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cpac · Jun 7, 2003, 08:57 AM

I've been the very pleased owner of a TiBook 500 for almost two years now. While I recall fondly the days when a full charge would last me four hours or so, my battery now lasts all of 25 minutes. (I just timed it). I thought these new batteries had no "memory" and so I'm wondering if there's anything I can do short of buying a new battery...

Oh and if it helps for diagnostic purposes, it goes to sleep when its out of power without giving a "low power" warning.

sydric · Jun 7, 2003, 09:05 AM

Time for a new battery...

cpac · Jun 7, 2003, 09:07 AM

maybe also a follow-up question - had I bought Apple Care would they have replaced the battery? (thinking ahead to my next purchase)

AssassyN · Jun 7, 2003, 09:09 AM

Originally posted by cpac:
maybe also a follow-up question - had I bought Apple Care would they have replaced the battery? (thinking ahead to my next purchase)

Absolutely. AppleCare would've given you a new battery pretty much as soon as you told them this story. Sadly, I must agree...I think your battery has seen it's last day and it'd be time to purchase another. What really bites is that it's impossible to get an Apple notebook battery for under $129 anywhere, regardless of where you go. If you do find one cheaper, you're extremely lucky. I scoured every internet Mac reseller I possible could, and no one was under $129. I finally settled on one at the price w/ no sales tax nor shipping, as that was the only money I could possibly save...best of luck!

cpac · Jun 7, 2003, 09:11 AM

well maybe I can live with it 'til after WWDC just in case...

zachs · Jun 7, 2003, 10:09 AM

Take it to a dealer first and ask them if you can try putting in a new battery and see how long that lasts.

The reason I'm saying this is because when something similar happened to me, I thought it was the battery. However, it turned out to be the PMU and I needed a new logic board.

zachs · Jun 7, 2003, 10:11 AM

maybe also a follow-up question - had I bought Apple Care would they have replaced the battery? (thinking ahead to my next purchase)

By the way, you can still buy AppleCare for your TiBook. (And I highly recommend it. It's saved me a lot of money (including $600 on a new optical drive.)

euphras · Jun 7, 2003, 10:53 AM

Quote:
"I've been the very pleased owner of a TiBook 500 for almost two years now. "

Quote:
"By the way, you can still buy AppleCare for your TiBook. (And I highly recommend it. It's saved me a lot of money (including $600 on a new optical drive."

Wrong info! You have to purchase AC within the first year of initial warranty. After two years: No chance!

Appleman · Jun 7, 2003, 11:27 AM

Your battery actually has a small cpu inside, and more info can be obtained from this Apple Knowlegde Base.

Sounds though if your battery is more or less dead

deathandtaxes · Jun 8, 2003, 10:09 AM

I had a different experience with battery replacement than the post above. I have Applecare on my 1.5 yr old PB/550 and two batteries. Niether will last more than 1 hr now. I called Applecare and they said they will not replace a battery that is over 1 yr old. I ran X-battery and it said the charge was only 1 Ahr or whatever the units are, which is way below the 3 Ahr a new battery is supposed to give. So I think the batteries are the problem.

How many people have gotten free replacement batteries from Applecare??

iWrite · Jun 8, 2003, 10:25 AM

I got a free battery from Apple when one of my PB batteries died.

Yes, it's under AppleCare.