>For anyone interested in monitoring battery performance, >Battery Amnesia is better that BR for precisely the reasons Bob F >cites: More information and functionality on early Duo models. > >While it may not be earth-shaking software, BA is good and does >what it promises on a variety of legacy machines. I think Jeremy >Kezer has rendered a great service to the Mac / Duo community >and I personally have supported his efforts by using and registering >Battery Amnesia and MyBattery. > >I am not knocking BR, but for someone interested in how Duos work >and particularly in understanding Duo batteries and performance >parameters, BA is a nice piece of software.
Indeed, I never meant to actually knock Battery Amnesia, nor Kezer's other software - just to correct the comparison. The process of running down the battery isn't exactly rocket science so simple is the right thing for the software to be (the real downside of BR is precisely that it's more complicated, so you have to get the right version to match the Power Manager code that's been loaded, and sometimes it still flakes out). The Power Manager is actually pretty much of a mess, so for BA to avoid it provides a measure of compatibility. The jury has never weighed in on whether periodic discharge even helps NiMH batteries (some swear by it, others - like me - notice no change, and much NiMH product literature says it shouldn't be necessary), so the difference between how far BR and BA can go is unlikely to matter that much, unless perhaps reviving a seemingly dead battery (in which case I would recommend trying to get BR to work if the Duo model supports it). MyBattery in particular has some real meat to it, providing a sort of system log and an alternate method of calculating time remaining on a battery that some people might prefer (not an unimportant statistic when trying to do actual work!). Not to mention time for multiple batteries, which I don't think the Power Manager method has ever supported despite the inclusion of serial numbers in each battery (swapping between two batteries with different capacities always seemed to throw the time-remaining display off - MyBattery's time database is battery-specific so that doesn't happen). Threshold is another neat and potentially useful utility that provides an interface to an existing Power Manager setting (it might be particularly handy for people using rebuilt batteries that exceed their original specs). And Kezer's control strip module for energy saver settings similarly offered a way to automatically set processor cycling on or off depending on whether AC or battery power was used, back when Apple's control panel wouldn't let you do that (it does in the later OS 8-9 versions). ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Need help from a real person? Try. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------- Dr. Bott | 10/100 Ethernet for your 2400 is finally here! MPC-100 | <http://www.drbott.com/prod/mpc100.html> RoadTools $30 PodiumPad available at Apple retail stores, $20 Traveler CoolPad at Staples. Both in white for iBooks at <http://roadtools.com> Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com> After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][ MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only $879! Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
