Laptop Batteries, And Why The Portable Power Source Future May Be Something Other (Plus Mailbag)
by Charles W. Moore
The capacity to operate under battery power is both the raison d'etre and the Achilles' heel of portable computers. In theory, battery powered computing is wonderful. You can slip the surly bonds of cords and wires, and compute freely wherever you please, and with Airport even surf the Internet or network if you're in range of a base station.
In most aspects, Apple laptop technology has advanced by quantum leaps in the past ten years. In March, 1995, state of the art was the PowerBook 540c, with a 33 MHz 68LC040 processor, a whopping great 320 MB hard drive, maximum 36 MB of RAM, a 9" 640x480 LCD display, and a Nickel Metal Hydride "Intelligent" battery that would give you perhaps 2 - 2 1/2 hours of real-world running time — or double that with an optional second battery aboard.
Today,