iPod with USB 1.x or FireWire syncing

[GGD]

I'm much more familiar with the progression of Apple's computer products than their iPods, and need some advice on which iPod would work for this situation.

One of the kids has a 30GB iPod that seems to have finally died, it was the first 30GB model, with the touch wheel and 4 buttons above it. I'm interested in replacing it with another hard drive based iPod, with more than 30GB.

The computer that it's being used with is a 900MHz G3 iBook (USB 1.x), running 10.4.10.

Looking at the current generation iPods, they list USB 2.0 as a requirement.

So the questions are.

Will the current version actually work (slowly) with USB 1.x, or is USB 2.0 an absolute requirement.

Do any of the current models still support FireWire for syncing and charging like the original iPods? Maybe I missed something reading the specs.

If none of the current hard drive based iPods will work with a G3 iBook, what was the last hard drive based iPod that supported FireWire for syncing and charging, maybe it's still available as a refurb.

I'd rather not be forced into a computer upgrade in order to replace an iPod.

Thanks