iPod Video Battery Poll

[soap]

I get 51% runtime with Rockbox when compared to Apple FW, @ 181kb/s.  Make the (horrible) assumption that the hard drive accounts for 100% of Rockbox battery consumption, and the number would be more like 57% for you when using 160kb/s.
We know the hard drive isn't the only consumer of battery life, so I think you can safely assume Rockbox should give you a runtime in the low 50's.

As for your request for a 160kb/s test: I do want to restate that w/o knowing both a tester's mp3@160 Rockbox runtime and their Apple FW runtime, the number is meaningless to you, as battery condition is a very large variable that needs to be accounted for.

[VietPho]

I recently bought a "refurbished" 60 gb ipod video for $229 from apple website and I installed Rockbox the first day I received it. I was listening to my mp3's at school today for about 6 hours and the battery bar went red on me. (Note: it was fully charged before I used it)
Anyway, I switched to regular apple firmware to watch my movie and it lasted for 20 minutes and died on me.
I thought I was suppose to get 14 hrs + on this ipod

Was it bad on my part to buy a Refurbished ipod? Does apple replace the battery of an ipod when someone returns it? Or am I using an ipod that might have bad battery life?  

I am going to charge my Ipod for 10 hours tonight and listen to mp3s the whole day tommorow to see how long the battery lasts.

[scorche]

I thought I was suppose to get 14 hrs + on this ipod

Was it bad on my part to buy a Refurbished ipod? Does apple replace the battery of an ipod when someone returns it? Or am I using an ipod that might have bad battery life?  

Well, to your first part, that is the manufacturer's claim which is often an overstatement.  If you notice on the packaging, it is usually their own format at a very low bitrate such as 64kbit/s.

Refurbished ipods are better than no ipod.  However, it is a good probability that your battery is in a "less than mint" condition.  Apple will replace your battery for free provided that it is past 50% stock like and that you have Applecare.  If you don't, they charge quite a bit for a new one.

Keep in mind that even though you switched to apple OS after it "went red" on you, it doesn't mean that you would have gotten 6 hours and 20 min out of it...the battery was already depleted.

[DanManners]

I get 51% runtime with Rockbox when compared to Apple FW, @ 181kb/s.  Make the (horrible) assumption that the hard drive accounts for 100% of Rockbox battery consumption, and the number would be more like 57% for you when using 160kb/s.
We know the hard drive isn't the only consumer of battery life, so I think you can safely assume Rockbox should give you a runtime in the low 50's.

As for your request for a 160kb/s test: I do want to restate that w/o knowing both a tester's mp3@160 Rockbox runtime and their Apple FW runtime, the number is meaningless to you, as battery condition is a very large variable that needs to be accounted for.

That's actually about what I was going to say. I get low 50's, high 40's. So ya. I can't seem to get the bench to actually be viewed on my computer, so I'll do it again, but it's essentailly my mp3 play being stupid...for a whole TWO HOURS . Off to school now.

-Dan

[soap]

Well, to your first part, that is the manufacturer's claim which is often an overstatement.

When following Apple's battery benchmarking "rules" I get more than what they claim, at a higher bitrate than they say to use for testing.

[VampBoy]

I get 5-6 hours on a 30 gig IPOD but I'm playing FLAC so I assume that even the 32 meg cache isn't helping me that much

Buddy of mine with a 60 gets 8-9+ on his 60 under the same playing conditions.