How long does YOUR battery last?

[Glossybear]

There has been alot of battery discusion lately, with alot of numbers getting thrown around. I was wondering what everybody else gets on a full charge.

The OS (10.2.4) on my 12 inch Powerbook estimtes about 3:30 hours on a full charge with BT off, AP on, brightness at 50% and on the reduced CPU setting.

My iBook (600) at work got closer to 4:30 with those settings.

 

[NavyIntel007]

I get two hours if I'm lucky on the lowest brightness. Airport doesn't seem to make a difference to my machine.

 

[Over Achiever]

I get about 3-3.5 hours on my 17" powerbook, all settings to max. energy savings. Screen about half brightness, light work.

Full CPU load gives me about 2 hours.

 

[Les Kern]

14" iBook 3.5+hrs
TiBook 3.0hrs ("old" 400 model)
12" iBook 3hrs (no DVD)
Normal wireless operation, mostly web/ftp work. Two can get through a DVD movie, but the TiBook barely makes it.
I'm one of the lucky ones, I guess.

 

[caveman_uk]

800Mhz 12" ibook - 3.5 hours. Full brightness, fairly heavy processor usage, No CD usage.

 

[backspinner]

When my PowerBook 550MHz was new, the battery lasted for 4 to 5 hours. After 1,5 year and about 1000 charges it lasts only 2 hours. But that is normal behaviour for batteries.

 

[Wardofsky]

For school I use a PC.

Our school has 3 campuses, a few thousand in each, and everybody has a computer.

So for my Toshiba Satellite 30CDT the starting up eats away 25% off a fully charged battery and then about 2% per minute, you do the math.

But it's like (In school) all the computers are mass produced bakery products, they taste cheap and are cheap.

But Macs are handmade (Metaphorically) and don't taste cheap, but sadly they are not cheap.

I should shut up now...

 

[alset]

800 MHz iBook running 10.24 and running movies or music plus folding 24-7. I get about 3 hours if I'm lucky. Maybe 2.5 average.

Dan

 

[filipp]

I get about 2,5 hours on my 17 PB. That's with medium load.

 

[xjohn]

Not long

I get about 1.5 hours on my iBook 500, running minimal programs. It's nearly two years old, so I guess that's ok.

Before I followed the instructions in the Knowledge Base articles about resetting the PMU and maximizing battery life, however, I was only getting around 20 minutes.

 

[RandomDeadHead]

4.5 hours on my wifes 14 inch ibook 800 under VERY light load.

3 hours on the 2, 700mhz 12 inchers we have at the office under heavy load.

 

[sparkleytone]

Originally posted by NavyIntel007
I get two hours if I'm lucky on the lowest brightness. Airport doesn't seem to make a difference to my machine.

yeah me too. its always been that way with my iBook.

GREAT avatar.

 

[NavyIntel007]

Originally posted by sparkleytone
yeah me too. its always been that way with my iBook.

GREAT avatar.

Thanks.

I'm a little uneasy about buying a new battery. I don't want to buy a new battery only to discover that it did nothing. I'm getting a Powerbook over summer so I'll let my girlfriend deal with it (after all she's getting this ibook for free).

 

[CrackedButter]

5.5 hours with everything reduced, i can get higher but its not often i do.

 

[saint]

About 1hr on my iBook 500, bought Aug 2001.
I don't want to spend money on a new battery because it may not give me a big improvement, or it may not last long.

I mostly use it at home, plugged in anyway.

 

[DavidFDM]

My iBook 500/128/CD/15GB gets about 3.5 hours with Airport on, Brightness at about 75%.

 

[gopher]

Apple has been starting to replace some batteries out of warranty. The discussion here has been showing that some
Apple technicians are quite aware of the problem:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@9.4vfha9Tqkdj.925014@.3bbf6b95/0

 

[Giaguara]

mine blacks out once the battery charge has gone to 70 - 80 %. either forced sleep, or shutdown - without notice. so 40 mins (max) "safe working time".

 

[DreaminDirector]

Battery craziness....

Yeah, my girlfriend just got her ibook battery replaced. She's had it for only about 8 months and it wouldn't stay on for more than 15 minutes after a full charge.

I, on the other hand, have great battery life on my powerbook. It's not 5 hours like apple says it should, but I get about 3:30 on medium brightness and AP off.

 

[Giaguara]

Graphically how my battery behaves...

 

[pdham]

I get 3.5 hours on my fairly new Ti 800 under a medium load. If i am not working on it continuously I get 4.5 hours or so... I am happy with it.

Paul

 

[Eniregnat]

for a rev B iTang that sees a lot of use

Bat A- 2 to 3 hours, primary battery, charge and go
Bat B- 3 to 5 hours, completly discharge and then recharge
Bat C- 3 to 5 hours, completly discharge and then recharge

All are from Apple and were ordered when I baught the computer.

 

[Wren]

I have been getting somwhere between 2 1/2 hours to about 3 hours on my new 17PB doing Word and cyber surfing. No iTunes, etc. I have my brightness to 3 dots. I don't recharge the battery until the 'red' signal comes on. During the day when using big apps like Video, Audio, I just plug it in. While we're on the subject of battery, is it a good idea to keep the laptop plugged in most of the time?

 

[GeneR]

30 minutes (if I'm lucky)

Yep. Gotta get a new battery.

366Mhz SE Clamshell ibook. Three years old.