I recently bought a broken iPod from a guy that had posted on Craigslist. The guy described the problem to me and I recognized the issue as what was outlined on many a web forum. The iPod hard drive was showing signs of the dreaded “Click of Death.” I decided I could handle fixing that problem.
After I got the iPod I opened it up to investigate. I removed the hard drive and noted the model of the drive. After a little research I found the same model available at eWiz.com. I got the drive in the mail a few days later and popped it into the enclosure. I loaded the software from the iPod Update application and unplugged the iPod. The iPod booted up and worked like a charm.
Broken 40 Gb iPod, $50. New hard drive, $125. Total cost for a new(ish) 4th generation iPod, $175.