Software on a PC laptop that I actually want!

[cdp788]

So the other day, my cousin got a compaq (gasp!) laptop... as I was showing him how to use it, I stumbled upon a neat little utility. The laptop came with battery software that would help calibrate it and test for max current. Most interesting, i thought, as a cycle counter that measured how many charge cycles the battery was put through.

I'm wondering if anyone knew of any software (pref. freeware) like this for our powerbooks. A fwe months ago, i ran across one that tested your battery and "graded" it against other powerbook batteries that had been tested by users. I've had my 12"-er for a little over a year now and am wondering how much time i still have with this battery.

 

[jacobj]

A fwe months ago, i ran across one that tested your battery and "graded" it against other powerbook batteries that had been tested by users.

Do you have a link to download this little app?

I wouldn't mind an answer to your question either... I've had my PB for 18 months now and the battery life is starting to taper off.. still acceptable (for a PB, but not great...

Which reminds me, my battery has never lasted long enough to play a 2hr+ DVD whilst on the road... that bugs me..

 

[abhishekit]

There is a command line utility ioreg, write this at the terminal

ioreg -l | grep -i IOBatteryInfo

It will show you the capacity and the amperage, from what I have seen, capacity should be around 4600 and amperage around 1200, for pb

cheers

 

[cdp788]

Do you have a link to download this little app?

It's called iBatt. The trial version of the software gives you 10 minutes of limited functionality, but it should be enough.

http://www.raynersoftware.com/ibatt/

 

[stoid]

I did that ioreg -l | grep -i IOBatteryInfo

it tells me "Capacity"=2938,"Amperage"=1200

My battery is full and my laptop is only about 10 months old, and I haven't used it on battery all that much, mostly it's on my desk plugged in.

I recall doing this a few months earlier, and getting similar results. That's only about 64% of theoretical capacity. Do you think that Apple would send me a new battery if I called them?

edit: searched forums, end of February, i had a result of 3730/4600. My battery is going downhill FAST!