How I Got a $20 iPod

Two years ago was the first real Christmas I spent with my daughter Z. She'd only been back in my life for a few months and we were all still feeling our way through the new 'family', but I really wanted to make an impact and had very little concept of what to get a 9 year old girl for Christmas.

I ended up dropping something like $400 on a (then) just released 60G video iPod. All of the other adults in her life thought I was nuts, but she still uses it regularly two years later, so I'm guessing I did pretty well. My major concern wasn't so much whether she'd lose or damage it (after all, that would be a lesson learned), but that her mother would "steal" it from her. You see, her mom's a music junkie (yet another area we're polar opposites) and I was pretty sure the iPod would end up being used more by my X then by my daughter. So I worked out the only solution I could: I dropped another $150 buying her mother a used fourth generation iPod on eBay! It worked, for the most part. But it didn't take long for me to get iPod envy. Despite my general lack of music listening, the world of podcasts amazed me and I wanted to take part. Almost two years later I finally have a 20G iPod of my own - and this one only cost me $20.

How did I pull that off? Well, it was much easier than you might think.

I managed to get my paws on a broken iPod (they can regularly be found for under $20 on eBay). It wouldn't charge, wasn't recognized by the computer or iTunes, and would only display either the Apple logo or the 'sad' iPod icon. So I did a little research and took a shot with buying a replacement battery from iPod Battery Depot. I figured if it didn't work I'd still have a spare battery for Z's iPod if she needed one in the future. Well, obviously, it worked. It did take a little babying, three or four restore operations, and a complete rechargethrough a borrowed wall charger, but now it's working great!

So, if you've been craving some iPod goodness of your own just ask around and see if any associates have a 'dead' iPod they'd be willing to donate to you, then find yourself an online replacement battery shop and take a little risk. Now if I could only get Z off the bubblegum pop "music" that so many 11 year old girls love...