You sleep with how the on-line Apple Store has arefurbished section ? Did you know that thebrick - and - mortar storesdo as well ? I recently had the pleasure of buying an undetermined - boxwood iBook battery at a Bay Area Apple Store .

For the last several weeks , it seemed that my iBook battery had a life of its own . It would suddenly drop from 15 percentage to zero in a hour or two . And I started to wonder if the barrage itself was dying on me , permanently .

So I fired up the ol’Coconut Battery , a guileful piece of freeware that tells you how many times the bombardment has cycle through . ( Read the - reassessment in Dan Frakes ’ Mac Gems weblog . ) Sure enough , in the 13 months that I ’d owned my iBook , my battery had been charged 279 times , and had reduced its capacity down to 25 percentage of what it had been . That meant that my iBook was now only move for a little more than an minute on the battery , instead of the normal three to four hours .

What was I to do ? I could ramify over $ 129 for a new Apple assault and battery at any of the Bay Area Apple Stores . But that ’s a band of lolly to spend at once . Then I remembered the power of open - box product — stuff that ’s been returned to the storage in perfect working ordination within the 14 - Clarence Day return period of time . It ’s still cover under warranty , it just ca n’t be sold as newfangled . More important , such merchandise is normally trade at a greatly reduced monetary value .

overt - box detail are n’t advertize or exhibit . You just have to know to need for them , like the secret menu atIn - nitrogen - Out Burger .

When I called around to the nine Apple stores within a 50 mile r of my nursing home in Oakland , it was just my lot that only the depot furthest away , inSanta Clarahad what I wanted . That store had an open - box 14 - in iBook battery . Usual retail price ? $ 129 . Open - box price ? $ 69.95 .

I told the clerk to hold one for me and drive the40 - plus mile to Santa Clarawithout waver . And my iBook is back to running at full - power for considerably less than I would have had to spend for an unopened box .