I recently replaced the battery in my mini. I thought I would share my thoughts.
I purchased the battery from Battery Geek. Most of the comments I have below, however, would apply no matter where you purchased the battery.
Installation was fairly easy. Battery Geek did not provide very good instructions. In fact, they promised a video, but it was not supplied. I was able to fill in the holes by perusing other battery sellers' sites. Battery now works great.
However, no seller hinted at the cosmetic damage I would do to my mini. I have a couple gashes on the top of the mini. Maybe I could have removed the top in better way, but no site gave me instructions on how to remove the top without doing the damage I did. The bottom came off without any damage. (I’m not sure if the full size ipods are easier to take apart without doing damage than the mini.)
Also, while putting the mini back together was easy enough, now the top and bottom are no longer "flush" with the rest of casing. In fact, if I did not have a protective case to put my iPod in, I would be concerned about the top and bottom just coming off!
You *may* be able to put back your mini so that the top and bottom are flush with the rest of the casing. I'm fairly certain that this would require either one or two clamps, and knowledge of the type of glue that was used when the ipod was first put together. No battery site offers this information.
Conclusion: although I’m happy I saved around $40 by doing this work myself, I would recommend coughing up the $60 and having Apple do it right. On the other hand, if you have an "extra" ipod that you just use in the car or in some similar way where you don’t care how it looks, replacing the battery can be a fun geeky way to save a few bucks.
I purchased the battery from Battery Geek. Most of the comments I have below, however, would apply no matter where you purchased the battery.
Installation was fairly easy. Battery Geek did not provide very good instructions. In fact, they promised a video, but it was not supplied. I was able to fill in the holes by perusing other battery sellers' sites. Battery now works great.
However, no seller hinted at the cosmetic damage I would do to my mini. I have a couple gashes on the top of the mini. Maybe I could have removed the top in better way, but no site gave me instructions on how to remove the top without doing the damage I did. The bottom came off without any damage. (I’m not sure if the full size ipods are easier to take apart without doing damage than the mini.)
Also, while putting the mini back together was easy enough, now the top and bottom are no longer "flush" with the rest of casing. In fact, if I did not have a protective case to put my iPod in, I would be concerned about the top and bottom just coming off!
You *may* be able to put back your mini so that the top and bottom are flush with the rest of the casing. I'm fairly certain that this would require either one or two clamps, and knowledge of the type of glue that was used when the ipod was first put together. No battery site offers this information.
Conclusion: although I’m happy I saved around $40 by doing this work myself, I would recommend coughing up the $60 and having Apple do it right. On the other hand, if you have an "extra" ipod that you just use in the car or in some similar way where you don’t care how it looks, replacing the battery can be a fun geeky way to save a few bucks.