iBook battery lasts less then an hour!

[elliotay]

So I've had my dual usb iBook 500 mHz and the battery now lasts me well under an hour while only running one or two programs such as word and internet explorer. What's the deal? Why would my battery do this? Is it fixable without having to go and buy another battery?

[elliotay]

I just tested it while trying to run a dvd.....the battery lasted 20 MINUTES!!! Then it was COMPLETELY dead. No warning that the battery was running low. It just died. Please help.

[RBMaraman]

It may be a problem with your power adaptor. My friend had a similar problem. He thought it was the battery, but it turned out to be a bad power adaptor. I have the circle adaptor, and I've had no problems with it, but my friend has already gone through 4 dead square adaptors.

[ShaolinMiddleFinger]

call up apple, explain it to them, they should have a solution or possibly a new battery/adaptor for you.

[buffsldr]

right or wrong, i think you just have to factor in a new battery every year or so as the cost of having a laptop

[firewire2001]

Originally posted by elliotay
So I've had my dual usb iBook 500 mHz and the battery now lasts me well under an hour while only running one or two programs such as word and internet explorer. What's the deal? Why would my battery do this? Is it fixable without having to go and buy another battery?

something that isnt very well known that you are probably experiencing is that your battery needs to be "calibrated".. so to speak..

try draining the battery completely - till the laptop will sleep and not work at all, then recharge it completely..

also, it is important that the time left indicator is often very innacurate especially when launching programs and after starting up..

if your problem still contiunues, of course call apple. i do not, however, think that your power supply is to blame.

[ftaok]

Originally posted by firewire2001

something that isnt very well known that you are probably experiencing is that your battery needs to be "calibrated".. so to speak..

try draining the battery completely - till the laptop will sleep and not work at all, then recharge it completely..

I beg to differ. The kinds of batteries that Apple uses these days don't need to be fully drained (in fact, fully draining the battery damages it) and calibrated. If the battery was meant to be calibrated, don't you think Apple would put that procedure in the manual?

Anyways, this only applies to the Dual USB 500mhz iBook because that's the one I own. The manual says nothing about battery calibration. In fact, it specifically states that you should never fully drain the battery.

I can't speak with certainty about other iBooks and TiBooks, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that calibration is not mentioned either.

The original poster probably has a shot battery or it's not taking a full charge.

[saint]

I only get 1hr from my iBook 500 too. Does Apple really give you a new battery if it's still under warranty and doesn't last long?

[LimeiBook86]

Well I have a Key Lime iBook 466mhz Firewire DVD SE, I find the battery to last not as long as it used to but thats because I use it everyday, but I also charge it everynight. I'm gonna get a new battery soon before you can't find them anymore. Thats a wierd problem with the 500 TiBooks, I'd say call Apple, they would know what to do;) :D good luck! :cool:

[ArtMan617]

LimeiBook, I've got the same model iBook and I've run into the same issues...but know I just keep my iBook at my desk plugged in most of the time anyway due to some screwy Airport stuff...

-ArtMan617

[buffsldr]

Originally posted by saint
I only get 1hr from my iBook 500 too. Does Apple really give you a new battery if it's still under warranty and doesn't last long?

if they claim in their labeling that the batter will perform longer than "X" hours for "Y" months, then yes, it is covered under the warranty. Otherwise, I would say, no.

[LimeiBook86]

Originally posted by ArtMan617
LimeiBook, I've got the same model iBook and I've run into the same issues...but know I just keep my iBook at my desk plugged in most of the time anyway due to some screwy Airport stuff...

-ArtMan617
Are you saying the AirPort card takes away battery power or messes up the battery? Thats not good... I was thinking of getting an Airport (yeah and i have the money NOT! :rolleyes: ) Did you say anything to Apple about it?

[ArtMan617]

Are you saying the AirPort card takes away battery power or messes up the battery?
No, the Airport stuff is entirely unrelated to the battery...I've just run into some problems with my computer recognizing the base station...I think I just need to tweek some settings, though. And for the record, I have an older graphite base station and even with those, I haven't heard of many problems, so feel free to Aiport away!

-ArtMan617

[alex_ant]

Originally posted by ftaok
I beg to differ. The kinds of batteries that Apple uses these days don't need to be fully drained (in fact, fully draining the battery damages it) and calibrated. If the battery was meant to be calibrated, don't you think Apple would put that procedure in the manual?
They do actually put an insert into the PowerBook boxes that tells you to completely charge, completely drain, and then completely charge the battery again when you first use it. I did that and I regularly enjoy 4 1/2 hours of battery life while word processing nearly a year later. The iBook and the TiBook use the same battery types, although with different watt-hour ratings.

[Bradcoe]

OS X drains batteries like a mother! I have an iBook 500 Dual USB and when I got it, X wasn't out. I used 9 and got 3.5-4.5 hours all the time. With OS X, I get about 2.2 hours....when I play a DVD off of batteries I usually don't get to watch the whole thing. In OS 9 I could watch ALMOST two DVDs off of 1 battery. It's simply due to X's hard disk thrashing and Apple knows this. We're now in the same boat as Windows users when it comes to laptop battery time. Thankfully we have apple behind the software/hardware and ibm (in the case of our ibooks) behind the cpu. Both work very hard at low powerconsumption. It'll get better with new software updates. Energy saver preference panel even has some good battery saving techniques in it, but they'll get better.

It's the OS. Not your battery.

[rainman::|:|]

First-time preparation aside, today's batteries do NOT suffer from the "battery memory" effect that was such a problem with early portables. My powerbook 180 had to be drained and recharged once every two weeks or so if you didn't want the battery crapping out eventually.

No doubt there's threads about this on Apple's knowledge base forums... check 'em out... and see what apple's own techs say. i bet it concurs with us.

:)
pnw