Powerbook battery just lit up!

[AlBDamned]

I have never, ever noticed this before. I was watching a DVD on my bed last night, using the Powerbook and I noticed a weird green flashing coming from underneath it. I lift it up and sure enough, there's a little set of flashing green LEDs on the battery! Doesn't do it all the time, maybe when just watching films or using the drive. There doesn't seem to be anything about it on the forums.

It's the little things....

 

[Jay42]

Yup, you can hit the little button, too, and find out how much power you have left without booting up

 

[stridey]

I have never, ever noticed this before. I was watching a DVD on my bed last night, using the Powerbook and I noticed a weird green flashing coming from underneath it. I lift it up and sure enough, there's a little set of flashing green LEDs on the battery! Doesn't do it all the time, maybe when just watching films or using the drive. There doesn't seem to be anything about it on the forums.

It's the little things....

Those LEDs are the manual battery check (the number of LEDs lit corresponds with the amount of battery left). They are lightable via a button right next to them (which you probably hit accidentally). They also exist on the iBooks.

Edit: Looks like Jay42 got to it first. Shows me to open lots of tabs.

 

[AlBDamned]

Dope

Those LEDs are the manual battery check (the number of LEDs lit corresponds with the amount of battery left). They are lightable via a button right next to them (which you probably hit accidentally). They also exist on the iBooks.

Ah that does make sense and, just checked,the little button works how it should. They were all on constantly, and I think I only noticed cos for once the 'book wasn't on a flat, solid surface. I really never knew it existed though, even when taking the battery out a couple of times.

 

[zach]

they're awesome.
dell has them too, but retardedly enough, their lights are on the side of the battery, inside the case when the battery is installed. if anyone cares to explain the logic of THAT to me, i'd be eternally grateful.

 

[AlBDamned]

they're awesome.
dell has them too, but retardedly enough, their lights are on the side of the battery, inside the case when the battery is installed. if anyone cares to explain the logic of THAT to me, i'd be eternally grateful.

Sounds like proper peecee logic to me

 

[katie ta achoo]

Sounds like proper peecee logic to me

Mmmm Hmmm!

About Dells and weirdness:
Every time I pass the dell kiosk, while on the way to the Apple store in the Galleria, there's ALWAYS a little norton box popped up on at least 1 of the three monitors. It makes me laugh.

and the PB batter indicator:
I looooove it! I discovered mine on accident, too. I was messing with my iBook G3, and it lit up. It was sooo cooool!

 

[mkrishnan]

It's a nice touch, although I never use mine. If I had more than one battery, I'd think it killer. That's probably why Dell didn't care about it being in an unaccessible place -- it's mostly useful for a battery that's not in the notebook at the time.

 

[stevietheb]

Discovered this shortly after opening my iBook box 19 months ago. With great excitement I showed my wife--I don't think I've thought about it since then...

True, if I had multiple batteries, I'd care. Back in my video days I was always checking camera bats--never really had to worry about iBook bat while iBook not on...

 

[AlBDamned]

It's a nice touch, although I never use mine. If I had more than one battery, I'd think it killer. That's probably why Dell didn't care about it being in an unaccessible place -- it's mostly useful for a battery that's not in the notebook at the time.

That's what I mean about the little things. You're right, Dell probably didn't care. But, there's no denying it's a nice touch from the Apple design team.

Guess you use your PB a lot without a cord nearby? Not had major need yet, but then I've only been on short (2 hour) flights or less recently. It's cool that some of the new trains here have power sockets so that helps.

Anyone give rough estimates on how representational the battery lights are? I mean, 5 lights = full charge which translates to about 2 hours for me. Does one light mean 25 minutes?

 

[Over Achiever]

If they're flashing it means that the battery is charging ... sorta like on your cell phone when the bars light up. ^^

 

[AlBDamned]

If they're flashing it means that the battery is charging ... sorta like on your cell phone when the bars light up. ^^

Yeah but say no cable and one light? Guess the most obvious thing to do would be to let it run down and check periodically using the % in the top bar battery icon as a guide.

 

[iDM]

I've got a friend at the Apple store and he shows me cool things like this all the time, granted i probably should have known it myself, however it is still really cool!

 

[Over Achiever]

Yeah but say no cable and one light? Guess the most obvious thing to do would be to let it run down and check periodically using the % in the top bar battery icon as a guide.

If it's no cable and only one light is flashing, it means you should plug it in soon ... the battery is close to running out.

 

[rainman::|:|]

The batteries on my pb3500 have this too, it's inside the case (so the battery has to be removed first) but four LEDs with a button to illuminate the level... Apple was ahead of even itself

 

[zach]

in terms of time, i'm not sure on the batteries, but each LED is about 20%.

Therefore..

5 lit = 100% - 90%
4 lit = 90% - 70%
3 lit = 70% - 50%
2 lit = 50 - 30%
1 lit = 30% - 10%
1 flashing = 10% - 0%

and on iBooks (at least the old ones have four, correct me if the new ones have 5...)

4 lit = 100% - 85%
3 lit = 85% - 60%
2 lit = 60% - 35%
1 lit = 35% - 10%
1 flashing = 10% - 0%

from a bit of trial and error, i'm rather sure that's how they work. if you have a different experience, please let me know.

 

[AlBDamned]

in terms of time, i'm not sure on the batteries, but each LED is about 20%.

Therefore..

5 lit = 100% - 90%
4 lit = 90% - 70%
3 lit = 70% - 50%
2 lit = 50 - 30%
1 lit = 30% - 10%
1 flashing = 10% - 0%

Cool. It's right that is should be representational. I'm not sure how much I'll use it (usually it's on sleep if not being used), but it's worth knowing for emergencies!

 

[stridey]

I actually found the lights useful for the first time recently. I was on a road trip, with irregular electricity access. When getting to a room for the night, I could just pull my iBook out of it's case and see if it needed to be charged or not without opening it up. Not that big a deal, I know. But it was still nice.