I know my battery life is really sucking on my 3G iPod. I get JUST enough juice to commute home and back to work (a grand total of 1 hour of use) before having to plug it in for enough charge to repeat the cycle again. On the weekend, if I just leave it “off” without charging it, it will be completely dead on Monday morning (which makes D’Arcy grumpy on the bus on the way to campus).
I didn’t realize that this was officially categorized as “battery failure” – I thought it was acceptable degradation of the battery life over time. Apparently it’s a bit more than that. If I were American, it looks like the recent iPod Battery Settlement would have me covered, and I’d either get a new battery or a deep discount on a replacement.
From the iPod battery settlement notice:
“Battery Failure” means that the capacity of an iPod’s battery to hold an electrical charge has dropped to four hours or less of continuous audio playback, with earbuds attached, with respect to the Third Generation iPod, or five hours or less of continuous audio playback, with earbuds attached, with respect to the First Generation iPod and the Second Generation iPod.
As it stands, I’m trying to figure out how to upgrade the battery on my own. I believe I have three options:
- Apple’s battery replacement program: $127CDN + $10CDN Shipping
- Newer Tech 3G battery replacement (850 mAh): $25.99US + $16US Shipping
- FastMac Online – Battery, Internal: 3rd Gen, 780 mAh, TruePower: $29.29US + shipping
I just sank $35 into some headphones to replace the iPod’s earbuds (which were OK, but sound quality wasn’t all that great), so I’m not sure I want to sink another chunk of change to keep the iPod ship shape.
Any tips or ideas? I do really love my iPod. No plans to ditch or retire it – I just want to make it last without having to sink a small fortune into it.
Update: Paul just let me know that CostCo is carrying iPod batteries! $19US for my model, for the 850 mAH model. Going to have to pick one of these up the next time I’m in the States, or nag the local CostCo into carrying these suckers…
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Try Googling “iPod Replacement Battery” and see how many options come up. One I selected, Tech Restore, was in my state (CA) and had two choices-one for $16 and another for $20. You had to install them yourself, but when I selected the $20 option, I found the replacement process fairly simple and straightforward. Now my 3G iPod has a battery thats fresh and lasts longer than the original. Didn’t destroy the music on my iPod drive either. Even with shipping costs, you can easily get a replacement battery under $25.
Small Dog has the 850 mAh battery listed here:
http://www.smalldog.com/product/46815
$29US + $7US shipping
For an extra 20 bucks, they’ll install it, too.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/BIPOD850M3/
Otherworld computing
850mAh
Those folks at batterygeek.net are at it again and have just announced the new GeekPod 100. The GeekPod is an external LiON battery pack the size of a deck of cards that will run your iPod for over 100 hours. The little battery pack is only 3.2 x 2.3 x 1 inches yet it packs a wallop of juice (6,000 mAh) for your iPod. The GeekPod will be available for shipping in the next few days for $99.95. You’ve got to love that retractable cable.
Full specs:
Chemistry: Lithium Ion
Capacity: 6000mAh (22Wh)
Output voltage: 5V
Output current (Max): 2A
Charging time: 3-4 hours
Fuel Gauge Led: 4 LED indicator
Size/Weight: 58.5×24x82(mm)/180g
Compatibility: iPod
GeekPod 100 includes:
iPod DC Charge Cable
A/C Quick Charger Compatible With All International Voltages
Retail Box & Product Manual
Free iPod, Portable DVD Player & Laptop Screen Cleaners
Free Cell Phone Antenna Boosters
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
1 Year No Hassles Extended Replacement Warranty Directly Through batterygeek.net
Sounds like a great battery, but unless it’s roughly the size and thickness of a credit card, I’m not about to lug around an additional external battery for my iPod. From the website, the battery looks roughly the size of an iPod mini (remember those
), and has a dongle-wire to connect the battery to the dock connector of the iPod.
Not exactly something that will tuck inside my existing iPod case, and without adding a Batman Utility Belt, not something that will be easy to lug around while on the go…
And, $99US for the battery? Give me an internal battery with 100 hours of life, and I’d gladly blow over a hundred clams (CDN) on it.
my mini ipod 4gb is plauing up too.if i charge it to full battery over night, after i play it for half an hour, half the battey is gone.i have only had it under a month….can i get a new ipod?
lulu, if you just bought it (assuming new, not second hand), then the AppleCare warranty is still going, so you should be able to return it as a faulty unit…
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Thanks for your post Joe regarding that batterygeek 100 hour iPod battery. Sounded interesting so I checked out the batterygeek site and noticed that they have reduced the price down to $79. They say that this same battery can also power and charge most cell phones and PDAs.
Sorry for the messy post above. This time for real.
Thanks for your post Joe regarding that batterygeek 100 hour iPod battery. Sounded interesting so I checked out the batterygeek site and noticed that they have reduced the price down to $79. They say that this same battery can also power and charge most cell phones and PDAs.
[...] I won’t say the name of the mag, in case it doesn’t get published – no need to add pressure to the writer – but I was just interviewed out of the blue by a writer for a Big Magazine (you know the one). She is researching an article on the iPod battery life issue, and found my blog entry on it. In the interest of not being used out of context, what I basically said was: [...]
