Battery life on ibook?

[nikeballa09]

Hi, I am unsure if i should buy the new 12 in ibook when tiger comes out. i am a college student and currently use my centrino based toshiba laptop to take notes in my classes. the battery lasts me through all of my classes and thats about 4 hours to 4 hours 30 mins. i would like to know whether i can get that kinda life out of the battery from the ibook. i have a 15 inch screen, and in some classes i fun wifi but not all. also what is a good app for taking notes on a Mac. thanks for the replies

[mkrishnan]

Hi, I am unsure if i should buy the new 12 in ibook when tiger comes out. i am a college student and currently use my centrino based toshiba laptop to take notes in my classes. the battery lasts me through all of my classes and thats about 4 hours to 4 hours 30 mins. i would like to know whether i can get that kinda life out of the battery from the ibook. i have a 15 inch screen, and in some classes i fun wifi but not all. also what is a good app for taking notes on a Mac. thanks for the replies

WRT battery life, it really depends...a lot of people routinely get that much or more. Do you mean that you have the computer actively on and in use for 4:30 continuously, without it ever sleeping, or does this include changing classrooms, etc? You'll get longer life on just about anything using it in class, because, I'm guessing, you aren't exactly hitting the CPU hard with constant interaction, or running Photoshop algorithms during class.... :) My experience with the iBook G4 12" is 3:30-4:30 very realistic, with the lower end being screen bright, airport and BT on, and the higher end being dimmed screen, airport and BT off, single application running, so on, like writing. When I was novel writing, I routinely got low four hours of active typing (using XCharge to measure -- not the wall clock, since it also slept some during the time).

A lot of people experience 5+ routinely with the same iBook series, though. I think it depends a lot on your usage style....

For note taking, Word 2004 actually has a pretty nice notebook feature designed specifically for this purpose. It gives the document tabs (kinda like Excel), and it has nice built-in audio note-taking, and a few other niceties. II haven't played with it that much, but a lot of reviews really praised this feature (which isn't in Word.X...I'm not even sure whether or not it's in Word 2003)....Anyway, Word is one option.

[nikeballa09]

thanks for the reply. my computer goes into hibernate while inbetween classes. but that for 10 mins at a time. while in classes i dont fun anything cpu intensive, mostly word or one note to take notes, and maybe aim and ie to chat online and check mail and stuff like that. i have my monitor illumination turned down so i get better battery life. i really want to switch, but i just want to make sure that the battery in the ibook will last as long if not longer then the battery in my toshiba. i do not like taking notes on paper anymore cause i cant read my writing so i realy like using a laptop.

[ChrisFromCanada]

I get 4 - 6 hours

4 when brightness is up, Airport Extreme (WiFi) is on, processor is set to high performance

6 When brightness is low, Airport Extreme (WiFi) is off, processor is set to reduced performance

EDIT: You can also get another battery anyway so I wouldn't really worry too much about it.

[leekohler]

I usually get 4-6 hours as well.

[nikeballa09]

the thing is that i dont want to have to carry around 2 batteries or the ac adapter. i want the battery to last me as long as my toshiba for what i do. its not much in classes while taking notes so it shouldnt be a problem.

[mkrishnan]

my computer goes into hibernate while inbetween classes. but that for 10 mins at a time.

The reason I asked about this is that sometimes people are loose about counting battery life on their laptop...if you had meant that, say, you have three classes that run from noon till 4:30, but the time spent with the computer on is only four hours, then I'd say an iBook would almost certainly make it regardless of your usage style.

From reading a lot of threads on iBook battery life here, it sounds to me like 4-4.5 hours is sort of the median experience, with at least as many people like Chris who get much more, as there are people like me who never seem to get that....part of it is roll of the dice with the battery you get, and part of it is definitely usage style. I've never tried to turn auto sleeping off and max brightness/CPU and see how long it'd last if my iBook just sat on the table, but I'm guessing it would be longer than I get on reduced settings *using* it....

It's easier to get a lot of data on the iBook, because there are relatively more people who have them than any one model windows laptop (since there are so many different win laptops), but if you get above average battery life on your Toshiba, you are likely to get the same on an iBook (and it's rated for >5 hours). If you get below average on the Toshiba, ditto on the iBook, because your usage style is not so likely to change from computer to computer.

