iPod Battery Woe

I'm contemplating the rather hard sell I was given on the £56 extended warranty.
Tim Gowen wrote on :

Well, a faded screen on a previous generation iPod is the sign of a battery problem, according to Apple. Lucky the warranty isn't up, and I'm contemplating the rather hard sell I was given on the £56 extended warranty...

Is it worth it?

    Tim
Jim Stewart replied on :

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

Well, a faded screen on a previous generation iPod is the sign of a battery problem, according to Apple. Lucky the warranty isn't up, and I'm contemplating the rather hard sell I was given on the £56 extended warranty...

Is it worth it?

Well, on average, no - otherwise Apple would be making a loss on the warranty. Bear in mind that AppleCare on the iPod is only 2 years, vs 3 for other Apple gear, so you're only buying an extra year.

All extended warranties are based on how much you're willing to pay to avoid the product dying on you. I'm not willing to pay nearly the entire price of a battery, just to insure myself against my battery dying in the course of 1 year (which, let's face it, is unlikely). Then again, I'm happy to fit a battery myself. YMMV.

Then again, again, who's to say your headphone jack won't break?

Tim Gowen replied on :

Jim Stewart no.junk@redacted.invalid wrote:

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

Well, a faded screen on a previous generation iPod is the sign of a battery problem, according to Apple. Lucky the warranty isn't up, and I'm contemplating the rather hard sell I was given on the £56 extended warranty...

Is it worth it?

Well, on average, no - otherwise Apple would be making a loss on the warranty. Bear in mind that AppleCare on the iPod is only 2 years, vs 3 for other Apple gear, so you're only buying an extra year.

Pretty much what I concluded, although I don't know the costs involved in getting and repairing the battery myself - or how to do it. But a friend tells of how his girlfriend's iPod fell into water and he took it apart and let it dry out, and it worked. So he can fix a battery for me!

Then again, again, who's to say your headphone jack won't break?

I'm thinking of giving up technology and going to live on a desert island.

    Tim
Tim Auton replied on :

Jim Stewart no.junk@redacted.invalid wrote:

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

Well, a faded screen on a previous generation iPod is the sign of a battery problem, according to Apple. Lucky the warranty isn't up, and I'm contemplating the rather hard sell I was given on the £56 extended warranty...

Is it worth it?

Well, on average, no - otherwise Apple would be making a loss on the warranty.

True of course, but the same is true of any kind of insurance. I don't think insuring a £300 bit of technology is worth it, especially considering a new one will cost <£200 by the end of the insurance/warranty/applecare period. A £10000 car or £200,000 house would be a different matter: I can't afford to under-wite that level of risk myself. For me the rule is if I can likely afford to replace/fix it myself then don't pay extra for cover, it is (on average) uneconomic.

Then again, again, who's to say your headphone jack won't break?

That's just soldering :)

Tim

Peter Ceresole replied on :

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I'm thinking of giving up technology and going to live on a desert island.

You wouldn't like it.

Bonge Boo! replied on :

On 15/11/04 11:02 pm, in article 1gnbeig.1nmpjo61bbu9u0N%peter@redacted.invalid, "Peter Ceresole" peter@redacted.invalid wrote:

I'm thinking of giving up technology and going to live on a desert island.

You wouldn't like it.

Depends if they have nubile natives or cannibals. Always assess your holiday destination....

Tim Gowen replied on :

Peter Ceresole peter@redacted.invalid wrote:

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I'm thinking of giving up technology and going to live on a desert island.

You wouldn't like it.

My luxury would be Charlotte Green.

    Tim
David Kennedy replied on :

Bonge Boo! wrote:

Depends if they have nubile natives or cannibals. Always assess your holiday destination....

Ahhh.

Nubile cannibals, just like the average female.

Peter Ceresole replied on :

Tim Gowen tim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I'm thinking of giving up technology and going to live on a desert island.

You wouldn't like it.

My luxury would be Charlotte Green.

Actually I was thinking of Joanna Lumley, who was stranded on a tropical island for a week, for a programme, and made it clear that after day three she was neither glamorous nor totally sane... But still, of course, sexy and very clever. So I was wrong; there are some circumstances under which it would be heaven. But you have to assess how likely those circumstances are to arise.