[yticolev]

I have a new Al 1.25 and my battery life was a touch more than two hours in actual use. Less than half of my old Titanium 500 with the latest battery. Xbattery reports the capacity at 3.657Ah which is below spec. After reading the reports here of reluctant Apple Service techs, I took matters into my own hands. Went to a local Apple Store, took a peek at the battery capacity of all the 15 inch display models and surreptitiously swapped my battery for their best one. This battery has a capacity of 4.543Ah which at about 25% more gives me about another half hour - close to three hours.

Should I be locked up for taking an action that left me in the same place as losing a few hours of my life fighting with Apple Service? I am feeling guilty but happier with my new laptop (which I will ultimately have to have serviced anyway due to large white spots).

Incidentally, one of the store's batteries was the same as mine, but the rest were around 4Ah and above.

-Oops, edited for grammer.

[coolmacdude]

Originally posted by yticolev:
I have a new Al 1.25 and my battery life was a touch more than two hours in actual use. Less than half of my old Titanium 500 with the latest battery. Xbattery reports the capacity at 3.657Ah which is below spec. After reading the reports here of reluctant Apple Service techs, I took matters into my own hands. Went to a local Apple Store, took a peek at the battery capacity of all the 15 inch display models and surreptitiously swapped my battery for their best one. This battery has a capacity of 4.543Ah which at about 25% more gives me about another half hour - close to three hours.

Should I be locked up for taking an action that left me in the same place as losing a few hours of my life fighting with Apple Service? I am feeling guilty but happier with my new laptop (which I will ultimately have to have serviced anyway due to large white spots).

Incidentally, one of the store's batteries was the same as mine, but the rest were around 4Ah and above.

-Oops, edited for grammer.

You were certainly not wrong to feel you needed a replacement, but why take one from a store? Just do it the legit way, call Apple or go in to have it serviced. If you get someone that won't help you, call or visit at another time. Eventually you'll get someone good who will help you. Now you technically didn't steal anything since you replaced it, but now instead of just having yours replaced another new Mac now has a bad battery. So if someone ever uses that one (most display models are later sold as refurbs), you just gave them the same problem.

[mrmister]

Well, of course you were wrong--what kind of a stupid question is that?

I doubt you are going to hell for this, though.

[romeosc]

Originally posted by mrmister:
Well, of course you were wrong--what kind of a stupid question is that?

I doubt you are going to hell for this, though.

Why didn't I think of that! I could have taken in one of my PB100s and left with a 17" AL ..... just swapping of course (LOL)

[beefstu01]

Dude, if you go to the Apple Store, show them that your battery is crap, they'll probably pop open a new battery for you and give it to you. All it requires is you going to a guy and telling him your problem. Simple, Apple replaced someone's battery here on the board no questions asked.

What you did was theft. It doesn't matter if Apple shafted you in the first place. Lets say this- Apple gives me a 15" PB with white spots, I get pissed and go to my apple store, cut the cable (which you can't do now, but just for arguments sake), take that laptop and put mine in it's place. Theft!

There are legal means of dealing with your problem, and granted it might take a little more work on your part, everything comes out good. I just got my laptop back with a new battery, and I didn't even ask for one. Apple doesn't want to shaft you as much as you think. Since you have the luxury of being near an Apple store (something I don't have), you should have just talked to one of the sales people there, or the Mac Genius, and they would probably solve your problem right there. Try that next time instead of taking matters into your own hands, which could land you in court paying fines for shoplifting.

[mblchris]

I'm going to keep this reply simple:

That's theft

[spatterson]

Crazy times.... Crazy times...

Thats all I have to say

[WOPR]

You should count yourself lucky you have Apple Stores.

From that little country where everything sucks...

[sheer]

I don't condone what you did but fair play

[riverfreak]

If you have doubts about your actions and think that it is wrong, then it probably is. And in this case, it's quite clear that this is theft. You did, after all, have to do this surreptitiously.

[danbrew]

Yeah, you're a crook. And a stupid one to boot. First, what do you bet the chances are you were captured on video sometime while you were in the store? Worse, while you thought you were being sneaky? Second, way to advertise what 'ya did here on MacNN. The jails are full of people who thought they were smarter than everybody else -- and, guess what? A significant percentage of them couldn't keep their mouth shut either.

So... let's talk some more about the potential cost of your switchero. I wonder if Apple would consider that you stole a battery (sorry, leaving one in its place doesn't turn it into something other than theft) or if they would consider that you stole the whole computer? They can't exactly sell the one you boosted the battery from now can they? You might scoff at this perspective, but I can assure you the local district attorney would believe Apple over you. So... now we're talking $150 (how much is a new battery anyway?) or $2000. Could be a felony rap. Let's be generous and say that they'll just stick you with retail theft of the battery.

Would you go into court without a lawyer? I know, you probably would - but smart people would not. Figure that's at least $500 in even a podunk little town. Wonder what the judge is gonna say? He or she sees stupid people all day - but most of them have nothing and the option is either shrug their shoulders or send them to jail. Most go to jail. How do you think the judge will feel when some affluent (affluent enough to pop for a $2000 laptop) kid (you must be a kid) shows up and gets dinged for retail theft? A first thought might be that there's no way you couldn't afford it, so why did you do it? Let's say you catch the judge on a good day. I'll bet the minimum would be probation just to teach you a lesson. Figure that's a year or so off your life. What if the judge is having a bad day?

[brapper]

Originally posted by danbrew:
Yeah, you're a crook. And a stupid one to boot. First, what do you bet the chances are you were captured on video sometime while you were in the store? Worse, while you thought you were being sneaky? Second, way to advertise what 'ya did here on MacNN. The jails are full of people who thought they were smarter than everybody else -- and, guess what? A significant percentage of them couldn't keep their mouth shut either.

