macbook (white) battery question

[mobilebuddha]

just got my mac tonight and I have a few questions for you veterans out there.. (btw it's the white macbook from the last gen)

most laptops that i've bought, when I first got it, it's supposed to have a little bit of charge. my macbook came as completely dead. is this normal?

also, in the "about this mac" and then "more info" window, it says that the full charge capacity of the battery is 5428 mAh, is that also ok?

and one more question.. how many cycles can I charge the battery, reasonably?

 

[dubhe]

My 9 month old BlackBook, which is essentially the same as yours, has 4913 mAh after 66 cycles.

You should be able to get 300+ cycles and still have 80% of its new capacity.

Download and run Coconut Battery (you can google it).

I wouldn't worry if the battery was flat, I admit mine wasn't and batteries store better with a half charge but as long as yours does charge, and runs Ok then you will be fine. If it was goosed then you would know right away.

 

[kastenbrust]

remeber to calibrate your battery as per Apples instructions as its new

 

[vr4playa]

long time since I posted, but here's the stats from mine(sounds like my batt is dead)...

Maximum Battery Charge- 51 mAh

Current Battery Capacity- 51 mAh
Original Battery Capacity- 5020 mAh

Battery-Loadcycles- 211
Age of you Mac- 28 months

Any idea where the best place is to get a new battery?(please don't say Apple store )

AND

Does that sound like a decent lifespan for this battery or should I only run A/C power when it's fully drained and when charged take out the battery and only have the AC adapter plugged in?(kinda dangerous w/ the Mag-Safe connector that can easily be detached )

 

[dubhe]

Does that sound like a decent lifespan for this battery or should I only run A/C power when it's fully drained and when charged take out the battery and only have the AC adapter plugged in?(kinda dangerous w/ the Mag-Safe connector that can easily be detached )

You probably should have gotten a few more cycles out of it but at nearly three years old I wouldn't be too concerned.

There is no reason to take a charged battery out of your MacBook, they have chips in that will stop the charge cycle once complete so as to not damage your battery. Just remember to condition it once a month if you don't use it much.

Also I have heard the power adapter may not always supply enough power so uses the reserve in the battery to keep things running for intensive tasks, need someone to verify this though.

 

[vr4playa]

How do I condition it?

And what is a fair price to pay for a new battery?

i.e. I got my replacement LCD from eBay for $140 and it has worked fine in the 1+ yrs I've had it and I did buy a battery for my old CPQ N800c off eBay that also worked fine, but my Macbook is much more important to me than that ol' piece of junk(which is ironic b/c I already have an eBay part on it )

I also get a decent discount b/c I work at CDW, but even the discount doesn't compare to some of the prices on Newegg/eBay/TigerDirect, etc, but I know that the quality of some of those parts are questionable. The funny thing is that I'm the perfect example of a customer that CDW wouldn't want b/c I'm too price conscious and don't quite see the value of service/quality yet since I'm a recent college grad and money is very much an issue

 

[dubhe]

How do I condition it?

Search for this in the forums but basically charge it fully and continuously and leave it going for around 5 hours more. Unplug the power, run it right down, using it or leaving it sitting there. Once you get the warning it is going to die, close all of your work, let it shut itself down when it runs out of juice, leave it a few more hours, charge overnight not using, voila, your battery is conditioned.

 

[bizzle]

Your (OP) battery is fine.

Mine shows:

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4565
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4931
Health Information:
Cycle count: 149
Condition: Good

I never do any calibration.

 

[MedoRumors]

Why Calibration is Necessay

Age of Mac: 29 Months
Battery load cycles: 777
Design Capacity: 5020 mAh
Current Capacity: 4436 mAh

777 CYCLES!!! I bought a new batter just in case but since the health of my original battery that came with my macbook is still at 88%, I'm good for now.. I calibrate basically every time i use my macbook Charge it up all the way then down all the way.. I really advise you guys with the unibody MacBooks to calibrate your batteries regularly because they aren't replaceable.. (only disadvantage)