About a month ago I noticed my MacBook Pro was not able to stay on very long without warning me that it was low on battery power. I usually keep it plugged in at home most of the time anyway, but a new kitten and dangling cords usually meant I would be unplugged without realizing it until that pop up warning message would let me know about being low on power and suggest I seek alternative power.
WARNING-Seek Alternative Power Source
Last week, though, the warning stopped coming, and the mbp would just 
suddenly die midway through whatever I was doing. I noticed upon reboot that the battery indicator stopped showing me a percentage of charge at all, and instead had a little x across the battery. I figured okay, the battery is dead and now unchargeable. So I planned a trip to the Mac store. The only one I knew about close was in Charlotte, just a short drive north on I-77 (exit 5) and over to South Park Mall.
I need a reservation? U are kidding, right?
Upon arriving Saturday around noon with laptop in tow, I was saddened to be asked for my reservation time, then told I could make a reservation and they would look at it in roughly four hours. The store was packed. I was shocked, but thankfully my husband said in a rather discontented voice–”Just to check her battery?” The sales rep running triage for the help area said she could check that, and the manager came over too. They opened my laptop, determined the battery was indeed dead, plugged me in, and then chastised me for the many desktop icons, telling me those little things drain power too, and make my laptop sluggish. The manager
brought over a new battery right out of the package, popped it in, and made my battery icon show itself charging. The bottom underside also lit up with green dots. Guess what else? After the admonishment of proper mac use of icons, they sent me on my way, and did not even charge me for the replacement battery. (Of course I do have an extended warranty, so if it had been checked, they would have done this anyway.) That they didn’t shows they have great business sense, and are in tune with clients’ needs.
Full-fledged mac convert–finally!
So, I have cleaned off the desktop–guess that was my last holdout to the pc world. And the battery is now fully charged. I don’t have to worry about little Willow (the kitten) unplugging me in her quest to conquer all loose and dangling cords either. I’m once again a happy Mac user.
Attribution:
www.flickr.com/photos/41066937@N00/84994761
www.flickr.com/photos/77566526@N00/7716217
Welcome to the good side, Cathy!
Alec–I have now had my MBP for 16 months, and admittedly held on to the icon fetish from my PC world (my pc world is locked in at work!) I am in love with the Mac side now and when colleagues ask my input for their next computer or laptop purchase, I strongly recommend looking at Macs. My son persuaded me, and I do not regret the decision. And that immediate service with no questions asked about my service agreement or money for the battery has truly converted me! W00T!
Thanks for the tip about icons on the desktop. Mine is littered, so time to do some housekeeping!
See, knew I should have been using a Mac all along. I HATE a cluttered desktop. My desktop at work only has stuff I can’t get to delete (trash can, my doc, my comp, etc.) My Mac only has the Macintosh HD and my dotmac icon. My problem is my Mac’s battery gets drained in no time due to overheating & fan running.
Heather you may want to check–there were some Macs sold that used a bad batch of batteries, or so I’m told. Can you get to a store and have them check?? Since my new battery, I’m whizzing along cord free for a couple of hours.
Oh and I’ve been a good girl and not added anymore desktop icons since Saturday. I had no idea….
Get your Mac checked. Their support is AWESOME.
Will do that sometime this summer. Another media specialist and I are planning on attending some training at one of the apple stores (she wants to go to the one in Charlotte, but our other option is Atlanta) and learn the ins and out of our macs. Hopefully, I can have them check out mine while I’m there. When it doesn’t get overheated (ie: during the cooler months) I get a good two or more hours of use. But since the temperature has risen, so has the temperature of my mac. I purchased a cooling pad/fan system, however, it drains the battery just as much as the internal fan, but at least my lap doesn’t get so hot! If I’m on a/c, everything is fine.