Finally, some sensible advice on prolonging batteries! I know that batteries will lose their ability to hold a charge no matter what, but that doesn’t mean you can take steps to make it last for a few extra charge cycles.
Slate’s Farhad Manjoo recently interviewed Isidor Buchmann, the CEO of battery-testing equipment manufacturer Cadex Electronics, about characteristics of contemporary gadget batteries and how to use them to your advantage. Note that the tips below only apply to Lithium-Ion batteries, the most popular type used in gadget today:
Keep Your Batteries Away From Heat. Heat lessens a battery’s lifespan, and unfortunately many gadgets …read more

Savvy laptop owners learned a long time ago that manufacture claims on laptop battery lives were essentially best-case scenarios. An XPS M1330 for instance never reaches the promised 3 hours—even with all connectivity off and the screen dimmed to minimum.
But why, you ask? Here’s Daniel Lyons’s theory
These battery-life numbers are based on a benchmark test called MobileMark 2007 (MM07). The test was created by a consortium called BAPCo (Business Application Performance Corp.), whose members are—you guessed it—computer makers and other tech companies.

So Apple recently came out with an announcement about replacing the battery of its newest 17″ MacBook Pro:
How much does battery replacement cost?
Battery replacement prices are based on your region:

Region
Cost

United States
$179 pre taxes

Canada
CA$219 pre taxes

Europe
€179 inc. VAT

United Kingdom
£139 inc. VAT

Japan
¥19,800 inc. taxes

Australia
A$299 inc. vat

China
1498 RMB inc. vat