Battery for Macbook Pro

[chenu]

Hi guys, I recently purchased a used Macbook Pro 2.4ghz 15" screen.

I got an awesome price on it, but the battery has quite a few charge cycle's under its belt, so I'm going to replace it. Should I get the stock apple battery or something else?

 

[marclapierre13]

Hi guys, I recently purchased a used Macbook Pro 2.4ghz 15" screen.

I got an awesome price on it, but the battery has quite a few charge cycle's under its belt, so I'm going to replace it. Should I get the stock apple battery or something else?

How many cycles? More importantly, how much life does it have? Get coconut battery, and check....itll say it % how much charge it has. If its under 50%, then definitely get a new one. If its 75%+, i'd say use it, calibrate it, and it should be fine for a good few months to a year

 

[chenu]

Coconut battery says, 7 battery-loadcycles, and current capacity is 42%.

I'm not entirely sure what the battery-loadcycles mean, but clearly it has been charged more than 7 times.

System profiler says that it has had 150 charge cycles.

 

[marclapierre13]

Coconut battery says, 7 battery-loadcycles, and current capacity is 42%.

I'm not entirely sure what the battery-loadcycles mean, but clearly it has been charged more than 7 times.

System profiler says that it has had 150 charge cycles.

Wow, wtf? You must be running OS X Leopard. Apparently it isnt always accurate on leopard.
But yes, 150 is a lot. 7 is not. But 150 charges doesnt mean its been charged 150 times, it means its been cycled 150 times. Wikipedia it for more info.
I still recommend calibrating the battery (see apples support or mac rumours guides for how to do that)

 

[chenu]

The battery seems to be loosing significant amounts of capacity each day.

For example, yesterday night when I downloaded Coconut battery, the capacity was 42%. The laptop was plugged in all day, and right now, capacity has dropped to 38%.

Does this warrant a call to applecare?

Also, assuming the battery calibration does nothing, what battery do you guys recommend?

Stock apple battery or fastmac battery?

 

[chenu]

Wow, Apple definitely impressed me there. I went in to the Apple Store on a whim, and talked with one of the genius's. And he put in a new battery for free!

Obviously, 150+ charge cycles in 6 months is a clear sign of battery abuse. The fact that apple can stand behind their machine's even when it is the user's fault will make me an apple customer for life.

 

[CalBoy]

I'm glad you got everything settled.

I felt the need to tell you that since Coconut Battery doesn't play nice with Leopard, you have two other go-arounds:

1) download iStat Pro (it's a Dashboard widget).

2) Go to System Profiler, and under 'Hardware' you'll see "Power." Scroll down a tad and you'll see the battery info.

I'm hoping Coconut will be fixed with 10.5.2, but until then, use that work-around.

 

[chenu]

Heh, I've been using both of the methods you've described. Is there any utility I can use to time my battery?

 

[tMac85]

Wow, Apple definitely impressed me there. I went in to the Apple Store on a whim, and talked with one of the genius's. And he put in a new battery for free!

Obviously, 150+ charge cycles in 6 months is a clear sign of battery abuse. The fact that apple can stand behind their machine's even when it is the user's fault will make me an apple customer for life.

WOW. please tell me what you said .... thats amazing.. usually apple techs dont even know what the word free means...

did you have your laptop with you?

 

[CalBoy]

Heh, I've been using both of the methods you've described. Is there any utility I can use to time my battery?

I'm not sure. Usually any utility would make use of the computer's own estimator and such, so it might be best if you control for time outside of the computer (a cell phone would be a good objective time keeper).