Maximizing the battery life of your video iPod can be done fairly easily. These two tips will help you have more power to listen to your favorite songs or watch your favorite videos. Try them and see how they work for you. It is a hassle to start a download and find out during the process that the battery power is low, thus this will cause a major interruption and headache. No one likes headaches!

Tip Number 1: You CAN Get More than 3 Hours of Video Playback on Your 30GB Video iPod

According to the user’s manual, one full charge of the 30GB video iPod will give you two hours of video playback. Nevertheless, if you compress your video for iPod only playback and are do not mind giving up a little bit on image size, you can get almost 3 hours of straight video play. On the 60GB model, you will get an extra 40 minutes.

Of course, videos with smaller picture sizes, lower bitrates and frame rates, will play longer on one charge than a larger video file with higher settings. Using MPEG-4 compression, two hours of a full-screen movie, scaled down to only 192 x 144 and at 15 frames per second will play for three hours. Using 15 frames per second instead of 30 and a smaller scale boosts the video playback time considerably.

Using a higher scale, again with MPEG-4 compression, you will get less video playback time. At what time you use the scale the same size as the video iPod’s screen, 320 x 240 at 29.97 frames per second and the average bitrate set to 1000Kbps, your video will play for about two hours before your battery gives out. Run a test for yourself using both settings and see which one you prefer. However, if extending your battery life for more video playback time is your primary goal, definitely use the smaller scale and lower frames per second speed.

Tip Number 2:  Forget About Your Fast Forward Button

In regards to the saving battery power, the disadvantages far out weigh the advantages of using fast forward button on your video iPod. If you want to have the maximum amount to your battery power to view your videos or listen to your music, keep your finger off the fast forward button! Remember that the life of your battery is ruled by the requests made on your video iPod’s mechanical hard driv how many times it has to rewind and read data. This is true especially at what time you shuffle through your library.