Hi,
I have a problem with my 2006 Macbook & I'd be very grateful if someone could advise me what to do! I've previously posted on this forum about 'battery not charging' message. Here is a brief description:
1. My mac starts shutting down without warning when it gets to around 40% battery - I ignore it for a bit as I mainly use my computer at home & it's plugged in most of the time (I've since found out that this is bad practice)
2. I need more speed & memory & decide that upgrading my Mac is much cheaper than buying a new one (foolishly as it turns out!) & I upgrade it from 1GB to 2GB memory, change my harddrive to 500GB, & install Snow Leopard.
3. Battery continues to die without warning so I buy a replacement (not from Apple, but a cheaper alternative).
4. The next day my charger breaks (where they all seem to fail, at the magsafe wire). I buy a replacement charger (again not from Apple, but a chaper alternative).
5 The new battery & charger seem to work fine, but the battery still dies suddenly at around 40%, & about a week later I get a 'battery not charging' message. I take computer to be repaired and am told it is the motherboard at fault & it needs replacing. I pay for (expensive!) repair.
6. Battery now charges, but still dies when it gets to around 40%. I take it back to repair shop, who tell me they've now fixed it, & advise me not to put the cheap battery back in as it is that which has caused further problems (I'm not sure I believe this, as the computer was exhibiting the same problems with its original battery & I do not understand how a battery can cause problems like these?). The repair shop tells me that I can run the computer straight from the mains (without battery) until my new one arrives from Apple.
7. My computer will not work directly from the mains with the replacement charger - it won't switch on. When I try using a genuine Mac charger, it works fine, so it would seem that there is a fault with my replacement charger.
It now looks like I'm going to have to spend another lot of money on a genuine Apple charger and Apple battery - I obviously need to get a new charger as I've established that my replacement one isn't working properly, but am wondering whether I really need to buy another battery or whether the new replacement one is fine? Is it really possible for a replacement battery to re-ignite an old problem in a computer (shutting down when it gets to 40%). How do replacement batteries differ from original ones? Will I be throwing good money after bad if I spend even more, or should I just cut my losses & buy a new computer?
I'd be very grateful if anyone could offer any advice - I wish I had just chucked the thing away when the charging problem started & put my new memory & hard drive into a new basic model Mac!
Thanks very much
I have a problem with my 2006 Macbook & I'd be very grateful if someone could advise me what to do! I've previously posted on this forum about 'battery not charging' message. Here is a brief description:
1. My mac starts shutting down without warning when it gets to around 40% battery - I ignore it for a bit as I mainly use my computer at home & it's plugged in most of the time (I've since found out that this is bad practice)
2. I need more speed & memory & decide that upgrading my Mac is much cheaper than buying a new one (foolishly as it turns out!) & I upgrade it from 1GB to 2GB memory, change my harddrive to 500GB, & install Snow Leopard.
3. Battery continues to die without warning so I buy a replacement (not from Apple, but a cheaper alternative).
4. The next day my charger breaks (where they all seem to fail, at the magsafe wire). I buy a replacement charger (again not from Apple, but a chaper alternative).
5 The new battery & charger seem to work fine, but the battery still dies suddenly at around 40%, & about a week later I get a 'battery not charging' message. I take computer to be repaired and am told it is the motherboard at fault & it needs replacing. I pay for (expensive!) repair.
6. Battery now charges, but still dies when it gets to around 40%. I take it back to repair shop, who tell me they've now fixed it, & advise me not to put the cheap battery back in as it is that which has caused further problems (I'm not sure I believe this, as the computer was exhibiting the same problems with its original battery & I do not understand how a battery can cause problems like these?). The repair shop tells me that I can run the computer straight from the mains (without battery) until my new one arrives from Apple.
7. My computer will not work directly from the mains with the replacement charger - it won't switch on. When I try using a genuine Mac charger, it works fine, so it would seem that there is a fault with my replacement charger.
It now looks like I'm going to have to spend another lot of money on a genuine Apple charger and Apple battery - I obviously need to get a new charger as I've established that my replacement one isn't working properly, but am wondering whether I really need to buy another battery or whether the new replacement one is fine? Is it really possible for a replacement battery to re-ignite an old problem in a computer (shutting down when it gets to 40%). How do replacement batteries differ from original ones? Will I be throwing good money after bad if I spend even more, or should I just cut my losses & buy a new computer?
I'd be very grateful if anyone could offer any advice - I wish I had just chucked the thing away when the charging problem started & put my new memory & hard drive into a new basic model Mac!
Thanks very much