MacMedic Holiday Hours

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:25:53 +1100

MacMedic will be open until 11am on the 31st of December 2009
We will re-open at 9am on Monday the 4th of January for all mac repairs and in warranty iPod repairs. Out of warranty iPod repair will open on Tuesday the 5th of January.

MacMedic wishes all of our clients a safe New Years Eve and safe 2010.

Regards

Adrian Franulovich
Manager of Operations

Photo copyright 2005, Psydarian

Closed on Friday 11th December 2009 from 1PM

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:37:02 +1100

MacMedic will be closed from 1PM This Friday the 11th of December for Staff Training. Please be advised we are open as per normal on Saturday the 12th from 10am to 2pm.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused but we expect no delay in service times due to extended technicians hours over the December period.

Thank you

Adrian Franulovich
Manager of Operations

Unscheduled Store Renovations and Repairs

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 21:42:16 +1100

Due to unexpected flood damage caused by a burst pipe above our store 3 weeks ago, the ceiling in our showroom and primary service workroom is being replaced between the 2nd and 4th of November.

We have temporarily relocated our team into an adjoining office and expect only minor delays during this repair work..

Please be advised that only some repairs may be delayed during this time. We expect the delay to service to be limited to PowerMac and Mac Pro products only, and the delay is expected to be an additional day compared to our normal 1-3 day turn around due to limited resources. Out of warranty iPod repairs will be delayed for up to 3 days during these works. Please advise if your job is urgent.

MacMedic thanks all our customers and staff for their patience and support during this time.

If you have any concerns during this period please speak with your technician to obtain a specific or updated ETA.

The quality of repairs will be at our normal high standards due to the recent establishment of a secondary workshop that was totally unaffected by the water damage at the Mosman site.

Regards

Adrian Franulovich
Manager of Operations

Taking care of your iPod battery hints and tips

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:29:58 +1100

Your iPod battery is a very advanced piece of chemical engineering.

Following some simple tips, you should be able to help extend the life of your battery.

• Calibrate your battery!
Your iPod has a very smart battery indicator that changes over time with your ageing battery. If you constantly use your battery for an hour, charge your iPod, use it for an hour, and charge it, etc etc, your iPod battery indicator will think your iPod battery only lasts an hour and will reflect that. To calibrate your battery you should charge your battery full, run your iPod completely flat (until it turns off) and charge it again once every 30 days. Doing this will ensure your battery indicator is more reliable (and remember it takes up to 15 minutes for your battery indicator to update on the screen)

• Never leave your iPod uncharged for long periods of time
If you aren’t going to use your iPod for an extended period, charge the battery to 50%. The shelf life before full depletion (and damage can start occurring) is around 3-6 months.

• Do you leave your iPod constantly connected to a Docking station with charger?
Your battery needs exercise. Be sure to let the battery run flat and recharge it at least once every 30 days to exercise the battery cells to ensure they don’t get lazy

• Do not leave your iPod in your car. The extreme temperatures that form in cars (especially in Australia) even during the winter months can damage not only the battery but the whole iPod.

• iPod’s don’t like getting wet. If you take your iPod to the beach, keep it in a shady place away from the water. If you keep your iPod in a handbag or bag with a water bottle, keep the iPod in a plastic pouch to avoid accidents. And be very careful to remove your iPod from your pocket before they go through the wash.

• Don’t use or store your iPod in extreme temperatures. The optimum condition for modern batteries during use is 22 degrees C.

• Turn off unused features like backlighting and EQ. Additionally if you have long tracks (10 minutes or more) or have the shuffle feature turned on, your battery will run down faster. Skipping tracks, viewing video and photos will also reduce your battery playback time. Update relevant playlists from iTunes and avoid skipping songs to increase battery life (on hard disk based iPods)

