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Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Battery use.

Written by KH from BATH

09-Jan-2008

We have two powerbooks, one is well over 3 years old, the other 2 years . The older powerbook still has its original battery, the newer powerbook has had two (so far). The reason for the difference? Me! Yes, me! ...Keeping the machine plugged in when the battery is fully charged... I now avoid doing this. I allow the battery to drain and then recharge as much as possible and when the charge is showing 100% I remember to unplug it....

115 of 158 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Remove Battery when running on Mains

Written by HM from PRESTON

23-Nov-2007

I have had my Powerbook for 2 and a half years, after the first 18 months or so the battery power reduced dramatically over time to 5 minutes. When purchasing a new one I was told that when sat at home and using the mac running on the mains that to save wasting and draining battery power to remove the battery when not charging it. This stops the battery being overcharged and discharging, pershaps worth a try?

105 of 156 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

possible reason why the battery dies

Written by RO

08-Nov-2007

I have had my powerbook G4 12 for 2 years and always had 4 - 5 hours from my battery. When it gets low I've always plugged it in and not let it drain completely. But Mac advises that you drain it completely and recalibrate every month. I did this recently and apart from the clock resetting my max power dropped considerably to only 1 hour from a full charge and Coconut shows that I can have a max of 39% charge.From my experience I would say that draining the battery completely reduces the battery life; it's better to give it juice when the battery indicator hits red (10 minutes of life left). I've also had the same problem as other writers - the foot on the battery fell off

112 of 184 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Poor battery

Written by LC from LONDON

11-Mar-2006

I purchased my Powerbook in 2004 and 2 years on the battery life had fallen from 4 hours to 20 minutes. My old G3 powerbook with bronze keys was 4 years old and its battery still lasted over hours. I don't believe the cost of this component is good value at all.

67 of 108 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

PB G4 (2004) battery is now done

Written by SD from London

15-Apr-2006

My 2004 PowerBook G4 battery has also declined rapidly over the last couple of months. Even after continuous charge the time remaining is.... 0:09 minutes. Apple should really do something about this. It is not satisfactory quality in my view.

43 of 64 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Why your battery dies

Written by MY from Alesund

21-Nov-2008

If you click on the apple symbol in the top left corner, choose 'about this mac', then click on 'more info' and select the option 'power' on the left hand side, you'll see how much power you have left on your battery, and the 'full charge capacity (mAh)' ...now, if you check this periodically, you will see that every time you completely drain your battery (that is, leave the laptop on until it puts itself to sleep and won't wake up until you plug it into the mains) your 'full charge capacity' will drop - CONSIDERABLY. Therefore, never drain your battery fully, always plug it in when you get the warning thingy, and (perhaps, i do not know what the true effect of this is) don't leave it plugged in for days and days.

18 of 20 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Good battery life, but poor foot design

Written by EG from Bristol

25-Aug-2006

I have always got a good battery life from my 11 month old battery, probably because I've looked after it quite well. It's had over 120 cycles, and lasts 2.5-5 hours, depending on what I am doing. I always use AC power when it's nearby, and usually let the battery run flat every 2-3 weeks. People who complain about their battery not having the capacity it had when it was new usually keep running it completely flat. Usually because they are too lazy to plug in the power supply, when there's an AC socket 3 feet away. Lithium Ion batteries dislike being deep cycled (run totally flat) often.
My battery is fine, it holds about 4200mAh now, about 4600mAh when it was new. Certainly can't complain about the energy side of it.

One major design flaw is that the feet of your PowerBook and battery will fall off within a year, unless you take action to stop them falling off. You can prize them off and superglue them back on, which is what I did with mine as soon as the battery foot went AWOL, about 2 months after getting the computer. They have been on ever since.

The quality of the dark grey plastic used around the edge of the computer is very poor, and cracks in around 4 months. I have seen this on all PowerBooks. The same type of plastic is used in the feet. Apple melts part of the foot to keep it on, which is a poor design, due to the stress on the small feet. The poor quality plastic consequently cracks due to the stress and the foot drops out. Try superglue, Apple. Works fine for me.

18 of 23 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Too much money for a non-premium product

Written by GM from Larne

01-Aug-2006

This battery is not state of the art, it is not high capacity and it does not get good reviews from customers, yet it is being sold at a premium product price. Not good at all Apple. But then I suppose I need one to get my Powerbook to work as a portable computer again, unless I find an alternative manufacturer. My original (well looked after) battery lasted only 149 charge cycles, Apple themselves say that a battery is expected to last 300.

13 of 13 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

is there another option?

