After market battery: Do I have a right to be concerned?

My company develops software and because some of it addresses some of the lower level aspects of the operating system, we periodically need to purchase used units for testing.
We picked up a 1.3GHz, 12" PowerBook on eBay for a few hundred bucks knowing full well it's battery was pretty much dead. Since this unit will likely only be in use a few weeks, or maybe months depending on schedule, we decided to buy a fairly inexpensive "generic" PowerBook battery replacement off of eBay. The advertiser claimed it was "extended life" of 5200 mAh as opposed to the standard, which I believe is 4400 mAh.
When we received the new battery, we wanted to calibrate the system so we charged it up fully then ran it down until the unit went to sleep. The operating conditions to do this were as follows:
- Processor set on its highest speed setting
- Disk is never put to sleep
- The unit is set to never go to sleep
- The display is set to never go to sleep
- The display is set to remain at it's highest intensity
- The screen saver is set to never turn on
...in other words, it's running at full power all the time, and it was also being used to do some work.
I expected this battery to run AT LEAST 3.5 to 4 hours, but in the "full power" mode it lost all it's power and went sleep after only 3 hours. After fully charging the unit up, the System Profiler showed a full charge capacity of only about 3300mAh. The battery seems to work well, and it wasn't expensive ($42.00).
I'm not that familiar with PowerBooks having never owned one. When used realistically on battery power I intend to set the disks will be set to go to sleep when not in use, set the processor at "automatic", have the screen go dark after a few minutes, have the unit go to sleep after probably about 15 minutes, and have the screen dimmed when using battery power. I'm guestimating that in this mode I might get maybe 4-4.5 hours of use, depending on how much work it's doing.
My questions are these:
Am I being too critical of this battery?
Is it normal for a new PowerBook battery to last as I've described?
I have a personal 12" iBook and I tend to get as much as 3.5 hours when operating full power (as described above) and probably nearly 5.5-6.0 hours when the unit's in battery saving mode.
Thanks in advance to all that respond.

Let's not jump the gun yet, guys. This battery is *ONLY* a few days old. For all I know it might drop dead next week. I will say, however, it did come with a one year warranty, so if it does drop dead then we'll see just how well some of these eBay suppliers stand by their products (for some reason, I'm paranoid about eBay, even though all my dealings have been decent on there so far).
With all that said, allow me to ask the question another way. Assuming this battery continues a "normal" life from what it's exhibiting now (by "normal" I mean as I use it, it slowly begins losing it's charge value just like any other decent battery would), how does it's performance and life compare to one that I might have bought from APPLE (original OEM)?
Thanks in advance.

Similar Messages

  • After market battery not working

    I have recenty purchased an after market battery for macbook pro and when i put the battery in the computer just dies??? if i take out the battery and just use the power source the computer works fine, then i put in the battery in and it just dies? any suggestions anyone....?

    aftermarket batteries are usually junk.  Get a genuine Apple battery.

  • I dropped my iphone 5 in the water, its dead and when I try to charge it the apple logo comes and goes, thats my only sign of life, I've done many after market repairs but what I want to know is if I should replace the ligntning port or the battery

    I dropped my iphone 5 in the water, its dead and when I try to charge it the apple logo comes and goes, thats my only sign of life, I've done many after market repairs but what I want to know is if I should replace the ligntning port or the battery... or just buy a galaxy s5?

    If you dropped it in water, and then plugged it in, you may very well have destroyed the battery and/or the logic board.  Charging/plugging in to a power source is very damaging to wet electronic devices.  There is not much you can do but replace the entire iPhone...and since you did repairs yourself Apple will not do an out-of-warranty replacement.
    You can try replacing the battery, the lightning port is another issue, but I would not expect that iPhone to work again.

  • How many hours does a brand new battery last after fully charged. I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro.

    How many hours does a brand new battery last after fully charged. I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro.

    clintonfrombirmingham is right, there is no way to exactly tell. But from personal experience, a new battery on a 2008 will last for about 2 1/2 hours with a higher screen brightness and doing something taxing to the battery (like gaming or running lots of 3D programs). But if you're just listening to music with the brightness all the way down, and no programs running, you could get up to 12 hours. So for average use, it should last you a whole business day (assuming you don't use it more than 30% 0f the time). Hope this kind of gives you more of an idea of what to expect:)

  • My ipod touch isn't showing up on my itunes and i've done all the techniques the trouble shooting manual suggested. I have an after market cord, could that be the problem?

