Dead battery, which replacement?

[A.J.Bos]

Hi all,

After running the 10.2.8 (pulled) combo-update before it got pulled, I 
noticed that my battery couldn't hold its storage (it went flat after 
30 minutes). So I opened up the open firmware and typed 'reset-nvram' 
and 'reset-all', just like I saw in a previous mail to this list. 
Before I did that, the battery capacity was arround 1150 [1], 
afterward, it went down to 650. And sure enough, the battery time is 
now 18 minutes with airport and full screen brightness. My theory is 
that my battery was already crawling to the end of its life and that 
the combo update did a 'reset-nvram' too, which halved it's capacity. I 
now have about a a third of the battery capacity compared to before the 
update.

So I'm in need of a new battery for my 667 TiBook (infrared). Now I 
have the following questions:

1) Are there any other known ways to revive my battery?
2) Are all TiBook batteries compatible? I mean, if I get a new one, 
will it have a higher initial capacity then my current battery once had?

3) Which steps do I need to take to ensure maximum battery life?

4) What does a new battery cost (in euro's)?

Oh, I do not have applecare. It's my first ever Mac so I didn't know 
about its value. I inquired about applecare at the shop I bought it, 
but they thought it a waist of money. And I have to say that, apart 
from some paint chippings, this battery thing is the first real issue I 
have with it.

TIA,
Arjan


[1] Once upon a time I came upon a bash (terminal) shell-script that 
hooks into the hardware registry. This script tells me the capacity of 
the battery. I don't know the unit of measure, but it seems to be a 
linear scale. The script is a few lines. If anyone's interested I'll 
post it here.
-- Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a sick mind -- (Terry 
Pratchett)