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Louis918 · Apr 22, 2006, 08:55 PM

I'm considering purchasing a new battery for my 12" powerbook and I've come across the FastMac truepower Batteries. I'm impressed with the $100 price tag, but I want to know if the quality and life are impressive? I'm also wondering what the overall life expectancy is? The pismo replacement battery is also impressive with it's 58% higher capacity than the original at a $120 price, but I don't use my pismo all that much without the ac adaptor.
Louis

ezappy · Apr 23, 2006, 10:42 AM

I don't know what kind of battery pack is in your Mac, but I opened up the one in myPowerBook 5300CE. It has 12 Ni-MH AA batteries in it. I am replacing them. I can get 24 of them for about $26.

Louis918 · Apr 23, 2006, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by borgward

I don't know what kind of battery pack is in your Mac, but I opened up the one in myPowerBook 5300CE. It has 12 Ni-MH AA batteries in it. I am replacing them. I can get 24 of them for about $26.

I was looking at that option for my pismo...i've seen the websites where people have tried it. it definitely looks like something to try, especially for only about $30. i've been poking around my 12" battery and that doesn't look like it comes apart as easily and it's my main computer... i'd rather not mess with it like that.

macmike · 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by Louis918

I'm considering purchasing a new battery for my 12" powerbook and I've come across the FastMac truepower Batteries. I'm impressed with the $100 price tag, but I want to know if the quality and life are impressive? I'm also wondering what the overall life expectancy is? The pismo replacement battery is also impressive with it's 58% higher capacity than the original at a $120 price, but I don't use my pismo all that much without the ac adaptor.
Louis

I'm suspicious of their claims. I received my FASTMAC battery (Model: APP-5969) a few days.

I have a WHITE ibook G4 933MHz. The original Apple battery is model# A1062.

Rating
The rated battery capacity doesn't match up with what's shown on the label.
The label on the FASTMAC battery shows a rating of 4400mAh. (as well as the web site)
I'm seeing "Original Battery Capacity" of 4000mAH
Utilities: Battorox, Coconut Battery,
Command line: ioreg -l -w 0 | grep -i iobatteryinfo

Color
My ibook exterior is white. The battery exterior does not match my ibook. It is gray.

Conditioning
I have charged it fully and then depleted it fully, twice.
After a few days I see
Original Battery Capacity: 4000 mAh
Current Battery Capacity: 3488 mAh (never been above this amount)

FASTMAC support does NOT respond to my emails

How does FASTMAC support their claim of a 29% increase in performance?
What should I be realistically be expecting?
Are there independent tests? Comparisons to other vendors?

Louis918 · Jul 12, 2006, 12:50 PM

thanks for letting us know macmike and keep us updated as to what their email response is,
Louis

Originally Posted by macmike

I'm suspicious of their claims. I received my FASTMAC battery a few days.

I have a WHITE ibook G4 933MHz. The original Apple battery is model# A1062.

Rating
The rated battery capacity doesn't match up with what's shown on the label.
The label on the FASTMAC battery shows a rating of 4400mAh.
I'm seeing "Original Battery Capacity" of 4000mAH
Utilities: Battorox, Coconut Battery,
Command line: ioreg -l -w 0 | grep -i iobatteryinfo

Color
My ibook exterior is white. The battery exterior does not match my ibook. It is gray.

Conditioning
I have charged it fully and then depleted it fully, twice.
After a few days I see
Original Battery Capacity: 4000 mAh
Current Battery Capacity: 3488 mAh (never been about this amount)

FASTMAC support does NOT respond to my emails

How do you they determine your claims of 30% increase in performance?
What should I be realistically be getting?
Are their independent tests?

carmelite · Aug 12, 2006, 06:35 PM

I purchased a Truepower replacement battery for my Titanium pb g4 1ghz 512mb ram about 2 months ago and am very happy with it. It performs well and hasn't even dropped down in capacity whereas the Newertech battery I purchased 1 year ago dropped 30% in the first week! I contacted their support team and never received a reply.

The other thing that bothered me about the Newertech battery was that it NEVER (even on day 1) displayed the claimed capacity. Has anyone else had this problem? The Truepower battery at least shows up correctly.

I will post a followup review in 6-8 months regarding performance of the Truepower battery but so far I am happy.

bbales · Aug 13, 2006, 11:54 AM

Interestingly, I am just in the market for a replacement for my 12-inch aluminum PB. I was looking at the NewerTech ones -- bad experience, hmmm. Anyone have a good one? I like to have my capacity listed, so thtat would nudge me to an Apple replacement battery, I think.

Had nt heard of the Trupower ones before now.

VetPsychWars · Aug 13, 2006, 01:31 PM

I had considered these other companies when I received a discount code from batteries.com, so I bought an Energizer battery for my Pismo (yes, they still make them!).

Their 4800mAh battery charged up to 5700mAh, and lasts for 5 hours. If you can get Energizer for a good price, I would get one of those, since it's backed by a REAL warranty. Who knows where those other batteries came from?

Tom