• iPods from factory had the following battery life estimations (based on standard use at full charge).
Original iPod - Up to 8 Hours continuos playback
iPod Touchwheel - Up to 8 Hours continuos playback
iPod 3G - Up to 8 Hours continuos playback
iPod Mini - Up to 8 Hours continuos playback
iPod 4G (Clickwheel) - Up to 12 Hours continuos playback
iPod Mini (2G) - Up to 18 Hours continuos playback (2nd generation iPod mini has the HD size engraved on the rear)
iPod Photo (Clickwheel) - Up to 15 Hours continuos playback
iPod Shuffle - Up to 12 Hours
iPod Nano - Up to 14 hours music, or 4 hours of photo and music
iPod Nano 2G - Up to 24 hours music or 5 hours photo and music
iPod Video (5G) 30GB - Up to 14 hours music, 3 hours photo and music, 2 hours video.
iPod Video (5G) 60GB - Up to 20 hours music, 4 hours photo and music, 3 hours video.
iPod Video (5.5G) 30GB - Up to 14 hours music, 4 hours photo and music, 3.5 hours video
iPod Video (5.5G) 80GB - Up to 20 hours music, 6 hours photo and music, 6.5 hours video
iPod Classic 120GB - Up to 36 Hours audio and 6 hours video

As all iPod models use a Li-Ion battery, the charge cycles before the battery will be spent is 250-350
A charge cycle is generally defined as the use of a fully charged battery to 0% and charging it back to 100%. ie. If you use 30% of your battery and recharge it, that is .3 of a charge cycle.

Over time the battery life will shorten as the charge cycles increase. If you are getting significantly reduced playback time, MacMedic can replace your battery.

• iPod Batteries are not user replaceable. All batteries contain chemicals. Having your battery replaced by a professional service like MacMedic will prevent some of the following
Damage to the plastic and chrome iPod casing
Damage to iPod (leading to failed unit)
Poor quality battery installation (low playback time)
Warranty on replacement battery or unit

If you are having difficulties with your iPod battery and you have tried calibrating the battery, and verified a poor playback based on the above, you can bring it into MacMedic, and receive a free quote for repair or replacement. You can also book in online and post to us via our online book in page here.

Taking care of your MacBook battery

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:13:25 +1100

Your MacBook or MacBook Pro battery is a very advanced piece of chemical engineering.

Following some simple tips, you should be able to help extend the life of your battery.

• Never leave your battery in the computer uncharged for long periods of time
If you aren’t going to use your computer for an extended period, charge the battery to 50% and take it out of your computer. The shelf life before full depletion is around 3-6 months.

• Do you leave your computer connected to the power constantly?
Your battery needs exercise. If you are using your laptop like a desktop computer, be sure to let the battery run flat and recharge it at least once every 30 days to exercise the battery cells to ensure they don’t get lazy

• Do not drop, dent, incinerate or get a battery wet. Especially with newer chemistry batteries made in the last 5 years, dropping or denting the units may cause them irreversible damage. Incinerating or wetting a battery may pose a fire or explosion risk.

• Don’t use or store your battery in extreme temperatures. The optimum condition for modern batteries during use is 22 degrees C.

• Turn off unused features like bluetooth or airport - These accessories will reduce the battery run time (they won’t affect the battery)

• Most Apple batteries made before 2009 (and nearly all other rechargeable batteries) have a life span.
NiCD Batteries - 700 to 1000 Charge cycles
NiMH Batteries - 200 to 300 Charge Cycles
Li-Ion Batteries - Approx 300 Charge Cycles
Modern Li-Polymer batteries - Up to 1000 Cycles

A charge cycle is generally defined as the use of a fully charged battery to 0% and charging it back to 100%. ie. If you use 30% of your battery and recharge it, that is .3 of a charge cycle.

Over time the battery life will shorten as the charge cycles increase. You can check your charge cycles by
* Click Apple menu
* Choose about this mac
* Click “More Info”
* Choose “Power”
* Charge cycles will be listed in OS 10.4 or higher

• Always recycle your battery. All batteries contain chemicals or in some cases (like NiCd batteries) dangerous metals and chemicals. Speak with your local council in regards to local waste and recycling centres. Never dispose of any battery into your general garbage. It poses a toxic risk and danger to both the garbage collectors and the environment.

If you are having difficulties with your MacBook or MacBook Pro battery, you can bring it into MacMedic (preferably with your machine) we can run some diagnostics over the battery to check its health. Based on these accurate reports, you can then determine whether its time for a new battery or not.