Battery life of 2009 MBP 15" vs 2008 Unibody 15"

[InfoTime]

How much better is the battery life in the newest (2009) MBP 15"? The specs say that the non-user-replaceable battery is rated for 7 hours. I'm trying to decide between the newest 15" MBP and the previous generation.

My current laptop, a Dell Vostro 1500, gives me about 2.5 hours which is usually sufficient most days. But, I do need to carry the AC adapter and have to occasionally plug it in to make it through my day.

The 7 hours sounds great. But, is it *that* much better than the prior model? What's it rated at - 5 hours? Any real world results?

 

[Hannify]

the 7 hour rating is pretty much a joke. It's possible to achieve that battery life only with very limited use of the machine, such as simply editing something in text edit with your screen brightness turned all the way down.

I get maybe 3.5-4 hours under normal usage though, which is nothing to scoff at. Keep in mind my machine has a 7200 RPM HDD and the 3.06 processor, which both conspire to drain more power than usual. I never used the 2008 model so I can't comment on the difference there, but interestingly, I've managed to squeeze six hours out of the 2009 17" with similar specs, which is a difference of two hours compared to the 15", even though apple lists the difference between the two models at only one hour. Never trust Apple's battery ratings.

EDIT: Normal usage for me is screen brightness on max, itunes running in the background, and some moderately CPU taxing apps on top. Your results will of course depend on how you use your machine!

 

[tozfeekum]

It's much better, i just upgraded from the unibody 2008 to the newest unibody and the battery life is worth the upgrade alone.

 

[spgiva]

Well I have never used the 2009 UMBP but I have a 2008 UMBP (2.53ghz, 350GB 5400 HD).
I can often get 3-4 hrs of life out of my battery with WiFi on, using the 9400 graphics card, surfing, e-mailing and "standard" work load (ie, MS word etc, but no video/Photo work).

With WiFi off I can watch about 3 hrs of DVD's before the battery dies on me.

I will say I seem to have a miracle battery in this machine
Coconut battery specs:
Has my max capacity at 4821 mAH (the supposed max is 4600)
Battery load cycles: 126
Age: 11 months

Good luck