Originally Posted by Wharbone
I had a similar problem. Happened about 1 year and 1 months after I got it. Luckly I purchased AppleCare for it.
Took it to the apple store last Friday and they gave me a new one. I would reccomend AppleCare to anyone getting an iPod. I've always had a good experience with Apple's customer service.
an easier, more cost effective solution is to not buy a hard disk based portable media player in the first place.