New ipod battery?

February 1, 2006 7:06 PM

I have a 3G iPod and the battery's near-toasted. Should I go with Apple's refurb replacement thingy (C$100) or buy one from a third party and install it myself?

If the latter, is it hard? Who's the best company to buy from? Anything I should look for (are some batteries better than others, etc.)? Thanks!

posted by Paddle to Sea to Technology (9 answers total)

I replaced the battery in a 5G old iPod of mine this summer. Unfortunately I have no record of who I bought it from, but it was about 30 dollars, and came with a little rubber tool to pop the case open. It was ridiculously easy - my advice would be do NOT go with Apple on this one.

I would imagine any of the companies you find when searching google offer about the same product.
posted by glenwood at 7:13 PM on February 1, 2006

I just bought a new battery for my 3G here. ~$32 with shipping for the do-it-all-yourself option. Seemed like a good deal. It came in the mail a couple days ago, but I'm not going to be able to install it till this weekend.

If you're interested in knowing how things turn out, drop me a line next week. Email in my profile.
posted by hwestiii at 7:24 PM on February 1, 2006

i did it with the newer tech battery--the hardest part is opening the case but everything else was simple--and it was an immediate and gigantic difference. Us 3g people got screwed--i was down to like 3-4 hours on a full charge.
posted by amberglow at 7:30 PM on February 1, 2006

17.50 before shipping
posted by cyphill at 7:44 PM on February 1, 2006

I replaced the battery in my 1st generation iPod with one that I found on eBay. Got the instructions on how to open the case just by doing a Google search. Total cost: $19.00 Total time on the operating table: 2 minutes. That the new battery gets 22 hours on a single charge was also a very nice bonus.
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 8:24 PM on February 1, 2006

I also replaced the battery in my 3G a few months back - pretty easy once the case is open. The place I got it from has a helpful video.
posted by exogenous at 6:55 AM on February 2, 2006

I, too, replaced my 3G battery before giving it to my son a few months ago. I honestly don't remember where I got it, though there was a video with it. At any rate, the point of this message is the instructions don't make a point of how hard you have to push the plastic separator thingy into the microscopic opening between the case halves to get it open. I went round and round for a good half hour, always thinking I was very close to prying it apart, but to no avail. Then I pushed just hard enough, the separator entered the crack, and the case came open. The rest of the project was extremely easy.
posted by lhauser at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2006

Other World Computing has really nice how-to videos. It's pretty easy. If you aren't comfortable with it, I'm sure you could find a friend who is. I think I got mine from NewerTech, but any online place you've heard of should be ok, and of a similar price.

A word of warning, though: the "extra capacity" batteries, like the ones NewerTech sells, have extra capacity because they're physically bigger. It's harder to cram them into the case, and you may end up breaking something.

Good luck!
posted by Sibrax at 1:56 PM on February 2, 2006

i replaced my mini battery late last year. i used one of the cheap ones from ipodbatterydepot.com. short story: the thing no longer holds a charge, 4 months later. hardly used it either.

i'd go with the big-name batteries...
posted by joeblough at 1:45 PM on March 6, 2006