Actual battery life

[ldrury]

How many hours playtime are people getting from their iPods - I have a 30GB iPod (new one), I haven't let it run right down in a stretch yet, but it was inadvertently playing to itself for about 4 hr yesterday and went into the red.... seems very short???

Does playtime increase over the first few charge cycles???
How long from a full charge are you getting???

[AlexCh]

I listen to my iPod Photo flying from Philadelphia to Anchorage on a regular basis. It lasts me the whole day.... at least 12 hours, maybe 15 hours... It gets into the red, no doubt.

If anything, it seems like it can still play for quite some time in the red.

I have the backlight timer on 2 seconds, and I don't jump around through tracks. The backlight and HD use would use more power.

[jarrod]

I've been getting about 5-6 hours out of my new 30GB iPod. It says you're supposed to get 14 hours out of it, but I've been using iTrip so I think that's my problem. I'm going to try it without and see how much longer it lasts.

[K1W1]

ITrips suck the batteries big time. In my experience they half the battery time.

It takes several cycles to get the battery fully charged but the trick is to leave the iPod charging all night. Do not disconnect it when it indicates a full charge.
At the indicated full charge it's actually somewhere between 90 and 95% full. The rest of the charge is done by a very slow trickle over several hours.

As mentioned accessing play lists, viewing photos, and having the back light on all contribute to lesser run times.