11" i7 battery usage question

[supersalo]

Can anyone else with an 11" i7 tell me what their initial time remaining is right after they disconnect the AC Adapter (at 100%)?

Mine is running Safari only (no flash installed) and it says 4:29.
I'm barely doing anything so I would think it be higher (this battery has 11 cycles on it).

A bad battery perhaps?

And anytime I do anything disk related, it drops to under 3 hours immediately. Hmmm.

 

[xeonbot]

What brightness are you rocking?

Anyway, sounds normal. In our testing, battery life on the 11-inch i7 was a major concern. You might be happier with the 13-inch.

 

[ShiftClick]

Sorry didn't answer his question properly.

mine says 5 hours

 

[supersalo]

What brightness are you rocking?

Anyway, sounds normal. In our testing, battery life on the 11-inch i7 was a major concern. You might be happier with the 13-inch.

I'm at just under half-brightness.

 

[xeonbot]

Dial it back a couple of bars and see what difference that makes. But really, if three hours under load bothers you, you're never gonna be happy with the battery in the 11-inch.

We've tested every model and (as expected) the 13-inch i5 is the sweet spot.

Are you still within the 14-day exchange period?

 

[supersalo]

Dial it back a couple of bars and see what difference that makes. But really, if three hours under load bothers you, you're never gonna be happy with the battery in the 11-inch.

We've tested every model and (as expected) the 13-inch i5 is the sweet spot.

Are you still within the 14-day exchange period?

How many hours did the 13" i5 get under load?

 

[xeonbot]

Check out Anand's numbers here and here.

We've been much more relaxed since moving to the 13-inch. When using the 11-inch out in the field, it seemed we were constantly battling the battery to squeeze out enough juice to get our work done.

Don't know about you, but we'd rather focus on our work than fiddling with screen brightness and other battery-enhancing "voodoo".

 

[kilonet]

So basicly you get average 40 minutes more with 13"? That aint worth exchanging to big machine.

 

[xeonbot]

While Anand is very thorough in his testing, his battery numbers are a little controversial.

We're finding the 13-inch i5 getting closer to an hour extra battery life than the 11-inch i5 under load. The numbers are even better under normal use, which is what most normal users will be doing most of the time

If you love the 11-inch form factor, then go with it, by all means. But for those on the fence and concerned about battery life, there's no question the 13-inch is a superior machine.

Plus think of it this way: if you want to work on the 11-inch for an extended period, you'll probably end up bringing the charger with you, making it just as "bulky" as the 13-inch

 

[kilonet]

I think I would bring charger with me even if I had 13". Wouldnt risk it with possibly an hour more.