Apple battery recall
I haven’t been having a lot of luck with stuff recently. My car packed up (in a potentially expensive way1), and yesterday I discovered that the battery in my PowerBook is one of the ones Apple is recalling. Brilliant.
I’ve filled in the form to get a replacement, so now I just have to wait 4-6 weeks for it to show up. In the meantime, I’m advised to remove the old battery and power the PowerBook from the mains. It’s weird though; I’ve had the laptop and battery for two years without incident (and it shows none of the telltale signs of overheating now), but now that I actually know that there’s a tiny chance it might burst into flames, I feel that I should take precautions. However, the probability of something happening hasn’t changed, just my knowledge of it.
So I’m going to compromise. I usually just put the PowerBook to sleep for the journey between work and home, but that’s obviously not possible with the battery removed. I’m using it without the battery at home and work, but reinserting the battery for the journey, and monitoring the Crumpler bag in which it lurks slightly nervously for signs of smoke or undue warmth.
1 Though _expensive_ seems to be the only possible outcome when cars break down. â
1
Can you enable Safe Sleep on your PowerBook? I don't know which machines it works on but it did on my late 2004 iBook. The only downside is that it takes an amount of HD space equal to your RAM and takes a bit longer to wake and sleep.
by Ian @ 26/08/2006 3:08 pm • Permalink •
2
If you bought the computer in the UK then you shouldn't have to wait 6 weeks; it is a safety thing, they should replace the battery immediately, or if they can't, supply you with a safe computer. The PowerBook is sold as a portable computer, if it is not safe to use in that manner, then in the words of "The Sale of Goods Act" it is "Not fit for purpose". Show the AppleStore in Birmingham a copy of a letter you intend to send to your local Health & Safety Office, your local Trading Standards Officer, and every relevant publication you can think of that may influence the purchase of Apple computers if they don't get you a SAFE battery within 48 hours. Point out that as a University Lecturer, you cannot do your job properly with a computer that is not suitable for the purpose for which it was sold and that you intend to make a big fuss for as long as is neccessary; that should get you a battery in fewer than 4-6 weeks.
by Jonathan Briggs @ 26/08/2006 4:08 pm • Permalink •
3
Personally, I'm happy that the battery from my 12-inch PowerBook has been recalled. I look at it this way: I've got a 2 year old battery that's now being replaced with a brand new one!
by Andrew Ho @ 26/08/2006 4:08 pm • Permalink •
4
Funny that none of the batteries Sony made for its own laptops have this problem: just the ones they made for Dell and Apple.
by Milan @ 26/08/2006 4:09 pm • Permalink •
5
The Apple battery recall has been tucked away in a corner of the "Support" page of their WebSite since the beginning of the year, I guess that the papers went looking for similar things elswhere in the wake of the recent Dell hooha, and discovered an old problem.
I would suspect that Sony had the same problem but dealt with it quickly and discreetly, I suspect that others tried to cover it up for as long as they could, hoping that it would go away - Come to think of it, the underside of my Dell does get a bit hot......
by Jonathan Briggs @ 26/08/2006 6:08 pm • Permalink •
6
Stop worrying and love the bomb. From what I've heard the chances of it actually blowing up are pretty small, just large enough to warrant a recall.
Also love the fact that you're getting a brand new battery. My iBook was bought during the timeframe, but my battery serial number doesn't match so I'm stuck with my old battery that's still doing great but not lasting quite as long as it used to.
by hans @ 26/08/2006 9:09 pm • Permalink •
7
I've just been contemplating whether to buy a new Sony or MacBook, now both have battery problems. As Jonathan says, they will have been much more discreet - as they were when they had similar issues with their digital camera batteries. I would expect Apple's service to be better than the renowned poor Sony backup.
by Julian @ 27/08/2006 2:09 pm • Permalink •
8
I'm just carrying on using mine with the battery in, (surely it's unlikely to burst into flames while sleeping?) but I am thinking of investing in a pair of asbestos trousers for laptop use...
by tony @ 28/08/2006 5:09 pm • Permalink •
9
I could make a big fuss about it and try to get a battery sooner, but I don't have time and can't really be bothered. I'm off to Brazil for work next weekend for 3 weeks, and I wasn't planning on taking my PowerBook anyway. So I might just as well wait.
As hans said, the upside is getting a brand new battery for free.
by bsag @ 29/08/2006 4:09 pm • Permalink •
10
I think its interesting that IBM might soon do the same thing given their recent laptop incident.
In any case, I would think that it is a bit harsh to do this to Apple when it is the Sony hardware at fault. And you don't hurt Sony you hurt Apple. Has anyone considered that they may not be able to stock all of the backlogged batteries and the delay is there because the batteries are out of stock? Its not like they are still making iBooks and Powerbooks...
by Pasamio @ 22/09/2006 12:10 am • Permalink •
11
Has anyone else noticed that the performance from the replacement batteries are not ass good as the originals?
If I had known I would probably have kept the old one, as the risk of anything bad happening seems to be fairly remote.
by L0D @ 07/03/2008 12:49 pm • Permalink •
Page 1 of 1 pages