Playlist Magazine reported today that a company called Sonnet "unveiled" a new line of DIY iPod replacement batteries. Don't be fooled, they're nothing new. These are the same batteries that Other World Computing has been shipping for a long time, judging by the packaging, except that they cost five bucks more. I think you can get them even cheaper on eBay.
I recently installed a new OWC 2200 mAh replacement battery into my 2nd Gen iPod (a 10 Gig, one of the first ones with the touch wheel), after the battery could no longer hold a charge for more than two days. So far, the battery life has been great, although I haven't tried measuring the actual runtime. The installation was a piece of cake with the included nylon tools, and it was pretty neat to see the guts of my iPod.
I also upgraded the battery in my wife's iPod mini, which died after only a pathetic year or so. OWC has some nice instructional videos showing how to install the battery in the various iPods, with the disclaimer that they recommend their "professional installation service" for the mini. Take my word for it, installing a new battery in the mini is a LOT harder than they make it look in the video. I suspect the guy in the video is the same guy who installs batteries all day. Getting the plastic caps off the ends of the mini without mangling them is really the tough part, especially on my wife's iPod which is already dented on the ends from having been dropped so many times. I wound up mutilating the top cover pretty badly, and the bottom one has a pretty big ding in it now. And I'm not so sure if the glue inside will hold that well now that it's been removed once. Fortunately, the iPod lives in one of those silicone cases, so it's not such a huge deal cosmetically, but it is a kind of a shame to mess up that sleek mini. Maybe it's time to buy a nano.
Technorati Tags: ipod
Recent Comments