Powerbook/iBook Battery Recall

[homerjward]

this is great news for me, i bought me battery about 6 months ago and it's under the program, when i got it is easily lasted 7 hours screen dimmed no airport, now it only dose 5:30 tops.

i dont mean to upset you or anything, but only an apple user could complain about getting only 5.5hrs of battery life 😀😛 it's funny sometimes at starbucks watching guys with pc laptops pull out their charger as soon as they get there cause they won't last an hour on battery...

 

[SiliconAddict]

i dont mean to upset you or anything, but only an apple user could complain about getting only 5.5hrs of battery life 😀😛 it's funny sometimes at starbucks watching guys with pc laptops pull out their charger as soon as they get there cause they won't last an hour on battery...

Umm dude. I get 5 hours on my Thinkpad. I add the additional battery base that is about 1lbs more to bring the battery life to 8 hours. So 😛

The reason he hooked up the laptop is probably the same reason my Tosh (I own 3 laptops.) gets about 5 minutes: the battery is screwed and that will happen on a PC or a Mac. Battery tech is battery tech.

 

[Mord]

The first mistake you made was not getting the woman's name at the Apple store. The second mistake you made was not calling Apple AT the Apple store. The third mistake you made was not doing the studying and waiting until AFTER the exam to get the batt replaced. This recall from what I've read is based on SIX....count em....1..2...3...4...5.....6 instances of something bad happening. What do you think the odds are of your iBook going up in smoke in the next week? Better yet what are the odds of it happening if you don't simply pay attention to how hot the iBook gets and turn it off if it starts to overheat....or better yet take the batt out and work without it when you are near a power source......sorry if I'm coming off as pissy but I just spent a hour this evening at a get together of a bunch of my friends with one bitching about how he had his iBook replaced 3 times because of a bad mainboard...Apple finally replaced the laptop altogether with a G4 (His was the last g3.) and how he has to go through the experience again. At which point I pulled out my virtual trashing club and went off on how not only did he get a free upgrade from Apple that this issue isn’t even causing him any downtime. It’s a one to one swap out. This is a battery replacement for a “potential” issue. Its not like your computer is going to explode on you. 🙁 Oh and getting pissed at Apple isn't going to help the fact that they are recalling 128,000 batteries. What you think they have 128,000 operators standing by to take your call? This is catching not only Apple but their CSR's by surprise so cut them a little slack. K?

my battery runs very very hot, i thought it was just how newer batteries ran but this confirmed my suspicions, i cannot risk my ibook in any way, seeing as every apple rep i had talked to seemed to think i would get it done at the apple store i did not suspect it would go amiss, i know who the woman on the phone is i know a few employees at the apple store.

i have classes at school where there are no power sources near by, i do all my work on my ibook and my old battery only lasts an hour tops as it cuts out at 50%, and 128,000 people do not all call up at the same time most of them dont even notice the recall as they dont spend there time on mac rumors the only person who had heard of the program i had talked to was the first guy who told me to go to the apple store, my issue is purely with him, i did question the fact that the faq says it's all done online and he said that would be fine, the amount of studying i get done at school on my ibook outweighs the 2 hour trip so it would be in my interests to go and pick up the battery.

the fact of the matter is that the first guy's stupidity cost me 4 hours of my time.

 

[jung_offender]

The part that suprises me is the support person hanging up on you and not knowing his stuff. Everytime I've used apple's support line they are very helpful.

Welcome to Apple UK.

 

[john_satc]

2. I know how to use Lithium-Ion batteries properly because I read
Battery University and learned about them.

A little OT but...
Anyone think they can sumarise what this link says in something non - intellectuals can understand please???
I have read conflicting reports on how to charge and use the batteries on my iBook and iPod. Should I always have the my iBook on charge if I only use the battey once / twice a week. And should I wait till it reaches 0% before recharging? And the same with the iPod, should I wait till my battery is 0% before recharging?

 

[Mord]

Welcome to Apple UK.

there is a pattern to it, if you get a guy that sounds french or really crackly they suck and know jack all, if you get an irish guy then they rule.


the fact that a recognize the people worries me.

