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Cheetah223 · Mar 27, 2005, 05:45 PM

I tried a search, it's overwhelming how many topics there are. Does NO ONE make a hi-capacity battery for the powerbook? 2 hours is rediculous, in fact it's downright useless. I'm away from a desk for a lot more than 2 hours per day. I like the idea of that N-Charge2 system, but it seems a little bulky, considering you have to plug it into the charge port of your powerbook, rather than replace the stock battery. I'd really like an internal battery that holds more than 2 or 3 hours of charge. I've considered the idea of getting a spare battery when I get my powerbook, but that's a fair sized investment, and just more to carry. Does anyone know of any longer lasting internal batteries for the powerbook? Does anyone think the next revision of powerbooks may sport a longer battery life? The battery is the one and only thing steering me away from buying a powerbook.

SassyPants · Mar 27, 2005, 06:02 PM

Only 2 hours o.O? That's...interesting...

Gives me something to think about now...
I would expect Apple to make an extended capacity battery from the start...

How many cells does a standard Powerbook batter have?

Cheetah223 · Mar 27, 2005, 07:04 PM

Apple's always behind with battery technology. My iPod battery lasts 12 hours (supposedly, never checked, some last longer) and my sister's Dell Jukebox lasts 17 hours. I'm really hoping the next rev will have at least a 4 hour battery, hopefully considerably more than that. I'd like to rip a couple DVDs to my HD so I can watch them on roadtrips or long flights.

CorduroyBoy · Mar 27, 2005, 10:13 PM

Bad news... I often get over 3-4hrs (not really timed it) but I switch off alot of things I don't need like the AirPort, Bluetooth, dim the screen, go in the energy saver under system prefs and really sacrifice. For longer trips you might want to try a second battery.

There is a thread a bit earlier than this talking about battery life on 12" Powerbook: synopsis is a new battery from NuPower(?) is about to be released with longer battery life. Not much tho' (not double)

You might want to trade down to an iBook, or get a car power adapter - just ideas...

I agree with you it is pretty sucky if you need the extra juice, but if Apple designed in a bigger battery the powerbook wouldn't be as slinky or light. A slap on hi-cap battery brick like Sony does would be good.

for longer iPod Battery Life: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/12/16.8.shtml

Chito · Mar 28, 2005, 07:48 AM

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see where you say which model powerbook. Look here for 15 & 17 and they say 12" coming soon.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/powerbook/batteries/

bgotori · Mar 28, 2005, 09:56 AM

Hey All

Just get a REAL POWERBOOK(Pismo)...hahaha

I have two(2) 7200 batteries for my Pismo, with AirPort and Bluetooth(d-link module)for my mouse running it'll last 11.5hrs. Just the thing for travel and staying connected to who or wherever I need. Runs everything I need Word, Excel, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto and my Database stuff(mySQL).

I'd go for a New Faster PowerBook, if I could get that kind of Battery life(using two(2)batteries, but for Now it Hasn't Happened...

Good Luck!!!

Brad

PBG4 User · Mar 28, 2005, 02:07 PM

Originally posted by Cheetah223:
I tried a search, it's overwhelming how many topics there are. Does NO ONE make a hi-capacity battery for the powerbook? 2 hours is rediculous, in fact it's downright useless. I'm away from a desk for a lot more than 2 hours per day. I like the idea of that N-Charge2 system, but it seems a little bulky, considering you have to plug it into the charge port of your powerbook, rather than replace the stock battery. I'd really like an internal battery that holds more than 2 or 3 hours of charge. I've considered the idea of getting a spare battery when I get my powerbook, but that's a fair sized investment, and just more to carry. Does anyone know of any longer lasting internal batteries for the powerbook? Does anyone think the next revision of powerbooks may sport a longer battery life? The battery is the one and only thing steering me away from buying a powerbook.

I understand an extra battery is more to carry, but a fair sized investment? An extra battery only costs $129, which is less than 10% of the cost of a new PowerBook. If you really need the ability to work for a long time away from a power source then a second battery is a good solution. This is what I did with my TiBook when I was in school and wanted to make sure I could cover a 6-8 hour time period without a wall outlet.