Written by MM from Exeter

15-Jul-2006

My battery has just died completely... not only will it not charge but my iBook doesn't even recognise it anymore... i clearly need another one as i can only use my laptop when it is plugged in at the moment...
However, if i buy a new one (at a whopping £89) now, am i to expect another dead battery in 12 months' time?
if there is another option could someone please enlighten me…
Thanks

13 of 13 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Value for money?

Written by TG from Southampton

29-Jun-2006

I can relate to many of these testimonies. My 12" PB has been a real trooper since I first bought it in October 2003. In the last 4 months or so the battery behaviour became erratic - draining unusually quickly and then going to sleep without warning, or giving the reserve power warning and then going on for sometimes an hour or more. More recently I tend to get a maximum of 30-45 minutes depending on what I'm doing. Even turning off bluetooth and my wireless card when I don't need it doesn't always seem to help. I don't see I have a choice but to buy a new battery and hope it gives me at least 2 1/2 more years of good use. I agree they are extortionately expensive and Apple really need to look at this. UK law on the longevity of electrical goods doesn't extend to batteries unfortunately.

11 of 11 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Correct use + OS Tiger possibly not too bad

Written by DP from London

19-Apr-2009

I bought one possibly 2 years back and 3 months ago it was performing just as negative as most reviews say.

However when I couldn't cope with Leopard on my Powerbook G4-12' anymore (too slow) I reinstalled the system back to Tiger and guess what, the battery's performance has increased dramatically. In fact from less than 30min performance under Leopard it pushed back to 1h30min performance under Tiger OS. (Though the use of computer is limited to Word and Internet browsing. DVD playing will give about an 1h.)

In the end do not charge your battery continuously from AC (like I did) but use the actual battery whenever possible. Plus probably Tiger is the maximum OS that should be operated on Powerbook G4-12' even with max RAM, then perhaps this battery is not too bad as most reviews say it is.

11 of 12 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

must be able to find cheaper?...

Written by MC from pontypridd

17-Aug-2006

We really can't expect to pay this much every year for a battery... After all when we spend well over a thousand GBP you'd expect more... don't expect this battery to last more than a year... dissapointed...

19 of 28 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

REALY SHODDY BATTERY -DEAD AFTER ONLY 1 YEAR!!!

Written by JE from heathfield

02-Apr-2006

I realy can't belive how baddly my 12inch powerbook battery has served me.
I've had my powerbook just over one year (conveniently just enough to not be covered by "applecare" ) and the battery life has rappidly deteriorated over the last few months, and IS NOW COMPLETELY DEAD!!

I can't afford to fork out another £90 just to get my powerbook functioning as a portable computer again.
I feel that this is ridiculously poor manufacturing for such an expensive item to be faulty just after a year. I'm begining to trust apple less and less, and I dread phoning up the helpline, as last time something went wrong, they were as much help as hitting your head against a wall and informed me that I had to pay £30 in order to ask them a question!!

What kind of corporate scam are APPLE trying to pull here?/??

Doea anyone know if there is any way of getting my battery replaced for free, under statutory rights? I feel there deffinatly should be.....

52 of 94 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

battery dead

Written by LF from London

16-Jun-2006

My battery died after only 13 months of careful use; my laptop doesn't even see it now. Rubbish. And they are not cheap, either. This time Apple really let me down.

9 of 9 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

gone in 1 year

Written by SK from Greenville

26-Jun-2006

I agree to all other reports. The batter is very very poor and non-apple standard. Dead. Just 29 mins back up with full charge. I don't have enough confidence to buy another battery as it will be no better.

8 of 8 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Declining PowerBook power

Written by EH from Gloucester

26-Apr-2006

I would like to agree with the other reviewers of the 12" PowerBook battery. Initially I was very pleased with the 2-3 hours I would when I bought my Mac in mid-2004, depending upon configuration, but over the last 4-5 months the battery has declined rapidly so that I now only get, maybe, 30 minutes of battery life. Not a desperately feature useful in a laptop, me-thinks.

9 of 10 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

Great to start with, poor after a year...

Written by SM from Oswestry

04-Jul-2006

I was very impressed with the day one battery life of my PB, however it has taken a sudden turn for the worst after 18 months. It gives around an hour from a full charge now, but most worringly goes from the 10 minutes remaining warning to dead (not sleep) in about 2 minutes flat (pun intended) resulting in lost work.

7 of 7 people found this useful

Extra Battery - 12" PowerBook

12" powerbook battery

Written by HS from Brunei Darussalam

24-Jun-2006

When l brought my 12" G4 Powerbook middle 2003,the battery didnt work or recharged so exchanged it for free.But after using the new battery for acuople of month,the charged declined.Now,only can used the batter for 20 minute before recharged it again.It's difficult for me to work with the limited battery charged.

7 of 7 people found this useful