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Using an aftermarket 12" Powerbook G4 battery

oneMadRssn

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 8, 2011
6,149
14,340
Hello Everyone.

I am rebuilding and fixing up an 1.5ghz 12" Powerbook G4 for selling on eBay. As a side note, what an awesome computer. I forgot how much I loved that design.

Before putting it on eBay I want to get it a new battery because the one in it now is at 17% health, and is quite dented and scratched up. I have looked on ebay, and I see that OEM batteries are quite pricey, but there are some aftermarket batteries which claim to be higher capacity 5200mAH (instead of the stock 4400mAH) and are significantly cheaper ($20).

My questions are: Has anyone bought one of these $20 aftermarket batteries? Do they actually get 5200mAH capacity? Are they any good? Are they the same aluminum as the original OEM? Do they have a functional battery meter like the OEM has? Is there anything else I should look out for?

This is the one I am looking at - http://www.ebay.com/itm/5200mAH-Bat...0-white-US-STOCK-/300609923616#ht_3244wt_1088
 
Last I checked, OWC had plenty of PB batteries for sale. I would recommend those over eBay.
 
OWC batteries are $100. For that price, I'd be better off going OEM. Glad to hear though that 1 guy had no problems with an aftermarket battery.

Do apple stores still take and recycle old laptop batteries?
 
My Macbook has an aftermarket battery and it's going on nicely, capacity is 5269. I've heard not so nice things from Apple techs about macfixit batteries though.
 
I did buy an open-box from OWC for $71. If you keep an eye out for it, you may find deals with them. They're a lot more reliable than other aftermarket sellers.
 
I bought an excellent aftermarket battery for my 12" a few months ago, I'll post the link. It runs for 3-4 hours and doesn't display any wonky battery life habits, nor have I had any negative things to say about it! Performs just like an OEM battery should, at a much lower price.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026K0K70/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i01

It actually ships from a real company, and the batteries are shipped in pretty nice packaging. Give it a shot and if you don't like it, Amazon is great with returns. At this price, you could buy six of them over the next six years and still pay less than an OEM.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
As long as its not from a really shady seller, Aftermarket batteries are great.

I have an old ThinkPad Pentium 1 100mzh, running Windows 98SE, 32mb of ram and a newer wireless card ( I had a HELL of a time finding one to git in those old PCI style side slots ).

Battery From IBM: 380 Dollars+Shipping
Aftermartket: 35 Dollars+ Shipping.

Wasn't a hard choice, Ive it for a year, and it works great.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I went and bought the aftermarket one on ebay for 20 bills. We'll see how if it works. I'll cycle it once to twice to make sure it's good enough.
 
sucramdi said:
Does the battery work well? I'm looking to get one myself.
Click to expand...

So far so good. It's not the promised 5200mah (according to coconut battery) but it is certainly better than an old used up battery.

Also, it doesn't fit quite perfectly like the stock battery did. It's not aluminum on the outside but plastic, but for $20 I can't complain too much.
 
I've heard and experienced bad with later PowerBook batteries. There was a big recall several years ago due to batteries catching on fire. (Not just Apple, Dell, Sony, and others recalled their batteries, IIRC.) The replacement batteries they sent to those who sent in their recalled batteries were absolutely terrible, and they seem to still be selling the same thing. Mine dropped from full capacity (3+ hours on a charge) to less than 20 minutes on a charge within 2 or 3 months of getting it. To be fair, it hasn't gotten much worse than that to this day, but it's still awful.

I'd get a high quality aftermarket battery from OWC before I'd buy a new one from Apple.
 
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