Taking the piss

[ffutures]

When I got my iBook the battery was capable of 2-3 hours operation, more if I turn off WiFi. Since I wanted to use it at trade shows where they charge £100+ for the use of a mains socket I got a second battery fairly cheap on eBay, which had about the same life.

Today the original battery has about an hour's capacity, and the second one is below two hours. So I went along to the big Apple shop in Regent Street and asked prices tonight. And it turns out they cost £89.95 each. And unless I can find replacements a hell of a lot cheaper than that I'm afraid that my days as a Mac user may be somewhat more limited than I'd anticipated.

So if anyone sees anyone selling genuine batteries for a 14" screen iBook G4 cheapish please let me know.

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thing is that batteries for the average PC-compatible laptop are probably one hell of a lot easier to get cheap than Mac batteries, and that most of my reasons for owning a laptop require something that does not run on mains power. While the internals of battery packs aren't fearsomely complicated, the general reluctance of Mac users to buy anything that doesn't have the Apple logo means that there's little or no market for alternative suppliers, but I know that several companies offer alternative PC batteries.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

OK, maybe there is a market - I just found a Hong Kong supplier selling a generic replacement for 22 quid plus 12 quid postage, but I'd expect a customs duty hit on top of that.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah, is Apple one of those companies who fix it so that you can only use Apple approved spares?

I tried to take an old Nintendo apart once, but found you could only get it open if you had the special nintendo screwdriver.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's part of the casing, rather than fitting inside - you can change batteries very easily, but nothing else will fit apart from a workalike clone.