Does Apple offer support for iPod?

Question

My son's 8 month old iPod 80 gig classic (I guess) has crashed and burned; the Apple site says the serial number is invalid, and I see nowhere on their site any way to get help.
He thinks it's more than just a dead battery.
Any ideas? PS I'm in southern Mexico, so 800 numbers aren't real helpful.

Answer 1

If you are being told the serial number is invalid, perhaps you have mis-read it. It is very small, try using a magnifying glass - I've had to do this.
Before doing that though:
Sometimes, iPods just will not wake up, which gives the appearance of being dead. A simple reset can fix this.
To perform a reset, turn the *Hold switch* on, then off and then press the menu button and the select button (the centre one) together for up to ten seconds. If the Apple logo appears, the iPod will then start up and probably be okay. If it does not, try the reset again, since Apple suggest doing this "a few times".
The other basic thing to try is leaving the iPod unplugged for 24 hours. If the iPod is "stuck" trying to perform an action and therefore unable to respond to key presses (also giving the impression of being dead), leaving it for 24 hours is usually enough to drain the battery, at which point the iPod will turn off. Only then, is it worth plugging the iPod into a power source. After about 30 minutes, you will see a "low battery warning" message. The iPod will have been "reset" and will need to be fully charged before use.
If neither of these things fix it, let us know in this thread and we'll go from there.