[Ti] new battery for my TI

[Paul H. Yoshimune]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2005 at 09:02:53AM +0100, Ferdinand Fuchs wrote:
> hello,
> 
> I'm considering to buy a newer technology battery for my trusty old 
> powerbook titanium g4/550 mhz.
> 
> they advertise their battery with 17% more battery capacity than 
> apples original battery.
> (see http://www.newertech.com/newer_bats.html)
> 
> does anybody have experiences with this battery?
> 
> I would like know, if this battery is really better than apples own 
> battery and especially how long it would be in such a good condition 
> (month, years).
> 
> furthermore I have the problem, that my powerbook doesn't warn me 
> about low battery status (I use the original apple battery, now 
> almost 4 years old). my powerbook simply goes off without a correct 
> shutdown, if the battery is empty.
> 
> should this problem also be solved with a new battery?
> 
> thanks for your suggestions in advance!

I bought one of these batteries at MacWorld SF, as I needed a new one anyway.
I find that the Apple batteries show a noticeable decline in runtime after
12-18 months.  New batteries, or in this case, the Newer Tech battery, give an
easy 4.5 hours for me, even using Airport and reasonable hard drive access; no
special measures taken to conserve battery life.  After my batteries got old
(oh, I have a 667GE Ti, BTW), they would sometimes be unreliable at the end of
their charge, and shutdown without warning as you've noticed.  So, I guess the
short answer is, yes, get a new battery, and I'm perfectly happy with my
Newer Tech unit.

BTW, I also just got a new IBM ThinkPad T42 for work, and it just makes me
appreciate the PowerBook's battery life even more.  It'll give up after less
than two hours, which seems absurd.  That's my only complaint with it,
however.  It's far and away the best PC laptop I've ever used/owned...
-- 
Paul H. Yoshimune
paul at yoshimune.com
http://www.yoshimune.com/