Battery Life & Replacement?

I just bought a black 2GB clip from Best Buy. It’s very cool, works great, no problems yet (only had it 3 days).

My only complaint is with the battery. My m200 players use a standard AAA cell. If it goes dead, I just pop in a freshly charged AAA. That’s my favorite thing about the m200’s.

The Clip has the internal rechargeable battery and the package states “battery not replaceable”. That’s too bad. I could end up with a perfectly functioning 2 year old player with a bad battery, and no way to replace it. It would be a shame to throw the player away if it only needs a new battery.

I built up a car lighter plug USB “A” jack so I can charge the Clip in my car. I used a 7805 linear voltage regulator mounted in the lighter plug with a cut-off USB extension cable for the USB receptical. You can buy these lighter plug/USB jack chargers in stores, but the ones I found cost $20-27 and came with cables. I had stuff lying around to make my own for the cost of my time. Pin 1 is +5 VDC, pin 4 is ground on the USB “A” connector.

I patch my players into the Aux input on my car stereo. I imagine it’s OK to keep the Clip plugged into the USB charger while listening. The player should be using the USB power instead of the internal battery. This is probably better for the battery than cycling it.

Two Questions

Will the Clip overcharge the internal battery if I leave it connected to the USB charging port?

Does anyone know if someone will sell a replacement battery for the Clip? (if it’s possible to open the case without breaking it)    

Message Edited by MinimaxMan on 11-03-2007 09:59 AM

The only way to overcharge it is by if the charging curcuit goes bad.

right, all modern devices will have an automatic cut off, to prevent the very scenario you described…

was a common issue in the 80’s/90’s… but now its fixed in '00

The answer to your second question, would probably be no. Only because there isn’t a easy way to access the player’s internals… no screws and all