 

[jung_offender]

...i have classes at school where there are no power sources near by, i do all my work on my ibook... most of them dont even notice the recall as they dont spend there time on mac rumors...

a) get your mom to pick you up a notepad at Tesco for £0.29 and leave your pretentious laptop at home.

b) don't cry about wasting time hunting down a new battery when you acknowledge wasting time that could be spent studying. You made 14 posts here in the 24 hours preceeding this reply on topics as relevant to your exams as "Donating my Sperm to a lesbian"

 

[Mord]

a) get your mom to pick you up a notepad at Tesco for £0.29 and leave your pretentious laptop at home.

b) don't cry about wasting time hunting down a new battery when you acknowledge wasting time that could be spent studying. You made 14 posts here in the 24 hours preceeding this reply on topics as relevant to your exams as "Donating my Sperm to a lesbian"

my mother died when i was 10, and even if she did not she would not be my personal slave, you know nothing of my situation.

i'm extremely dyslexic, and all the work i have done over the last 3 years at school is on my ibook and i have to use it in my revision. also i use my ibook a heck of allot in my cisco classes you cant replace a cli prompt with a notepad.

it takes me 20 seconds to write a post i think it's fair to take a 5 min break to make a couple of posts when i have worked for a few hours solid.

 

[john_satc]

my mother died when i was 10, and even if she did not she would not be my personal slave, you know nothing of my situation.

i'm extremely dyslexic, and all the work i have done over the last 3 years at school is on my ibook and i have to use it in my revision. also i use my ibook a heck of allot in my cisco classes you cant replace a cli prompt with a notepad.

it takes me 20 seconds to write a post i think it's fair to take a 5 min break to make a couple of posts when i have worked for a few hours solid.

Hey I agree with you.
I am also doing my AS Levels at the moment. Luckily the work I do on my iBook is all printed out and using that to revise. Thankfully I don't have to take my iBook to classes, so I do feel sorry for you in that case.

Good luck with your exams am sure you will do fine 🙂 - and general studies wasn't really that hard ay.

 

[Mord]

Hey I agree with you.
I am also doing my AS Levels at the moment. Luckily the work I do on my iBook is all printed out and using that to revise. Thankfully I don't have to take my iBook to classes, so I do feel sorry for you in that case.

Good luck with your exams am sure you will do fine 🙂 - and general studies wasn't really that hard ay.

i have about a GB of documents, one for each lesson i have had, and i take math, further math, physics, electronics and cisco CCNA (did take chemistry but i dropped it)

i use my ibook because it takes far too long to write out notes legibly with my handwriting, not because i'm a "flash git" or whatever, my ibook is old and beat up, if i wanted to show off i'd take in a 17" athlon 64 laptop like someone in my tutor group dose.

 

[john_satc]

i have about a GB of documents, one for each lesson i have had, and i take math, further math, physics, electronics and cisco CCNA (did take chemistry but i dropped it)

i use my ibook because it takes far too long to write out notes legibly with my handwriting, not because i'm a "flash git" or whatever, my ibook is old and beat up, if i wanted to show off i'd take in a 17" athlon 64 laptop like someone in my tutor group dose.

Hey I was agreeing with you!

 

[Mord]

Hey I was agreeing with you!

yeah i know, it was more of a statement than a response to you

 

[dobbin]

My 12" iBook battery is affected - although I have never noticed the battery (or any part of the computer) getting particularly warm. In fact I've only ever heard the fans on my iBook once and that was when I was using the CD drive all afternoon to rip some CDs. Generally the whole machine runs very cool.

I had no problems at all using the online form at Apple UK to order a replacement.

An email confirmation arrived within a minute:

Dear Apple Customer,

Thank you for ordering a replacement battery. Your request is currently being processed.

It will take approximately 3 to 5 business days for your replacement battery to arrive. Please note that shipping times may vary due to availability.

We appreciate your cooperation with this exchange program.

Apple

It all seems very simple and efficient.

 

[GilGrissom]

Slight detail in serial number, could someone verify??!!

Hey, Ive finally got my 12" powerbook ive been waiting for! Its great! Now I hear of these battery recalls. Ive checked my batteries (as I have 2, one with powerbook and a spare one) and the model number matches on both (A1079) but my serial numbers are slightly different. I know one of the serial ranges starts in 3X510, my two are 3X515 and 3X517, not 510, so am I ok??? Please say I am!! I dont want my brand new powerbook (ordered as soon as Tiger became preinstalled on all machines, early May, received last week!!) to be ill already! Im just asking because my serial numbers are close and my model number is the same!! Could some kind soul please clarify for me?? Many thanks! 🙁

 

[Mord]

your fine only if the serials are in the batch effected is there an issue

 

[rinseout]

what's the deadline?

what's the deadline for getting in on this? can i abuse my battery for a few months before requesting a new one?

