A Fly in the Ointment - the iPod Battery

The iPod is a truly impressive device, but if there is a single negative to this MP3 player, it is the iPod battery. Unfortunately, iPods are pretty notorious for having even lower capacity than what the specs list with respect to the iPods battery, which is pretty anemic, compared to some other MP3 players out there. If you're a die-hard iPod fan, even the iPod battery issue is unlikely to make you drop the iPod in favor of another MP3 player. In theory, the video iPod is supposed to play up to 20 hours of audio. However, most reviews show that it generally gets less than 15 hours of audio play. Under real world conditions, it probably gets even less than that. On top of that, the iPod battery has not been user replaceable to date. If you want to extend your iPods battery life, you might want to try one of these options. Your first choice is to get some sort of external iPod battery pack. An interesting site to visit for information is ipodbatteryfaq.com, which answers every question you might have about your specific iPod model and battery.

Alternative Power Sources

One place you might also want to visit is sonnettech.com, where you can get a look at the Sonnet Company’s Volta, which is an external rechargeable battery pack specifically for the video iPod. It's pretty thin, so it won't make your iPod horribly bulky or ungainly. It does project slightly at the bottom where the LED indicators that show the status of the battery pack are located, and it will add a little additional length and width.

It seems well worth it, as the Volta, which has a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, can provide audio play of up to 80 hours and provide video play of up to 16 hours! The Volta external battery packs retail for $69.95 at the sonnettech.com website.

Other kinds of external battery packs exist, some using regular alkaline batteries to juice up your iPod, but the Sonnet Volt is one of the better choices out there. A while back, some people actually replaced the batteries themselves (instructions were even available online), but chances are that most people don't want to take this option. Fortunately, Apple eventually goes together and does offer battery replacement now. So don't worry too much, and just enjoy your iPod without fretting over your battery.