So... let's talk some more about the potential cost of your switchero. I wonder if Apple would consider that you stole a battery (sorry, leaving one in its place doesn't turn it into something other than theft) or if they would consider that you stole the whole computer? They can't exactly sell the one you boosted the battery from now can they? You might scoff at this perspective, but I can assure you the local district attorney would believe Apple over you. So... now we're talking $150 (how much is a new battery anyway?) or $2000. Could be a felony rap. Let's be generous and say that they'll just stick you with retail theft of the battery.

Would you go into court without a lawyer? I know, you probably would - but smart people would not. Figure that's at least $500 in even a podunk little town. Wonder what the judge is gonna say? He or she sees stupid people all day - but most of them have nothing and the option is either shrug their shoulders or send them to jail. Most go to jail. How do you think the judge will feel when some affluent (affluent enough to pop for a $2000 laptop) kid (you must be a kid) shows up and gets dinged for retail theft? A first thought might be that there's no way you couldn't afford it, so why did you do it? Let's say you catch the judge on a good day. I'll bet the minimum would be probation just to teach you a lesson. Figure that's a year or so off your life. What if the judge is having a bad day?

scary...

[benb]

Originally posted by danbrew:
Don't make fake quotes like this one!

Dude, you're gonna scare the crap outte the kid.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by benb:
Dude, you're gonna scare the crap outte the kid.

Shoot, I hope I do. What a dumb reason to go to jail. Can you imagine what would happen if the judge was having a bad day? How about jail time? It's absolutely possible - plenty of people have gone to jail for less.

I'm hoping that our quick fingered friend is the state wrestling or boxing champ - can you envision what would happen to him if he ended up in the county jail for 30 days? The county jail with all the ****-ups? Dang. Over a Powerbook battery? Double dang. There are a lot of mean people in jail who decide to have sex with the new guy who has no business being there. Ouch.

[Tomster]

This one is for all of the lawyers out there. Not sure if this is either theft or shoplifting as there was a swap out. Maybe fraud?

Honestly, there is a genius bar there. There isn't a single AluBook out there with an expired warrantee so unless one voided it by taking it apart, a battery defect should be covered. They would have given you a new battery!

[Mastrap]

Worst of all, if caught you would by now have a criminal record. A stupid, stupid thing to do.

[yticolev]

Not that this is a defense, but this was not premeditated. The Apple Store looked like a supermarket at 5pm when I walked in. There were two lines 8 deep at the registers and about 20 people clustered around the genius bar. Otherwise I would have asked. And while I admit that I did not follow proper protocol, it was an even exchange for a defective part covered by warranty. Pretty unlikely that Apple would want to prosecute or that a judge would even be able to identify a material loss to Apple - which is the defective battery? Doesn't make it right but if you are talking about the spirit of the warranty rather than the letter...

[djjava]

Was that you i saw on "America's Dumbest Criminals" swapping the batteries from powerbooks? Hmm.... I think you can download that video clip on the net....


Big Brother is watching.

[romeosc]

Originally posted by yticolev:
Not that this is a defense, but this was not premeditated. The Apple Store looked like a supermarket at 5pm when I walked in. There were two lines 8 deep at the registers and about 20 people clustered around the genius bar. Otherwise I would have asked. And while I admit that I did not follow proper protocol, it was an even exchange for a defective part covered by warranty. Pretty unlikely that Apple would want to prosecute or that a judge would even be able to identify a material loss to Apple - which is the defective battery? Doesn't make it right but if you are talking about the spirit of the warranty rather than the letter...

Apple KNOWS you stole the battery! Every PB battery has a serial number and they have your original one!

If the one you swapped catches fire like the old 5300s did and burns down the Apple Store.... they will be looking for you.


I hope you sleep well tonight!

[Tomster]

Just changed my mind about the whole situation. Troubleshot another Powerbook at work today. 15" 1.25Ghz. ioreg -l | grep -i IOBat gives a capacity of 2988. Slight problem. Took it to to the local Applestore. The genius was pretty helpful and agreed something was amiss. He said he would switch it out but there was no current stock and suggested I call Applecare.

In a nutshell, Applecare reps do not care what the battery capacity is. They go by actual battery life. After going to tier two, they said they would pass it up to engineering but were not too optimistic about getting another battery. I told them the battery life was two hours with all power conservation on and one hour with everything turned to max. They said that was within normal limits and there would be no exchange.

Well, I am getting a little over two hours on my 17" Powerbook with everything set to max (except for bluetooth). The 15" running with minimum settings should get way more battery life than mine.

So as for Apple giving you a battery when one asks for it, I was sadly mistaken. Not sure what to do with the dud battery. Applecare rep said if a genius at a store was willing to switch it out, then go for it, but officially, no dice.

[cantcstr8]

The Apple Store has you on video tape. How do I know?. I bought a PowerMac G5 at the store in Chicago about a month ago. Long story short when I got home I was missing one of my pieces of software that I had bought. Called the store and they said "we can review the tapes in the morning"

Well in my case, the sales rep and I were so busy talking that he forgot to stick it in the bag. It was plainly visible on the video tape. I thanked the guy and went back the next day.

Because they inconvienced me, they gave me a $25 gift certificate (without me even asking them to do anything).

Moral of the story, being nice and honest pays in the long run.

[deviousgelatin]

Rather machiavellian of you, don't you think?

Theft. Definitely theft.

[Link]

Chances are 7/10 they saw you doing it, it's on camera, etc, but they probably went and checked the machine over, and when they saw nothing missing, just shrugged and left it at that.

I'm surprised actually. You'd think they'd stick a magnetic strip on the battery.