New iPod Troubles

Ok. Old ipod (6th generation) died - the button broke. I went and got a new one, and brought it home. I plugged it in, and for a second it looked like everything was working - iTunes automatically turned on and all that. I even got to pick the language of my ipod. I then realized that nothing more was happening, and saw that the screen had gone dead, iTunes didn't recognise that anything was plugged in, and nor did windows. There has been no change since, no matter how many buttons I press... So, any ideas what has happened, and how I can fix it? I've booked an appointment at the apple store, but it's not 'til some godaweful hour on Thursday and quite franky I'm fed up of that place - I feel like my iPod(s) have used up way to much of my time recently, and really, I just wanna be able to listen to music while I'm on the bus.