Couple questions about the MBP 13"

[gl4662]

Hey guys, I'm looking to get the new MBP, because of the size, and obviously the OS. I had a 2008 15 inch MBP that died on me after i dropped it (duh). I'm on an XPS 1330 right now and i dislike it a lot, the battery life with the extended battery nets me around 3.5 hours at most. Anyways, enough gibberish:

I've read the battery calibration and in the process:

Upon receiving it, do I charge it until the battery is full without turning on the computer and using it? or does this now matter unless it is plugged in?

Once the batter is fully charged, is it better to keep the charger on for another hour (from what I read trickle charging)?

Once those steps are complete, correct me if I am wrong but, I am supposed to use it until it has very low battery and I shut it off or until it dies? Out of these two ways is one better than the other?

Then from my understanding I should leave it be for about 5 hours, before I completely recharge it (using or not using it)?

And those are the steps to the battery calibration?

I've been searching around, but have not found the definite answer to: are people getting more battery time out of a unit with an SSD versus a traditional disk drive?

I will be purchasing the computer from apple with the education discount, if I sign up for the ADC (99 dollars) will I be able to use that 25% stacked with the education discount?

Also, upon reading the ADC option is it a yearly fee or one time fee? Could I got with the select membership (299 or 399 I think) and be able to apply that discount yearly if I upgrade that often?

Anyways thanks to anyone who is able to give me insight in advanced!
Any opinions or critiques are welcome and much appreciated, thanks!

 

[M-5]

You can charge the computer whenever you'd like. It doesn't have a memory like old Nickel-based batteries did because it's a Lithium Ion battery. It's only recommended to use up the charge every month or so so that it's not just stagnant. If you're not going to use the computer for a long period of time (several months) then you should deplete the battery to about 40%, remove it, and store it in a room-temperature place.

Also, the MacBook's battery is pretty special in that you can keep it plugged in all the time without any effect to the battery life. If the battery is below 95% then it will charge up to 100%. But once it reaches 100%, it stops charging the battery and you are now running on the power cord. The battery will naturally deplete very slowly from just sitting there, so you may see your 100% battery life go down even if it's plugged in, but it will not charge up again until it runs below 95%.

So it's safe to keep it plugged in. I suppose it's also recommended to make your battery life last as long as Apple claims.

 

[HLdan]

You don't need to go through so much to calibrate your battery. Although it's not really necessary you can do this as a practice.
When you first get your Macbook it will be fully charged. Allow it to run down completely then plug it back in and charge it fully. That's it. Most people may recommend you do this once a month although, again not really necessary. Don't be afraid to treat your Macbook with less OCD, you don't have to be so careful with it in terms of doing everything "perfect with it.

The ADC program is really for developers if you plan on developing applications for the Macintosh. Don't sign up for it just to get a discount on your hardware, it's not worth it. You can't stack the student discount with ADC anyway.
IF you sign up with the student ADC program you are only allowed to make one purchase on a system for the life of your account. Renewing the $99 membership will not allow you for more purchases in the future. You have to be a premiere membership member to get further options.

 

[no.1 Apple Fan]

A lot of times I will just use the Mac for x amount of time and than I charge it and leave it on the charger. I always have my Mac in sleep mode. I only turn it off once in a while (to clear the cache and RAM). I think that a lot of times you won't use the entire battery. Maybe just 20% of it. Whenever I am not using my MBP on the battery, it is always on the charger.

 

[morrisman1]

just use it

dont worry about calibration every week, but dont sit it on the charger, the more you use your battery the longer it will last.

A friend has a white macbook and in over two years its never been calibrated, so i ran one then checked coconut battery, it still had higher capacity than original. She pretty much only uses the laptop on battery power.

The quickest way to kill a battery is to not use it. Calibrations just make sure coconut battery is accurate and is not the holy grail of long battery life

 

[gl4662]

Thank you guys for the reply! I should at least calibrate it when i get it correct? Also, is there a quality difference between CTO's and the laptops from an apple store? Been reading a lot about people's CTO's having the dent at the bottom.