 

[efoto]

i'm extremely dyslexic, and all the work i have done over the last 3 years at school is on my ibook and i have to use it in my revision. also i use my ibook a heck of allot in my cisco classes you cant replace a cli prompt with a notepad.

it takes me 20 seconds to write a post i think it's fair to take a 5 min break to make a couple of posts when i have worked for a few hours solid.

back + up = BACKUP

In an age of advanced technologies and micro-sized portables and mass-storage drives, why would you not backup the data if your entire 3-yr scholastic career depended on it? iPod in data mode? Pocket FW/USB2 drive (40Gb ones are pretty cheap now), etc etc.
You said before you had roughly 1Gb of documents pertaining to school, burn a dvd for Pete's sake (the real Pete, not the expression Pete). (and don't bother saying you don't have a dvd-r drive, find someone at school, I know it exists somewhere nearby, its all the fad these days).

One the second portion, I completely agree that after a while of studying, browsing/posting MR is a great break, actually better for me than TV or a video game because its less distracting mentally and there is not a time limit (start a show, and inevitably I will finish it, and video games just suck you in). Best of luck studying for your tests, backup your stuff to be safe!

 

[fraggle]

The way I figure, this battery I have been using without problems (or even much of anything that could be described as overheating) so keeping it around as an emergancy spare probably wouldn't be that big of a risk.

Just because it does work at the moment does not mean that is does not have an increased risk of bursting into flames at some point. Just return it.

 

[efoto]

The way I figure, this battery I have been using without problems (or even much of anything that could be described as overheating) so keeping it around as an emergancy spare probably wouldn't be that big of a risk.

The question was not of what harm may come to you, but rather whether Apple would raise a fuss if they didn't receive the batteries back. As it was mentioned, this recall is being enacted based on the account of 6 incidents, albeit serious, but 6. Your battery is *probably* fine, but Apple is doing what a corporation must to ensure the safety of the customers.

Small risk or big risk, I don't want to risk my PB to spontanious combustion 😛

Old ladie on a chair in a silk dress, fine, amazing even. (if you don't get this, nevermind)
PB on desk or god forbid on lap, not fine, no where close to amazing.

 

[sungoddess]

Recalls are good. Less you have the following happen..... 😱

Sorry if I made people cry or faint. Poor PowerBook. Where do PowerBooks go when they die? 😕 😀

Ai ya!!! Poor Powerbook... I think they go to Mac heaven.

I'm in the iBook battery recall. I bought my 1.2ghz laptop April 29, at the London Apple Store Tiger launch, and I've taken it out of my laptop and am now running on AC power alone.

I was a little disappointed when I realised that my battery was in the range, but you know, I guess there some things you just can't avoid.

 

[iGary]

Mine came today. Pretty amazing considering I ordered the replacement on Friday evening.

Discharging the old one now, then I'll calibrate the new one. I'm pretty excited, beacue the old one wasn't a perfect fit; there was a protruding edge.

 

[Mord]

back + up = BACKUP

In an age of advanced technologies and micro-sized portables and mass-storage drives, why would you not backup the data if your entire 3-yr scholastic career depended on it? iPod in data mode? Pocket FW/USB2 drive (40Gb ones are pretty cheap now), etc etc.
You said before you had roughly 1Gb of documents pertaining to school, burn a dvd for Pete's sake (the real Pete, not the expression Pete). (and don't bother saying you don't have a dvd-r drive, find someone at school, I know it exists somewhere nearby, its all the fad these days).

One the second portion, I completely agree that after a while of studying, browsing/posting MR is a great break, actually better for me than TV or a video game because its less distracting mentally and there is not a time limit (start a show, and inevitably I will finish it, and video games just suck you in). Best of luck studying for your tests, backup your stuff to be safe!

it is all backed up it's loosing the ability to revise from it at school that is the worry not loosing it forever, i have all my stuff on a fw 2.5" HD my ipod and i keep the last month of work on my usb drive and i burn my documents to dvd every month, (i have a burner in my ibook 😛 and an 80GB HD.)

 

[Panoctopi]

After reading the whole thread, I am shocked at the 12" Rev B. PB's that have this battery problem....... maybe Apple knows too, and next recall will be for us!

I'm surprised as well... i'd think that for what you pay for a pb you'd get a better battery...

 

[admanimal]

Do you get a second message telling the the battery is processed or something. Or is it all done, thanks in advance.

Nope that's it. I got that email right after I signed up on Friday morning, and the new battery got here today.

 

[blackpeter]

Just got me battery.

Funny that the instructions on the recall notice specifically say to remove the battery and never use it again, while the instructions that come with the new battery say to completely discharge the old battery before returning it.

So confused...