Who the hell comes up with these warnings?

[Cleo]

I received a new battery for my 17" Macbook Pro today. It was half the price of the one that Apple sells but doesn't have the Steve Jobs perfect fit, had to push it in really hard and the seams aren't perfect, but other than that it seems to be an exact replacement.

What I find really odd though is the instructions warn me not to hammer a nail into the battery or hit a hammer on the battery.

I guess I'll know how good a replacement this battery was after I find out how many hours my laptop goes on a charge. The factory one gave me a bit over four hours when it was new and the reviews say this one gives about the same.

I'll just have to resist the urge to hammer nails into it.

[cd34]

http://twitter.com/#!/startupfoundry...78487574556672

Saw this tweet the other day. OEM battery.

[Cleo]

I've seen other reports of exploding Apple batteries but I've also seen reports of non Apple batteries exploding.

Christy's Macbook has had two batteries expand to the point of needing to be replaced. Apple replaced the first one for free but blamed Christy for the second one saying it was due to her leaving it plugged in all the time.

The battery on my 17" Macbook Pro stopped holding a charge a last month and the battery on my 15" Macbook Pro has been dead for about a year but I'm too cheap to replace it so just leave it plugged in all the time.

We now have iCal reminding us to drain the batteries once a month hoping that will help.

It's been a bad year for batteries for us. So far this year I've replaced the one in my Vette, the UPS, both our laptops and our Coleman beach float inflater just a few days ago.

Not really thrilled that Apple has made the battery in their new laptops non user replaceable.

[cd34]

The battery in my macbook bulged just enough that the trackpad wasn't working right - they replaced it out of warranty free. I honestly was getting really irritated thinking it was the trackpad or keyboard tray and was dreading the replacement cost.

So far, Apple has been more than fair with taking care of things even when out of warranty, so, I've not had a problem. I was prepared to buy a battery that day, was pleased when they said they were covering it.

If the battery has < 600 charges (you can see that in the system panel), they typically will replace it even if out of warranty according to the guy that fixed mine.

[Cleo]

That was the case with the first battery for Christy's but on the second battery it showed only 6 cycles in a bit over a year so that is why they said it was due to leaving it plugged in all the time. Can't complain though as they did replace the first battery for free out of warranty.

I've also replaced the batteries in both my iPods. Not that hard to do but I did put a couple of tiny nicks in the cases trying to get them open and the battery is soldered in on the Nano. Now that I have an iPhone the only thing I still use them for is to leave them plugged into my car's stereo which is a good thing since the battery in the Classic has gone bad again.

[Bill]

cmon, hammer it, just to see what happens.

you may discover the new mentos and soda phenom.

[Cleo]

I've always wondered what would happen if I put one in the microwave.

Hmmm... I do have the old battery and a slight dislike for the 7/11 up the street.

[terry]

hmm thats a tough decision.. hammer it or nuke it. I say we take it to a vote!!!

[SheepGuy]

You'd probably just screw up the microwave, but at 7 11 that wouldn't affect the foods taste.
Still, I vote for the hammer and nail experiment, it would look better on youtube.

[GigglesWorld]

I'm sure someone has tried to nail the battery to their laptop at some point, so I'm not surprised they have such a warning.