iPod problem not solved......

Apple says 30GB 5G iPods have a maximum playing time of 14 hours. That figure is based on absolute continuous play (bear in mind stopping, changing playlists i.e. increasing disk use will use the battery more) with features like SoundCheck, the EQ and backlight off. 9 hours of battery time bearing in mind 'normal' everyday usage is fairly reasonable IMHO.

How long will your iPod last if you just let it play normal music files continuously without stopping/starting etc?

 

How long have you had it? I noticed that when I first got mine the battery life was shorter than I expected but I ran it completely down and recharged it to 100% a few times and now I get closer to advertised playtime (about 2 1/2 - 3 hours video playback and 11-13 hours music playback on my 30GB), I do know that the battery meter isn't an accurate guage of battery life, I've played music for 2+ hours in the red.

may want to see if this helps too: http://macsupport.ca/2005/12/26/how-to-improve-your-ipods-battery-performance/