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Salvation is at hand. Just buy an external battery. Skim down that page until you get to the bigger models - 200Wh battery + the internal battery on a standard laptop should give you about 5x the battery life. Of course you have to lug around another box, which is why I never bought one. And I can't begin to imagine the conversation with airport security.....

You mean something like this - http://www.amazon.com/RichardSolo-1800-iPhone-External-battery/dp/B001LNDXEK [amazon.com] Or these - http://www.batterygeek.net/External-Cell-Phone-Battery-Packs-s/77.htm [batterygeek.net]

Good links thank you for providing them, closer to the second link, about the same dimensions of the the SPPS200 and PPS130 (about the size of a small laptop or netbook), except it was white like a cutting board. With the one I saw, the intention was to have the PC rest on top of the battery in your lap, I assume there was a toggle electric cord going from the back of the battery to the back of the computer. My only concern was potential heat and about that same time I started paying attention to the lap cooling fans. The battery was advertised to get either 12, 14 or 16 hours of DVD player running type of usage out of a laptop. The guy who reviewed it used the battery, playing DVDs on his laptop all the way to Asia on an airlines flight. Sounded great to me. Then all of a sudden I stopped seeing them anywhere.

Do not know if it was because of their price, they were not cheap (my guess) or if there were problems with them. I am thinking they were too expensive for all but the most well off power usage, thus their demise.

You would think that a series of universal external battery packs, different sizes for different devices and varying lengths of battery times, with universal plugs for all the current hand held devices regardless of manufacturer or operating system would be perfect and well worth the money to all.

On that first link, the RichardSolo 1200 for iPhone / iPod ! External battery pack is the idea, see how the white box, I assume the battery, fits under the device, same foot print. Oh ignore the projector looking part of the image, what is that infra-red, blue-tooth-like battery beaming, too funny. I sure hope that battery pack has a cord in the back the flips up and plugs into the device as keeping the device and the battery pack lined up would be a pain.

You mean something like this - http://www.amazon.com/RichardSolo-1800-iPhone-External-battery/dp/B001LNDXEK

Or these -

http://www.batterygeek.net/External-Cell-Phone-Battery-Packs-s/77.htm

if someone comes out with a spare-battery-attached-to-a-magsafe-connector for those die-hards who absolutely *need* it, angels may sing in the treetops.

You mean like this, this, or this?

No endorsements from me here, mind you - just wanted to point out that there are indeed such products for sale. I, however, neither own a MacBook nor have ever had any desire for a second battery on my PowerBook.

If someone comes out with a spare-battery-attached-to-a-magsafe-connector for those die-hards who absolutely *need* it, angels may sing in the treetops

This is exactly why I don't understand the fuss over non-removable batteries. You get better battery life, and if you need extra power you've always been able to buy external battery packs. They have cable that attach to the Magsafe connector. You can get them in a range of sizes, including sizes that are not much larger than a spare battery would have been anyway...

Similarly there are tons of external packs for smaller devices like the iPhone/iPod (or anything usb charged).

I also have not often found the need for an second battery in a laptop if I can get at least three to four hours out of it. Basically the only time is an international flight, and for that the external batteries are perfect. Heck, until it broke the Solio solar powered recharger I had could even recharge itself in-flight as long as I was at a window!!

No more useful than one of these (and probably less so since the batteries for this thing are unlikely to hold 130WH).

As the other posters said, I wouldn't be away for more than a couple of days without some power source - an a/c cable, a 12v cable, a USB cable, a solar panel... I don't know what you're mode of operation is, but you might consider one of these batteries instead of lots of small batteries.

But hey, it sounds like you really prefer replacing batteries. Nothing wrong with that. My original point was that I don't think that's a common concern.

You mean like those?

There were some others I saw back on either Fresh Gear or Screen Savers, but I can't remember the name for the life of me. Google isn't any help because I can't remember the name. "high capacity batteries" just brings up a ton of sites with laptop batteries.. :(

The others I was thinking of could let you go up to 12 hours on their batteries, but they were considerably more expensive than the batterygeek batteries...