

Would you buy a notebook with a battery you wouldn't replace? - technologizer
http://technologizer.com/2009/01/07/is-the-world-ready-for-sealed-notebook-batteries-are-you/

======
jpcx01
I currently have 3 batteries on my macbook pro (17 inch). It's nice to be able
to go unplugged for 8 hours, but keeping them all charged and swapping them
around is a pain in the ass.

I'd personally trade multiple swappable batteries for a nice integrated
solution. Especially if it lasted twice as long, and had 3x the lifespan.

And if it goes bad after 3-5 years, $179 for a battery replacement doesn't
seem like a huge deal to me.

So, yeah, count me in.

~~~
michaelneale
For 3 years - guaranteed, yes, that would be nice.

If you can replace it - what is the big deal? just not user replacable?

------
danw
I've just spent £97 to buy a replacement battery for my MBP which became
useless after about 200 cycles, so 1000 cycles with 8 hours battery life
instead of 2 hours for a similar cost in swapping battery seems like a fair
deal. So long as the swapping of the battery can be done over the counter
whilst I wait.

~~~
sh1mmer
That's exactly the point. Apple are catering to the vast majority of people
rather than the smaller minority of power users. Even among power users those
people who regularly hotswap must be pretty slim.

I travel a fair amount for work and I have a second battery for my MBP which I
almost never use. Airports mostly have somewhere to plug laptops in these days
even if you aren't in the lounge.

As long as people can easily have a dying battery replaced (especially one
which last 1000 cycles) at a service center I can't imagine that many ruffled
feathers.

Worst case you can always get an external battery.

------
lallysingh
Ditto here. 17" MBP (the immediate predecessor of this new one), and the
battery's essentially permanent in there for me. 8 hours of text editing,
iTunes, and compiling sounds fantastic.

Only thing I picked up was a second power adapter. Now one's at my desk, and
another's in my bag.

Note that batteries for these things usually cost $129ish, so $179 for the
swap isn't out of line.

------
brk
I've used laptops as my primary machine for about 17 years now (since whenever
the FIRST Thinkpad 700's were introduced). I can only think of 1 or 2 laptops
that I've had spare batteries for, and those were usually the ones with
horrible runtimes (like an hour). 1 other (a Thinkpad X20 maybe) I bought a
replacement battery for when the original died.

I've had 3 Intel-Mac laptops now. The only time I ever swapped a battery was
on my first 17" MBP when the battery started physically expanding (there was a
warranty replacement for it).

The internal battery thing is really no issue for me personally.

------
apsurd
I'm having such a hard time getting over the title to this post. I think the
appropriate word here is "couldn't" rather than "wouldn't".

~~~
somnambulist
Same here!

If it's couldn't.. then no way.. I am buying such a laptop; because at times
my laptop freezes and I am left with no option than to take out the battery
and reboot....

------
timcederman
I have never travelled with a spare battery, however on every single laptop I
have owned, I have purchased replacement batteries due to battery life
reduction. My last Macbook and Dell both went from 1.5-2 hours per charge to
20-30 minutes per charge in a matter of weeks (after owning them for 18 months
first of course).

------
bprater
For years now, I haven't traveled with a spare battery. As battery times are
extended, the need for spares decrease.

Apple appears to have squeezed a ton of run-time out of this new
configuration. If this gets you from New York to San Francisco while being
able to watch 2 feature films, are you good?

~~~
whatusername
I've got the extended battery in my thinkpad, but it's the only one.

I try not to use my laptop on the plane; - and anywhere else - I'm usually in
range of a desk / powerpoint.

~~~
stcredzero
"powerpoint" and not Powerpoint?

~~~
whatusername
power socket? What do you normally call it?

------
iigs
As my equipment (phones and PC) ages I like to combine parts to maintain them
and replace key components that age (drives and batteries). I am not afraid to
disassemble my stuff but I take care of it over time and don't want to take a
hit on fit and finish. I've seen macs that had been improperly disassembled
and reassembled, and they just don't look right -- edges roughed up,
rubber/plastic parts misfitting, seams not aligning properly. I would hesitate
for this reason.

In short, yes, I would buy a laptop that had no user serviceable battery. I
would not refuse to purchase a laptop because of something like this, but for
my purposes it's a misfeature. It would compare unfavorably to another machine
that had a removable battery, insofar as this specific feature is concerned,
but perhaps not overall.

------
tptacek
You can't swap batteries in an iPhone either, but you can still carry a
"spare"; it just acts as a charger.

~~~
zhyder
You won't have this option with the 17" MBP though coz Apple doesn't license
the Magsafe connector. It's the same reason you don't find 3rd party adaptors
connecting via Magsafe.

------
tdavis
I have never swapped a battery out of a laptop, ever. So... yes.

~~~
raamdev
I too almost never have, and when I do it's usually a rare occurrence. For
that reason, yes, I'd happily buy a laptop with a built-in battery,
_especially_ if the battery gives a 17" laptop 8 hours of charge!

And I'm sure it won't be long before ifixit.com has a guide explaining how to
replace the battery yourself.

------
mattmaroon
I've never had a laptop battery that I haven't replaced in a year, which
reminds me, I need to order one. (I traveled a lot though until recently,
maybe that will change.) I've never seen a laptop's battery life claim that
was anywhere close to reality either. If Apple (or any OEM) says 8 hours for 5
years, it means 4-5 hours at first sloping down to about one hour in a year.
There's sort of a nuclear arms race there that forces all OEMs to lie
similarly, because if they didn't the other guy would sell better, though I
guess if one were in a position to break the standoff, it might be Apple.

However if I liked the laptop enough, and if I were able to find out via the
internet that the battery held up in the real world for a couple years, and
really got good life, and was replaceable with a trip to the Apple store, then
yeah, it wouldn't be a huge deterrent.

Still, overall I'd consider a user-replaceable battery similar to cruise
control on a car. Not 100% necessary, but really nice when it's usable and
would I really want to buy one without it?

------
Tichy
I don't want to bother with spare batteries anyway. By the time the original
battery is dead, the laptop is outdated enough to warrant replacement anyway.

I am a bit worried about exploding batteries, though, therefore them being
removable is a plus.

~~~
wvenable
Batteries are probably safer enclosed in a unibody design than attached
externally.

------
Zak
Yes. The improvement in chassis rigidity alone would be worth it. I never
carry spare laptop batteries, and I'm not afraid to take apart a laptop to
replace one of those non-user-serviceable parts.

------
rfunduk
I think I once took the battery out of my MacBook, but it was because I was
adding memory.

So, yes, definitely.

------
andygeers
1000 charges on a $3000 laptop doesn't sound like very many to me...

~~~
evgen
1000 charges on a long-life battery is pretty good, maybe you just need to use
a laptop for an extended period of time to understand how batteries work.
Assuming this battery does get the advertised 8-hour lifespan and it is used
five days a week (for 1.5 charges per day) then this battery will last through
two and a half years of constant use. That is actually quite exceptional.

------
Anjin
I own a MacBook Air and I absolutely love it. I'd like 4gb of RAM but besides
that I couldn't possibly be any happier. The battery issue never comes up for
me.

------
rbarooah
I already have one, although it took me a little while to even remember that
fact.

------
riobard
If the original battery works well before I replace the notebook, yes.

