[brapper]

Apparently laptop batteries are only considered "consumable goods" like tires on a new car. They're only guaranteed for defect, but not for quality (how long they last.) So, I had to buy a new battery ($199 CDN) for a year and a half old Tibook today.
Also, according to Apple, batteries are only good for around 300 charges, after that they start to lose their ability to hold a charge...so use your charges well.

[Lertsiri]

What is considered a charge......from 0 percent or from the 94 percent level in my aluminum PB 17"

I don't want to have this thing use its charges like crazy for just being in the powerbook..

so from this fear I take my battery out of the case when its being used on the desktop for long periods....

do you think that is a good idea to conserve my limited number of Charges?

[machem]

Do you have Applecare? Check your (original) statement. Apple recently took batteries off the AC/warranty statement, but your TiBook's statement doesn't dis-include batteries. Warranties are not alterable after the fact, so if you have AppleCare, you can push hard on this one.

If you don't have AppleCare, I'm sorry.

As for charge, 60% is considered "nominal", in other words, if it falls below 60%, it is considered "dead". This is an industry definition, I believe.

There was a real good consumer battery FAQ/page listed on one of the discussion sites this week. Unfortunately, the URL is on my AlBook, which is somewhere between here and Houston for a repair.

[Luca Rescigno]

Don't NiMH batteries have less life on a single charge but they last a lot longer before dying? I have a PowerBook 520c with a battery that can still hold almost an hour's charge. I see NiMH batteries from PowerBook 190s and 5300s on eBay all the time, and I'm assuming at least some of them have to be good. Apparently, NiMH batteries can be reconditioned but LiIons can't.

[spitty27]

ive barely used my battery on my pismo......and it died. i reset the PRAM while it was plugged in AC, and it started charging. i get about 30 min....max.

[shabbasuraj]

here is a url... with much info...

http://batteryuniversity.com/index.htm

lates...

[filmmaker2002]

Well, I got 4 hours of ACTUAL usage on my 1.25 SD 15" Powerbook today. Sitting down by the lake and studying...taking notes. Airport off, Bluetooth off, screen at 40-50% brightness, no display sleeping, and reduced processor. I used Word to take notes. Powerbook ran for around 4 hours straight and still had a 10% charge when I closed it up. Can only imagine what Panther has to offer.

[kikkoman]

I bought a new one too. I was getting 30 minutes max on the old one. Now I'm getting nearly 4 hours on the new one! I'm running a Ti 667.

Originally posted by spitty27:
ive barely used my battery on my pismo......and it died.

The worst thing that reduces battery life is to subject the battery to high temperatures on a full charge. I often set my Ti on the bed while plugged into the wall. It would get very hot. I'm sure that killed the battery capacity.

[ligux]

Originally posted by brapper:
.
Also, according to Apple, batteries are only good for around 300 charges...

They should say that on their web page , these are the little things to feel ashamed of defending APPLE in this PC world.

[kikkoman]

Originally posted by ligux:
They should say that on their web page , these are the little things to feel ashamed of defending APPLE in this PC world.

Why? It is not unique to Apple. The battery in my Dell Latitude does not last as long when it was new. It's just an inherent limitation of the technology.

[StiZeven]

Originally posted by kikkoman:
Why? It is not unique to Apple. The battery in my Dell Latitude does not last as long when it was new. It's just an inherent limitation of the technology.

But what he meant was that Dell clearly states how many charge cycles you can expect out of the battery before the charge capacity gets reduced (on all their models). Further more, even thought Dell's 3-year warranty costs less and covers more, they WILL replace a battery if it significantly reduces charge time in only a year and a half. That's the difference.

[amazing]

Anybody needing a new Ti battery should get a NewerTech battery instead:

http://www.newertech.com/newer_bats.html

As I recall, the original Ti battery was covered by Applecare at that time. They may have restricted coverage since then, but they can't take away the coverage they gave you at that time.

[ligux]

That is the point,
thanks for understanding stiZeven

[brapper]

thanks - i'll look into it and tell you all what the deal is.