Pismo battery & memory

[Dave00]

I'm trying to squeeze some more life out of my Pismo for now. (Probably'll go for a desktop system to complement in near future.) Two questions:

(1) Anyone know where I can get a good Pismo battery? Mine seems to have died after 3 years of service.

(2) I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade the memory. I've got the original 64MB in the bottom slot, and a 256MB in the top slot. Using OS 10.2. I'm not sure how to tell if I'm using alot of VM - if I was and it was slowing me down, I'd probably replace the bottom slot with a 512. But I don't want to pour more money into an aging machine if it won't do much good.

 

[briang]

Pismo battery

The good news: Fry's Electronics claims to carry them (awaiting a shipment at my loical store). The bad news: ~$180 each

 

[briang]

Mail order Pismo battery

Google helped me find Laptops for Less who sell them at $145, free shipping. The Google search string was "mac pismo battery", and it was the first sponsored link. The second link had them at $199+.

 

[Flowbee]

$80 or so on eBay for Pismo batteries.

 

[jorisx]

I've got my Pismo with 192 mb of ram running 10.3 and I've been thinking about upgrading with a new battery and some more ram too, b'cause it's still a really cool machine!
Other world Computing has a lot of nice upgrades for the pismo

 

[Dave00]

pismo battery

I'm a little reluctant to use e-bay as a new battery is certainly quite different than a used battery. I *have* found several sites selling batteries, they come in the original 4800mAh and also some increased capacities, looks like around $140.

Still not sure on whether my 10.2 system is maxing out the 320MB memory - there are times when it sounds like there's alot of swapping with the HD, but I'm not sure how to tell if there's alot of pageouts otherwise.

 

[Flowbee]

Re: pismo battery

Originally posted by Dave00
I'm a little reluctant to use e-bay as a new battery is certainly quite different than a used battery.

Just look for the sellers that have sold a ton of batteries and have loads of positive feedback. You may not end up with a brand-spanking-new battery, but it will probably hold a very decent charge. I guess it all depends on what you're willing to trade-off for a $60 savings.

I *have* found several sites selling batteries, they come in the original 4800mAh and also some increased capacities, looks like around $140.

I have the 'increased capacity' Pismo battery from Other World Computing ($139, http://eshop.macsales.com/). I am very happy with it -- getting around 4.5 hours per charge. Plus, the OWC people are very friendly and helpful.