PDA

View Full Version : Maximize your iPod's Battery Life


anonymouse187
11-15-2006, 05:33 PM
Your iPod's battery is a lithium polymer that's rated for 500 or more charging cycles. (A charging cycle is a full discharge--that is, when you run the battery all the way down until it has no charge left and follow it with a full charge.) If you recharge your iPod's battery every other day, 500 charges should last you the best part of three years (though some claim you'll get only about 18 months). If you recharge your iPod's battery less frequently, there's a good chance the battery will outlast the hard drive. Here's how to get the longest life possible.

Don't let the battery die completely
To get the most life out of your battery, don't let it discharge fully--that is, don't run it until it's dead. However little you use your iPod, recharge it fully at least once every three weeks to prevent the battery from going flat. If you go on vacation for a month, you should take your iPod with you and recharge it during that time. (But you were going to take your iPod with you on vacation anyway, weren't you?)

Reduce demands on the battery

Play your music by album or by playlist, rather than hopping from one track to another. Remember that your iPod can cache an album or playlist to minimize the time the hard disk is spinning. But when you ask your iPod to produce another track it hasn't cached, it has to spin up the hard disk and access the song.
Use AAC or MP3 files rather than WAV or AIFF (Mac users only) files. Because WAVs and AIFFs are uncompressed and, therefore, much bigger than compressed files, they prevent your iPod from using its cache effectively, so the hard disk has to work much harder.
Minimize your use of the backlight or turn it off completely. To control the backlight, go to Settings > Backlight Timer. Here, you can designate the amount of time you want the backlight to remain on (2, 5, 10, or 20 seconds), set it to Always On (not recommended, obviously, for saving your battery), or for maximum conservation, just turn it off.

SOURCE: http://help.cnet.com/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2505120&tag=tip-2505120

NumbNutz
11-15-2006, 06:15 PM
Wow i didn't know that 500 thing. but yea I charge it everyday when i get home from school and shit..

anonymouse187
11-15-2006, 06:16 PM
Wow i didn't know that 500 thing. but yea I charge it everyday when i get home from school and shit..

Neither did I, it is a let down on their hardware. Very disapointing. Although, I'm sure there is a way to take them apart and buy new pieces from radio shack or somewhere else.

WindowsOS
11-17-2006, 08:14 PM
Yes, you can replace the battery

anonymouse187
11-18-2006, 07:50 AM
Yes, you can replace the battery

IF you still have your 1 year warranty, they will replace it. Other than that, you would scratch your ipod up badly when trying to take the case apart, then you have to go through the hassel of finding the right battery, it isn't as easy as goign to the store and buying a battery and unscrewing your ipod and putting the new one in it.

KatanaGFR
11-18-2006, 11:40 AM
thats why i just use a MP3 player, to hell with IPOD and all that other brand bullshit. You'll get fucked over every time you buy stuff liek that and the company's are laughing about it...

anonymouse187
11-18-2006, 12:17 PM
thats why i just use a MP3 player, to hell with IPOD and all that other brand bullshit. You'll get fucked over every time you buy stuff liek that and the company's are laughing about it...


I will choose an iPod over any other portable media player. All the other ones are just too big. The Zune doesn't look too bad, its a bit big but I like MS so I would consider it; alot of people do not like it though.

KatanaGFR
11-18-2006, 12:54 PM
i have a small 1 Gb player, and that suits me fine for my music while sporting... And i have a bigger 250GB that i use when i have to travel alot.. Thats enough for me.

anonymouse187
11-18-2006, 04:40 PM
i have a small 1 Gb player, and that suits me fine for my music while sporting... And i have a bigger 250GB that i use when i have to travel alot.. Thats enough for me.

250GB? Do they even make a 250GB media player? If so, link please.

KatanaGFR
11-18-2006, 05:39 PM
I think i got 1 zero to many.... I ment 25 my bad.... :S
I wish i had a 250GB...

anonymouse187
11-18-2006, 05:58 PM
I think i got 1 zero to many.... I ment 25 my bad.... :S
I wish i had a 250GB...

So do I, I would run Windows on it.

KatanaGFR
11-19-2006, 05:13 AM
yeah that would be awesome..

But since the topic is about battery life, here's another preservation tip.
rechargeable battery's will die eventually, you can make there lifespan a bit longer by putting them in a plastic bag and seal it so no moisture, air and water can come through in it. Then put the bag with battery's in the fridge and leave it there for about 24 hours. Then get the bag out fo the fridge and leave it warming up to roomtemperature for atleast 2 days, just to be sure that there isnt any frozen liqiuds in the battery anymore.

If you have done it right your battery is "reset" and will have full charging power again. DO NOT put the battery's in the charger while they are still frozen!! Explosions might occur...

NumbNutz
11-21-2006, 08:19 PM
Does that really work? How would freezing a battery make it new?

Haze
11-21-2006, 10:12 PM
leaving your backlight off on your iPod makes the life of the battery like 10x longer than using the backlight on alot. With one of the newer iPod updates they allow you to change brightness while watching movies. You can easily save more battery by just turning down the brightness so its not at 100% (I think thats default)