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0098386

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
i think i may have just messed up my iPod Mini. it arrived this afternoon, i accidently pressed a button whilst getting that plastic seal off it, i quickly noticed that the meter was about 3/4 full. so i turned it off, stuck it into my PB for its 4 hour charge... only i get a little curious about USB2 charging, wondering if it will still charge if my machine is sleeping.

so; apple menu, sleep.

my Mini disconnects, the battery meter is saying its full so just to be sure i stick it back into my PB and the lightning bar shows its fully charged. smashing! or is it?

im a little worried about it now, the meter has dropped down a few pixels and ive only been playing with the menu for a few minutes.

whats up with it? should i go stick it on charge now or is it really full?
 

debroglie

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2004
607
0
Philadelphia, PA
raggedjimmi said:
i think i may have just messed up my iPod Mini. it arrived this afternoon, i accidently pressed a button whilst getting that plastic seal off it, i quickly noticed that the meter was about 3/4 full. so i turned it off, stuck it into my PB for its 4 hour charge... only i get a little curious about USB2 charging, wondering if it will still charge if my machine is sleeping.

so; apple menu, sleep.

my Mini disconnects, the battery meter is saying its full so just to be sure i stick it back into my PB and the lightning bar shows its fully charged. smashing! or is it?

im a little worried about it now, the meter has dropped down a few pixels and ive only been playing with the menu for a few minutes.

whats up with it? should i go stick it on charge now or is it really full?

Battery meters on the ipods are notoriously inaccurate. Don't worry about it and just use it!
 

tombo

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2004
52
0
Brighton/Bristol UK
I agree.

Use it. But I suggest using it until the battery is completely dead, then charging it up full (for the 4 hours or so), using it till dead etc... a couple of times.

I've heard this method mentioned by phone and other manufacturers where rechargables are concerned.
I've heard that this should be done once every week or so, which suggests that you can 'top up' occasionally, but do a complete drain and charge to full often. But I only ever charge mine in this manner.

I agree with debroglie, (you might say I was on their wavelength *chortle*) in that the battery indicators are inaccurate. They often settle down and give the 'right' reading after 5 minutes of activity or so
 

Gokhan

macrumors 6502a
Oct 7, 2003
703
0
London
ok

yeah my 3rd gen 40 gb ipod fully charges and when i disconnect and put it back on charge it charges for another 3hrs !!!

also i have known my batt meter to say empty and i get an hour of playbck on it !!!

just use it for 11 months then send it back to apple for a new battery !!!
that will last another 12 months hopefully :)
 

dotdotdot

macrumors 68020
Jan 23, 2005
2,391
44
debroglie said:
Battery meters on the ipods are notoriously inaccurate. Don't worry about it and just use it!

Mine always drops down to like 50% after 2 hours of use (3rd Gen, 20 GB) and then i charge it - you are saying this is false and it still has like 5 hours left?
 

debroglie

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2004
607
0
Philadelphia, PA
dotdotdot said:
Mine always drops down to like 50% after 2 hours of use (3rd Gen, 20 GB) and then i charge it - you are saying this is false and it still has like 5 hours left?

There is only one way to find that out, use it longer or until the battery runs out.

With my mini, after I fully charge it I will turn it on and it says that I have about 3/4 battery. After 10 minutes of use it will have gone up to full charge. The meter is flaky
 

RBMaraman

macrumors 65816
Jul 25, 2002
1,228
39
New Albany, IN
Lacero said:
My mini charges when my PB is asleep.

Neither my iPod Shuffle or my 2G 10Gb iPod will charge when my iBook is asleep. Are you sure your PB is sleeping? Or do you just have the monitor shut off?
 

stevep

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2004
876
4
UK
All you need to know, from the horses mouth:
http://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/ipods.html

The only thing I couldn't find was info on charging an already-charged battery - I'm pretty sure that if you charge a Li-Ion battery, unplug the charger, and then plug it back in it can actually damage the cells (see post by Gokhan above)
 

Mitthrawnuruodo

Moderator emeritus
Mar 10, 2004
14,413
1,041
Bergen, Norway
Lacero said:
My mini charges when my PB is asleep.
Mine too, iBook that is. The iBook's sound asleep (lid closed, sleep light "flashing", no screen spanning hack) mini connected via Firewire...

Though it will not start charging the mini if the iBook sleeps just useing battery, but then if I connect the iBook to a power outlet with the mini connected, the mini starts charging at once (without having to wake up the iBook)
 

tamara6

macrumors regular
Apr 28, 2004
225
137
From the Apple Web Site (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60941):

Your computer can only charge iPod when it's turned on and not asleep. Make sure your computer on and is not set to go to sleep when you want to charge iPod.

Tip: Some Macintosh computers can charge iPod mini even though they're asleep. If your sleeping computer doesn't charge iPod mini, don't worry, just wake it and let iPod mini charge.


Does anyone know where to find a list of Macs that can charge while sleeping?
 
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