I have the Belkin Ipod charger for my MINI. But after reading some things about the Ipod battery I have a question. Is it bad to leave the Ipod plugged into the charger all the time? I know that with cell phones you can supposedly wear down the battery faster if you charge it when it's not needed. Is it the same with the Ipod battery?
Thanks in advance.

 

Not sure but I would tend to think that even if it's not bad for it, it sure isn't good. I took a solo roadtrip last year from Nashville to New Orleans, usiing my I-Pod and the Belkin charger for in car entertainment. Noticed while dring through Birmingham that the I-pod was very warm.... didn't seem to hurt it, but I doubt it was good for it. I now only use it when needed, or at least don't leave it plugged in for extended periods of time.

Now reflecting on it, I don't see how it could be any worse than leaving it plugged into the dock with my MAC for extended periods of time, but who knows....

 

The ipod gets really warm when charging and the hard drive is spinning. It is probably better to leave plugged in all the time. As once the battery is charged I believe that the battery is bypassed and the thing is powered directly from the outside source. That is how the laptops work as well....

But I have an original very early ipod and its battery is still good, so I really do not know what all the worry is about. You can get replacements for $50 too. Or an ipod Mini for the MINI for $250. Its hardly worth worrying about.

 

w/ lithium ion batteries it's better to keep them "topped off" and constantly charged. There's no memory effect like in the "old days" of NiCads, etc.

 

I have heard that it is good for the battery to run it down to zero about every 30 charges.

 

>>I have heard that it is good for the battery to run it down to zero about every 30 charges.

It's bad for lithium ion batteries to run them down to zero.
Here's a good article battery memory effect
-SF

 

>>It's bad for lithium ion batteries to run them down to zero.

Upon further googling, I stand corrected ops:
This seems to explain things well. Still, I'd leave it plugged in.
-SF