[agentmouthwash]

Newer Tech is releasing new batteries!

65-Watt Hour and 71-Watt Hour batteries Li Ion.....
Apple�s stock battery is 50-Watt Hour

I wonder how much more battery time my powerbook will have.

[nate_02]

is the battery physically any larger?

[songoku912]

Does anyone have a link for this?

[IronMentality]

Any new word on this? If I am going to buy an extra battery when I order my PB 15" 1.5 Ghz I sure would like a better one

[agentmouthwash]

Other Word Computing has them for sale:
http://eshop.macsales.com/

[jonasmac]

If there is no difference in size, style and shape -- I'm going to get one. Battery life on the 15" is just atrocious. I get less than 3 hours even with settings down for longest battery life.

[agentmouthwash]

It has to be the same size - how else is it going to fit inside the powerbook?

[Synotic]

What's the difference between the 65 and 71 watt batteries? I'm guessing one holds more battery... but why wouldn't you pay ten dollars more? Does the PowerBook get exceptionally hot? Does anyone have any prior knowledge of if these things ever come down in price? My battery life is horrid.. like 1 hour 45 minutes... is Apple willing to replace my battery for free?

[songoku912]

Man, I might really pull the trigger on this in a couple of weeks. It would really be a killer upgrade. I still do not understand why Apple shipped the albooks with a lower capacity battery than the ti's, but at least we have an alternative now

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by jonasmac:
If there is no difference in size, style and shape -- I'm going to get one. Battery life on the 15" is just atrocious. I get less than 3 hours even with settings down for longest battery life.

My friend's Mobile Athlon XP 3200+ gets a whopping 45 minutes on normal settings, and just over 1 1/2 hours on minimum. Trust me, your laptop gets pretty damn good battery life.... but more is always good.

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by jonasmac:
If there is no difference in size, style and shape -- I'm going to get one. Battery life on the 15" is just atrocious. I get less than 3 hours even with settings down for longest battery life.

They look the same to me, even have LEDs. Whoa, be cool f those were blue instead of green. Blue is always cooler.

[songoku912]

71 watt battery for $139? Next paycheck, it's a definite purchase.

[trancepriest]

What type of power duration are we looking at with these batteries?

[Stradlater]

are they planning on releasing higher capacity 17" batteries?

[tavilach]

3 hours of battery life at maximum use, 4 at minimum use...this is great!

I mean, wow...wow...

I'm worried about damage to my PowerBook, though. Would this void the warranty? Can I trust NewerTech?

Edit: It says it's equivalent to an A1045 battery. Those were the ones that were recalled...

...

[IronMentality]

(waiting for a super PB Expert to come along and address if these batteries are safe for purchase or not)

[Person Man]

Originally posted by tavilach:
3 hours of battery life at maximum use, 4 at minimum use...this is great!

I mean, wow...wow...

I'm worried about damage to my PowerBook, though. Would this void the warranty? Can I trust NewerTech?

Edit: It says it's equivalent to an A1045 battery. Those were the ones that were recalled...

...

No, it won't damage the powerbook or void the warranty.

The A1045 batteries that were recalled had faulty control circuitry. I doubt that these will have those problems.

[Person Man]

Originally posted by IronMentality:
(waiting for a super PB Expert to come along and address if these batteries are safe for purchase or not)

Yes they are safe for purchase. I've used them without problems.

[Ryan1524]

tavilach, where did you get 3 hours max and 4 hours min?

and why only 4 hours at min use? i'd expect 5 or maybe up to 6 on min use. i mean it's 1.5 max vs 3 hours min on stock batteries after all - double time.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Ryan1524:
tavilach, where did you get 3 hours max and 4 hours min?

and why only 4 hours at min use? i'd expect 5 or maybe up to 6 on min use. i mean it's 1.5 max vs 3 hours min on stock batteries after all - double time.

Well, I approximated, but think about it...

It's a 42% boost. I've experienced 2 hours max, which would mean 2.84 hours max on these...which is about 3 hours. 1.5 hours max would yield 2.13 hours, so I guess we can say that it'll be at least 2.25 hours max, probably around 2.5. That's a nice boost.

As for expected 5 or maybe 6...

Don't . It won't get that high. If you normally get 3, you'll get 4.26 with these...

