new 12" powerbook - battery life - is this normal?

[heatheralane]

I have a new 1.33 GHz, 80GB, 1.256GB RAM - it's about three weeks old.

Problem is, my battery thing up in the menu says that it never charges above 51%. As in, it's now been plugged in overnight without use, and the battery says it's 51% full, and the powercord thing glows green (not orange like when it's actually charging). If I unplug it it starts going down from there. I'm only getting about 1.5-2 hours of battery life before it dies.

Is this a normal battery life/known issue/anything?

Thanks!

Heather

 

[job]

Did you calibrate the battery before using it?

 

[heatheralane]

yikes, what does that mean?

 

[heatheralane]

oh sorry, you mean the drain and then recharge thing. yeah, I did that.

 

[mac4drew]

Whoops, I posted like two seconds after you said you already tried that.

Did you try doing a PMU reset?

 

[heatheralane]

Thanks Drew - haven't tried it but will give it a shot!

Maybe I'm not sure what kind of battery life to expect? My old pismo had about 4 hours or so if I was just doing word processing stuff...am I expecting too much?

 

[BackInTheSaddle]

Battery Life

I've been getting between 3-4 hours on a full charge with my 12" 1.33 GHz PowerBook. The battery life has been pretty reasonable although I need to swap batteries on cross-country flights (nothing unusual there). The only thing I haven't liked is that the 12" 1.33 GHz seems to run a whole heck of a lot hotter than my old 17" 1 GHz model.

If you don't get anywhere with the suggestions on this thread, I'd complain to Apple if I were you. The battery clearly isn't performing like it should.

 

[yoda13]

No this is not normal. I would call apple asap, as I get three hours or so with my rev. a 12" pb.

 

[heatheralane]

I just talked to Applecare about my battery issue - guess what!! According to him, about two hours of battery life for this powerbook (with airport, bluetooth turned off and no applications running)!!!! That sucks!! Of what use is a laptop if I can't be away from a cord for even a couple of hours!

He still gave me a couple of things more to try (resetting the PMU, re-seating the battery) because my battery calculator thing still says it's only charging to 50%. Still, if I'm getting two hours of charge, even without actually using the computer, they're not going to do anything about it.

I'm really disappointed in Apple's expectations. My G3 still gets a longer battery life than two hours even after all these years.

 

[gbojim]

If resetting the PMU does not help, call Apple back and have your call escalated if the first line contact can't help you - they only follow the script they're given. We had the same problem with a PB we bought and it turned out to be a defective battery. Just remember to be nice and professional and you should be able to get this resolved.

 

[solvs]

Even if 2 hours of battery life were acceptable to Apple, you should be able to charge it past 50%. You should be getting 4 hours on a full charge doing things like light typing.

Call Apple again. Explain the 50% part 1st.

 

[heatheralane]

*Follow-up*

I called Apple again after their suggestions didn't work and 1) stressed the only powering to 50% thing; and 2) only getting 1.5 or so hours. They sent me a new battery immediately (I was impressed - conversation was on Friday and it arrived on Monday). I let the new battery charge and now it's showing that I'll about 4-4.5 hours of battery life!! Yay!!

Problem solved (hopefully)!