SillyDog701

[Antony]

How to prolong your rechargeable battery? A new information page has been set up by Apple about Lithium-ion Batteries.

It covers the information about the batteries and the definition of the Lithium-ion battery and how to pro-long the battery life. As we all know, with most rechargeable batteries, we may eventually need to replace our battery.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

For PowerBook/iBook users,

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her iBook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month.

For iPod users,

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month.

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[Antony]

If you are an Apple iPod owner, it would be a good idea to invest the additional warranty - AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod.

Your one year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. You can extend your warranty to two years with AppleCare. During the second year, Apple will replace the battery if it drops below 50% of its original capacity. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery replacement for AU$199 (or US$99). Apple disposes your battery in an environmentally-friendly manner.

AppleCare Protection Plan will extend the warranty to two years, and you will be able to replace your battery before the end of 2 years for free.

AppleCare Protection Plan costs AU$99 (or US$59)

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[Tidus]

At least iPods use Lithium ion batteries, and not Ni-Cads, the only problem i hate about Ni-Cads, and the reason i stopped using them, is the memory effect.

That used to do my head in!

One of the best things Apple could do with the iPod is use removable batteries, instead of fixed. I have a Thomson Lyra 20GB HD MP3 player, and the battery is internal and soldered in, and the battery is wearing out, i want an iPod, but they still use soldered in proprietary batteries, and that is putting me off, as my Thomson will cost me £60-70 to get a new battery fitted by Thompson.

I love iPods though, i was in love when i saw one! Me want!!

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[Edward]

I recently had to purchase a new battery for my ThinkPad. In Linux, the GNOME Status Monitor reported its capacity was at less than 50% which meant the battery was either broken or old.

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[Antony]

All rechargeable batteries have their useful lifespan, usually defined as more than 80% capacity.

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[Edward]

The battery that was replaced, was the factory original IBM/Lenovo, it was four years old. I'm told that is the average lifespan of one of those.

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[Tidosho]

I feel I need to add some advice, as there's a shocking trend starting. Chinese firms are selling cheap and nasty batteries through posts in forums, and on eBay, they're spamming a Fujitsu forum I'm a moderator and repair advisor for. I had a customer recently who had fallen for one, and the battery in her laptop swelled, and leaked. Luckily I repaired her motherboard before the damage got worse.

Don't buy cheap batteries from ANY Taiwanese or Chinese sellers. They are often cheap, nasty, and not made to strict guidelines concerning materials and safety. They're inferior, will compromise safety, and can damage equipment. They often don't hold charge for long before completely wearing out.

They may be tempting, being 50 - 70% cheaper than genuine, but the cost difference isn't worth the eventual repair bill for damage, or insurance claim, or possibly worse, a funeral. I've had people have fires from these.

Always buy Genuine direct from manufacturers, or official resellers.

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[Antony]

It's not just from Chinese or Taiwanese sellers on counterfeit products. There's also an issue with 'compatible' batteries.

In short, my recommendation which is same as Tidus (Tidosho): buy genuine products, preferable from authorised resellers or other official channel.

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[Tidosho]

It's not just from Chinese or Taiwanese sellers on counterfeit products. There's also an issue with 'compatible' batteries.

In short, my recommendation which is same as Tidus (Tidosho): buy genuine products, preferable from authorised resellers or other official channel.

Exactly. The terms these cheap batteries are sold under are often "compatible" or "replacement", or even "OEM:, which fool you into thinking they are genuine. The best advice I can give is to search for a battery by its model number, for example on this PowerBook I would search for "A1057" which is Apple's part number, and NOT "Powerbook G4 battery", and also make sure the battery has the original manufacturer logo, i.e an Apple or Fujitsu logo.

Cheap ones do not have original logos on, as the cheap cloners do not have the license to use them.

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[Edward]

I recently had to purchase a new battery for my ThinkPad. In Linux, the GNOME Status Monitor reported its capacity was at less than 50% which meant the battery was either broken or old.

This particular laptop battery (Lenmar LBIT40X, 10.8 volts - 6600mAh) finally gave out and it was not even two years old. The battery would drain from fully-charged (100%) down to 78% through normal use, then from there immediately down to nothing (actually 4%) without warning. For the price I paid for it back then ($180 USD), I would have expected it to last longer than this. It came with a one-year warranty which has since expired.

I bought two new spares for this, Anker, except the mAh rating is 4400 instead, so if this is the same as other rechargable batteries (e.g. AA, AAA, etc.), then it probably will not last as long between charges, but I hope these will last longer than the Lenmar did.

UPDATE: I found the original IBM-branded battery that the laptop came with (now 6 years old) and it appears to be charging. Hopefully, it will hold a charge for at least 2 hours each time, until I receive the new batteries.

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[Antony]

According to Support Article HT1490, unless your laptop is one of the older models (with removable batteries), there's no need to perform battery calibration for your laptop as recommended in this article.

Portables with built-in batteries
Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that should be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

And following laptops do not need to perform the calibration:

• MacBook (later 2009) and later
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, mid 2009) and later
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, mid 2009) and later
• MacBook Pro (17-inch, early 2009) and later
• MacBook Air, all models

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[halesky]

I think as long as each time before you can ensure the battery charge is dead, after charging the battery electric has been to ensure full that the battery life will be extended.

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