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Cost of headphone jack repair on iPod classic?

The dock connector on my 30GB iPod Classic works, but the headphone jack seems to have checked out. Though I have an iPhone, the good battery in the iPod and desirable library seem to make the iPod a great candidate for the car. Apple Store says the repair will be "at least $100" and I scoff at their 10% discount on a new device for turning in the old one. Any ideas on a good repair site, or a worthy audio connector for use in the car?

inquisitive206 asked in Geek Week about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Gingerbread_man_small
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    Nathaniel Irons

    Places like Car Toys should carry dock connector cables which provide both cigarette-lighter power plugs and 3.5mm (headphone-style) audio-out. Here's one that converts USB and 3.5mm audio-out:

    http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10831&cs_id=1083101&p_id=6226&seq=1&format=2

    You can find cigarette lighter to USB power adaptors (monoprice has one for a dollar, back-ordered, and a bigger one for $8), so now you've got you a way to keep the iPod powered, and bypass the dodgy headphone jack.

    Mate your audio-out with a 3.5mm female-to-female converter:

    http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040109&p_id=678&seq=1&format=2

    ... and now you're ready to connect a 3.5mm cassette adaptor or FM rebroadcaster. The FM device should provide better best-case sound quality, but it'll vary depending on its competition for frequency and will require batteries, unless you find a way to run it off the same cigarette-lighter inverter as your iPod. See also:

    http://questionland.com/questions/12116-ipod-transmitter-for-car-radio

    Nathaniel Irons answered in Geek Week about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Lookalikes_small
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    A dock connector cable will give you much better quality than plugging in via the headphone jack. The caveat there is that you can't use the dock connector at the same time to charge the iPod, so it'll be running off batteries, but if you have an aux in on your car headunit, definitely consider a dock connector cable.

    This is the one I use in the car:
    http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-35508-iPod-Compatible-Connector/dp/B000J022G6

    Geni answered in Geek Week about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Img_0733_small
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    Alternately, you could keep the 30gb on a dock/stereo type thing at home like I do with my 3rd gen 40gb model that has a dead battery. I keep it on a Bose Dock and use that as a portable stereo around the apartment. I bought a cheaper, smaller 16gb iPod to run with but have since stopped using it and just use my iPhone for playing music.

    Brian Geoghagan answered in Geek Week about 1 year ago | Report
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