Third-party batteries for older laptops

Hank Roberts - 05:52am Jul 1, 2008 PST

I bought a FastMac high capacity battery recently; calibrated, got 18 good cycles out of it in a couple of weeks on a trip -- flew home and then it wouldn't charge past 50 percent for me.

I returned it and got a prompt warranty replacement -- just arrived. But they say they found no problem when they tested the returned battery. So I'm puzzling and asking comparisons from anyone using a FastMac in a Pismo.

I'm not unhappy with them, but trying to figure out what I need to check and how. FastMac phoned me --- the woman I spoke to said none of the third party battery software is reliable with FastMac's high capacity battery -- but couldn't explain why that would be true. She couldn't explain why the Apple status bar would show the same percentage/time info that XBattery does if XBattery wasn't giving correct information. I'm pursuing it in email with their support, trying to get a better idea what might be going on. They did replace it promptly and I'm now on the calibration cycle for the replacement.

I'm using a Pismo, OSX 10.3.9, 900mhz replacement CPU. They're using a Pismo, OSX 10.4, as their test computer at FastMac.

Meanwhile I bought a NuPower battery, which has so far performed normally, charges properly in both left and right bays -- and doesn't heat up while charging, which I did notice with the first FastMac battery. Haven't noticed excess heat with the replacement FastMac yet, which may be a clue, time will tell.

Anyone else with experience with the FastMac replacement? The company said they tested my return (put it in their Pismo when it arrived, and it charged up to 100% -- that's all they did. From that their tech concluded their battery was fine and says my Pismo must have a problem, but can't say what problem to look for).

I'm more inclined to think something got confused in the onboard software or and the week the battery spent in transit back to the company let it reset itself -- does that make any sense?