[el_grapadora]

As everyone else said, it depends on what you're doing. When I was in school with my current iBook (14"), I'd get about 6-7 (not kidding) without wireless on relatively low backlight and 4.5-5.5 with wireless (and Safari/Mail/MSNM along with it). Most of what I was doing was writing up papers and doing research work...so we're talking the Word/Excel/Safari work you'll probably do. I once managed to burn an entire VCD in 3 1/2 hours and had some extra time left. :)

I don't take notes on my laptop (I'm still hung up on taking paper-based notes, I guess...I'll wait for a MacOS tablet ;)), but I was able to work straight through with those battery times. I'd guess Word is your best bet, but I could be wrong.

The other caveat was that--and you 12" iBook guys can correct me on this--the 14" has a longer battery life simply by virtue of having a larger battery. A fellow Apple fan told me that when I bought this iBook.

[Mechcozmo]

It will make it. Turn your brightness down and make sure your processor is set to Automatic or Longest Battery Life. Airport Extreme and BT can impact your battery life a bit, but overall 5 hours is cakewalk for an iBook.

Linkety (http://www.apple.com/ibook/specs.html) to the spec page. Scroll down (all the way) and look at the battery life stats. They say 6 hours, which you can do, but don't sweat it if you get 5.5 hours.

I get 5 hours from my 12" PowerBook with 1 brightness bar, and no wireless stuffs with the processor to Longest Battery Life. I have no problems with it. :)

[DeSnousa]

When i take my iBook to classes from one room to the other i get 4hr to 5hr. With only word open, airport and bluetooth off and brightness on highest settings. I would highly reccomend the laptop, good performance in a compact package (you notice the size and wheight when you have 3 textboolks in your bag) at a very good price. The only cheap pc laptops i know off are large 15 inch ones.

I would also reccomend microsoft office for taking notes. There's a notebook layout which is very handy. Download a trail version to try it out.

[mkrishnan]

I would highly reccomend the laptop, good performance in a compact package (you notice the size and wheight when you have 3 textboolks in your bag) at a very good price. The only cheap pc laptops i know off are large 15 inch ones.

This is soooo true. Having a <5 pound laptop is a nice, nice thing, when you walk to class. :) And people are always commenting on how small (and of course, how cute) it is. :rolleyes: 12" and smaller laptops are a love-em-or-hate-em thing. For me, I wouldn't buy anything bigger if I can avoid it.

[twoodcc]

i'm in the exact same boat here....i carry my HP laptop to class to take notes using MS onenote. i would really like to switch to a mac (already got a mini and love it - just need more RAM). the main thing i needed to know was about which program to use for note taking.

also, about putting the ibook to sleep - is it totally off? does it use any power? i've noticed that the light is still on with my mini when it's asleep

[mkrishnan]

also, about putting the ibook to sleep - is it totally off? does it use any power? i've noticed that the light is still on with my mini when it's asleep

It is not totally off. I was curious about this too, so I used XCharge to answer that. On my iBook G4/800/640MB/AE/BT, it seems to use about 2-3% of battery charge per 10 hours of sleeping. So it does use power, but not too badly. Last week, I gave a presentation on Friday with a projector, off of battery, brought my laptop home, let it sit asleep over the weekend while I was out of town, and it was fine on Monday morning.

Most Mac users, at least in the MR crowd, don't bother with shutting down their computers, except for maintenance / upgrade reasons.

This number will be dependent on how much ram you have. If you compare to the Windows world, Mac sleep is analagous to Windows sleep, and not to Windows hibernate (which pretty much fully shuts the computer down, by saving ram / processor state to the hard drive).

[DeSnousa]

i'm in the exact same boat here....i carry my HP laptop to class to take notes using MS onenote. i would really like to switch to a mac (already got a mini and love it - just need more RAM). the main thing i needed to know was about which program to use for note taking.

Word is very good, in fact i find it better then the microsoft version. It has notebook layout which is good for notes. Here's the screen shot.

[nikeballa09]

i know the ibook comes with 256ram, i have an extra 256 in my toshiba. will i be ok with 512 ram in an ibook or should i leave the extra 256 in the toshiba and buy 512 extra for the ibook? thanks. will the extra ram kill mt battery faster?

[DeSnousa]

i know the ibook comes with 256ram, i have an extra 256 in my toshiba. will i be ok with 512 ram in an ibook or should i leave the extra 256 in the toshiba and buy 512 extra for the ibook? thanks. will the extra ram kill mt battery faster?

If price is not much of an issue go for the 512mb stick. Mac's love ram. But 512Mb should be fine.

