Ipod batteries and Accessories.

[BigO1120]

Originally posted by orangeKing
has anyone changed the battery on a ipod mini 4Gb? if so how do you do it? is it hard to do?

I have a 4G iPod but I have a friend who replaced the battery for her 4G iPod from OtherWorldComputing and her iPod almost lasts 20 hours!! I am definitely going to invest in the $40-$50 in the replacement batteries. I use my iPod very frequently and I'm recharging it about ever other day.

[Derek]

I replaced the battery on my 3G iPod in 10/04 and it is still going strong. Which seems pretty good, since the iPod was purchased in 12/03.

[hedonist]

My 3G ipod battery (purchased 12/03) pretty much crapped out on me...only holding 1 hour after a full charge.

After reading a little about the Newer Technology battery replacement, sold through Other World Computing, I decided that $30 was A LOT better deal than the $106 from Apple. This is especially true since my warranty was expired and I didn't get the Apple Care.

Well, I ordered my battery online Monday and it arrived Thursday (today). After following along with their video I was able to effortlessly change the battery on my ipod. More importantly, I was able to accomplish this without ANY physical damage whatsoever to my ipod.

Of course I was very nervous, but it went as easy as the video and my ipod is currently charging.

I hope to get the 30% increase in play time that they advertise, but we'll have to see about that.

So far I am happy with everything. Just hope this battery works!

[WePod]

Just a quick question, I didn't read through all the pages, and searching for "battery" or "replacing" gives out too much results.
So, sorry for it if it has been answered:

I can only charge my ipod trough the firewire cable, is it a problem when changing the battery? I heard that when you replace the battery you have to charge it for a long time before using it, but connecting it to the computer (through the fw cable) switches on the ipod right away.
Will it cause any problems?

[lltytgbr]

Were you guys satisfied with your replaced batteries from OtherWorldComputing.com ?

I am thinking of buying one, but I've also heard very good things about the ones from http://www.pdasmart.com/ipodpartscenter3g.htm

Im not sure though, since the one from pda is so expensive.

Thanks for any help.

[hedonist]

Originally posted by lltytgbr
Were you guys satisfied with your replaced batteries from OtherWorldComputing.com ?

Im not sure though, since the one from pda is so expensive.

Thanks for any help.

Yes, I am satisfied with my replacement battery. I tried looking for a replacement battery with the largest capacity. From what I found the OWC battery is rated for 850 mAhrs, which is supposedly approx. 30% more than original Apple battery.

Other 3G ipod replacement batteries I've seen on the net are also rated at 850 mAhrs, so I guess this is the largest capacity battery currently sold for the 3G ipod.

All things being equal (which to me translates to battery capacity) I'd go with the cheaper battery.

Have fun and good luck!

[hedonist]

Curious as to the actual playing time I'd get from my replacement battery from Newer Tech I performed a crude experiment.

My iPod was fully charged on Monday, I used it from time to time through yesterday.

Today, Wednesday, I came into work and turned on my iPod and just hit play, set the volume for the middle, then hit the hold button and started a timer.

8.5 hours later, my iPod turned off.

Considerations:
1. Battery test not done on full charge, but 8.5 hours is really good considering that.
2. I have some really large files on my iPod (>100 megs, these are single track mixes) so that may affect frequency of hard disk access (more often since likely doesn't put that much into cache, though I have no idea how large buffered cache is)
3. The shuffle songs feature was turned on...Don't know if using shuffle requires more battery or not.

Conclusions:
1. replacement battery DEFINITELY has greater capacity than OEM battery.
2. due to the conservative nature of this test, the actual run time under these normal uses is likely to be longer, and may live up to the reported 30% increase in battery time.

YEAH!!!

[lltytgbr]

I have a question...is the battery suposse to be facing up...with the label and all the text showing...or down? wth only the seal showing?

Thanks.

[hedonist]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lltytgbr
[B]I have a question...is the battery suposse to be facing up...with the label and all the text showing...or down? wth only the seal showing?
[QUOTE]

*************
To be honest, I don't think it really matters. Just make sure you plug the battery cable in the correct orientation. This is made fairly clearly in the online video.

I did notice that my battery enclosure was slightly larger and less streamlined than the original iPod battery which did make the fit quite snug. Nevertheless, I managed to make the battery fit and it works beautifully.

[Sparky_92]

Originally posted by lltytgbr
Were you guys satisfied with your replaced batteries from OtherWorldComputing.com ?

Yes. I replaced my 2nd Gen ipod with the biggest battery that NewerTech sells. $40 is alot cheaper than $110 from apple.

Getting the ipod open was kinda a pain, but once I dug the tool into the back it popped open.

The battery seems a bit thicker than the original but it still closed fine though I had to put a bit of pressure the make the last "click".

Battery life is wayyyy better. I have to charge it once a week rather than once a day. They claim 23 hours of use on one charge -- I'm sure it's more than 20.

Sparky

[Channard]

Has anyone here tried using one of the 720mah batteries that you can get for a mini on a 1st gen mini? It'd seem to offer way more power than the 600mah ones mentioned so far.

[Bobbing4iPods]

THis is so pathetic but it made me laugh out loud.
go to pipingbot.blogspot.com/2005/05/things-to-do-with-ipods.html

Sorry you'll have to manually do it because the Nazis on this board won't let me post URLs!

[vroom96]

Originally posted by Channard
Has anyone here tried using one of the 720mah batteries that you can get for a mini on a 1st gen mini? It'd seem to offer way more power than the 600mah ones mentioned so far.

Well, my 1st gen mini was getting only 2-3 hours per charge and since I use it every day and was getting sick of charging it everyday, I bit the bullet and got the 720mah battery. I'll report back when I've used it for a week to see how the battery lasts. As far as doing the replacement myself, it was pretty easy. I just followed the instructions/pictures I found on the net. Since my mini is over a year old and is already scratched up, I didn't worry about putting more nicks into it while prying the top and bottom off. Just one thing of note is that the battery is a little thicker and wider than the original battery. It's a tight fit but it will fit.

Even the best of times, I don't think I got more than 6 hours out of the original battery based on the way I use it, usually more around 4-5. I certainly hope for more with this new battery. As I said, I'll report back in a week.

Update:
For those interested, I did a test of the battery. I turned on repeat and let it play through a playlist I have until the battery died. Most of the songs in the playlist are recorded at ~256kbs but some are lower. The 720mah battery lasted a little over 8 hours.

[lovepoke]

Has anyone tried using two iPod batteries in series in their iPod? It'll double the battery life but certainly void the warranty.

[Xa3]

Originally posted by lovepoke
Has anyone tried using two iPod batteries in series in their iPod? It'll double the battery life but certainly void the warranty.

No, it will not double the battery life.

But it will double the voltage level of your iPod, possibly burning out your circuits.

I doubt it can be done as there's not enough room for another battery in iPods...

-Xa3