Don't let the iPod battery die on you. Learn how to take care of it

iPod Battery FAQ

One of the common complaints is the apple ipod battery problem. Many users claims that the iPod battery life is short and many users had to end up with ipod battery replacement. With thousands and thousands of iPods being sold everyday, there will bound to be a small percentage that ends up with defective batteries. To address the concern about batteries, let us look at the FAQ below:

Q1. What is the expected daily charged expectancy of the iPod battery?
1st to 4th generation iPod: 8 hours
5th generation iPod (iPod Nano/Video): 12 hours
1st generation iPod Mini: 8 hours
2nd generation iPod Mini: 18 hours
1st generation iPod Shuffle: 12
1st generation iPod Photo: 8 hours
2nd generation iPod photo: 15 hours
2nd generation iPod photo: 15 hours

Many factors can, of course, influence this. Under good conditions, you should indeed get around the specified hours of battery life on a new iPod. This amount varies with age, usage style, and other factors, such as music encoding format, backlight use, etc.

Q2. What kind of battery is used?
The iPod uses a lithium ion battery. The first and second generation ("non-dockable") iPods use a Sony UP325385 A4H 3.7V 1230mAh lithium ion polymer battery. The third generation ("dockable") iPods use a 3.7V 850mAh lithium ion battery. The iPod mini uses a Sanyo EC003 lithium ion battery.

Q3. How can I optimize the battery's life?
Always make sure iPod has the latest software from Apple, as engineers may find new ways to optimize battery performance. For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. In other words, use your iPod regularly.

Set the iPod’s hold switch when you aren’t using it. This will prevent iPod controls from inadvertently waking up iPod and using unnecessary power.

Backlight: Setting the backlight to “always on” will significantly reduce your battery life. Only use the backlight when necessary.

Equalizer: Adding EQs to playback uses more of your iPod processor, since they aren’t encoded in the song. Turn EQ off if you don’t use it. If, however, you’ve added EQ to tracks in iTunes, you’ll need to set EQ to “flat” in order to have the effect of “off,” because iPod keeps your iTunes settings intact.

Use Compressed Songs: iPod’s cache works most efficiently with songs of average file sizes (less than 9 MB). If your audio files are large or uncompressed (including AIFF or WAV format), you may want to compress them, or use a different compression method, such as AAC or MP3, when importing them into iTunes. Also, consider breaking very long songs or tracks into shorter tracks that have smaller file sizes. If you encode your music at 128 kbps, your iPod will fill its cache about every 25 minutes.

Q4. What happens if I have a battery problem?
The iPod warranty is one year including the battery. If your iPod battery perform at last than 50% of it’s stated capacity, you can get it replaced at: http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/battery.html. You can also extend the iPod's warranty, including battery coverage, to two years with AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod.

Q5. Can I service my own battery if it is out of warranty?
The iPod is not meant to be self-service. However, there are third parties out there that sells iPod batteries including the tools to open the iPod. If you are adventurous enough, you can ipod battery replacement yourself.

You can also approach iPod battery replacement professionals. Check our recommendation.

Q6: Are there external battery kits?
Yes there are. They basically uses AA batteries to extend the play time for the iPod. You can do a google search and find many good brands in the market.

Well, we hope this has been useful information for you. Do take time to check out the recommended solutions above. Teach the above tips to your friends or simply forward this article to them. And watch out for our other tips that are coming your way shortly.

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