 

[thetrystero]

just use it

dont worry about calibration every week, but dont sit it on the charger, the more you use your battery the longer it will last.

A friend has a white macbook and in over two years its never been calibrated, so i ran one then checked coconut battery, it still had higher capacity than original. She pretty much only uses the laptop on battery power.

The quickest way to kill a battery is to not use it. Calibrations just make sure coconut battery is accurate and is not the holy grail of long battery life

@morrisman1: this is the first i've heard. can you please quote a source. the battery has a limited number of charge cycles, hence the more you use it the quicker it'll reach that limit, no?

 

[entity]

Lithium ion batteries like to be charged, au contraire to their old counterparts. Try to avoid letting the battery deplete completely, unless of course you are calibrating.

Calibrating can be done during any cycle, even mid charge, and should be done about once a month.

To calibrate in 4 easy steps:
1) Charge to 100%
2) Let the battery die - it will go into standby
3) Let the computer sit 4-5 hours in standby mode
4) Recharge to 100%

Now your battery indicator will accurately reflect your actual battery amount .

 

[LukeConway]

Try this.

When I got my Mac Book Pro back in the day I found out that giving your battery a "workout" is good for battery life. (Not just on a single charge but on how long it will last). Try Fully charing you Mac Book Pro then using it till 2% left. Then Fully charging it. Do this once a week. Should improve battery life. Well it did for me.

 

[gl4662]

Well guys, I just bought my 13" MBP today, after my last day of summer class. My Dell crapped out on me the day before today, and I lost a couple papers, so I'm glad to be back in the apple world! After much research, I went with the base model 2.26 w/2gb of ram. I've already ordered the new 160gb intel SSD, and if you guys have some suggestions about what ram I should upgrade to that would be great! Looking at crucial and OWC right now.

Downloaded Coconut battery and it states that my battery is at 100% health but it shows 5539/5450 (current battery capacity 5539/ original 5450 a little confused haha, but the charge is 5539/5539)?? I am currently calibrating the battery though if that affects it.. anyways no prior load cycles

Do you guys recommend calibrating the screen too? It looks fine to me, and I never did it on my 08 mbp, but it seems like with the new screens everyone is talking about calibration.

Anyways, thank you!

 

[gl4662]

quick question, with apple care does it save to the harddrive or anything? Since I am installing the ssd, does it matter if i go through the apple care process now, or should i wait til after the hd switch?

 

[gl4662]

Also, do i need to be "using" the computer when its off the charger or can i just let it drain or is this not efective? please let me know, thanks guys!

 

[HLdan]

Well guys, I just bought my 13" MBP today, after my last day of summer class. My Dell crapped out on me the day before today, and I lost a couple papers, so I'm glad to be back in the apple world! After much research, I went with the base model 2.26 w/2gb of ram. I've already ordered the new 160gb intel SSD, and if you guys have some suggestions about what ram I should upgrade to that would be great! Looking at crucial and OWC right now.

Downloaded Coconut battery and it states that my battery is at 100% health but it shows 5539/5450 (current battery capacity 5539/ original 5450 a little confused haha, but the charge is 5539/5539)?? I am currently calibrating the battery though if that affects it.. anyways no prior load cycles

Do you guys recommend calibrating the screen too? It looks fine to me, and I never did it on my 08 mbp, but it seems like with the new screens everyone is talking about calibration.

Anyways, thank you!

If the screen looks good to you then why calibrate it? If the car drives smoothly why get the wheels aligned?

quick question, with apple care does it save to the harddrive or anything? Since I am installing the ssd, does it matter if i go through the apple care process now, or should i wait til after the hd switch?

Applecare will not cover your 3rd party SSD. The rest of your machine will be covered however.

Also, do i need to be "using" the computer when its off the charger or can i just let it drain or is this not efective? please let me know, thanks guys!

It will take forever to run the battery down by letting it drain without using it. I'm honestly not understanding your question here. Also try and collect all your questions first so we don't have to multi-quote to address your questions. Thanx.

