Notebook battery review

You do not know, but it is not cheap

Apple has released details and prices for the battery replacement program for its recently released MacBook Pro 17 inch Battery.

When the top-of-the-line notebooks Apple announced on Tuesday, eyebrows were raised at the Macworld Expo main presenter Phil Schiller showed that the battery was a 17-incher, as he put it, “integrated” - that is sealed inside.

Apple has trumpeted the long battery life, arguing that it could power the MacBook Pro “up to 8 hours on a single charge” and can be recharged “up to 1000 times - compared to only 200 to 300 times typical notebooks. ”

When we spoke with a representative of Apple products on the “1000 times” claim is clarified as meaning that after this many charges, the notebook battery will be around 80 per cent of the initial year of operation.

Not too shabby - if true. However, a battery, as Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch Battery puts it, a “consumable.” We exhausted. And now, the company explained that it plans to do when that day arrives fear.

The battery - will come as no surprise - is not user-replaceable. Substitutions can be made in an Apple retail store (the same day, by appointment) or through the Apple-run-mail to the service (three to four working days). Apple-authorized service provider can also perform surgery.

Apple also included the cost for the service for seven regions. The diagram below, the first two columns are from the site of Apple. The third column is the equivalent value for the battery replacement service in U.S. dollars today.

As you can see, Canadians get out of the good side of the agreement, but Japan and the European MacBook Pro owners who need replacement of the battery must carry their own when they come stateside vacation.

Assuming that the cost of the case a replacement battery contacts, latches, and other materials may cancel the labor cost of replacing the Macbook Pro Series battery, the laptop battery of Apple is not cheap compared to other batteries for laptops 17 -inch. The battery for the HP Pavilion dv7t series is $ 139, for example, and the battery for the Toshiba Satellite P300-ST3712 runs $ 149.99. From the laptop looked at, only the battery for the Dell XPS M1730 is more expensive, at $ 189.99.

Furthermore, the 17-inch MacBook Pro built-in battery makes it impossible for the simple MacBooker to get third-party replacement (or spare), as the ¡ê 57.85 battery from discount-laptop-battery.co.uk for previous 17-inch MacBook Pro.

We are willing to bet, however, that during the first 17-inch MacBook Pro batteries need replacement in three to five years, business outlets such TechRestore offers less expensive alternatives.Books aging, it is one year warranty, in each case.

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Recently,my contact at FastMac tells me it’s something they’re working on for the future.I’ve been a diehard advocate of 15-inch laptops ever since Apple produced its first model, a PowerBook G4 variant. it’s the only laptop I use that doesn’t feel like a toy in my hands. Unfortunately, 15-inch models also tend to be pretty power-hungry, so I’m always looking for additional juice. Enter FastMac’s TruePower MacBook Pro 15- inch Battery?. It offers looks and runtime similar to Apple’s own battery, but it’s priced $30 less.

Cosmetically, the only visible difference between the FastMac battery and Apple’s is that the underside of the FastMac model is plastic, rather than metal, and is marked with FastMac’s info—the C1295 appears identical to Apple’s once it’s installed. The aluminum exterior matches the MacBook Pro, and the battery has the same style LED gauge that Apple uses to show you how much juice is left. The button to activate that gauge looks the same (a small, circular, metal pad), but it feels a bit different—more of a hard click than the soft touch of Apple’s model.

TruePower is what FastMac calls the circuitry within the battery. It uses sensors and an integrated circuit to prevent short circuiting or overload that can cause individual cells to swell. Although Apple has recalled MacBook Pro 15- inch Battery? with that particular flaw, it can happen to 15-inch units too—check out my Flickr account for the photographic evidence.That problem happened to me after using the Apple-branded battery for more than a year. I can’t say that it will never happen with the FastMac model, but the TruePower info gives me some reassurance that I won’t repeat that episode.

FastMac calls the MacBook Pro 15- inch Battery? “high-capacity, extended life,” which may sound like the battery lasts longer than Apple’s; it doesn’t. Although some of FastMac’s replacement batteries for Apple laptops do hold significantly more charge than Apple’s stock batteries, this is not one of them.

