Got dead Mini off ebay, worst case possible, how much $ to fix it?

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okay everyone,

I saw a particular listing off of ebay that got me interested. for a dead mini, it doesnt say how or why, but the case looked in REALLY good condition.
So, if i bought it, worst case scenario, what would be the cost of fixing it?
Im thinking that if the hard drive is bad im going to take it out and replace it with a compact flash card, if not, leave it in.

So ive come up with this, assuming that EVERY single thing does not work, but i need some help as this is a very very very rough estimate.

New logic board-$45-55 (ebay)
New battery $20-35 (ebay)
New hard drive (CF flash card), 4gb ($35-$60), may want bigger one, but i want to know if the hard drive it comes with works first.
Click wheel $??? Am i the only one doubting anything would be wrong with the click wheel? I dont know.
So, worst case possible $150, which is more expensive than another mini, and since nobody is looking for an imac g3 and wants to trade me (LOL, dont blame ya) But i get the satisfaction knowing i can upgrade the storage (opposed to nano)

What do you think? What should i do? I think im gonna go for it, i doubt that EVERYTHING will not work, correct me?
ive never had a hard drive ipod before, and had a horrible experience with a 1st get nano (screen cracked under hardly NO pressure, apple wouldnt fix it (it was 4 months old) because there was a very small dent in the back caused by a leather case with a button type hook that was hard to push so it dented it. Frustrating...so i spend the money to do it myself, then to find out while i had no screen for a while the battery had somehow completely drained itself and was dead. So i just said heck with it and gave it to my 12 year old brother. Hearing the news, my father immediately went out and bought him a brand new battery (which he didnt want to do when it was mine......), sure hes younger but nice to be thought of.....and its been somehow ticking away ever since, even though having another screen replacement...that one was because i went to visit and i was driving a mower and he was in a trailer and i turned to avoid the cat who darted out into the grass and flipped the trailer. come to find out his nano was in his pocket and screen was smashed. He immediately blamed it on my 'crazy driving'. but honestly, who has their ipod in their pocket while riding on a mower, with ME driving! ha. ANYWAY...lol, but after i gave the nano away i did miss it, so ill give ipod another chance.

Ok, what am i missing in the mini situation?

Thanks,
Tanner.
 
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Well the Mini's don't have hard drives in them. They are flashed based.

Hopefully the flash isn't working anymore or the battery is dead. I think those would be the two most common things. Hopefully it is one of those because if so it wouldn't be hard to fix. Even if you can't fix it you can always just sell it on ebay again.
 

dtravis7


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Are we talking iPod Mini? If so, how come my iPod Mini has a Hard Drive? In fact ALL iPod Mini's have hard drives. The Nano has the Flash memory.
 
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Are we talking iPod Mini? If so, how come my iPod Mini has a Hard Drive? In fact ALL iPod Mini's have hard drives. The Nano has the Flash memory.
Ah yeah your right. Mini's are hard drive based and Nano's are flash based. Sorry for my confusion. :)
 
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okay everyone,

I saw a particular listing off of ebay that got me interested. for a dead mini, it doesnt say how or why, but the case looked in REALLY good condition.
So, if i bought it, worst case scenario, what would be the cost of fixing it?
Im thinking that if the hard drive is bad im going to take it out and replace it with a compact flash card, if not, leave it in.

So ive come up with this, assuming that EVERY single thing does not work, but i need some help as this is a very very very rough estimate.

New logic board-$45-55 (ebay)
New battery $20-35 (ebay)
New hard drive (CF flash card), 4gb ($35-$60), may want bigger one, but i want to know if the hard drive it comes with works first.
Click wheel $??? Am i the only one doubting anything would be wrong with the click wheel? I dont know.
So, worst case possible $150, which is more expensive than another mini, and since nobody is looking for an imac g3 and wants to trade me (LOL, dont blame ya) But i get the satisfaction knowing i can upgrade the storage (opposed to nano)

What do you think? What should i do? I think im gonna go for it, i doubt that EVERYTHING will not work, correct me?
ive never had a hard drive ipod before, and had a horrible experience with a 1st get nano (screen cracked under hardly NO pressure, apple wouldnt fix it (it was 4 months old) because there was a very small dent in the back caused by a leather case with a button type hook that was hard to push so it dented it. Frustrating...so i spend the money to do it myself, then to find out while i had no screen for a while the battery had somehow completely drained itself and was dead. So i just said heck with it and gave it to my 12 year old brother. Hearing the news, my father immediately went out and bought him a brand new battery (which he didnt want to do when it was mine......), sure hes younger but nice to be thought of.....and its been somehow ticking away ever since, even though having another screen replacement...that one was because i went to visit and i was driving a mower and he was in a trailer and i turned to avoid the cat who darted out into the grass and flipped the trailer. come to find out his nano was in his pocket and screen was smashed. He immediately blamed it on my 'crazy driving'. but honestly, who has their ipod in their pocket while riding on a mower, with ME driving! ha. ANYWAY...lol, but after i gave the nano away i did miss it, so ill give ipod another chance.

Ok, what am i missing in the mini situation?

Thanks,
Tanner.

You're willing to waste money fixing an iPod Mini? Don't get me wrong, I loved mine during the 2 years I used it, but considering you can get a 4gig Nano for $150 brand new....
 
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Tanner31593
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You're willing to waste money fixing an iPod Mini? Don't get me wrong, I loved mine during the 2 years I used it, but considering you can get a 4gig Nano for $150 brand new....

Well, yes.
There is a lot more advantages of a mini vs nano (in my case), the biggest one being the ability to upgrade the storage. And i like the size of the mini better. Different strokes for different folks.
 
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Well, yes.
There is a lot more advantages of a mini vs nano (in my case), the biggest one being the ability to upgrade the storage.

Have you looked into doing this? I just tried to find info on whether doing this was possible (which there was nearly none). From what I've read the max is 8GB seagate drive thats not even on their site anymore.

Besides that have you really looked at these prices. You would be better off and 80GB classic.
 
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Well, i would like to abandon hard drives all together, so i will be using a CF card. I saw a site where a guy had a 15GB cf in his mini.
80GB is way to much for me. Id have no use of it.
And i have looked into the prices, i havent gotten it yet so im not sure what it would cost to fix it, but i did the math, and if EVERYTHING is wrong with it (which isnt true because i know for a fact that the screen works), it would be about $70.....if i do some smart ebaying (which i will) thats about $20-30 for the logic board, $10 for a battery (look on ebay, im not kidding), and $30 for the click wheel (being generous). I can spend forever on ebay and get better prices. As for a CF card, im gonna start out small to test, so shouldnt be expensive.
It doesnt seem worth it, but the mini is my favorie iPod. I had a nano, it wasnt for me. Bad on the durability side. Also whats the point of a color screen if the only thing you can do is view (tiny) pictures.
 

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