Go2Mac reader Heeday sends us this note:
ZDNet MacWIRE has a 26-part feature on the Mercury, which includes a picture of the backup battery (which is indeed 616-0114-A). The backup battery on the PowerBook G4 that caught my attention. The “barashi” (disassemble PowerBooks) images at MacWIRE are beyond imagination 😉
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0103/16/0056L.jpg
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0103/16/r_g4barashil0.html (in Japanese)They have also weighed comparable parts against those in a Pismo:
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0102/10/p_13.jpg (in Japanese)
Out of the 404 gram diet, it is interesting to note that the largest contribution comes from the logic board (-160g), followed by the battery (-78g) and LCD (-72g). Ti does seem to be more of a fashion statement here.
Regarding the case flex/power outage issue, some have noted that the production location of the main battery may be relevant, where batteries made in Japan seem to be less troublesome.
My 400MHz model was born on Feb. 28, came with a Made in Japan battery & black support strip, has none of the reported issues (knock on wood – I did “calibrate” the battery) and runs cooler (according to Gauge PRO) and wakes faster than my venerable 250MHz Wall Street.
My Wall Street got jealous and acted up (not waking completely from sleep – 2 power mgr resets fixed that) when the Merc arrived, but I haven’t had time to set up the Mercury completely, so the gargantuan Wall Street gets to join me on my daily commute. Yeah, I need a nice bag or a convenient way to protect the Merc from rib-crushing forces on the train before she gets the ride!