    My ipod touch isn't showing up on my itunes, I have an after market cord, is that the problem?

    Runs this and see if the results help with determine the cause
    iTunes for Windows: Device Sync Tests
    Try on another computer to help determine if computer or iPod problem

  • TS1398 After updating to ios 6 my iphone 4 would no longer connect to my home wifi. At work we have a free wifi connection that does not require a password. However my wifi at home is password protected. I have the right password. It works on my ipod touc

    After updating my iphone 4 with the ios 6 update. My iphone would no longer connect to my home wifi that is password protected. I know that I have the right password entered in. At work we have a free wifi connection that does not require a password and I can connect no problem to it. My ipod touch has no problem connecting to my home wifi. It is a 3rd gen ipod and does not have the ios 6 update on it. Please help!

    I'm having the same issues. Started when I upgraded iphone 4S and ipad1 to 5.1.1. Wife's iphone 4g on 4.4.2 has been ok. I've forgot the network on both devices and restored the iphone, none of which changed the issue. I've upgraded to ios 6 on the iphone 4s, problem still persists.
         One thing that will help for a time: go to your router and change the wireless control channel. When I first did this I got full connectivity for about 48 hours... and now the problem is back. I'm now changing the wireless control channel every 12 hours, which is a pain but at least keeps me connected. I've tried a few other solutions that are out there and that has been the best one so far.
         to do this on a motorola router: type 192.168.0.1 in your address bar.
    username: admin and password:motorola if you have not changed the factory defaults.
    Click on the word "wireless" and look for the "control channel" field. This may be set to auto or to 1, try changing it to 6 or 11 (preferred) or any other channel.
    The control channel can cause static in the wireless system IF there are several networks nearby that are on the default setup.
    There is a fair bit of buzz about this issue out there, some other things I've seen:
    This is a hardware issue. Go to the store and have your wifi antenna checked, some users reporting that they get free replacement devices.
    Check against other wifi networks that require a password (this is next for me). Logon to those networks and surf until your wifi stops. If your wifi connects to the internet but stops responding, then this is a software (or hardware) issue and apple needs to step up. Some are claiming this to be the case.
    IF you connect and stay connected/on the internet on another password protected wifi, then the issue is with your router. this is where things get cute.
    Comcast may tell you to update your firmware. Motorola may tell you that your cable provider is the only one who can push through firmware updates. Comcast may tell you that you are not in an area that is being updated. It's unclear if they say that to all customers, or just those who have purchased cable modems and aren't renting them from comcast.
    Good luck, more to come if I figure out anything else, and please post any solutions you may find.

  • We have iPhone 4 and I plugged phone into after market hardwired plug in car (that we have used successfully for two years) and the screens has gone black and wont turn on.  Phone is charged. We have tried force quit- home screen and top button. help pls

    We have iPhone 4 and I plugged phone into after market hardwired plug in car (that we have used successfully for two years). The screen has gone black and wont turn on.  Phone was charged. I have tried force quit- home screen and top button. iTunes is not recognizing phone when I plug into computer.  help pls

    FIRST charge with an Apple charger for at least 15 minutes. Then hold the HOME and SLEEP buttons at the same time until an Apple logo appears. Hold for up to 30 seconds. If nothing happens the phone hardware has failed.

  • After Installing Lion I can not restore the latest iOS because I seems that I do not have the rights to do it

    haven't you have problems trying to upgrade to iOS 4.3.5? I installed MAC OS 10.7 and now I'm receiving a message saying that I don't have the rights, however I can sync it without any problems.

    Sorry to be so late getting back to you. My furnace died and I was a week without heat. Everything's ok now.
    I was able to grab an old firefox from an external drive (thank God for backups!) and I used that along with the link that you sent me for older versions and I was able to download the version before the current update.
    Thank you for your help.