Unless, of course, you plan on using both batteries (one after the other), which would give you 7.26 at min use!

[songoku912]

I am going to order the 71-watt next wed, for sure. It's a good deal, and anything would be an improvement. Does anyone know why Apple themselves don't offer a higher capacity battery for the albooks, or why the weak batteries in the first place?

[AndrewP]

I have a 71 watt on order and should receive it on Thursday. I'll report back actual runtimes (after calibration) and weight difference.

[MrForgetable]

Also report on the heat

[IronMentality]

Ok, it's clear these batteries are better than the one's Apple offer. Now, there is no heat issues with them? That's all I'd need reassurance (and others) to make for a hastely purchase

[Ryan1524]

waiting for the reports too. i'm getting 3 hour on mine, but would Love to get even more.

[h00ligan]

Originally posted by songoku912:
I am going to order the 71-watt next wed, for sure. It's a good deal, and anything would be an improvement. Does anyone know why Apple themselves don't offer a higher capacity battery for the albooks, or why the weak batteries in the first place?

weight and heat i would assume.

[Drakino]

Originally posted by songoku912:
I am going to order the 71-watt next wed, for sure. It's a good deal, and anything would be an improvement. Does anyone know why Apple themselves don't offer a higher capacity battery for the albooks, or why the weak batteries in the first place?

When the first 15 inch AlBook came out, it was using the highest capacity cells, at least according to the third party companies who make the batteries like this. I'm sure now that we are over a year past that, a new jump has occured in batteries again. Expect Apple to increase the battery capacity again when the next 15 inch comes out, if it's the same battery still. The 15 inch TiBook jumped a few times over its life span.

[BenN]

I would be interested in one of these as well, but I`ve already got two of the Apple batteries; kind of hard to justify a third!

[Lancer409]

does it work for 12inchers? I am already getting around four something on low use, sometimes more. i would like to haev that boosted to six .. hahaha

[wuzup101]

Wow, the only complaint (and I'll admit not a huge one) about my powerbook is it's batt life. If I can squeak 3.5+ hrs with normal usage (surfing, typing, etc...) out of this sucker I'll be very happy. I ordered mine tonight and got the (somehow reduced) 2 day UPS shipping. Should be here by the friday/sat? If this works like they say I'll be more than pleased!

Also stupid question about the 15" in general. There isn't hot batt swapping is there? I know some tablet PC's have this feature that allows you to swap out for a fresh batt while in standby mode. Is this possible on the powerbook, or is this a feature I'll have to wait for in the future?

[MrForgetable]

I think you can swap batteries while it is sleeping

[wuzup101]

Thanks MrForgetable, a quick google search confirmed that you do indeed have aprox 1min to swap batts on 15" and 17" powerbooks while in sleep mode. Well I'm glad apple thought of this, as it makes me even happier that I bought this great machine. I can honestly say now that with both batteries I'll have now and hot swapping ability there's not a bad thing I can say about this machine!

[songoku912]

Is it just me or the 71 watt battery has been replaced with a 53.3 watt battery?

[MrForgetable]

Originally posted by songoku912:
Is it just me or the 71 watt battery has been replaced with a 53.3 watt battery?

oh.. it's true. what the heck?!?!
a place in the ad still shows "54% increase in battery life" but the rest now say 11% increase.

[songoku912]

Did anyone happen to order the 71 watt before it was taken down? Today was payday too, just my luck lol. Now I am hesitant to pull the trigger, $140 for a 71 watt is a great deal, not so sure about $140 for a 53 watt.

[Ryan1524]

i see it too, what happened? unsafe operation? overheating? no-stock?

[8minute]

Originally posted by wuzup101:
Thanks MrForgetable, a quick google search confirmed that you do indeed have aprox 1min to swap batts on 15" and 17" powerbooks while in sleep mode. Well I'm glad apple thought of this, as it makes me even happier that I bought this great machine. I can honestly say now that with both batteries I'll have now and hot swapping ability there's not a bad thing I can say about this machine!

Doh! Does anyone know why you can't hot swap batteries on the 12" PB?

[MrForgetable]

Originally posted by 8minute:
Doh! Does anyone know why you can't hot swap batteries on the 12" PB?

too small for the charge to stay inside? a gift for 15 and 17 inch users for spending so much?

