Hi, I have a 40GB 4th gen ipod, and because I have a lot of music on there (just under 30Gb) and I don't want to have it all on my powerbook (G4) as well, my iPod is always attached to the laptop, charging via the firewire port.

A mate of mine who thinks he knows his stuff says that this is damaging the battery, and ideally I should have my music on my powerbook, and charge my iPod with the mains plug, attaching it to my powerbook only when I need to update it.

I just wondered if there was any truth in this, because I can't see why having it charging all the time via firewire would do it any damage at all, and I certainly haven't noticed any change in the battery's performance.

Thanks for all your help