The TruePower battery such as VGP-BPS8 VGP-BPS9 VGP-BPS9/B? Sony VGP-BPS5? Sony VGP-BPS2? VGP-BPS9A/B? VGP-BPS9/S etc.That I tested held 6669 milliamp hours (mAh) of charge, according to System Profiler, compared to 6800 for a brand-new Apple battery. That’s a fairly negligible difference in runtime: On my 2.33GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro with 3GB of RAM, each battery lasted for about three hours under mixed use—half a dozen applications open, using Wi-Fi, and with Energy Saver set to the default “Better Energy Savings.”

If you’re replacing a battery that you’ve had since the MacBook Pro was first released, chances are you’ll see an increased runtime, simply because you’re swapping new for old—batteries lose charge capacity as they get older. But comparing FastMac’s TruePower model to a brand-new Apple-branded replacement you’d buy at an Apple Store, you won’t see a huge difference either way.

Ultimately, what makes FastMac’s MacBook Pro 15-inch Battery worth consider is its price tag. At ￡ 50.49, it’s ￡ 50 less than what Apple charges, and my experience is that the FastMac model works just as well. (Like Apple’s batteries, it comes with a one-year warranty.)

And then I have to recommend our site Discount-Laptop-Battery.Co.Uk that has superior customer service to ensure you shopping enjoyment from place order to shipment to after-sale. In its online shop you can select a full range brand discount laptop battery which including Acer, Apple, Compaq & HP, Fujitsu, Dell, IBM & Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba and so on.Every laptop battery and battery charger in this site passed CE, UL, and ISO9001/9002 certification, compatible with the original accessories well. Purchase don’t need to sign up, finish payment through credit card or paypal security.

Rechargeable Dell laptop Battery start deteriorating from the moment they are manufactured. I’ve noticed my Canon 20D’s batteries don’t last quite as long as they did 2 years ago. AA and AAA Presario V2000 Battery seem to be even worse. As I’m heading to San Francisco in July I’ll be doing a lot of flying so it’ll be important that my Apple Macbook laptop have a decent battery life.

There’s no quick fix for this as it’s not reversible but if you’re wondering how much life is left, then Coconut Presario R3000 Battery is a must have. I installed it last night and it looks like my battery still has 85% of it’s capacity left after 11 months of use. That’s not bad. It’s not enough to get me across the Atlantic but I don’t know if I want to spend €139 on a second battery when I’ll only ever use it once a year.

I think it is possible to slow down the deterioration. Don’t unplug your laptop! The less you use thePCGA-BP2NY PCGA-BP2EA, battery, the longer the battery will last.

How to get TV on your Mac

Will Apple ever equip its Macs with TV tuners? Plenty of users have asked it to, and Apple’s own Front Row software would certainly make a smart user interface for a DVR Apple A1060. But as Apple’s Apple TV set-top box shows, the company’s more interested in persuading consumers to pay to download TV shows from iTunes than watch broadcast telly.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of watching TV on a Mac. Other companies are willing to fill the gap Apple laptop battery has left, and if you want to watch analogue or digital broadcasts, satellite or cable transmissions on your Mac, you can.

The doyen of Mac TV products is Germany’s Elgato, which has come to dominate both the Apple A1045 software and hardware sides of the equation. It’s software is EyeTV, currently at version 2.4, and has a feature list and a slick user interface that puts much of the software bundled with Windows-oriented TV tuner hardware to shame.

Elgato’s EyeTV: select a channel

EyeTV provides all the customary DVR features - record shows there and then, schedule recordings, pause live TV, Apple A1078 etc. - and even allows you to edit recordings to trim out ads and bits of previous and subsequent programmes that have been grabbed along with the show you want to watch.

The software works with Roxio’s Toast disc burning application, if you have it, to facilitate archiving, and it’ll also reformat recordings at the push of a button for the Apple A1148 TV and iPod - and, for that matter, other playback gadgets that support the same H.264 video format.

EyeTV includes a year’s subscription to Europe’s TVTV.com online electronic programme guide, though it’ll also pick up EPG information broadcast by digital TV channels. You can organise channels into favourites, by genre, or by whatever means takes your fancy.

