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DigitalEl · Jul 9, 2003, 12:50 AM

First off, I'm not an iPod newbie. I had a 5 GB first generation model, before now. Recently I upgraded to the new third generation, 10 GB model. Anyway, on to the problem.

Recharging the battery is a hit or miss proposition. I plug it in as soon as I get home from work and generally leave it plugged in until it's time to go to work the next day. Probably once a week, I'll unconnect it and the thing will be completely dead. No bars... Press a button and the l'il battery out logo comes on the display.

At least one other day a week, it's down to just one or two bars and the charge lasts an hour or so.

If it's no longer advised to leave the iPod charging whenever its not in use, I missed it. And this was never a problem with the old, 5 GB device.

Am I doing something wrong or is my iPod defective? Also, isn't after a few hours, the "Charging" indicator on the iPod's display supposed to change and say "Charged?"

I'm running iPod ver. 2.0.1, by the way.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Jul 9, 2003, 01:03 AM

I trust the computer is on when it is charging.

icruise · Jul 9, 2003, 02:22 AM

If you're saying that it never stops "charging" then that is a problem. Why don't you try using the supplied AC adapter to charge it and see if that changes anything?

DigitalEl · Jul 9, 2003, 02:31 AM

Yep. I purposefully leave my sleep after option set to like 90 minutes... Just so the iPod will charge. This used to be fine with the old iPod.

It seems like this new one is always depleted. With the old one, if I used it all day, it'd take more than an hour to charge... But if I only used it for 30 minutes or an hour, it'd recharge very quickly. This new iPod almost never reads fully "Charged," even when left on the charger all day (waking the computer up two or three times, for good measure).

Does anyone's third-generation iPod read "Charged" after awhile and consistently?

Why don't you try using the supplied AC adapter to charge it and see if that changes anything?

So simple, yet I never thought of it. Will try that.

Link · Jul 9, 2003, 02:47 AM

lol yeah that'd be a good idea. Since I seldom use my ipod and it's plugged into my computer a lot, I've never had a prob with my 2nd gen ipod.

I'd take that ipod into an apple store and have it replaced, a friend of mine had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM with his 10gb ipod too!!!! (also gen 3)

haven't heard yet whether or not he got a new one :shrug: I think he went and got a 15gb eventually.

DeathToWindows · Jul 9, 2003, 08:09 AM

Sounds defective. See what apple will do for you.

proux · Jul 10, 2003, 02:33 AM

SciFrog · Jul 10, 2003, 02:35 AM

The iPod manual says that the battery will be at 80% after an hour and will take 4 hours to recharge completly... I roughly agree with these numbers.

DigitalEl · Jul 10, 2003, 05:55 AM

Why don't you try using the supplied AC adapter to charge it and see if that changes anything?

The AC charger worked beautifully, restoring my iPod to completely "Charged" in just a few hours. I'd think there was a problem with the Firewire ports on my G4 iMac, but I had no problems charging my first-generation iPod.

boardsurfer · Jul 10, 2003, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by DigitalEl:
...iPod almost never reads fully "Charged," even when left on the charger all day (waking the computer up two or three times, for good measure).

I am pretty sure that the iPod will not charge while your computer is asleep. I have found that it will also be depleted if left connected to a sleeping computer. strange. I set my iMac to dim the screen but not sleep. that way the iPod is ready to go each morning.

spaced · Jul 10, 2003, 01:48 PM

Originally posted by boardsurfer:
I am pretty sure that the iPod will not charge while your computer is asleep.

My 17" PowerBook charges my iPod when it is asleep.