http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

what do you think?

I already knew thatr ipod's battery was irreplaceable, but heck dead after 18 months ! A shame for apple who promote the quality of theirs products !

Soren

The video is a great way to express the frustration, communicate the message, and maybe even get Apple to rethink!

I didn't know about this, but it has put me off getting an iPod and especially put me off getting a high spec one!

Fairy

They now have a battery-replacement service for about $100... still coming from Apple, should last longer than 18 months... I, myself, bought a 20gb iPod last week, and I'm very happy with it.


http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5112066.ht...ml?tag=nefd_top

Hi,

This page has another point of view on this issue:

http://billpalmer.net/com000047.html

I suggest you to read it before drawing your own conclusion.

Regards.

Great article, Leolo.

pd: Same Leolo as the one in the profastpath.com forums?

it is too much for a battery if you ask me ... 100 bucks ...

Personally I think that this is still poor support for a product that isn't cheap... £250 in this country. That's a lot of beer!

Given my experience with getting Palm products replaced and Rios replaced in the past this is poor. Luckily in the UK there's an obligation to get a reasonable working life out of a product no matter what the warrenty also under EU regulations, if the manufacturers warranty is less than 24 months you can claim warranty rights from the seller for 24 months after purchase.

I know in America people are used to things like 90 days but to me that is unreasonable, fair use life time should be proportional to what you pay.

For example, if my Audi develops a fault when 3 years old that is due to manufacturing defect and not my abuse or reasonable wear I should (and would) get it fixed by Audi.

Fairy

http://www.ipodbattery.com

Gee.. replacement batteries for sale.. and at only $50..

But the thing that stuck out for me was that the new slim style has 30% less capacity than the older model!! Does this result in 30% less playtime?

Sounds like that should be a dirty little secret, rather than that a rechargable battery lasting less than a year and a half.. as if most rechargables wouldn't typically last about that long... or less if you use them daily and don't take best possible care in charging and storing like many won't..

Ah well...

Looked up battery type life for Lithium-Polymer (old style) and Lithium-ion (new style) and they usually quote "300-500" charge cycles.. it shouldn't just die then, but YMMV..

So I stand by my estimate.. daily heavy user, and 1.5 years is about what you should expect.. so buy another one and a little screwdriver and DIY. If you use it that heavy, buy the AC adapter instead.. and don't whine!

Think these guys were totally aiming at self-publicity, or clueless, or both.. They should go into modern politcs, they'd fit right in...

nice that we got 2 years of "warranty" in EU :-)

also if parts are replaced you get another 2 years :-)

Yes, I'm the same person And I'm still hoping that some day Telefonica will implement fast-path in adsl lines! (with God's help, of course)

Do you also have an iPod?

By the way, there's one thing I'd love to know about the ipod battery: Why is it bad to completely discharge the battery? Sometimes I've left my ipod sit unused for a few weeks and I'm afraid that the battery was drained completely in those occassions.

Does that mean that my battery has been damaged because of that?? Will it have now a shorter life as a consequence?

Kind regards.

yes, I also have an iPod, bought it last week

Hm, shouldn't harm it I guess, IIRC manufacturers recommend to do a full charge cycle (charge - then discharge completely) before leaving the device unused for a long time. So I guess a discharged battery isn't that "bad". But I could be wrong...

And, you're the first person I've met in 2 diferent forums el mundo es un pañuelo. (Sorry, couldn't find the English equivalent of that, it's.. "how small the world is" or something)

For the record I've had my first gen iPod (and it was refurbished so has a longer life), and have had no battery issues in a couple years. Still seems to have the same play time as first.

Also I thought discharging the batteries was not recommended by Apple. I tend not too and also don't charge overnight.

And yes the 3rd gen batteries went from 10 to 8 hours of expected life. Also from Lithium Polymer to Lithium Ion.

My understanding is that it isn't old vs new, but L-ion has a bit better capacity. L-polymer's advantage is you can get them shaped to fit whatever space you have.. so you can generally end up with a smaller total case size (like ipod). The down side is that custom shaping generally means you can only get replacements from the device manufacturer.

The specs on the battery life of 3rd gen (current) vs. 1st or 2nd gen is like this:

1st or 2nd gen: about 10 hours
3rd gen: 8 hours

The "real world" usage is somewhere around 4-5 hours typically for most people with a 3rd gen. I bought one a month ago. In order to get the Apple spec of 8 hours, you have to:

- turn off backlight
- turn off all alarms
- turn off sound check (crappy Replay Gain copy)
- turn off EQ
- play a set of tracks without touching the iPod until the battery dies

If you are using the EQ, shuffle or the backlight at all, as well as using the menu to change songs every now and then you will never get close to 8 hours. And don't use high bitrate AAC/MP3 or WAV files, instant battery killer (not many tracks will fit in the 25MB buffer). All my tracks are AAC 192kbps. I use the EQ and change tracks manually every so often. I keep the backlight and all alarms off and I get somewhere around 5-6 hours. Of course the backlight is the biggest battery killer. I really wish Apple had designed it like a mobile phone, with a changeable battery, so I could have a couple extra batteries around. Belkin makes an add-on 4 x AA "backback" battery case for the 3rd gen, but at 60 USD, it is way overpriced for something as simple as a battery holder. Oh, and you get a set of standard AA batteries with that too. I have come to realize that anything made for or associated with the iPod is way overpriced. Even a decent case will run 50 - 80 USD, and no I don't count those cheap rubber/silicone covers as a decent case.

For me, battery life isn't really an issue. My walk to work is only 15 minutes, although I would like to have more battery power for transcontinental flights, which I make several times a year. I charge it every 3 days, on average. That includes an hour or two of listening at work most days.

If your iPod battery life shit out, wouldn't you want to have a completely new one? Because the tiny weeny h/d in there has gotten its wear and tear and that thing will most likely crap out before your second replacement battery does. Isn't this something to keep an eye out for too?

did you uhhh...test this?
I actually did test my 3rd generation ipod
charged it full
backlight was off (yes that is the big sucker on the battery)
soundcheck on
eq on
played tracks I felt like playing
and some games too
was on and playing music through entire 7.5 hour flight and then some
and still had about an 1/2 of battery life left.
"real world" time is about 8 hours unless you really like turning on the backlight all the time.
</offtopic>
I actually have a friend with a 1st gen ipod 5gb
still working fine with 8-10 hours of battery life..so I think that these guys were really overreacting when they said ipod batteries only last 18 months.

Guess what, you don't get a device that small by using AAs.

First of all, Apple never said the battery dies after 18 months they just said the unit was out of warranty so replacement would not be free. So plastering that message everywhere was a bit irresponsible. Second, Apple has announced AppleCare (their extended warranty) is now available for the iPod. 2 years of coverage retails for about $60.

AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod

There are always going to be isolated cases of faulty products. Should Apple have made an exception for this person? Maybe. But the misrepresentation of this issue is irresponsible. Just my humble opinion.

This story supports my decision to buy only AA/AAA powered portable devices. Digital camera, mp3 CD player, flash based mp3 player, cordless telephone, radio scanner, GPS receiver, cordless headphone...
NiMH cells are relatively cheap, high capacity and can be easily and quickly charged in modern battery chargers or sometimes in the unit itself. In case of emergency you could allways buy non-rechargable cells as a last resort.
[edit] OK I must admit sometimes you don't have a choice: Cellphones use their own batteries and I've seen no AA powered HD based audio players yet.