy a new one?

[kornchild2002]

Even drops that old can cause something. They may not affect your iPod right away but the drop could always loosen something. For example; my 4G 40GB iPod experienced a hard drive failure due to physical damage. The damage occurred when I dropped my iPod onto a carpet floor right when it was spinning up and reading a song. The iPod seemed fine as there wasn't any data on the part of the hard drive that was damaged. Then, after syncing more content to it, I discovered a bad area of the hard drive and then my iPod completely died.

So a drop now does not always immediately cause damage. As for getting a new one, it all depends on how much repairing yours would cost. I see that you have a 1G 8GB iPod touch. You can pick up a used 1G 8GB iPod touch for about $175, a new 1G 8GB iPod touch for about $200, a used 2G 8GB iPod touch for around $200, and a new 2G 8GB iPod touch for around $215. So I would get your unit replaced only if the costs are $50 less than the cost of a new/used 1G/2G iPod touch. The screen is actually a rather expensive repair. The iPod touch screen is not like other iPod screens. It is large, made of glass, and can receive data (ie input).

Go ahead and e-mail one of those 3rd party repair companies and see how much a repair would cost you. They won't be able to fully answer your question but they can give you estimates based on what needs to be replaced. Ask them how much a new screen would cost, how much a new logic board would cost, and so on. Just know that they may charge you to actually look at your iPod. That is the only way that you will get an accurate price quote.

[studogvetmed]

iresq.com has a great offer for $30 to mail in your iPod and they will diagnose the problem and give you an except repair quote. I believe the $30 can be applied to the repair costs if you choose to go through with the repair.

[rabazzo]

Hey there,

got the same problem:

Here I originally wanted to link to a Flickr-Set, but "New members are not permitted to post images or links."
Hmmm. If you are interested, go to Flickr and look for the username "franco_rabazzo".
Then you will see some pics of the damage.

Most interestingly the damages changes over time and seems to be reversible...

Hope I will be able to post pictures almost every day...

Try to keep you updated...

Greetings from Germany,

rabazzo

[ReyZero]

Hey there,

got the same problem:

Here I originally wanted to link to a Flickr-Set, but "New members are not permitted to post images or links."
Hmmm. If you are interested, go to Flickr and look for the username "franco_rabazzo".
Then you will see some pics of the damage.

Most interestingly the damages changes over time and seems to be reversible...

Hope I will be able to post pictures almost every day...

Try to keep you updated...

Greetings from Germany,

rabazzo

Copy pasted your answers, cool, and reviving old posts, even cooler.