Where is the best place to buy a new battery?

janesprando wrote:

I have a G4 PowerBook, 15", that needs a new battery. Where is the best placeto buy one?

Where are you?

I bought several Powerbook replacement batteries from OWC at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple_laptop/batteries/PowerBook_G4_15_AL , and they've worked just fine.

New lithium batteries should be conditioned for at least one cycle.

Batteries vary with model and with screen size. We can help you figue out which one you need if you do "About the Mac" from your Apple menu and, in the resulting window, click "More Info..."

That launches System Profiler for you. The first pane you see is "Hardware Overview." Looks like this in OS 10.6 but is simialr in OS 10.4:

Post the code in the SECOND line (will be titled "Machine Model" in OS 10.4). In the example the code is "MacBook Pro 3,1" It's that line that will identify your PowerBook revision. Note that I blanked out any serial number references--don't post serial numbers here.

Allan

janesprando wrote:

Does it matter if you have an Aluminum or Titanium PowerBook? And how do I tell which one I have?

Do all PowerBooks use the same battery?

jane

Aluminum models have different batteries from Titanium models.

This page from OWC should have the one an Aluminum 15-inch model would use.

I got a battery from them last year for a TiBook and it has performed quite nicely.

See the Everymac listing for your machine.

My previous OWC link is the correct battery from them, then.

janesprando wrote:

I checked out a few other sites and theirs are much less. What "pitfalls" shoud I be aware of before buying? I know warranty would be one of them.

Jane

I can't say for sure what the indicators of a reputable other source are. That being said, there are lots of offers out there for batteries that are (take your pick) cheap knockoffs, actually used batteries that show up with many cycles reporting, batteries that do not communicate with the OS or SMU/PMU at all, etc. There are anecdotal reports of batteries going kerplunk within months of shipping. So, first make sure that the site is reputable. Second, scour the web for references to the site to see is there are many "I got taken" posts. Finally, search this discussion thread for "powerbook battery" and check for the anecdotal information I was referring to.

As I noted above, I have been running an OWC battery for about a year now without a problem and I have had other good dealings with them. You might ask in this thread if anyone has had good results or bad with a candidate vendor.

In support of what Old Comm Guy has said, I've seen similar reports:

• Auction sites selling batteries as "new" that arrive with 20-40 cycles on them
• Auction site selling batteries that arrive dead, and when taken to an Apple Store for adjustment, the owner is told the battery is counterfeit.

The other place for batteries is Global Batteries. I've not bought any G4 batteries from them, but I ordered two G3 Wallstreet batteries from them for a friend about a year apart, and both have now been in service two and three years without issue. I can't speak for their G4 batteries but here is the link if you wish to investigate:

http://www.global-batteries.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_12/products_id/2664

The price is nice and it has a one-year warranty like Apple or OWC. Again, my experience with Global was with G3 PowerBooks, so I'm simply throwing it out as another option.