Do ipod speaker sets drain battery?
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone knew whether having your ipod plugged into a speaker set-up (such as JBL on stage) had an effect on battery life? There's power constantly going into the ipod, and I wondered whether this would cause the battery to wear out quicker, or whether, once it was fully charged, the ipod would kind of default to 'mains'?
If there's a constant 'charge/drain' cycle going on, don't these speaker jobbies seriously effect your ipod's lifespan.
Sorry if this is a dumb question.
Cheers,
Dan
# 1 Re: Do ipod speaker sets drain battery?
I don't know about the overall lifespan of the battery, but I can tell you that some speaker systems charge the iPod when it's connected.
Example of one such system is the Logic3, which is what I have.
:)
-Heather
# 2 Re: Do ipod speaker sets drain battery?
When the iPod is connected to the mains/USB/Firewire charger it is not on mains power, i.e. it is being powered by the internal battery and not from the external source. The external source is merely charging the battery. Unless you have a special power supply, the only one I know off is the Belkin battery backup, but I'm sure there are more. With this, the power for the iPod is only coming from the external supply and not the internal battery. Hope this helps.
# 3 Re: Do ipod speaker sets drain battery?
I don't know for sure but look at notebooks. It's known that by keeping the notebook plugged in all the time, it shorten the battery's life, by how much, I don't have a number. Some people leave the battery out at home, until they are ready to travel, then put the battery back in.
With iPODs, we don't have a choice of taking the battery out, 'cuz we are always "travelling" with the iPOD.
The thinking is, if u leave it plugged it, the iPOD is being constantly "tickled" charged. That is, as soon as the iPOD batt power lowers to a certain threshold (iPOD uses batt while it's asleep), then the charging begin. How much does this shorten the batt life and by how much, nobody has a number.
I personally would leave it undocked, until a sync or charge is needed. But one should balance potential shortening batt life vs practical considerations. So if u play it alot at home, it would be a pain to keep unplugging it everytime u finish using. In which case I say be happy, don't worry, it's JUST a battery.
# 4 Re: Do ipod speaker sets drain battery?
bobb-mini : partially true - the perfect use would be listening to your iPod on the commute every day. However, when at home, leave it plugged in! its just the same as unplugging it and not using it then plugging it back in - so you might as well keep it topped up ;)
Using your iPod every day is not only fun for you but good for your iPod because it keeps the electrons moving in the battery, whereas if they were not in use for a long time the iPod loses total charge and maximum battery life is severly reduced.
ANYWHO back to the topic - most sound docks will charge the iPod