For completeness, thanks to a tip from Paul Pival, here’s a link to the CostCo (US-only at the moment) page for the iPod replacement battery. It’s the same 850 mAH capacity one I was planning on buying for over 10 bucks less!
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11072744&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=20612&hierPath=79*80*20612*
Check out http://www.ipodjuice.com; they sells kits that let you replace the battery yourself. Neat tool, too – not those cheapo ones that don’t work.
The TruePower iPod batteries from FastMac have similar milliamps as other replacement batteries (much more than Apple’s batteries) but the real beauty is that even after running for 2 years, they still retain 70% of their original capacity. http://www.fastmac.com
i just got the batterygeek geekpod and quickly found out that it doesn’t charge or power the ipod while playing video. i do not recommend it
does anyone have experience with the el cheapo replacement batteries hawked on ebay? Looks like they go for under $10, are they as good as the “retail” offerings?
I would recommend the Fasmac battery. All the other batteries – newertech, ipodjuice, tech restore, and smalldog are regular li-ion batteries – in other words the cheapos you find on ebay.
They’re the exact same thing just sold by different companies with different names and will end up just like the original apple battery (
Thank too all for your interesting reviews. A few months ago I picked up the Battery Geek GeekPod 100 battery pack and this thing has been a lifesaver for me. I own a Video iPod and as far as audio run time goes, i’m getting approximately 100+ hours per charge. As far as video run time goes I am getting approximately 12+ hours of video run time per charge. I also picked up thier Foreign Travel Adapter Plug for only $10 which allows me to plug into all international outlets most importantly for me the U.K. outlets since this is where I travel to frequently. Also, just recently I lost my iPod cable and the same day I called them to get a replacement, they sent me out a brand new one free of charge which I received the very next day. Bravo to them for thier awesome display of excellent customer service.
[...] I was just chatting with Mike, from FastMac, about that iPod battery failure post I wrote up a while back, and the follow-up attempt to buy a new battery. Apparently, FastMac can ship to Canada for something like $10, express! Other guys charge more than the cost of the battery to ship it up here, but FastMac has a network of Canadian resellers or something, so it’s much cheaper. They haven’t updated the website with this info yet, so check back with them later to see what the official story is for shipping to Canada. [...]
Full details are in the review below (it’s long so I haven’t copied it here. but in a nutshell, the wrong battery sent (supposedly larger but I get less runtime than promised), no responses to emails and inconsistent behavior of the battery all make me concerned for my investment if I have any kind of true failure.
I definitely don’t recommend BatteryGeek the company.
http://www.dragonseye.com/blog/archives/52-Update-on-BatteryGeek.html
hey darcy.apple tested my ipod and saw that it was failing.when they gave it back…it was fine
Michael Harrison above is one of the most irate and irrational customers that we have ever encountered after years of building our successful business. We also suspect that he is somewhat psychotic as he doesn’t seem to want to leave us alone since October 1, 2005. He also owns a blog at dragonseye.com where he seems to find comfort in talking trash about us as well as many others. He appears to have a smoking gun as he has been doing nothing but making up lies and false accusations against us and others in addition to posting negative comments about us as well as other big companies in as well in his own blog. We have good reason to believe (from some of our clients) that he is manipulating his blog to block all positive comments about our company and that he is also making up phony negative posts against us. Please note that Mr. Harrison was offered a full money back guarantee a long time ago even long after his 30 days return policy expired however he still chose to keep his battery. We wish that he would just go out and try to get a life for himself instead of trying to broadcast negative trash about us and others however apparantly this is too much to ask of him. We believe that contrary to popular belief, the customer is not always right.
Sales
http://www.batterygeek.net
I think my blog speaks for itself and I find it quite interesting that Mr. Sales not only has to spam the internet with identical defamatory postings but doesn't have the cajones to identify himself.
Just bought a TruePower battery from a Palo Alto, CA shop (wefixmacs). Paid $10 ($39) more than fastmac had it, but the overall price difference (tax vs shipping) ended up being less than $5 so I decided to stick with it. Install was easy, now I’m charging it up so I’ll have a chance to test it in the coming weeks. From all I’ve read about ipod batteries the TruePower seems to be the best around. My original ipod 3g battery actually lasted me for 3 years of modest use so I expect even better out of this one.
If you are in the UK check out myBoomBox who do an iPod Battery Replacement Service.
Just had my iPod battery replaced by them. They turned my iPod round within a day of receipt and now I’ve got my iPod battery holding full charge again.
same to mine
been in the washer twice
but works when plugged into computer
4 gb blue nano
i have a ipod mini hehe, and my battery seems to be dying to. I charge it overnight, then play a few songs, then the ipod says ‘low battery’ and turns itself off and i cant turn it back on for a while.
any ideas? would be useful
@karrimor: going waaaay out on a limb here, but how about either a) replace the battery, or b) replace the iPod?
An iPod replacement rather than an iPod battery replacement would be better as they cost about the same. I’m happy if my iPod last a year or two and I don’t mind replacing it than because Apple is infamous for their constant dishing out of new models. Personally, I got my eyes set on a new iPhone 3G.