Is it possible to hot swap (with out AC) batteries

[Eniregnat]

Is it possible to hot swap (with out AC) batteries on any of the current portables?
If not, isn’t this something that portable users want?
I really hate having to shutdown to replace the batteries when I am not connected to an AC outlet.

 

[rainman::|:|]

This is something that old powerbooks are capable of-- I can't imagine they would repeal that feature. Then again, I have not heard anything about it in a long time, particularly from Apple's page... So I'd say likely, we need someone with a current laptop to test it.

Or you could just try it...

pnw

 

[Eniregnat]

This was such a good feature.
It used to be one of the features that I looked for in a WinTel laptop.
Now that I am a Mac person, I just miss that feature and would think that Apple would see that users need it. It doesn’t have to be a second bay, it could some sort of short-term charge up (a capacitor) that is manually activated. I once had a laptop that could hold a charge when sleeping with out a battery for a minute or so. It was a nice feature.

 

[MacManDan]

The manual that came with my PowerBook G4 DVI said that it can hold a charge without a battery or AC power for up to one minute in sleep mode so that you can switch batteries. I never tried it though

 

[iJon]

i believe current powerbooks besides the 12 can do it. let us know what laptop you ahve.

iJon

 

[rundevilrun]

My 17" can do hot swapping, haven't checked to see how long the charge lasts after you pull the battery out. Don't feel like rebooting...

 

[Kwyjibo]

ibooks cannot do this

 

[shadowfax]

it worked great on my GHz Tibook just now, though i could have sworn i had tried it before and had it screw up. oh well. it is a nice feature!

 

[iJon]

put your computer to sleep and take out the battery. if it stays on it works and will only stay one for about a minute or 2, which is more than enough time to slap another battery in there.

iJon