Elgato’s EyeTV: manage and export your recordings

It is, in short, the definitive TV application for the Mac and well worth the €80/$80 (£40) Elgato’s asking for it. Of course, Elgato bundles EyeTV with its own line of TV tuner hardware, but it’ll also work with an array of hardware from other manufacturers, including Plextor A1057 , Twinhan, Terratec, Pinnacle, Miglia and Hauppauge, so you’re not tied to buying Elgato’s own hardware. There’s a full list of EyeTV-compatible tuners

Indeed, Pinnacle has two Mac-oriented products: the digital-only TV for Mac DVB-T Stick and the digital and analogue TV for Mac Hybrid Stick - both of which bundle a cut-down version of EyeTV, EyeTV Lite. They’re priced at £70 and £100, respectively. EyeTV also works with Pinnacle’s otherwise PC-only PCTV series of USB tuners.

Pinnacle’s Mac DVB-T Stick: Freeview ready

Terratec likewise offers Mac versions of its Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity dual digital tuner; Cinergy T² external tuner; digital-only Cinergy T USB XS; and digital/analogue Cinergy Hybrid T USB XS, all bundled with EyeTV Apple A1060.

Hauppauge offers €20 off the price of EyeTV with its compatible hardware products, the WinTV Nova T, WinTV HVR 900 the WinTV HVR 950 and the WinTV Nova TD. Each comes with a code you can key into a page of Elgato’s online store to redeem the discount.

Elgato itself offers are range of very similar products - most come from the same Asian manufacturers and are rebranded by the local suppliers - including the digital/analogue EyeTV Hybrid, the digital-only EyeTV DTT and the dual-tuner digital-only EyeTV Diversity, all USB dongles Apple Powerbook G4 battery , and all HDTV compatible once HDTV programmed is broadcast over the Freeview network. You’ll need a modern Mac to smoothly show the HD picture.

These, and similar products from the other suppliers, certainly work well with Macs, though while they all come bundled with one or more mini aerials, we’d recommend you use them with a standard roof- or loft-mounted antenna to pick up the largest selection of channels.

Hauppauge’s WinTV Nova TD: two tuners to boost reception

Diversity-branded dongles come with two antenna and the ability to use both tuners as a single, stronger receiver. It certainly improves the reception, but, depending on your location Powerbook G4 12 battery, you may find the improvement limited. This isn’t going to change until analogue transmissions are turned off and UK DVB-T signal strengths can be increased

All these tuners connect to a USB 2.0 port, but that’s not the only option available to MacBook Pro users: Terratec also offers the Cinergy T Express, an ExpressCard 34 tuner that makes for a less obtrusive add-on, and one you can leave connected to your laptop when when you’re carrying it around. The Express uses a mini antenna socket Powerbook G4 17 battery, but Terratec bundles an adaptor so that card can take a standard co-axial aerial cable feed.

Terratec’s Cinergy T Express: notebook-friendly

Terratec told us there’s no substantial difference between the USB and ExpressCard tuners - offering two form-factors is more about catering to more buyers’ requirements than delivering a more capable product A1175 . That said, the higher bandwidth provided by ExpressCard may prove advantageous in future.

Incidentally, owners of PowerBooks, with old-style PC Card slots,

Mac TV tuner specialist Miglia also has an ExpressCard product on offer, the TVBook Pro, but it’s a chunkier beast than the Terratec. Miglia offers an analogue USB tuner, the TVMicro Express; and a digital tuner, the TVMini Express. It used to equip these with EyeTV, but a little while back decided to use alternative software, The Tube, from US developer Equinux. It provides essentially the same set of features as EyeTV 2 - which you prefer is largely a matter of personal taste. Officially, it only supports Miglia products and Equinux’s own TubeStick USB tuner, and is not available - apart from the test release - as a standalone product.

Equinux’s The Tube: bundled with Miglia tuners

The hardware products listed above all work with the DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) standard used in the UK by the terrestrially broadcast Freeview channels, but there are other transmission modes, specifically cable and satellite. Elgato’s external EyeTV 310, for example, supports DVB-S. There’s a big caveat, however: it doesn’t work with Sky. Yes, the 40Y7001 box has a smartcard - aka CAM (Conditional Access Module) - slot to enable the decryption and display of some European DVB-S services, but Sky works differently.

