Have you gone back to the old one?
Tried both cables.
have you tried the tip of plugging in with the iPhone powered OFF and then turning on?
Yes, with both iPhone and iPod, no luck.
have you tried the other USB ports?
All three of them
and finally - you are plugging directly into the PC and not into an external hub?
Yes, straight into my laptop.
Now I I'm even getting the 'USB device not recognised' with my external harddrive. Does it sound like my laptop is dead
?