  • After-Market / Fake Products (Headsets)

    My iphone is already here: it's the e61. I don't think this device, rightly lauded everywhere else, gets enough praise in the U.S. But it needs a companion. In December, I started to look for a bluetooth headset. I narrowed my search to Nokia BH-800 and BH-900. And there begins my run-in with an aftermarket product - and what kind of support I received from the marketplace, including Nokia. Almost every company carps about "after market" products, aka fakes. We are told that billions are lost because of "after market" products, mainly from China. Tiffany even made a public issue of it with ebay. So how much do companies really care about fakes - and attempts by consumers to expose them? I'm starting to wonder. I have had to jump through incredible hoops to a) prove a "BH-800" fake, which I conclusively did and have been reporting my progress to both ebay and Nokia; b) get any kind of refund, in this case from PayPal, which has agreed with my claim but continues to demand things of me within deadlines that frankly stun me; and c) nothing has been done with the seller - he's still on business on ebay. It appears to be all in vain. This is how it all happened: In December, I bought a BH-800 from a Hong Kong-based seller on ebay with, at the time, great feedback. The package arrived. It looked original. There was no warranty card and the manual looked suspect, I thought, but maybe that was an Asian version - all would be forgiven if the product itself was the real thing. Sure enough, the product charged. It paired with my e61. Then, within 15 minutes it started to beep: low battery. I tried to recharge the unit. No luck. The red light wouldn't even come on. I e-mailed the seller. He promised quick action and asked to me keep trying to charge the headset. No luck. I e-mailed him again. No response. I e-mailed again, no response. This is where my ire kicked in, as both a Nokia user and a Nokia shareholder. I reported my experience with the headset and the lack of Seller communication to PayPal - and filed a claim for refund. Online, I read about Nokia's efforts to shut down fakes. I thought, great: they can be like Tiffany, aggressively fighting the after-markets. So I e-mailed Nokia Customer Service, which, to its credit, asked me to send them the item number and the Seller info. I did. Then PayPal wrote me back. They wanted proof (or as they call it, authentication by a third party) that my BH-800 was a fake. I had 10 days to do it, or the claim was canceled. I wrote Nokia Customer Service again, asking for their help in authenticating the product - at my expense. Not hearing back, I called Nokia Customer Service and explained what I was trying to do. "Is this about a phone," they kept asking. No, about a fake headset - you guys care about fakes, don't you. I was asked to e-mail again. I did. I got an e-mail that said my query had been forwarded to the "appropriate product department". I noted the urgency of the the PayPal 10-day deadline, again. So, then, I called the Nokia flagship store in New York. Someone said to bring the piece in. I happened to going to NY on business. I took the piece in. Assistant Manager Joanne Losinno was great. She agreed to help me. She had never seen anything like it. The piece was smaller than an original BH-800, there was no UPC code, the manual was a fake, the accompanying pouch was not the standard. What Losinno couldn't do was state on paper, for legal reasons she said, that the item was an out and out fake. But she could make darn close in a letter. Which she did. In turn, I faxed her letter to PayPal, as instructed. Two days ago, I received my response. Yes, I could get a refund if I a) I returned the item to the Seller in Hong Kong at my own expense; b) reported a confirmed tracking number within 10 days to PayPal; c) I wait until the Seller confirms that he has received it. In the absence of all that, I lose my claim. As of this writing, I have satisfied two of those three conditions. Sending the package registered USPS cost me $17, or more than 50% of the original PayPal charge. Meanwhile, Nokia Customer Service has never gotten back to me - on an effort that I wanted to believe I was undertaking on their behalf. You see, I am also a Nokia shareholder, which I had mentioned to Customer Service. As far as I know, Nokia CS has no idea that their NY flagship store was even involved, since they neither suggested it nor responded when I said I was going to do that - a critical piece that would have brought everyone in the loop effortlessly. Meanwhile ebay continues to host this seller and others like him. Sister company PayPal continues to accept payments on behalf of this Seller. Recently, the Seller's negative ratings have started to pile up. I also went back and dug deeper into his ratings. I'm not the first to receive a fake BH-800 - a fact also reported to Paypal. Meanwhile, I bought a BH-900, an authentic one, on ebay, from a U.S.-based seller, and am very happy with it. Still, I wonder about Nokia, which can integrate complicated functions on its phones but not its responsiveness to a diligent customer. I doubt I'll hear from Nokia, but it's a nice thought. Life goes on, and so do fakes. I will be happy to provide documentation on all of the above to bona fide parties with a stake in supporting my efforts.

