Recycled Computing

Power Your Recycled Laptop with a Rebuilt Battery

- 2008.02.20

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Top Quality Memory for Faster Mac Performance 1GB/2GB/4GB Kits from $23.99/$47.99/$94.99 Expert Support, Free Installation Videos & Guides, Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty - www.MacSales.com

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

When you're reviving an old laptop, you face one issue that you don't when you rehab a desktop computer - power. Hence the need to have a least a power brick in order to use a laptop as a desktop. Of course, almost (but not quite) every different laptop has a different AC power transformer and a different fitting. You need to have the right one and should probably shy away from the purchase of an older laptop if one isn't included in the deal. I was fortunate in that my used Pismo had it's own yo-yo power supply, and I salvaged another from a dead clamshell iBook.

Batteries

Batteries - if you want to go mobile, you got to have 'em. Again, I was very lucky. My Pismo had two batteries - one still has about 3400 mAh out of the original 4400 mAh. The other was deader than a doornail. If I wanted to unleash the full potential of both of the Pismo's battery bays, I would have to buy another battery.

Or would I?

Charles Moore has an excellent column, Are Extended Life Laptop Replacement Batteries Worth The Extra Cost? over in MacOpinion, on after market batteries for your Pismo (and probably other iBooks and PowerBooks). I agree that if you're going to get a replacement battery, the more milliamps, the better. And I also agree that if you're going to buy a new battery, stay away from OEM. Even if the Apple battery still has the original shrink-wrap on it, it's been on a shelf for the last 7 years. You're better off with a newly manufactured battery.

In the past, I've had a lot of luck rehabbing batteries for the PowerBook 500 series and the PowerBook 5300. Jeremy Kezer's Battery Amnesia [see Low End Mac's review] is a great utility for truly discharging NiCad batteries on PowerBooks, and Apple's own Intelligent Battery and Battery Recondition are must haves. Be patient and keep at it, as a really dead 'un will require a number of attempts to be revived.

New Life for Dead Batteries

The Pismo, like almost all modern laptops, uses Li-Ion batteries, and once they are gone, they're gone. I tried just about everything (resetting Power Management, resetting PRAM, resetting NV-RAM) and was about to use the dead battery as a doorstop, when I ran across Battery Refill, a firm out in California. Battery Refill supports almost every Apple notebook since the PowerBook 500 series. This firm breaks open your old battery box, takes out the old cells, and replaces them with new, oftentimes more powerful cells. All for the reasonable price of $85 (plus $10 shipping).

Pismo batteryDisclaimer time. This is by no means an endorsement on my part, and I am not responsible if your experience with Battery Refill isn't the same as mine. (I'm sure the staff of Low End Mac feels the same way.)

Let me tell you about my experience, and you can make up your own mind.

I sent Battery Refill my dough, they sent me a prepaid mailer, and I mailed off my dead battery. Now it did take me a month to get the battery back, so if you have been drinking too much Jolt (or coffee) and just can't wait to get your battery back, this is not a good option for you. I had a working battery and the patience that comes from having three teenage children.

Battery Refill emailed me when they received the dead battery and emailed me again when they shipped it out. According to them, I would have to cycle it five times to get it up to snuff.

I've done that, and it works great. I now have two batteries for the Pismo and can trot around with it for most of an eight hour day without plugging it in to an AC outlet. Now that's wireless!

Eventually, my other battery is going to bite the dust, and when it does I'll sent it off to Battery Refill and have it rebuilt. It's cheaper, a tad bit more eco-friendly, and my original battery case looks almost brand new. LEM

 LEM

Discuss this article on Info-Mac.

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.