iPod longevity (1 Viewer)

[Jim Reynolds]

My wife and I two weeks ago bought an iPod for our daughter for Christmas and were thinking of buying one for our son,but when talking to the sales person at BB,he said the battery life was about 18 months and we should buy the extended warranty. I really don't want to $300 a piece and not have these last less than two years. Any experience with the 20G iPod. Thanks Jim

 

[Elinor]

Any device with a Lithium ion battery is going to start suffering from battery depletion at about 200 charges or 2 years (from the date of battery manufacture). Ipod is going to be no better, no worse than any other device using Li-Ion.

I'd find out how much the replacement battery is, and compare that to the ext. warranty. And be sure the warranty covers battery replacement ... not all do.

 

[Bryan Williams]

From what I have read, the IPOD battery can be replaced though it requires a little bit of work. The battery and the tool can be had easily on the net. Just before I bought my 20 gig unit I did a search on the IPOD battery and found there were many online sellers advertising replacement batteries for a lot less than apple wants to charge. The batteies can be had online for around 30usd give or take, and instructions to install it are easily available on the net.

Hope this assists you

Bryan

 

[Rob Silver]

Like the previous poster said, you can buy third party battery online and replace it yourself. The replacement battery comes w/ instructions to open your iPod, and some even comes w/ the tools to do it. Saves you a bundle Vs. sending the iPod into Apple service or buying the extended warranty from BB. 18 month battery life is from heavy uses, it should last at least 2 years for average usage. $29 for 4th Generation iPod, and $39 for Mini iPod from ipodbattery.com

 

[RomanSohor]

BB Performance Service plan covers the battery on iPod.

 

[Jeremy Little]

And everything else for the price of one replacement battery. How could you go wrong with that?

Have you read the directions for changing the battery? Go to www.ipodlounge.com and read the horror stories of doing yourself. Lots of people bend the back trying to remove it because it fits so snug. Once inside, you've got to pull up this little blue rubber seal. Then carefully remove the harddrive without breaking the cable connector they use on it. You've also got to watch out not to break the headphone port or hold switch as you are disassembling the thing. NOT a chance I'm ever going to take (at least not for 3-4 years). For those of you wanting to see the real directions, go here.

 

[Angelo.M]

As far as a service plan, I'd skip BB's and purchase AppleCare, which covers all failures including battery failure. Since Apple's warranty lasts for 1 year, you can purchase AppleCare late in the first year and be covered for most, if not all, of year 2.

 

[Jeremy Little]

You'd pay more money for less coverage and shorter time? OK. I got my 2nd gen Ipod replaced with a 3rd gen for free when the battery died via Best Buy. The guys at Ipodlounge generally say go with the BB plan over the Apple plan because of the cost vs. coverage differences.

 

[Angelo.M]

Good point.

I have AC because it came as a freebie w/ my iPod. Somehow, I thought the BB plan covered only 1 year (like AC) and was pricier than AC.

Thanks for the important info!

 

[Jeremy Little]

Apple Care for free? How'd you swing that one?:frowning:

 

[Angelo.M]

Dumb luck.

When the 3G iPods were introduced, the Apple Store I visited had a promotional coupon for a free AppleCare plan.