 

[gl4662]

If the screen looks good to you then why calibrate it? If the car drives smoothly why get the wheels aligned?



Applecare will not cover your 3rd party SSD. The rest of your machine will be covered however.



It will take forever to run the battery down by letting it drain without using it. I'm honestly not understanding your question here. Also try and collect all your questions first so we don't have to multi-quote to address your questions. Thanx.

will do, thanks. I just asked because I didnt know if using it was more effective rather than just letting it drain, cause i was not at home.

 

[HLdan]

will do, thanks. I just asked because I didnt know if using it was more effective rather than just letting it drain, cause i was not at home.

Oh I see, if it's fully shut down it will take months before it will even begin to drain, and that will still take forever. If it's in sleep mode it's barely using the battery and it would never drain in any fair time, especially since it's a 7+ hour battery and many people including myself are reporting much longer battery life than 7 hours. As a practice you can calibrate it once a month. Just take it off the A/C power and use it (playing games, running YouTube videos or DVD's) until it fully drains or until it recommends for you to plug in the A/C then you're good to go.
Congrats on your new baby. I just got my new 13" MBP too. I got the 2.53 with 128GBSSD, I love it.

 

[gl4662]

nice thanks for the reply! I have the new 160gb intel drive on the way, how do you like the ssd from apple?

 

[gl4662]

i have always wondered, and excuse my ignorance, but is it bad for the laptop to move it around when its on? i.e. from room to room, or having it on your lap? thanks..

 

[entity]

i have always wondered, and excuse my ignorance, but is it bad for the laptop to move it around when its on? i.e. from room to room, or having it on your lap? thanks..

Try to keep the laptop at least in sleep more while transporting. Any movement or slight jolts can damage your HD and cause data loss/corruption. Many new HD's have built-in technology that detects these types of bumps and moves the HD head to a safe place.

Of course if you have a SSD disregard everything I just said .

 

[gl4662]

thanks for the reply! I figured it was mostly due to the standard harddrive. But, yes I will have the SSD soon, so it shouldn't be a problem, are any other parts affected by slight movements?

 

[entity]

thanks for the reply! I figured it was mostly due to the standard harddrive. But, yes I will have the SSD soon, so it shouldn't be a problem, are any other parts affected by slight movements?

The only affected parts are the moving ones. You will have one mean solid state machine!

 

[gl4662]

The only affect parts are moving ones. You will have one mean solid state machine!

thanks for the input man!

 

[HLdan]

nice thanks for the reply! I have the new 160gb intel drive on the way, how do you like the ssd from apple?

The Apple SSD runs extremely fast, obviously quiet and low heat. I heard the Intel SSD is faster but I think most SSD's will be good for most everyone. The main advantage is stability and longevity. You won't have to worry about moving your Macbook around while running it since there's no spindle like a standard hard drive. You sound pretty excited, I'm happy for you.

 

[gl4662]

The Apple SSD runs extremely fast, obviously quiet and low heat. I heard the Intel SSD is faster but I think most SSD's will be good for most everyone. The main advantage is stability and longevity. You won't have to worry about moving your Macbook around while running it since there's no spindle like a standard hard drive. You sound pretty excited, I'm happy for you.

Thank you! I am amazed at how long the battery lasts!

 

[gl4662]

finished my battery calibration, don't know if I did something wrong, but It charges to 100%, but by the time it figures out how much energy is on the battery it starts at 98%? Is that normal?

Battery health is 100%, and it has had 1 load cycle.

 

[scho047]

hi guys and gals..
i have recently purchased MBP 13... and have used it for maybe 1.5weeks now... and have noticed using Coconutbattery that when i first used it... it showed original battery capacity to be 5450 and the current battery capacity to be 5575 or something...
but now with only 1.5 weeks of usage... and just minor internet and word processing usage.. its reading original battery capacity to be 5450 and current to be 5477....
it has decreased rather quickly.... any suggestions as to why and how i could maintain it longer...
compared to my brother who has white macbook for a year.. and has gone through over 200 cycles.. has orignal of 5050 and current to be 5150....

thanks