    Short ago I bought this adaptor to connect an iMac with my beamer (Mitsubishi HC 1100) and the outcome is - better than ever. Clearly you can say that one adapter is better than two. I can't believe that it took so long until this adaptor was developed. I had been looking for it already one year ago

  • Tecra M2: Power Saver - Do Not Have Access Rights

    Hi,
    I'm running a Tecra M2 with Windows XP SP2 and I recently installed Toshiba Power Saver as I want to get the best out of my battery on a flight I'm taking. However, when I try to run the Toshiba Power Saver from the Control panel I get a window with the following error:
    Cannot open because you do not have access rights to use "TOSHIBA Power Saver".
    I'm logged on as administrator, but I still get the same problem. I've even re-installed Windows XP, but after installing all the drivers I get the same error. I've tried installing the Win2K version of the app, but it gives the same problem.
    Any help much appreciated as I'd like to get the best out of my laptop power wise.
    TIA
    Klaus

    Hi
    I dont know what happen in your case but if you are logged as administrator start please Power saver utility and go to SETUP OPTIONS. Check SETUP PROFILES and activate both options there.

  • After-market Mini DVI to HDMI adaptor

    Has anyone tried an after market MINI-DVI to HDMI adaptors to run a video signal from the iMac to a TV?
    http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041912&pid=4852&seq=1&format=6#faq
    I know Apple wants us to purchase their products...and in this case we'd have to purchase 2 adaptors/Cables (mini DVI to DVI & DVI to HDMI).....seems like a waste as each cable runs around $20 each when I could just easily buy one adaptor for $10 on monoprice.
    For what it's worth, monoprice.com is very reliable, has great prices, fast shipping and very nice products. I use them for all my cable, wire, adaptor needs (and no, i do not work for them either). I used to be very particular about my cables and would fork up tons of money buying monster cables be it of the xbox, home theatre, cable box, HDTV etc all to realise that a cable is a cable, they all pretty much spit out that same quality image or sound regardless. So check 'em out!

    Short ago I bought this adaptor to connect an iMac with my beamer (Mitsubishi HC 1100) and the outcome is - better than ever. Clearly you can say that one adapter is better than two. I can't believe that it took so long until this adaptor was developed. I had been looking for it already one year ago

  • I accidentally ran iPhoto Library Upgrader on my Picture folder and now I have to right click on it to "show contents" instead of looking at it in Finder.  Help!

    Help!  I have 2 problems related to iPhoto:
    1:  I accidentally ran iPhoto Library Upgrader on my Picture folder and now I have to right click on it to "show contents" instead of double clicking on it and looking at it in Finder.  I cannot figure out how to fix my Pictures Folder so that I can click on it and view it in Finder, when I double click on it Terminal opens up with this message  "Pictures - Bash 80x24"  and
    Last login: Mon Nov  3 14:00:05 on ttys000
    Christinas-MacBook-Pro:Pictures christinagrierson$
    It will not let me replace or delete the folder...  I got to my files and backed them up, but trying to avoid reinstalling my OS.
    2:  When I try to Upgrade my Library.iPhoto file so I can open it in iPhoto it says I need to finish by opening in iPhoto, but then when I do, it tells me it first needs to be upgraded in the iPhoto Library Upgrader... Vicious circle.  Please, help!  Just trying to recover about 3 years worth of photos...

    Hi!  Thanks for responding!
    I have iPhoto 9.5.1, I am on OS X Version 10.9.5 on a MacBook Pro with 2.66 GHz
    My current "iPhoto Library" file is OK (I can open it with iPhoto), however I cannot access the old one from iPhoto 6 titled Library.iPhoto
    I tried right clicking and choosing the application, it did not work.
    "exactly how did you "I got to my files and backed them up"" - I showed the contents of my Pictures folder, and it opened up the folders in Finder and I copied them to an external hard drive.  In my Picture folder I have several folders of Photos plus the iPhoto Library files (old & current)
    I do have old back ups, but they are from April, and I recently imported 5 months of photos from my iPhone, so the iPhoto Library I copied after showing contents is the one I need.

