I bought a replacement 60Gb hard drive for my iPod Video locally to avoid shipping and customs costs (Canada). The drive...

Buy a hard drive enclosure. I think I'd first put the new drive in the enclosure and create the clone, then test to make sure the clone boots. After that switch the two drives. When you're done you'll have a bigger drive in your MacBook, plus a little external drive for extra storage. Of course, backup important files first and don't just rely on the clone—I had a tested, backup clone fail immediately after a clean install! Fortunately, being a crazy person, I had a second clone. :D

Have you taken a look at the console messages?

Since your computer seems to acknowledge that the iPod is there it's probably not a problem with the cable or dock connector. Could it be that the USB port on your computer just doesn't have enough power to get that completely drained battery going again? If you have a power adapter that lets you charge your iPod from the wall current that would be worth a try. If you don't have one you could go to an Apple Store or any store that displays iPod charging in a dock, plug your iPod in there and see if you get the battery charging screen. It could take a few minutes to respond, so give it a chance. Make sure it's in a dock connected to wall current and not connected to a computer USB port and not even one of those speaker system that dock your iPod. Otherwise, you might want to give us a bit more info on precisely what that error screen says.

Have you checked that the brightness is turned up? I know that sounds really stupid and you probably tried it first thing, but I once called Applecare because my Macbook Pro was booting to a black screen and they just told me to turn up the brightness. I was a certainly embarrassed that I hadn't thought to try it, but relieved that I didn't need a big repair. :D

Below are the Apple Store webpages for the memory modules they offer for the units that you mentioned. I don't see a 2.8GHz among the current iMacs, but you're probably safe with this memory regardless of processor speed. Looks to me like the memory they sell for those models are the same, so I'd say you're safe using the same memory. http://store.apple.com/us/memorymodel/ME... http://store.apple.com/us/memorymodel/ME...

I used a 2-tool approach. A metal spudger to wedge the case open just the tiniest bit and get the job started (iPod video). Then the black one mentioned above ($2.95 from iFixit) to go all the way around. The metal may have dinged the very inside edge of the plastic case, but it can't be seen except on closest inspection. Both tools have survived to make other repairs. The real trick is to be relax, focus and take your time.

It would be interesting to know whether the Levi's warranty covers this, so please let us know. You could certainly try the iron on or sewing route. The iron-on patch starts to curl away from the fabric after a few washings anyway, so it's best to sew around the edge of the patch no matter which method you choose. How are your sewing skills? Do you have access to a machine? Let me know if you would like instructions for repair by hand or machine. Having said all that, it might be that the fabric is wearing out and new holes will soon appear regardless of the repair. The denim that jeans are made of today is just not as strong as in the old days. Those old "dungarees" were stiff and tough to break in, but the fabric lasted forever. Now jeans fabric is pre-stressed to make them soft, so they are actually already somewhat worn out before we buy them. Then we put them over and over again in an "agitator" washing machine, stressing the fabric even more. (Front-loading machines are easier on clothes and use less...

I bought the same drive several months ago and don't recall whether I had any trouble adding files, but then again it's my habit to reformat a drive for mac the first time I use it. I'd suggest you go to Disk Utility in the Utilities folder. As long as you haven't any files yet on the drive you can choose "erase" and reformat the drive. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is your best choice if you only intend to use the drive with Macs. This is also a great opportunity to partition the drive if you think you'd like to have more than one partition.