My AlBook gets between 3-4 hours on a single charge, just to let you know. I am setting the CPU to reduced, turning off airport/bluetooth and lowering screen res to get 4 hours though.

Cheetah223 · Mar 28, 2005, 03:35 PM

I'm going to get a 15" 'book if I decide to get one. It's nothing massive, but for a student, $130 can be a tough amount to scrape together, as most of you probably know. A second battery was one of my first thoughts for the extra capacity, I was just hoping for a more..well...singular solution. I guess even if I were to get a Hi-Cap battery from some company I'd probably still carry my stock battery with me most of the time. I'll probably get a car adapter if I find the need for one, but usually when I'm traveling it's in planes, which most (all?) coach seats lack any power outlets. I like the idea of disabling bluetooth and the airport card, how complicated is it to do that? At home I'd be on a wireless network, needing the airport card, and I've been looking more and more at bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so I'd probably need both at home, but on the road they'd be pretty useless.

MilkmanDan · Mar 28, 2005, 04:29 PM

My room mate's windows laptop, which is only a year old, gets about 20 minutes of battery life. If that makes you feel better.

That and it sounds like a 747.

Cheetah223 · Mar 28, 2005, 05:14 PM

Haha, 20 minutes?! I haven't checked into it too much, but my sister's laptop (Dell Inspiron something something) had about a 70% charge and 3hrs52mins left in it. I'm not sure how accurate those things are, but that sounds a little more reasonable. 4 hours would be plenty for me, at that point I would be willing to carry two batteries, but needing two just to watch a movie start to finish, that's rediculous.

NYGEO18 · Mar 28, 2005, 08:05 PM

Dont get your hopes up. Battery technology is the anchor dragging behind the whole technology industry. Even though Li-ion batteries are pretty powerful with good characteristics, researchers are putting a lot of energy into squeezing out more from the nearly optimized Li-ion than looking into new ideas. Fuel cells, and fuel/li-ion hybrid batteries are probably the best bet for the near future. Fuel cells utilize refillable fuel canisters (try telling a consumer they have to pump their powerbook with gas every week or so! hahaaha) but the hybrid batteries use li-ion for energy intensive tasks and the fuel cell for constant low drain tasks, ultimately requiring far fewer refill episodes.
Another road researchers are looking down is energy saving technologies that optimize current battery technology. But performance and features will suffer in these options (to some degree).
Basically, the future at this point is bleak. Batteries are holding back technology in a way that is very detrimental but not highly publicized. Think about it, companies have the capabilities to pack features into small devices that would blow away the currently available devices...but who would want a video/music/photo/email/phone ipod that lasted 20 minutes with the battery?
Sorry to be sand in the vaseline.

PBG4 User · Mar 28, 2005, 09:13 PM

Originally posted by Cheetah223:
I like the idea of disabling bluetooth and the airport card, how complicated is it to do that? At home I'd be on a wireless network, needing the airport card, and I've been looking more and more at bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so I'd probably need both at home, but on the road they'd be pretty useless.

It's super easy. You can enable/disable from the little icons next to the clock in the upper right of the menu bar if you have airport/bluetooth set to display options in the menubar. If you don't you can click the Apple icon, then System Preferences and turn AE/BT on/off through the preference panes.

Cheetah223 · Mar 28, 2005, 10:51 PM

Hmm...well on average, how much time do you guys get with it all on? you said about 4 hours with it off, a couple batteries would make me happy if each lasted 4 hours..now i'm not feeling nearly as doubtful as I was.

tooki · Mar 29, 2005, 03:09 AM

My AlBook gives me constant Pismo envy. While the AlBook is faster, much faster, it gets hot as hell (140 F is impossible to have on your lap), and it gets maybe 90 minutes of real use out of a battery charge, all the while with my wrists cutting into the sharp front edge of the unit. My old Pismo gave me (in real-world, full-brightness use) about 3-3.5h per battery, stayed nice and cool, and had nice soft curves on the front for comfort.

