Buy this beefier battery for your 15-inch MacBook Pro, and keep the stock battery as a backup.

Anyone spooked by the online tales of exploding notebook batteries will be relieved to hear that according to FastMac, its TruePower Extended-Life Battery doesn't contain the cells that made those batteries blow up. What's more, the TruePower battery lasted 11 minutes longer than the 15-inch MacBook Pro's stock battery during a viewing of Lawrence of Arabia. DVD playback is probably the most power-hungry task your MacBook Pro can do, which means that under regular use, you'll get about 3.5 hours of life from the TruePower - just slightly more than you can eke out of a standard battery.

The TruePower's aluminum backplate (not a cheesy sticker, thank goodness) matches the MacBook Pro, and it also has similar LED indicators and an LED button. You can only tell the difference between the TruePower and a stock battery if you look at the part of the battery that faces inside the MacBook Pro.

The bottom line. If the extra charge life isn't quite enough, consider this: The TruePower battery is cheaper than an Apple replacement battery. Better battery life at a lower price? Sold.

COMPANY: FastMac
CONTACT: www.fastmac.com
PRICE: $99.95
REQUIREMENTS: 15-inch MacBook Pro
Larger charge life over stock battery. Cheaper than Apple replacement battery.
Greater battery-life gains would've been nice.