Originally Posted by
paulwlee
if you have a battery that is close to fully charged the breaker doesn't trip when you use the laptop. It also doesn't trip if the computer is off/standby but the battery is being charged.
Right, in the first case the computer isn't charging the battery (Macs don't charge until the battery charge is below 95%, to prevent lots of short charge/discharge cycles), and in the second case, the only power needed is for charging. In both cases the power draw is reduced, so EmPower should work fine in those cases. (The p.s. power ports are also limited to 75W, just like EmPower.)
Originally Posted by
paulwlee
When I need to use the laptop with low battery (but can't wait till the battery charges up enough to draw less current) I just take the battery out.
Also an excellent idea... that would allow you to use a generic EmPower adapter (rather than being stuck with the Apple-branded one) no matter what the charge state of the battery. Of course, it requires an extra step and keeping track of the battery... woe to the passenger who forgets their only battery in the seatback pocket!