[twoodcc]

thanks for the screenshot ds1. that helps alot.

now i just have to save up some money :o

[DeSnousa]

thanks for the screenshot ds1. that helps alot.

now i just have to save up some money :o

Your alright, yer office is expensive espicallay if you can't get the educational discount.

[john1123]

also, about putting the ibook to sleep - is it totally off? does it use any power? i've noticed that the light is still on with my mini when it's asleep

AFAIK, only the ram is powered during sleep.

[topicolo]

If price is not much of an issue go for the 512mb stick. Mac's love ram. But 512Mb should be fine. The iBook uses 1.25-inch (30 mm) SO-DIMM for memory expansion. The RAM chips must be 3.3 V, 66 MHz (15 ns). If your ram is this then it should be fine.

Uhhh... don't the newest ibooks use 266Mhz DDR ram? that's definitely not 15ns

[DeSnousa]

Uhhh... don't the newest ibooks use 266Mhz DDR ram? that's definitely not 15ns

yer sorry i checked the site again, my bag, sorry again.

[ldburroughs]

I know some will disagree with me on this because there are always exceptions. I switched from a Centrino based laptop to an iBook a few months ago. Overall it was a pretty comparable switch. The one thing I noticed is the reception was not as strong for the Airport Extreme as it was for the Centrino. My University offers wireless on campus ... pretty much everywhere except in the classrooms. You can usually get a decent signal depending on the room you are in but sometimes you get nothing. I guess they don't want us surfing while the prof is lecturing. What I noticed is my iBook will not get a strong enough signal to surf in rooms my Centrino was able to. I would periodically check my e-mail in class when the prof started going off topic and I can't do this with the iBook. I brough my Centrino to the same class to see if something had been blocked but it seemed to work just fine from the same spot. The Centrino's reception was just a bit stronger and it was enough to make a difference between nothing and something. It may be something to consider.

[Abstract]

Hey, if you really worry about battery life, don't get the 12" iBook. Get the 14" iBook. It'll get the battery life you want even at decent screen brightness. Not a problem at all. :)

Get a 12" iBook, and you may get 4.5 hours if you do everything right. Of course, Li-Ion batteries lose charge capacity with age and misuse, so that 4.5 hours may drop to 4 hours in 12 months or so. I don't know about you, but I'd get the 14" iBook in your case. I would always get the 12" iBook or Powerbook (which I own), but not if battery life was the main issue.

[mkrishnan]

What I noticed is my iBook will not get a strong enough signal to surf in rooms my Centrino was able to.

I have never had a Centrino laptop, but my experience is the same, vis-à-vis some other classmates' PC laptops. FWIW, several people have said the PB is slightly worse than the iBook, because of its metal casing.

[twoodcc]

Your alright, yer office is expensive espicallay if you can't get the educational discount.

i have the educational discount, but i gotta save up my money for either the ibook or the powerbook

[twoodcc]

AFAIK, only the ram is powered during sleep.

what does AFAIK mean?

so if the ram is powered during sleep, then you can't leave it asleep for that long then, right? like i could let it sleep between classes, but i'd have to shut down after my last class? i have a break between some classes (like one class ends at 11:50, and the next one begins at 1:30), so i'd either have to plug it up, or shutdown between those?

[nikeballa09]

im not worried about wifi signal strength, cause every classroom on campus has a wireless router so at least with my toshiba i always have excelent reception (full bars). i dont want the 14 inch i book cause i have a 15 inch pc laptop right now and its a bit too big, the desks in college are small so i need the small size of the 12 inch so i want to know if the battery on the 12 inch will last. thanks again

[deebster]

AFAIK = as far as I know

Sleep mode doesn't use much battery power at all. If you need 4 hours of use from your iBook throughout the day, then you should have no problem with the same amount of sleep time in addition. It might use perhaps 3% of your battery charge in those 4 sleeping hours, probably less.

Basically don't worry about it.

I have a 3 year old G3 (600) iBook and today was using Safari to read an html-formatted book on battery power. It was a large file, but with brightness on the 3rd notch up, Airport and BT off (well, I don't *have* them ;)) and reduced processor power my battery was still showing 4 hours remaining.

[CubaTBird]

i get 5 hours.. max bright.. auto proc perform.. and its almost a year old :D

[twoodcc]

AFAIK = as far as I know

Sleep mode doesn't use much battery power at all. If you need 4 hours of use from your iBook throughout the day, then you should have no problem with the same amount of sleep time in addition. It might use perhaps 3% of your battery charge in those 4 sleeping hours, probably less.