[darkhawk64]

Hey all-
The reason that you can sleep swap batteries in the 15/17" PowerBooks is that those models have clock batteries. The 12" PBs don't. That's why you have to put the machines to sleep rather than leave them on and take the battery off. That'll shut down the machine. Hope this helps.
jared

BTW, if anyone knows why those batteries are taken down, please post a reply (maybe OWCLarry is trolling around here and would like to comment...)

[Ruahrc]

Yes there is a small battery inside the 15" and 17" notebooks that can sustain the notebook in sleep for ~3 mins (according to apple's website) so you can swap batteries.

It is rechargeable as well (so this process can be done over and over again), and I think it is a different battery from the small button battery that keeps the clock time (which the 12" probably has as well).

The reason it is not in the 12"? Two reasons- 1) maybe there is no room to fit it inside the smaller 12" casing, or 2) they wanted to keep costs down so they elected not to include it.

Ruahrc

PS- I emailed OWT to ask about the change in capacity- hopefully I will recieve a reply soon and I will let you all know what they said.

[amazing]

The fact that you couldn't hot-swap the battery in the 12" AlPB seemed to indicate to many people that it was more of a "super-iBook" than a PowerBook (along with lacking fw-800, lower quality LCD, lacking gigabit ethernet.)

The current 15" ALPB ships with a 50 watt-hour battery, Apple price $129. The 2 batteries that OWC lists are a 48 watt-hour for $129 and a 53.3 watt-hour for $139. Why would any company put out a lower capacity replacement battery for the same price as the manufacturer battery? Which leaves the 2nd one for $10 more, and a 3.3 watt-hour difference isn't 11%, much less a 54% improvement.

More to the point, why doesn't the Newer Technology website even list these batteries? No mention of any batteries for the AlPB.

[Ruahrc]

Recieved a reply from OWT today:

The information that we received from our supplier must have been inacurate. The updated information is currently on our site. Please let me know if you have any other questions.


Best regards,

Chris Roberts
Corporate Account Manager
Other World Computing, Inc.
A division of New Concepts Development Corporation
1004 Courtaulds Drive
Woodstock, Illinois 60098
Sales line (800) 275-4576 x 159
Direct line 815-333-5059
Fax (815) 338-4332

Visit us on the Web at: http://macsales.com//

Too bad. I was really happy to hear that a 71Wh battery was an option too!

Ruahrc

[songoku912]

I don't think I will be ordering then, I don't think the 53 watt battery will be a huge jump from the stock 51 the albooks currently ship with. I wish even the 61 watt was an option now.

[wuzup101]

I checked my order status for the 71wh battery I ordered and it has indeed been processed. It says that I'll be getting the 71wh battery that I ordered so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[8minute]

Originally posted by amazing:
The fact that you couldn't hot-swap the battery in the 12" AlPB seemed to indicate to many people that it was more of a "super-iBook" than a PowerBook (along with lacking fw-800, lower quality LCD, lacking gigabit ethernet.)

Yeah it does seem that way doesn't it? (you can also add no DVI out on Rev A, no backlit kb, PC card slot ... yeah I know, space is at a premium on the 12") ... but I still love my 12" nonetheless!

[wuzup101]

I could see not having the backlit keyboard (though I love mine and I think the 12" should get one) and the PC card slot as that does take up a decent amount of room. I personally don't understand the lack of gigbit ethernet though... and one would think that a machine which is like the flagship of portability and power would have a hot swap battery... especially because we know that apple has the means to do it!

[cenutrio]

Ok, I have a TiPB 400 almost 4 years old whose battery life was getting very limited overtime (lately, rarely more than 25 minutes).

Yesterday, I bought a new one because I couldn't be mobile anymore. The new one gives me more than 4 h at maximum power settings.

It seems longer than when I originally bought it. Is the battery different?

Anyhow, these are good news I can enjoy the sunshine while working again

[anly]

What's up with that?

[songoku912]

For those that did order & received their battery, whats the verdict on the slight capacity increased? I went ahead and ordered one myself, priced for the same as the stock 15 battery from apple, should have it friday.

[agentmouthwash]

ya know what?
i did get an increase. Now my Powerbook gets close to 3 hours
as oppose to the 2 I used to get. I'm not saying
everybody will get a 30% increase, but It seems to be that
way for me. My original battery was horrible
since day one.