PowerBook 12" Alu Li-Ion battery memory effect??

[Skiniftz]

I know that the battery "memory effect" should not affect Li-Ion power cells, but my PB went literally overnight from giving around 2-3 hours of use to only 50 minutes. Basically it's what I'd expect from a Ni-Cad or Ni-Mh cell. I must confess that I neglected to ever exersise the battery and am the type of person who mostly uses the PB when it's plugged in.

Anyone else had this problem and are there any recommendations or do I have to spring the $120 for a new battery?

Perhaps ironically I am now on reserve power and have to click submit before it goes to sleep.

 

[Bear]

How old is the battery? And have you tried reseting the PMU and maybe the PRAM? Also are you on the latest OS update?

 

[Skiniftz]

How old is the battery? And have you tried reseting the PMU and maybe the PRAM? Also are you on the latest OS update?

It's 13 months old. Yes tried zapping the PRAM; resetting the PMU causes it to say (Calculating...) for a few minutes after startup before telling me I have 51 minutes of battery remaining (with a full battery icon).

Quite annoying.

 

[T.Rex]

I was looking on eBay a while ago and saw batteries for the rev a and b 12" PBs going for $50 or $60. Probably won't be as good as a new battery from apple, but wont cost you $120 either.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I had the exact same experience. Literally 2 weeks after my warranty ran out, by battery life dropped from an acceptable 2.5-3 hours to a little over an hour. And, like you, this change happened practically overnight. I tried resetting the PRAM, etc as mentioned above with no luck. I tried reconditioning the battery by running it down all the way, then charging it completely. I did this repeatedly, to no effect. I have Applecare on the machine, but of course there's nothing they can do as batteries are only covered by the original 1 year warranty.

So basically, unless you have more luck than I, buying a new battery will be your responsibility. Know that you are in good company. A quick glance through Apple's support forums finds tons of people with identical complaints. It appears that them dying at the 1yr point is quite common.