SeAAttle

My Mac G4 laptop has suddenly developed a very rapid battery discharge. With battery almost fully charged, I use the computer for about 10-15 min and suddenly the screen goes black. No warning about "operating on reserve power". After plug-in for recharge, about 5 minutes later, everything is fine.

I have been careful to charge the battery only when the battery is down to less than 10%, i.e., the low battery warning appears. Recharge seems to occur at a reasonable speed.

This has happened quite suddenly. I had not noticed a decline in battery charge lifetime until this very abrupt loss of power. Is this a battery problem or a computer problem (short circuit that rapidly discharges battery)?

I am going out of the country for month soon and cannot do without a reliable laptop. Any advice would be appreciated.

pdxer

this is generally due to one of the internal cells within the battery pack prematurely failing. therefore, as the battery discharges, the weaker cell will suddenly drop in voltage, causing the entire battery pack to drop below the level required to operate the computer, and it simply shuts down.

it is time to replace the battery.

swei0009

Yep. My Powerbook G4 just passed the 3 year mark and BANG went the battery. A new one through Apple online is about $125 and I am back to 4 hours of use.

Tummy

My understanding is that it's bad to fully discharge a LiON battery pack, using it until the low battery warning.

Since I use my computer daily, almost all day, I generally replace my Powerbook / Macbook Pro batteries every year.