Elgato’s EyeTV 610 works with the cable-centric DVB-C system, again backed with a CAM slot. At this stage, however, it won’t let you view Virgin Media cable broadcasts, even with a slot. Indeed, Elgato doesn’t offer the 610 in the UK for that reason.
On the other hand, the EyeTV 410, a DVB-T product, also contains a smartcard slot so it’s possible to access pay TV channels sent via Freeview, such as the TopUp TV selection. The snag is TopUp TV’s shift to its Anytime in 40Y7003 , which downloads overnight the programmes you want to view. EyeTV 410 lacks the software to support this mode, and at this stage it will only support old TopUp TV access cards.

Elgato’s EyeTV 250 Plus: MPEG encoding hardware built in Last but not least, Elgato’s new EyeTV 250 Plus is a digital and anlogue tuner with a difference: it has on-board hardware compression hardware iBook G4 battery. Other analogue tuner products from Elgato and others use software compression, so they’re dependent on the power of the host Mac. That may not worry Mac Pro owners, but it’ll be good news for folk with iMacs, MacBooks and older machines.

Improving apple notebook by calibrating your battery

You can calibrate your iBook, PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro computer’s lithium ion battery for best performance.

The battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The a1175 battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate and to keep the battery operating at maximum?efficiency. You should perform this procedure when you first use your computer and then every few months after that. If you normally leave your Apple portable computer connected to AC?power and very rarely use it on battery power you may want to perform this process once a month. The website?www.apple.com/batteries?has more helpful information regarding batteries and offers an iCal calendar to remind you to calibrate your battery.?

Note:?If you’re not sure which model of PowerBook you have, see PowerBook G4 Computers: How to Identify Different Models for assistance.

Products Affected

iBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook, MacBook Air

iBooks and PowerBook G4s other than the PowerBook G4 battery (15-inch Double-Layer SD)

1. Plug the power adapter in and fully charge your computer’s a1185 A1022 battery until the battery indicator lights turn off and the adapter plug light goes from amber to green, which indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Disconnect the power adapter and use your iBook or PowerBook. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen. Continue to use your computer until it goes to sleep. At that point the battery has been sufficiently drained for calibration.
3. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

You have to fully charge and then discharge your battery only once to calibrate it. After that, you can connect and disconnect the power adapter when the battery is at any charge level.

Tip: When the A1175 A1185 battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually holds a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, any open files could be lost. Therefore, it is important that you find an electrical outlet and connect the adapter before the forced shutdown occurs.

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), Macbook Pro Series battery (all models), MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models) and?MacBook Air

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new A1079 battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

1. Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook’s battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter while the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, the low battery warning dialog appears on the screen.
4. At this point, save your work.? Continue to use your computer; when the PowerBook G4 battery gets very low, the computer will automatically go to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The A1079 battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer’s memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.

You can calibrate your iBook, PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro computer’s lithium ion battery for best performance.

The Ibook G3 battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate and to keep the battery operating at maximum?efficiency. You should perform this procedure when you first use your computer and then every few months after that. If you normally leave your Apple portable computer connected to AC?power and very rarely use it on battery power you may want to perform this process once a month. The website?www.apple.com/batteries?has more helpful information regarding batteries and offers an iCal calendar to remind you to calibrate your battery.?

Note:?If you’re not sure which model of PowerBook you have, see PowerBook G4 Computers: How to Identify Different Models for assistance.

Products Affected

iBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook, MacBook Air

iBooks and PowerBook G4s other than the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD)

1. Plug the power adapter in and fully charge your computer’s apple laptop battery until the battery indicator lights turn off and the adapter plug light goes from amber to green, which indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Disconnect the power adapter and use your iBook or PowerBook. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen. Continue to use your computer until it goes to sleep. At that point the battery has been sufficiently drained for calibration.
3. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

You have to fully charge and then discharge your battery only once to calibrate it. After that, you can connect and disconnect the power adapter when the battery is at any charge level.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually holds a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, any open files could be lost. Therefore, it is important that you find an electrical outlet and connect the adapter before the forced shutdown occurs.

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models) and?MacBook Air

The apple laptop battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

1. Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook’s battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter while the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, the low battery warning dialog appears on the screen.
4. At this point, save your work.? Continue to use your computer; when the laptop battery gets very low, the computer will automatically go to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The Ibook G4 battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer’s memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.