General Questions About Blackbook..

[esadb]

Well i got myself a black macbook about a week ago and i really love it, im getting used to it slowly as i had exams this past week so not much time but i have a few questions that im not quite sure about.
I did a clean install of a leopard on it last week.

1) Should i turn the macbook off and on? Or just close the lid? And if so, how should i use the battery? As in if im at home leave it plugged it at all times or use it until it goes down to 10% and then charge it back up or what?

2) Im still getting used to the OS and i tried searching around the options and stuff but i see that Leopard seems to save everything, as it what was opened, what was downloaded and what not, my question is, is there a way to stop it from i guess archiving some of the stuff, like websites viewed? Documents opened? folders opened? and what not?

Thanks

 

[rdowns]

It is fine to allow it to sleep and not turn it on and off.

Check these links for battery info and calibration.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

 

[shady825]

Yes you can just shut the lid.
As for the battery, Apple has an article you might want to check out

 

[shady825]

It is fine to allow it to sleep and not turn it on and off.

Check these links for battery info and calibration.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

BEAT ME TO IT!

 

[esadb]

well read the article, good stuff but thats more about calibrating the battery.

so basically im guessing use the laptop, run the battery low, charge it back up etc.. and then atleast once a month perform the calibration on the battery.

anyone know about that "recent" opened stuff i asked about above?

 

[youssefm]

running the battery out is worst than leaving it plugged in all the time, leaving it plugged in doesnt harm your battery

 

[DeusInvictus7]

Well if you are talking about when you click on the Apple on the top left and go to recent items...you can get rid of that. Just go to System Preferences>Appearance and then where it says Number of Recent Items, just make each of those to none, and then none of them will show up there.

If you are talking about how in Finder the sidebar shows you those same things too under the "Search For" category, then go to Finder's Preferences>Sidebar, and then unchech all the things that you don't want to show up there.

Hope that helps.

 

[esadb]

ahh perfect thank you!

really getting used to this OS is not as bad as i thought, but there is a few tricks im learning here and there

 

[mikefly]

Fyi

I did the below, went away for 7 months, came back and battery was at 0%, took days to recharge - and had a super low charge.

it has gradually gotten better, but still takes too long to charge to full, and gives me about 3 hours instead of the 4-5 I'd expect.

boo.

Mike


Long Term Storage
If you don’t plan on using your notebook for more than six months, Apple recommends that you remove and store the battery with a 50% charge. If you store a battery when it’s fully discharged, it could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding any charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may experience some loss of battery capacity, meaning it will have a shorter life. Be sure to store the ejected battery at the proper temperature. (See “Notebook Temperate Zone.”)

 

[Molopo]

This topic has been absolutely beat to hell. It's almost as if people don't realize that there are 500+ topics that are just like this one. And if that isn't enough, Apple.com clearly explains proper battery usage and maintenance... *sigh*.

[/rant]

 

[hogfaninga]

This topic has been absolutely beat to hell. It's almost as if people don't realize that there are 500+ topics that are just like this one. And if that isn't enough, Apple.com clearly explains proper battery usage and maintenance... *sigh*.

[/rant]

50% of the threads on the Macbook forum are redundant. 2.4 or 2.0. I just bought a new Macbook. The screen sucks. My keys are slanted. Applesacs are great. I got a crack. The list goes on and on and...........

My advice is to not click on threads that don't interest you. I don't. Seems like commons sense to me.

 

[esadb]

so you guys that dont shut your mac's off what do you do overnight? just let leave it in sleep mode and plugged in charge or just let it sleep off the battery?

thanks

 

[molala]

yes, i leave mine plugged in and in sleep mode.

even when i take it somewhere, it is in sleep mode during the trip.

so you guys that dont shut your mac's off what do you do overnight? just let leave it in sleep mode and plugged in charge or just let it sleep off the battery?

thanks

 

[descartes]

so you guys that dont shut your mac's off what do you do overnight? just let leave it in sleep mode and plugged in charge or just let it sleep off the battery?

thanks

let it sleep over night plugged in but I turn it off when I am taking it outside.

 

[miniovechkin8]

what is the general difference between sleep and power off? is it jsut the fact that you dont have to reboot everything up? and i noticed above that someone said it is worse to keep charging and letting the battery run out then charge it again etc etc than to actually keep it charged all the time...can someone clarify on that please? My old sony vaio's battery went to trash because i did that, how do i know that my new macbook 2.4 wont do that either in a matter of a month.

 

[esadb]

what is the general difference between sleep and power off? is it jsut the fact that you dont have to reboot everything up? and i noticed above that someone said it is worse to keep charging and letting the battery run out then charge it again etc etc than to actually keep it charged all the time...can someone clarify on that please? My old sony vaio's battery went to trash because i did that, how do i know that my new macbook 2.4 wont do that either in a matter of a month.

yah i agree with you, my last toshiba laptop i had it plugged in a lot and my battery life went from about 2hours to 30minutes after having the laptop for about a year and a bit..

id like some clarification on that keeping it plugged in at all times also

 

[shady825]

yah i agree with you, my last toshiba laptop i had it plugged in a lot and my battery life went from about 2hours to 30minutes after having the laptop for about a year and a bit..

id like some clarification on that keeping it plugged in at all times also

It seems EVERYONE has a different opinion on this topic!
I was told personally by an Apple genius that "Anytime your computer is plugged in you are putting wear/doing damage to the battery"..
10 people are probably gonna tell you im wrong but an Apple genius told me this so i am going to run mine on battery power as much as possible.

