Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[Tessa the Duchess]

Wonder if anyone can help? I have had my Mac iBookG4 for just over 2

years. When I first used it if I charged the battery up it lasted for 4/5hrs.

Suddenly a full charge gives me 1 hour 30 mins, it has also annoyingly

started switching off with no "you are running on reserve power" message

Do I need a new battery? how long does a laptop battery last with medium

usage? I have trawled the Apple support online help but can't find my

problem there. I don't want to buy a new battery £60 if it is not the

problem.

 

Tessa

[Joojoo]

Hi Tessa

 

I know that a lot of the earlier Mac laptops had problems with batteries. We've got one at work that won't recharge at all now and has to run permanently off the mains supply.

 

I think the issue is more around the laptop and how it recharges the battery rather than the battery being the problem - although I'm not 100% about this.

 

Try ringing a mac supplier eg. Jigsaw or Gordon Harwood (GHC) and ask to be put through to their customer services desk. They should be able to advise you about it.

 

Hope this helps.

Jue

[Joojoo]

Jigsaws website is down at the moment so I can't get you their contact details but their website is http://www.jigsaw24.com/

 

Gordon Harwood Telephone Technical Support

Ad-hoc product support for any caller who does not have GHC warranty/support entitlement.

 

0906 583 1606, charged at 60p/min

(available 8.30-17.30 Mon-Fri, 9.00-16.00 Sat)

 

Just spotted this too

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6606727.stm

 

and this

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

[Tessa the Duchess]

Thanks Jue for the replies. My Mac is not one of the ones mentioned in

the articles though. I will phone one of the support companies you

mentioned, VERY expensive techie support! but if they can help me it will

be cheaper than buying a new battery if it is not necessary.

 

Thanks again.

 

Tessa

[craftyhunnypie]

Hi - it's definitely the battery as they lose capacity over time. The best way to slightly increase the battery running time is to let it go completely flat every so often, then charge it. Like you do a mobile phone.

 

Emma.x

[Joojoo]

Thanks Jue for the replies. My Mac is not one of the ones mentioned in

the articles though. I will phone one of the support companies you

mentioned, VERY expensive techie support! but if they can help me it will

be cheaper than buying a new battery if it is not necessary.

 

Thanks again.

 

Tessa

 

Hi

 

It's probably worth ringing Jigsaw's sales line before anything else. Just say that you are thinking of buying one but you have heard that they have problems with the battery and see if you can get some information out of them.

 

Hope you get it sorted

Jue

[lost-sheep]

is it a memory batterey???

 

i managed to kill my phone by not charging the battery fully, memory batterys remember and always charge up to the same place so if you only charged it for an hour and a half then it will always charge to and hour and a half.... confusing or what?

 

.... my explaining skills need a little practice!

[starboyhull]

Most laptop / phone batteries will lose their charge much quicker after time. 2 Years isnt bad for a batty to be honest. £60 is quite reasonable too, my Dell laptop batteries cost £90 and I will need a new one soon......

 

As soneone else has said you really need to discharge the battery fully and then charge fully and so on.....Or the battery will become worse and worse.

 

 

If you pm me I will see if there is anything we can do on costs, but Apple prefer direct sales so dont give very good margins on other IT companies......

[Richard]

Hi - it's definitely the battery as they lose capacity over time. The best way to slightly increase the battery running time is to let it go completely flat every so often, then charge it. Like you do a mobile phone.

 

Emma.x

 

I'd go with this.

 

I've had this problem several times, worst was a lovely little Eavesham lappy that I had. Let the battery run totally flat a couple or three times and then fully charge - may help a bit. Otherwise you will have to buy a new battery or use it on mains all the time I'm afraid. At least, that's my experience.

 

Its a b****r

[Rona]

I know it sounds daft and I have only tried it on a mobile battery but if you put the battery in the freezer overnight and then fully recharge it, it gives it a new lease of life.

 

It worked on my old mobile but can't guarantee it won't completely kill off a computer battery! (please don't blame me if it goes horribly wrong)

[Tessa the Duchess]

Thanks all for replies. As I bought a laptop because I was fed up with

having a great big lump of a computer on my desk, and not because I

am a jet setter I have made an executive decision to run it on the

mains, and sorry to the polar bears if I'm causing polar melt down

 

 

Tessa

[Guest]

i suspect that constantly charging and recharging the battery would melt more polar icecaps than running off the mains - and add to landfill with the giant pile of spent Apple batteries you would accumulate

 

Phil