  • After updating to  Mavericks, I have been unable to update iphoto, and when I attempt to, it says that These apps were already assigned to another Apple ID, and they will be available in that Apple ID's Purchases list.

    After updating to  Mavericks, I have been unable to update iphoto, and when I attempt to, it says that These apps were already assigned to another Apple ID, and they will be available in that Apple ID's Purchases list. But no other appleID has ever been used on my computer, how could this be resolved?

    Contact App Store support. There's a link on the right hand side of the App Store Window. They're the only ones who can sort out account issues.

  • Why can't i use my ipod after the battery died during a reformatting? i've tried many things to fix it.

    Why can't i use my ipod after the battery died during a reformatting? i've tried many things to fix it.

    I do not understand your question.  You do not formate an iPod.  Please explain better the problem. what lead up to the problem and what you have tried so far.

  • Macbook no longer "sleeps" after 'low battery' warning, just suddenly dies

    My macbook (just over a year old) used to give me a warning with 10 minutes left that it would sleep so as my data was not lost, if I didn't plug it in. However, recently, it has stopped doing this - instead of sleeping, if I don't get to a power source in time within 10 minutes, it simply cuts out, with the sound of the hard drive stopping - like if you shut down a frozen macbook with the power button.
    This is REALLY irritating - what's going on? Why does it not sleep anymore, and is there any way to fix it?
    I'm on Tiger 10.4.11, with an intel macbook...

    Same Problem here. Tried several calibrations, smc and pram zap (well i guess there is no pram any longer so it zaps something else). Now I found another post where they talk about the battry 1.2 update. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1449128&tstart=60
    I remember when trying to do an battery update to 1.3 manually the update told me that it is not for my macbook. But - I found the 1.3 update Bundle in /System/Library/Configuration/BatteryUpdater.bundle
    1. I Removed /System/Library/Configuration/BatteryUpdater.bundle from my system
    2. rebooted
    3. Emptied trash
    4. Installed update 1.2 by Softwarupdate.
    I will now do an SMC reset an then let the battery run low and watch what happens.
    Then do a calibration.
    I have the problem here in different ways. Sometimes Macbook shuts down suddenly after low battery warning, sometimes it sleep, almost never it hibernates.
    My Battery was replace after showing the x symptome about a year ago but now it looks bad again
    Full Capacity (in mAh): 3866
    Remaining Capacity (in mAh): 1982
    Power Consumtion (in mA): 1564
    Voltage (in mV): 11974
    Number of cycles: 148

Maybe you are looking for

  • How do I install 10.3 with 9.1?

    I've been always using 9.1 for everything but now I want to try X.3 So, what´s the way to install X leaving 9.1 running as well as now? (I´m afraid of doing it after all the strange things I´ve read here) I use Quark 3.3, Photoshop 6.0, and Dreamweav

  • CR2 files from 7D not working in Lightroom.

    These files open up in other programs, however, when I try to look at them in LR5 it reads "PREVIEW UNAVAILABLE FOR THIS FILE". These files are CR2 files. Any suggestions?

  • Image format not working automatically when linking to Frame files

    I have a project in RoboHelp that has linked Frame files. I've fiddled with the settings until I can update and publish without having to make any changes to most of the RoboHelp project's files. However, there is a problem with the images. My group'

  • Record Voiceover is not enabled

    I'd like to record a voiceover in iMovie 10 but the option is not enabled even after first clicking in the Movie.  Can anyone please tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks, Dave

  • WDRuntimeException: Failed to create J2EE cluster node in SLD

    Hello, I am getting the below error, but to my knowledge I have everything set up properly.  Let me briefly outline the logistics (I am running everything LOCALLY (will move to remote later)): WAS 6.4 <b>SP12</b> Set up JCo and tests fine Set up Visu