ITunes syncs songs already existing on iPod

Hi All,
I have a very strange problem which I have lived with (and ignored) for some time now, but I'd actually be happy if there was a solution to it. Extended searches on Apple Discussions didn't unearth any information, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I am using a MacBook Pro together with an 80GB iPod (latest model available). The iPod is Windows formatted, since I am also using it as an external hard disk.
My problem is that whenever I sync the iPod with iTunes on my Mac, iTunes each time copies many more files over to the iPod than actually necessary. So say I have added only one folder to the iTunes library since the last sync. I plug in my iPod some weeks later and iTunes insists on copying approx. 300-500 files, although these have been in my library for a long, long time and I didn't even touch them in no way (didn't play them, didn't mess with them on a file system basis, etc.).
I suspect that iTunes determines on a file date basis, which items it has to sync to the mobile device so my assumption is there is a mismatch of file dates on the iPod as opposed to the Mac.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out a solution to this problem until now, but maybe anybody else has and can share it with me? I'd be very grateful for any hint.

Just to report back:
Meanwhile I was able to try what peterna suggested - unfortunately, no luck. I connected my iPod to the Mac a couple of minutes ago and again iTunes insisted on synching songs which already were on the iPod (100% sure).
But thanks for proposing a potential solution anyway.
I guess I'll re-format in HFS+ to see if this does the trick...

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ITunes syncs songs already on the ipod

When I connect my ipod and wait for it to upload some new songs, say for example like 5 songs, it ends up syncing songs i already have on my ipod. I noticed that all the songs syncing to my ipod are songs that have been played in my itunes library. Can anyone please tell me how to stop this?

Yes. You should not delete the music from your computer. Sync means make the iPod match the library. An iPod is to easily lost, stolen, damaged, or corrupted to be relied upon as the only location holding the media.
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As stated in the title, iTunes synced the same 35 songs every time I plugged my itouch in. (It is 39 as of today) No, I have not messed with any of the information of the songs. I resynced 4 times, consecutively, and the same 39 songs were synced each time.
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Just to report back:
Meanwhile I was able to try what peterna suggested - unfortunately, no luck. I connected my iPod to the Mac a couple of minutes ago and again iTunes insisted on synching songs which already were on the iPod (100% sure).
But thanks for proposing a potential solution anyway.
I guess I'll re-format in HFS+ to see if this does the trick...

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ITunes syncs songs already existing on iPod

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