estimated time remaing 2 hours at 91%

[Dany M]

just got my new macbook pro 13 and have gone through messes with some of the system preferences and am downloaing some stuff. I dunno whether if is affecting it but my estimated batterly life says 2 hours and is around 90% now. I did fully charge it and have some other stuff on the background so...help?

Also, i've read that people have it charged for maximum batterly life so, what do you guys do? if you can charge it, do it or if its around 60% or something it should be charged?

 

[sadcamper]

just got my new macbook pro 13 and have gone through messes with some of the system preferences and am downloaing some stuff. I dunno whether if is affecting it but my estimated batterly life says 2 hours and is around 90% now. I did fully charge it and have some other stuff on the background so...help?

Also, i've read that people have it charged for maximum batterly life so, what do you guys do? if you can charge it, do it or if its around 60% or something it should be charged?

What are you running when it says 2 hours remaining? I don't go by the time remaining stats...they're not reliable unless you're constantly running the same programs, and even then they're guessing at best.

How long have you had the machine? Might be time to calibrate the batter (google for detailed instructions or download a battery program like Watts (which comes with a free trial)).

 

[spinnerlys]

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions: Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

Also have a look at MRoogle to find thousands of similar threads.

Have you taken a look at Activity Monitor (SHOW ALL PROCESSES should be selected and sorted by CPU) to see what might hog up your system?

 

[DoFoT9]

...to see what might hog up your system?....

which would most likely be something such as a flash window from Safari - or a movie in the background of sorts.

 

[Dany M]

Yeah, I had firefox running and was redownloading bunch of apps and podcasts and was trying to play a video. Almost always its Firefox, Mail, Adium and iTunes open and sometimes transmission. It appears to slow down and

I got the machine late yesterday and am loving it, i have the auto brightness on for the keyboard and screen.

I've read that its bad to let your battery drain so, my only question left is when do you start charging?

Thanks for the help folks

 

[spinnerlys]

I've read that its bad to let your battery drain so, my only question left is when do you start charging?

Thanks for the help folks

This maybe? Once in a while it is good to let the battery be drained, but I put the quote in for a reason.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions: Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

As for the rest of your post, I can't say why your Mac should or shouldn't slow down, as you haven't told us anything about Activity Monitor.

I currently have 16 applications open and have no slowing down, because only 20-25 % of my CPU is used at the most.

Maybe Transmission writes and reads lots of data to and from the HDD, which could explain a slow down.

But to make sure, check Activity Monitor > Disk Activity and the other part I advised you about.


Is this your first Mac?

 

[sadcamper]

Yeah, I had firefox running and was redownloading bunch of apps and podcasts and was trying to play a video. Almost always its Firefox, Mail, Adium and iTunes open and sometimes transmission. It appears to slow down and

I got the machine late yesterday and am loving it, i have the auto brightness on for the keyboard and screen.

I've read that its bad to let your battery drain so, my only question left is when do you start charging?

Thanks for the help folks

It's not bad to let your battery drain. I find overall that if you're too neurotic with "when to charge", you're losing some of the enjoyment you paid for, so use it, and charge it when it's convenient for you. That being said, it's healthy to let the battery drain lower than 50% prior to charging, and it's good to calibrate the battery every 30 days or so. As mentioned, there are numerous threads discussing battery health with specifics.

To improve battery life overall, I turn the keyboard backlight off completely.

 

[DoFoT9]

It's not bad to let your battery drain. I find overall that if you're too neurotic with "when to charge", you're losing some of the enjoyment you paid for, so use it, and charge it when it's convenient for you. That being said, it's healthy to let the battery drain lower than 50% prior to charging, and it's good to calibrate the battery every 30 days or so. As mentioned, there are numerous threads discussing battery health with specifics.

its optimal to use it below 50% before charging - but it is also optimal (and more important) to not let it discharge below 20% battery life as much as possible.

To improve battery life overall, I turn the keyboard backlight off completely.

even on my 2hr battery life (at best) MBP i find that using the keyboard backlight reduces battery life by about 15-20mins overall. donno if thats useful or not.