[arteggio]

I have a 15" Aluminum PowerBook that I'm going to use for writing. As one might imagine, the original 5 year old Apple battery is about shot (20 minutes with wifi off and dim screen!).

I found this thread from three years ago, but I was curious if there's anyone else on here that can offer their input.

I'm staying away from all those shady batteries, but I would like a battery better than Apple's, and I feel like this is risky business. There are very few battery reviews out there, and although I've heard good for NewerTech, I've also heard bad.

But I came across FreshBattery, and they look reputable. Anyone worked with or heard about them?

For $80 they have a normal replacement, and for another $10 they have their 'ÜberPower High Capacity' model, which is what I'm eyeing — $10 cheaper than NewerTech, $40 cheaper than a new Apple battery.

I've only found a few little tidbits on FreshBattery, at least insofar as Apple batteries are concerned.

Is this non-OEM replacement battery business just hit or miss?

[Kyros]

Based on previous experience, specifically with newertech, anyway, I would expect the "high-capacity" battery to get you about the same as a normal apple-branded battery. I don't know how it is for this company, though. If you decide to go with them, I would say that the extra 10 dollars are worth it, even if you don't get more life than a regular apple battery (since that means that the weaker model would get even worse life, one would assume).

I'd carefully read any return policies, and I'd really try to find someone with experience with the specific battery you are buying. In fact, I'd feel safer getting the newertech battery than buying form these guys if you can't find any reviews. Under any circumstance, I wouldn't expect to get better than normal battery life, the only reason to get the third party batteries is the lower price (which is a very good reason in itself, in my opinion: )).

The only other thing is that I have a battery from Dr. Battery for my Pismo that has worked very well so far, but I'm hesitant to recommend that company since the store I bought the battery from later stopped carrying them due to a lot of complaints that they didn't work as advertised.

This business is definitely a bit hit or miss, unfortunately. If you can afford the official battery, it might be the right way to go. Again, if you go third party, I'd look at return policies/warranties carefully, and I'd lean towards the more robust policy over advertised capacity.

[arteggio]

Thanks for the tips, Kyros.

I now have the high capacity FreshBattery in my hands, initialized-calibrated at 5600mah (website tech specs say 4400, battery itself says 5200).

Now that I understand how these batteries work, and FreshBattery provides some guidelines for the battery's care, I'm going to try to be really gentle with this battery and use it optimally. When I got the PowerBook I had no clue how to take care of the battery — yet 6 years later, it still charges to 40% and lasts 40 minutes on low settings. I could deal with 40% of this new battery come half a decade.

FreshBattery's return/warranty policy seems fine, if not good, and I think they'll replace the battery if it does end up being crappy. (If I remember correctly, the one comment I found about FB, negative with respect to the battery's lifespan, said that FB had replaced it 2 or 3 times, so.)

In general though, reports about FB and the rest of their batteries seem positive. Also, they have this 'born on' policy so that you know your battery hasn't been sitting on a shelf for months (and is purportedly put together on the date printed). My date was June 22, the day I bought it.

Within the next year I'll come back and report in this thread so that there will be a review out there. At 5600mah (4–6 hours on low settings!), my battery and I could very well be off to a good start.

PS: I paid only $80 for this battery using a Bing discount. BING10, I believe.

[Kyros]

Awesome, sounds like you found a gem, definitely let us know if it lasts . I'm always on the lookout for a good 3rd party battery vendor.

[arteggio]

So, here's the annual update!

The battery has been magnificent, but I did not end up using it that much. Just 18 loadcycles. Here's a picture of its progression from 5891 mAh to 5077 mAh within it a month as it calibrated. I can't remember the 18 times it drained completely and recharged, but I know it did so at least once in the last few months.



With Wifi off and a midway-lit screen I think I can get 3-4 hours, which makes it great for text, but I haven't used it this way in a long time. Right now, on Safari with brightness at about a quarter, it's reporting 1.5–1.75 hours and has gone down to 1h05 after letting it sit for 5-10 minutes to do something else. If anyone's really interested let me know and I'll do some better tests.

The only negative thing to note is that the metal cover-plate had come lose, so I peeled it right off and can now see the pink AA-like batteries and dried glue. Should be easy enough to glue back on though, and it's not actually a problem for me.