Basically don't worry about it.

I have a 3 year old G3 (600) iBook and today was using Safari to read an html-formatted book on battery power. It was a large file, but with brightness on the 3rd notch up, Airport and BT off (well, I don't *have* them ;)) and reduced processor power my battery was still showing 4 hours remaining.

thanks, that helps alot. next thing to do is decide on which to get :confused:

[mkrishnan]

so if the ram is powered during sleep, then you can't leave it asleep for that long then, right? like i could let it sleep between classes, but i'd have to shut down after my last class?

The numbers I posted above -- 2-3% of total battery life for every ten hours spent sleeping -- are with 640 MB of RAM. So I don't really think this is that big of an issue....

[twoodcc]

The numbers I posted above -- 2-3% of total battery life for every ten hours spent sleeping -- are with 640 MB of RAM. So I don't really think this is that big of an issue....

yeah, i don't think it's a big deal either. and when i get back to my dorm, i can just plug it up until the next class. just sometimes with my pc laptop now, i forget, and then i'm screwed :eek:

[nikeballa09]

would it be worth it for me to invest in a 12inch ibook, or should i just stick with my toshiba. if it is worth it, what are the main reasons. thanks

[twoodcc]

would it be worth it for me to invest in a 12inch ibook, or should i just stick with my toshiba. if it is worth it, what are the main reasons. thanks

i'm in the same boat as you. i bought an HP dv1048us laptop about 6 months ago. i love it, it's a great laptop and all, but no OSX. that's the main reason i want an apple laptop.

[Dagless]

I have never had a Centrino laptop, but my experience is the same, vis-à-vis some other classmates' PC laptops. FWIW, several people have said the PB is slightly worse than the iBook, because of its metal casing.

yea I have a PowerBook (802.11g) and a Gericom laptop (802.11b), the windows machine does get a better signal, but the wifi card is a PCMCIA card so it pokes out and isnt surrounded by aliminium. still i'm very happy with signal i get. i live in a big house, the wireless router has to pass through 6 walls/20 metres to hit me but i get a good signal (about 50%) still.

[Mechcozmo]

Word is very good, in fact i find it better then the microsoft version. It has notebook layout which is good for notes. Here's the screen shot.

Microsoft makes Word. You mean the Windows version, right? I agree there-- Microsoft Word for the Mac is better than Microsoft Word for Windows.

so if the ram is powered during sleep, then you can't leave it asleep for that long then, right? like i could let it sleep between classes, but i'd have to shut down after my last class? i have a break between some classes (like one class ends at 11:50, and the next one begins at 1:30), so i'd either have to plug it up, or shutdown between those?

You can leave your computer asleep for as long as you have battery power for. You could easily let your computer sleep between classes, and then after your last class let it sleep on the way home. My PowerBook averages a few days uptime-- some people here have laptops with 60 days uptime, just letting it sleep and charging it inbetween.

Essentially, the RAM contents are preserved in sleep mode. Everything else is off. Hard drive is spun down, display cards are off, and network cards too unless you check the option to keep them awake for Ethernet administrator wake-on-LAN stuffs. That can eat into sleep mode's longevity as it has to keep your network card alive and monitor it, too. Airport and Bluetooth are off, BTW. (Wake-over-LAN doesn't work with WiFi)

[18thTomorrow]

I can get about that much with a 14" ibook, more if i'm conservative.

[twoodcc]

well after trying out MS word for mac, i feel like MS Onenote for pc is better for note-taking than word for mac. (i only got to use it one time, so that's all i can base my decision on). so my question is, are there any other note-taking software for mac?

[XIII]

On the plane from LAX to LHR I used my 14" iBook for about 4 hours typing, 3 or so sleeping, and one iPhotoing :). Then, when I turned it on at home, I still had one and a half hours left.

Note, I had my screen on pretty much the lowest brightness to conserve battery life on the plane while I was typing (MS Word) as I didn't need any higher ( it was black outside, and everyone else was sleeping, I can't sleep on planes :) I just can't. ;)). The rest of the time it was on full brightness. Airport was obviously off all the time as I don't need it in the sky. :D

[nikeballa09]

will the 12 inch ibook get comparable battery life as the 14 inch. i hear the 14 gets better battery life, is that true, and if so how much more?