I’m pretty hooked on the new games for the iPod. I’ve already bought 4 of them, and am trying to hold back from buying the rest. (I know – I should have bought the bundle, but I didn’t think I’d want them all…)
They’re really great implementations, most are likely better than their desktop counterparts due to being better suited to a circular controller. I’m addicted to Zuma. Like a junkie.
But… The games seem to suck the soul out of the battery even faster than playing a video does. I played a game on the bus ride home tonight (it was raining, and I wussed out and left the bike at home) and it killed about half of the battery. That makes about an hour of gameplay on a fully charged battery? That can’t be right.
I’m hoping it’s just a battery life calibration issue, rather than an actual drain. I can always pack an extra long extension cord so I can get my fix of Zuma…
I’m pretty hooked on the new games for the iPod. I’ve already bought 4 of them, and am trying to hold back from buying the rest. (I know – I should have bought the bundle, but I didn’t think I’d want them all…)
They’re really great implementations, most are likely better than their desktop counterparts due to being better suited to a circular controller. I’m addicted to Zuma. Like a junkie.
But… The games seem to suck the soul out of the battery even faster than playing a video does. I played a game on the bus ride home tonight (it was raining, and I wussed out and left the bike at home) and it killed about half of the battery. That makes about an hour of gameplay on a fully charged battery? That can’t be right.
I’m hoping it’s just a battery life calibration issue, rather than an actual drain. I can always pack an extra long extension cord so I can get my fix of Zuma…
Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. I’ve got a whole lot more respect for the Apple hardware designers. The metal back of the case isn’t epoxied or glued in place, even though it feels completely solid. There are some locking mechanisms between the edge of the metal and the plastic front of the case, and it just pops off with the special tool (and pops back on with some gentle pressure). Very cool design.
The whole process took 20 minutes. 10 minutes of that were spent gently working the back of the iPod case off. I could have done that in maybe 2 minutes, once I’d figured out the trick to it.
The actual battery replacement was completely trivial. No screws, no pins or anything. Just slide the hard drive out, flip the rubber vibration flap out of the way and unplug the old battery. Slap in the new one, and slide everything back into place. Pop the case on and charge it up. The only “hard” part (after getting the case off) was getting the wires that connect the battery to tuck in out of the way – that took maybe 15 seconds of gentle prodding using the supplied case-removal tool.
I took some photos of the process, to show that the ones found online aren’t too staged.
I haven’t done any battery performance tests yet, but the replacement process was both quick and easy. I was pretty sure I would either bork or scuff my iPod. I was half joking that I’d be ordering a new iPod today – but I’ll have to hold off for awhile now… I’ll write up a review of the battery once I’ve got an idea about how it performs – but it will be performing about 15,000% better than what the stock battery had degraded to 😉
Thanks to FastMac for the battery!
Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. I’ve got a whole lot more respect for the Apple hardware designers. The metal back of the case isn’t epoxied or glued in place, even though it feels completely solid. There are some locking mechanisms between the edge of the metal and the plastic front of the case, and it just pops off with the special tool (and pops back on with some gentle pressure). Very cool design.
The whole process took 20 minutes. 10 minutes of that were spent gently working the back of the iPod case off. I could have done that in maybe 2 minutes, once I’d figured out the trick to it.
The actual battery replacement was completely trivial. No screws, no pins or anything. Just slide the hard drive out, flip the rubber vibration flap out of the way and unplug the old battery. Slap in the new one, and slide everything back into place. Pop the case on and charge it up. The only “hard” part (after getting the case off) was getting the wires that connect the battery to tuck in out of the way – that took maybe 15 seconds of gentle prodding using the supplied case-removal tool.
I took some photos of the process, to show that the ones found online aren’t too staged.
I haven’t done any battery performance tests yet, but the replacement process was both quick and easy. I was pretty sure I would either bork or scuff my iPod. I was half joking that I’d be ordering a new iPod today – but I’ll have to hold off for awhile now… I’ll write up a review of the battery once I’ve got an idea about how it performs – but it will be performing about 15,000% better than what the stock battery had degraded to 😉
Thanks to FastMac for the battery!
My new FastMac battery for my 3G iPod (a TruePower battery) arrived here today. It was on campus yesterday afternoon, but just missed the on-campus delivery truck. That’s amazingly fast delivery from California to Calgary, even adding some time for the package to be opened/searched by Customs at the border.
I’ll try upgrading my iPod’s battery tonight, and will take pics of the process to show what it looks like when a total hardware upgrade amateur tackles it (I’ve upgraded RAM and hard drives in Powerbooks, but that’s about it…)
They also threw in a car iPod charger, and a portable charger. I’ll definitely be putting both to good use, and will write up mini-reviews when I get a chance.
My new FastMac battery for my 3G iPod (a TruePower battery) arrived here today. It was on campus yesterday afternoon, but just missed the on-campus delivery truck. That’s amazingly fast delivery from California to Calgary, even adding some time for the package to be opened/searched by Customs at the border.
I’ll try upgrading my iPod’s battery tonight, and will take pics of the process to show what it looks like when a total hardware upgrade amateur tackles it (I’ve upgraded RAM and hard drives in Powerbooks, but that’s about it…)
They also threw in a car iPod charger, and a portable charger. I’ll definitely be putting both to good use, and will write up mini-reviews when I get a chance.
I was just chatting with Mike, from FastMac, about that iPod battery failure post I wrote up a while back, and the follow-up attempt to buy a new battery. Apparently, FastMac can ship to Canada for something like $10, express! Other guys charge more than the cost of the battery to ship it up here, but FastMac has a network of Canadian resellers or something, so it’s much cheaper. They haven’t updated the website with this info yet, so check back with them later to see what the official story is for shipping to Canada.
Full disclosure: Mike’s sending me a battery and a couple of doodads to play around with. If I’d have known about their shipping rate being so cheap, I would have bought them myself. I’ll do mini-reviews when they get here, and will blog the battery replacement process.
Update: less than 12 hours after DHL picked up the package from FastMac, it was sitting in the DHL facility here in Calgary! Now, to see how long it takes to make it across the city and through the campus mail system…
I was just chatting with Mike, from FastMac, about that iPod battery failure post I wrote up a while back, and the follow-up attempt to buy a new battery. Apparently, FastMac can ship to Canada for something like $10, express! Other guys charge more than the cost of the battery to ship it up here, but FastMac has a network of Canadian resellers or something, so it’s much cheaper. They haven’t updated the website with this info yet, so check back with them later to see what the official story is for shipping to Canada.
Full disclosure: Mike’s sending me a battery and a couple of doodads to play around with. If I’d have known about their shipping rate being so cheap, I would have bought them myself. I’ll do mini-reviews when they get here, and will blog the battery replacement process.
Update: less than 12 hours after DHL picked up the package from FastMac, it was sitting in the DHL facility here in Calgary! Now, to see how long it takes to make it across the city and through the campus mail system…
I was just about to finalize the purchase of a shiny new battery for my 3G iPod, when I noticed the shipping charges listed on the Sonnet online store.
I’ll gladly pay for the battery, but paying $40 US ($10 US more than the cost of the battery in the first place) to have the thing mailed to me is a bit extreme. I’m going to hold off for now, to see if any Canadian stores or companies will be distributing the battery.
I was just about to finalize the purchase of a shiny new battery for my 3G iPod, when I noticed the shipping charges listed on the Sonnet online store.
I’ll gladly pay for the battery, but paying $40 US ($10 US more than the cost of the battery in the first place) to have the thing mailed to me is a bit extreme. I’m going to hold off for now, to see if any Canadian stores or companies will be distributing the battery.