For all you haters, THIS IS WHAT IM DOING, im not saying everyone should do this. Its just what i was told by Apple so its what im gonna do.

 

[M-5]

The MacBook battery charging is not the same as if you were charging an iPhone.

If you have an iPhone plugged into the wall and are watching a movie or something, you are still running off the iPhone's battery charge. The only thing is that it is continuously being charged by the power cord (at a faster rate than power is being consumed).

On the MacBook however, if you run the battery down to 50%, plug it in and continue to use it, the battery will charge up to 100% and at this point, you aren't running off the MacBook's battery. You are running off of the charger. The battery will stop charging and won't start again until it goes to about 95%.

This is why if your laptop is 96% and you plug in the charger, it won't charge up to 100%.

So it is perfectly fine to have it plugged in all the time.

 

[miniovechkin8]

The MacBook battery charging is not the same as if you were charging an iPhone.

If you have an iPhone plugged into the wall and are watching a movie or something, you are still running off the iPhone's battery charge. The only thing is that it is continuously being charged by the power cord (at a faster rate than power is being consumed).

On the MacBook however, if you run the battery down to 50%, plug it in and continue to use it, the battery will charge up to 100% and at this point, you aren't running off the MacBook's battery. You are running off of the charger. The battery will stop charging and won't start again until it goes to about 95%.

This is why if your laptop is 96% and you plug in the charger, it won't charge up to 100%.

So it is perfectly fine to have it plugged in all the time.

Great explanation, and i really understood it fully. But here is my next question...does it kill the battery cells like chargers do to cell phones?

or was that your point with the iPhone explanation.

 

[esadb]

The MacBook battery charging is not the same as if you were charging an iPhone.

If you have an iPhone plugged into the wall and are watching a movie or something, you are still running off the iPhone's battery charge. The only thing is that it is continuously being charged by the power cord (at a faster rate than power is being consumed).

On the MacBook however, if you run the battery down to 50%, plug it in and continue to use it, the battery will charge up to 100% and at this point, you aren't running off the MacBook's battery. You are running off of the charger. The battery will stop charging and won't start again until it goes to about 95%.

This is why if your laptop is 96% and you plug in the charger, it won't charge up to 100%.

So it is perfectly fine to have it plugged in all the time.

actually yah i saw this tonight, as i was at the library, it was plugged in and it wouldnt pass over 98%.. it said it was fully charged but stopped at 98%. so im guessing thats where the battery kicks in and prevents it from overcharging and actually ruining the battery

 

[M-5]

Great explanation, and i really understood it fully. But here is my next question...does it kill the battery cells like chargers do to cell phones?

or was that your point with the iPhone explanation.

No I don't believe any "battery cells" are killed. And yes, that was the point of my iPhone explanation. On the iPhone, whenever you're using it, the battery is always being used. And when you have it plugged in, the charger is continuously pushing energy into it to make sure it stays at 100%.

On the MacBook, no power is being pushed into the battery if it is above 95%. The battery will act as if you aren't connected to a power source. Your battery might actually DECREASE from 100%, per se, to 97% after 2 or 3 days. And again, the Charger won't charge it up again until it's at 95%

 

[esadb]

so ive been playing around with the macbook for a while now and i got this widget called istat pro, and under the battery i see that it has 66 cycles.. and 93% Health.

Good or bad?

Ive read that the health means how much the battery actuall retains.

Well my question is ive had the macbook for just over a week now (bought it used)

and it read about 98% when i just got it, so ive dropped 5% in a weeks time.. at this rate the battery will be junk by spring

 

[shady825]

so ive been playing around with the macbook for a while now and i got this widget called istat pro, and under the battery i see that it has 66 cycles.. and 93% Health.

Good or bad?

Ive read that the health means how much the battery actuall retains.

Well my question is ive had the macbook for just over a week now (bought it used)

and it read about 98% when i just got it, so ive dropped 5% in a weeks time.. at this rate the battery will be junk by spring

Im willing to bet you have a bad battery!! I went through the same exact thing.. dropping a % almost every day.. I got down to 86% and said enuff is enuff! I went to Apple and they replaced my battery no questions asked... How much time are you getting from a full charge? I was barley getting 2 1/2hrs..

 

[esadb]

well im going to calibrate the battery today and see how that turns out.

Well i get 2.5hours no problems, with browsing and doing stuff on the laptop. id say i get probably over 3hours.

This is a used laptop.. so no calling apple for me... and im starting to notice that "cpu whine" when the computer is ideling and being plugged in the charger.. and i got QuietMBP but i dont see myself running that as that makes the fans even louder..

 

[shady825]

well im going to calibrate the battery today and see how that turns out.

Well i get 2.5hours no problems, with browsing and doing stuff on the laptop. id say i get probably over 3hours.

This is a used laptop.. so no calling apple for me... and im starting to notice that "cpu whine" when the computer is ideling and being plugged in the charger.. and i got QuietMBP but i dont see myself running that as that makes the fans even louder..

Sorry my bad, i was just assuming you had the aluminum macbook...