[templetalker]

Curious about the expanding field of battery technology? When will Powerbooks in the future be fun on a 10 hour plane ride or car trip? Lastly, what's the point of buying two batteries when replacing the other your PB shuts off? Push the battery technolgy mother nature!

[Drakino]

The 15 inch and 17 inch Powerbooks allow for the batteries to be swapped while the machine is in sleep mode. I did this with no problem on a recent flight, and enjoyed movie watching the entire way, even though Apple sold me a Pro laptop with the worst battery capacity out of any laptop they sell.

As far as the future? Fuel Cell seems to be the popular possibility, but I don't see it catching on too well in the portable space. I like just plugging it into the wall to recharge. I don't like the idea of having to buy gas for my laptop, and I don't think too many other people will like the idea either.

[Tomster]

Do a google on empower connecters. More carriers are offering power on flights. Frankly, I think it would be much safer to wire seats on flights than to let the masses bring fuel cartridges onto flights.

[templetalker]

Haha, My imagination runs wild, images of exhaust fumes clouding airplanes and coughing passangers...Maybe like a lawn mower pull tab? lol...Fuel Cell is actually an interesting component for the future, and the idea of plug-ins on planes is exciting; as I had no idea you could put it in sleep mode and swap batteries! Nice heads up! This is an interesting topic with some great comments so far. Here's to hoping we see some great progress in battery technology in the future.

[Drakino]

Keep in mind fuel cells don't release emmissions beyond heat and pure water, due to the fact that they convert the fuel to energy, instead of burning it to cause an explosion. In a fuel cell laptop, I would imagine the water would be returned to the cartrige, then it could be disposed of or refilled at a later time.

Burning our fossil fuels is about the most wasteful thing we can do with them. If they manage to make a fuel cell car sometime soon, miles per gallon will shoot through the roof.

[jools]

The BBC reported on fuel cell technology earlier this year, although I have not seen recent updates. The following was a June '03 report on NEC's laptop launch for 2004: Fuel Cell Laptop Promises Long Life

[tooki]

The only Apple notebooks that can't swap while asleep are the iBooks (definitely not the clamshell ones... not sure about the dual USB iBooks). Every PowerBook can swap while asleep (they have an internal rechargeable battery to permit this).

tooki

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by tooki:
The only Apple notebooks that can't swap while asleep are the iBooks (definitely not the clamshell ones... not sure about the dual USB iBooks). Every PowerBook can swap while asleep (they have an internal rechargeable battery to permit this).

tooki

FALSE.

The 12" Powerbooks (internally basically iBooks) have NO buffer battery.

No hot-swapping here.

-s*

[Graymalkin]

The only time fuel cells don't produce emissions beyond heat and water are when they're working with pure hydrogen. Hydrogen has to be stored in pressurized tanks because the molecules are so small that as a gas it easily escapes from even the most well sealed of containers. As such hydrogen is a PITA to store and transport, a good deal of the energy stored in the hydrogen has to be used to keep it cryogenic.

Whenever you see plans for fuel cells in cars or laptops you're usually seeing plans for methanol fuel cells. Methanol fuel cells use a catalyst to crack the methanol molecules apart to get the hydrogen in them. Such fuel cells produce water, heat, and carbon dioxide. They're desirable in anything mobile because methanol is simple to produce and store and carries enough energy to make it a viable fuel source.

Fuel cells for laptops are still a ways off. If you want long battery life any time soon you might want to pick up a battery pad. Electrovaya and Valence both make Apple compatible pads. Most models are small enough to fit in a carry-on bag without a problem and don't weigh too much. They are essentially large external laptop batteries. Coupled with a Powerbook's battery the larger (100Wh +) models could last from LA to London doing some light work or watching both Lord of the Rings DVDs from New York to London.