Arrandale Battery

[mpsruo]

Hello,

My arrandale mbp battery is running very well, what seems to be off is the % / time remaining. For example, when it was at 100% battery it said "4 hours remaining". I've been using it for about 4 hours and I'm now down to 40%. Now, at 40%, it says 1.5 hours left but I really doubt that's accurate.

How can I calibrate? Since I got this mbp, I have not let battery reach 0. Should I do that?

 

[MrCheeto]

Calibrating the battery is the first thing you should do with ANY computer.

Charge the computer fully.

Use the computer until it shuts off/sleeps from low battery.

Let the computer sleep for, say, an hour.

Plug in the computer and let it charge while you do whatever.


Also, be sure not to leave it plugged in all the time. Unplug it at least ONCE a month, this ensures that the computer can measure the battery appropriately as it ages and loses or GAINS capacity.

 

[Candoodle]

I have the exact same thing with my new MacBook pro 13". When I check with CoconutBattery it says my battery is 47% full, but my remaining time says "1 hour". However, I've noticed that the remaining time gets higher the longer you leave your mouse on the battery icon.

I've not "calibrated" my battery as described in the post above, but I will do so today. I hope I'll get a more accurate remaining time, because I got a little scared at first. 10 hour battery claim and after 1 hour of regular use only 1 hour left? That can't be right...

 

[miles01110]

Both of you who are wondering why the "time remaining" seems so innaccurate probably don't have problems with your batteries, and probably don't even need to calibrate it.

Time remaining is calculated based on current usage, thus when Candoodle leaves the cursor hovering over the icon the machine is basically "idle", which is reflected with an increase in time remaining as the machine isn't doing anything. If you do something that requires more power, like watching a movie, you'll see the Time remaining decrease and then increase again once you stop watching it.

 

[Candoodle]

Both of you who are wondering why the "time remaining" seems so innaccurate probably don't have problems with your batteries, and probably don't even need to calibrate it.

Time remaining is calculated based on current usage, thus when Candoodle leaves the cursor hovering over the icon the machine is basically "idle", which is reflected with an increase in time remaining as the machine isn't doing anything. If you do something that requires more power, like watching a movie, you'll see the Time remaining decrease and then increase again once you stop watching it.

But, 2 hours of battery when browsing the web at 60% brightness and HD spinning at around 3000rpm can't be right.

My 4 year old Asus laptop can get 1,5h of battery with brightness full on and doing the exact same thing. And that one had a 7,200rpm HD and an official battery capacity of 3h.

 

[miles01110]

But, 2 hours of battery when browsing the web at 60% brightness and HD spinning at around 3000rpm can't be right.

I bet if you let it run you'd get more than 2 hours.