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goldendove · May 14, 2006, 01:41 PM

Is it possible to own an iPod for over a year without

a) having to spend $70 to replace to battery?
or
b) buy the brand new iPod that just came out?

I am thinking about buying a nano but am extremely skeptical becuase i owned a 4th gen 20gb for about a year and now the battery is absolutly dead; apple will replace batteries for a whopping $70. Most of the people i know who have bought 4th gen ipods have had similar experiences. Has anyone had similar experiences with your ipod? Has anyone had a similar experience with your 5th gen?

Whether done intentionally or not, im starting to feel that every generation of ipod has some sort of defect to create a shelf life; for example, when the 4th gen battery dies after a year or so you have the choice of paying $70 to replace your old out of date iPod battery or spending the new market price to buy a brand new 5th. Also, I have heard about stories of lawsuits associated the 5th's screen being very easy to scratch. Apparently apple hasnt released any info about when the 6th is coming out, which makes me a bit suspect as well.

Are there alternatives to apple and ipod? Are there other similar devices that have comparable sound quality and replaceable batteries?

Thanks for reading, any responses appreciated.

analogika · May 14, 2006, 03:20 PM

My first-generation 5GB iPod is now four years old.

It is scratched to hell, has been dropped a couple of times, and is still running strong.

Battery life is still well over four hours, amazingly enough.

Macpilot · May 15, 2006, 02:01 AM

Everything has a shelf life. Take the iPod off the shelf and use it.

The fact that Apple will give you what is essentially a new iPod for $70 as long as it does not have physical damage is pretty cool I think.

The battery in your laptop will die someday soon too.

Keep your iPod charged. Don't drop it. Pretty simple rules to keep your iPod lasting as long as possible.

Consider ditching the hard drive iPods and get a Nano. No moving parts is good in something that might get dinged or dropped.

Don't worry about new iPods. There are other things to worry about in this screwed up world.

You don't NEED an iPod. You WANT one. That is the magic of Apple!

I have a 2gb nano that rocks. I don't care that there will be another nano soon that will have more storage, because they cannot make a nano any smaller and still be operable by human fingers. I also don't care that it is scratched! It is a music player and not a museum piece that will appreciate in value.

Make smart playlists in iTunes and only carry you favorite music.

Macpilot · May 15, 2006, 02:06 AM

They (Apple) don't replace batteries. They replace the whole iPod. You get a shiny new case and an iPod that meets specs.

You could go to somebody like ipodresq and they will charge you $50 or so for a new battery. Not a good deal compared to getting a mostly new iPod from Apple.

Apple could charge $10 for a replacement iPod and people would still complain.

SSharon · May 15, 2006, 10:23 AM

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ipod/batteryreplacement/
That should be much cheaper than apple.

robby818 · May 15, 2006, 02:59 PM

i agree with macpilot. Apple's battery replacement program is really an ipod replacement program. A good deal esp. if your ipod is acting funny and you can't figure out what is wrong.

i've owned a 2G and a 4G ipod. The 2G had a much larger battery, much better battery life and the battery doesn't to need be replaced as often as my 4G . The 4G has a very small battery and it doesnt really hold a very long charge. I need a larger capacity nano, hopefully very soon...

Miniryu · Jul 26, 2006, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by Macpilot

Keep your iPod charged.

Dammit- I didn't know this. How were we supposed to know this?

I left mine uncharaged for like two weeks and today the battery won't hold a charge.

I guess I need to pay that $70.

Arju · Jul 26, 2006, 01:50 PM

My Ipod Photo still gets around 7 hours and I bought it 18 months ago.

Batteries will eventually wear down. I use my iPod everyday and I think I got my money's worth. I'll probably replace the battery myself when the time comes.

imitchellg5 · Jul 26, 2006, 01:59 PM

If your iPod is under a year old, Apple should replace the battery for free.

pwrmacg4 · Aug 10, 2006, 02:25 PM

also batteries are sensitive to heat, don't leave yours in hot vehicle. you can read "battery faqs"

pwrmacg4 · Aug 10, 2006, 02:27 PM

rechargeable batteries have many charge/discharge cycles but also have to be replaced after some years because of age like a car battery

imitchellg5 · Aug 10, 2006, 04:23 PM

Yep. However my PowerBook 5300cs is an exception, the original battery still lasts for 3 hours!

analogika · Aug 10, 2006, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by Macpilot

They (Apple) don't replace batteries. They replace the whole iPod. You get a shiny new case and an iPod that meets specs.

Just to clarify: they DO replace batteries. You just don't get the same iPod back that you send in. You get somebody else's, with a replaced battery.

But yes, in a shiny new case.

powens · Aug 14, 2006, 01:12 AM

Checkout www.truepowerbatteries.com

They're the only company that offers a 2 yr wty on their ipod replacement batteries and won't die after 1 yr of use. Otherwise you will be replacing your battery every 9 months.

imitchellg5 · Aug 14, 2006, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by powens

Checkout www.truepowerbatteries.com
Otherwise you will be replacing your battery every 9 months.

Hopefully not.

GreenApple123 · Aug 21, 2006, 07:46 PM

I was having problems with my iPod holding a charge and when I took it to Apple it was going to cost about half the price of just buying a new iPod. My friend told me about this website called
Apple iPod Batteries and it was great. I got a new iPod battery and now my iPod works like it did out of the box. I would recommend the site if your iPod battery is failing.