prior to this purchase, my internal battery rendered my ipod completely useless. it would stay charged for 5-10 minutes and die. without a warranty, i was forced to give up music portability. with the ipod assist (ipod external battery), my ipod is functional with 18 hours of battery life. im ecstatic! i know that this sounds like a commercial, but i know of at least 3 other people who have had ipod internal battery problems. why purchase a new ipod or other mp3 player when you can salvage the old brick you have in your closet? this product is also very reasonably priced at [$] (some may not consider this reasonable, but its much cheaper than buying a new mp3 player). ive shopped around on other sites, but other external battery alternatives were not as appealing (too bulky, dependent on the internal battery, etc). this ipod assist has a user friendly design and im completely satisfied with it. =)