::sigh::

Those were the good old days...

tooki

Chuckit · Mar 29, 2005, 03:21 AM

I generally get about three hours of use out of it. I know it's about three hours because I've taken a 3-hour bus ride on which I used my PowerBook almost constantly, and it still wasn't dead when I arrived.

But maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe it's because my PowerBook is still new. That's just my experience.

gzeus · Mar 29, 2005, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by bgotori:
I have two(2) 7200 batteries for my Pismo, with AirPort and Bluetooth(d-link module)for my mouse running it'll last 11.5hrs.

My Pismo has 2 "weight saving devices" instead of the (dead) battery and optical drive, which turn it into a sub-5 pound notebook. I love the flexibility of the g3 powerbooks in general.

As for a hi-cap battery, whatever happened to Electrovaya? They were selling their g3 and g4 powerbook compatable powerpad starting like 3-4 years ago, up to 16 hours of runtime. Their products got positive reviews, but for such a great invention, I really don't understand how they didn't generate more interest from consumers (are they still around?)

Cheetah223 · Mar 29, 2005, 04:51 PM

These guys? I can't figure out which one would be G4 compatible, it says model C (I think..) but it doesn't tell you which one is model C. Logically they'd be A through C left to right, but I wouldn't want to spend 250 dollars and get the wrong thing.

gzeus · 07:08 PM

I see they're still around. Each of the models can be ordered with a,b,c or d configuration. It's just so that the plugs will be compatable. Since the Powerpad 80 isn't available for the powerbook, you'd order either the 120-c or the 160-c.

edit: I just looked at the N-Valence2 that you mentioned and at $149 it seems to be the better deal.

Cheetah223 · Mar 29, 2005, 10:54 PM

The thing I don't like about the N-Charge2 system is that you have to set it next to your laptop, in your bag, something of the sort, then plug it into your AC port. That means a nice purdy wire running from the battery to your laptop, for 5 hours extra charge..Where the Electrovaya's have 8 hours on the smallest model, which isn't powerbook compatible, so you move up to the next model and you have (rough guess) 10-12 hours. So for 10 hours on the N-Charge system you'd need teh expansion, with it's handy rail mounting system...As well as the normal unit..Which ends up costing you $300 and you get to carry a bulky, heavy battery with you wherever you go, then have a nice looking wire running from your bag to your laptop.

Spend the same about on the Electrovaya and you have a nice, sleek solution that's just slightly larger than the footprint of a 12" Powerbook. Even if it was $20 extra, I'd probably opt for the electrovaya, I really like the form factor and the style of it, sleek, small, and unobtrusive...Just about perfect.

Another bonus to it, if you've got it on your lap, it's probably gonnna keep the pbook from toasting your legs up.

Big Mac · Mar 31, 2005, 06:34 AM

So when I upgrade from my iBook 466 at some point in the future, I will not be able to get six hour battery life like i do now (with hi-capacity third party battery)?

threestain · Mar 31, 2005, 08:35 AM

So has anyone got any experience of the Electrovaya batteries? Cos they look amazing (3/8" for 10 hours? Bargain!) but then they are v. pricey at around �150+

SassyPants · Mar 31, 2005, 08:45 AM

Yes, those batteries are amazing. But the also cost about $400 US. Also, i think they come with a 6 month warranty, which is crappy for something that expensive. They're only rated for 350 charge cycles too...
soo....i don't know if they're worth it. I say just get an extra battery for your notebook.

Cheetah223 · Mar 31, 2005, 02:12 PM

Depends what you're gonna be doing, the electrovaya's are gonna hold a lot longer charge than two batteries from Apple. if you're on a plane and away from an outlet, the electrovaya's gonna be the best route...if you're just sitting around the house but don't want wires...another apple battery would probably be the way to go...I think the 350 charge cycles is pretty crap...that'd only last a couple years, obviously less if you use it every single day..