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IT'S HERE!!! My first Mac!!! (A few Questions)

quidire

quidire

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 11, 2004
349
0
Washington DC (in Kalorama Triangle)
Well the above says it all; this is my first post with my new PB12"!! All the other various accessories and the iPod mini arrived last week, but at 10:30 AM (EDT) all the waiting ceased.

To upgrade the RAM I apparently need a size-0 phillips screwdriver (grumble) so I'm leaving the PB to charge; after I post this, off to the hardware store to pick one up.

At first glance no errant pixels (touchwood) and the case is not bent or warped at all.

Anyway, on to the questions:
1) proper battery behaviour? From full charge to no charge, then recharge, or use/recharge/use/recharge without ever letting it empty out?
2) (this is stupid) I clicked past the registration window when I was first setting up the PB as to connect to the wireless router I was using I needed to set the password format to 128bit hex (which I couldn't see a way to do from the "getting set up" sequence. How do I register now??
3) suggestions on a good bluetooth headset?

thanks! I've been bouncing around MR for almost 6 months, but now I finally feel like part of the group!

-RS
 
According to Apple's comments on batteries:
Lithium-ion
Recharge Lithium-ion batteries when they become depleted. Although they are not subject to the memory effect, it is suggested that you let the battery drain fully before recharging.
Click to expand...
However, base don what I've seen elsewhere on their site and in other discussions I've seen regarding lithium ion batteries, you should be able to plug it in when you want and not worry after doing a couple of full->empty cycles to calibrate it. My 1999 G3 PB with older battery tech still works fine using that approach. My two year old Dell laptop does as well. In any event, I wouldn't worry.

As far as BT headsets are concerned: try them before you buy them. Lots of people make them, and they all fit differently. No matter what you can read about them, nothing beats trying various ones for fit... and make sure you can return it if it doesn't happen to work well for you.
 
Apparently, editing isn't working write now, so in addition to apologizing for "base don", which I can't correct, let me also say "welcome to the club"!
 
Logik said:
proof reading is your friend :p
Click to expand...
I know, I know. But it's always been so easy to hit 'Edit' if there was a problem.... :eek:

Proofreading... looks OK... hitting 'Submit Reply'.
 
Logik said:
proof reading is your friend :p
Click to expand...

For me, re-reading my post is proof-reading... I probably edit 20% of my posts for subsequent errors (although I have live spell checking on).
 
jsw said:
I know, I know. But it's always been so easy to hit 'Edit' if there was a problem.... :eek:

Proofreading... looks OK... hitting 'Submit Reply'.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I edit about 75% of my posts within a minute of posting lol
 
As for registering your new computer, I'd go to Apple's website and look around for a registration page. Most manufacturers seem to have one.

I mostly keep my two-year-old TiBook plugged in, and only occasionally tote it around and use it on battery power, and its capacity doesn't seem to have diminished much, if at all. Do calibrate it as the manual says, though.

Welcome, and enjoy your new Mac! :)
 
quidire said:
Well the above says it all; this is my first post with my new PB12"!! All the other various accessories and the iPod mini arrived last week, but at 10:30 AM (EDT) all the waiting ceased.

To upgrade the RAM I apparently need a size-0 phillips screwdriver (grumble) so I'm leaving the PB to charge; after I post this, off to the hardware store to pick one up.

At first glance no errant pixels (touchwood) and the case is not bent or warped at all.

Anyway, on to the questions:
1) proper battery behaviour? From full charge to no charge, then recharge, or use/recharge/use/recharge without ever letting it empty out?
2) (this is stupid) I clicked past the registration window when I was first setting up the PB as to connect to the wireless router I was using I needed to set the password format to 128bit hex (which I couldn't see a way to do from the "getting set up" sequence. How do I register now??
3) suggestions on a good bluetooth headset?

thanks! I've been bouncing around MR for almost 6 months, but now I finally feel like part of the group!

-RS
Click to expand...

Congratulations, and best of luck with your new PowerBook. If you have a set of jeweler's screwdrivers, that would work in a pinch. There might be some Lock-tite on the screw threads, so don't be surprised if it takes some serious twisting to break them loose. Also, make sure that you take the battery out before you install the memory. As far as registration goes, there should be a Registration document in your Documents folder; just double-click on that and your registration information will be sent, provided you have a network connection. As others have mentioned, you should calibrate the battery by running it down until it goes to sleep, then charging it fully.

Again, congratulations, and welcome! Oh, and one more thing ... the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Enjoy!

Regards,
Marc
 
Mac World magazine just had a great detailed article on PowerBook and iBook battery maintenence. You might want to try to get your hands on this month's issue.
 
emw said:
(although I have live spell checking on)
Click to expand...
I do too - but, sadly, that didn't help with any of my problems above.

BTW, quidire, I asked the Apple guru about the battery life. He said that you should calibrate it every so often but that the lithium ion batteries are good for a set number of total "charges" so that, for example, if you run it down to 75% and then recharge four times in a row, you've only used up one "charge" - and you can charge those batteries thousands of times. That jives with what I've read. Basically, I wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't leave it plugged in 100% of the time. And, of course, if you did, battery life wouldn't matter anyway, would it?
 
Congrats and welcome -

Battery life is one of the benefits that brought me to the Mac in the first place. I travel A LOT and running out of battery before the plane lands is not productive. With the PB (12" Rev B) I can go from LA to NYC and not miss a beat.
 
I can get 5:30 out of my PowerBook, and do it every day at school. Calibrate correctly, and you are going to be good to go for a while.
 
Mechcozmo said:
I can get 5:30 out of my PowerBook, and do it every day at school. Calibrate correctly, and you are going to be good to go for a while.
Click to expand...

Wow 5:30?? What capacity gives this command (run it in terminal)
ioreg -l -w 0 | grep IOBatteryInfo

I can't get more than about 4:30 with screen at 50%, BT off (but AE on)
 
Solafaa said:
What is live spell checking? i must have it i must.
Click to expand...
It's in a lot of places. Just right click when posting - see below.
 

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Solafaa said:
What is live spell checking? i must have it i must.
Click to expand...

See jsw's response for where to find it. What happens is that as you type, it will underline in red those words that are misspelled. It works the same as in TextEdit.
 
cluthz said:
Wow 5:30?? What capacity gives this command (run it in terminal)
ioreg -l -w 0 | grep IOBatteryInfo

I can't get more than about 4:30 with screen at 50%, BT off (but AE on)
Click to expand...

I kinda look at the status shmangy in the menu bar. :rolleyes:

I have screen at minimum (still plenty usable IMHO) and BT/AP off. Oh yeah, sound off too. It is how I get through school each day, when sometimes I use it for 3 hours total and then another half hour afterwards... and when I edit video and play music it goes down, too.
 
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