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phractured

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2009
5
0
I have a very bad habit of constantly leaving my mac charging. I like having it plugged into the power adapter when I am not using it. Unfortunately, just like all my ipods, my macbook's battery is less then optimal. My friend with the same macbook gets 5-6 hours of battery life. However, my computer gets 2 maybe 2 1/2. I am wondering what I can do about this? Thanks guys and gals!
 
How many cycles does your battery have? And what about its maximum capacity?

You can check those informations in System Profiler or by using Coconut Battery, a third party utility. That will tell us more about the current status of your battery.
 
How many cycles does your battery have? And what about its maximum capacity?

You can check those informations in System Profiler or by using Coconut Battery, a third party utility. That will tell us more about the current status of your battery.

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB016-38fe-91
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4864
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5043
Health Information:
Cycle count: 134
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1186
Voltage (mV): 12232

Copy and pasted from the profiler.
 
Judging from the data you posted it seems your battery original capacity is 5020 mAh and you still have 5043 mAh (which is good, considering you have cycled the battery 134 times).

Now it may come down to two main reasons for the short time on battery: the indication above is not correct (you should calibrate your battery if you haven't already, that way the mac will know how much charge really left; Apple has step by step instrunctions on their site) or you are using software that is making the mac consume more energy (intensive CPU usage, ...).


Give Coconut battery a try, it will show the status of the battery graphically:

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
 
Judging from the data you posted it seems your battery original capacity is 5020 mAh and you still have 5043 mAh (which is good, considering you have cycled the battery 134 times).

Now it may come down to two main reasons for the short time on battery: the indication above is not correct (you should calibrate your battery if you haven't already, that way the mac will know how much charge really left; Apple has step by step instrunctions on their site) or you are using software that is making the mac consume more energy (intensive CPU usage, ...).


Give Coconut battery a try, it will show the status of the battery graphically:

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
Alright, i'll try calibrating it. Thanks for the help.
 
Check your cpu usage. There may be a program running in the background using your cpu and therefore reducing your battery life. Also, how long the battery lasts depends on what you are doing. For instance mine lasts approximately 5 hours when working with ms office and doing light web browsing, but it only lasts ~2:30 when watching youtube videos or hulu.
 
Check your cpu usage. There may be a program running in the background using your cpu and therefore reducing your battery life. Also, how long the battery lasts depends on what you are doing. For instance mine lasts approximately 5 hours when working with ms office and doing light web browsing, but it only lasts ~2:30 when watching youtube videos or hulu.

Well that would explain it then, usually watching videos it lasts a short time.
 
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