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Waveman · Oct 1, 2003, 07:13 PM

Apple's specs for the 15" Aluminum PowerBook state that the battery life of up to 4.5 hours only applies to the 1 GHz model. Which begs the question: What's their claim for the 1.25 GHz PowerBook? I couldn't find anything about this.

Has anyone with a 1 GHz model gotten anywhere close to 4.5 hours?

Sakino · Oct 1, 2003, 07:33 PM

Originally posted by Waveman:
Apple's specs for the 15" Aluminum PowerBook state that the battery life of up to 4.5 hours only applies to the 1 GHz model. Which begs the question: What's their claim for the 1.25 GHz PowerBook? I couldn't find anything about this.

Has anyone with a 1 GHz model gotten anywhere close to 4.5 hours?

I can tell you my roommate is EASILY getting 4.5 hours on his ti book running the latest version of 10.3. I was shocked to see that. He spent his time chatting, surfing, downloading, watching movies, etc. List goes on.

Waveman · Oct 1, 2003, 07:49 PM

Originally posted by Sakino:
I can tell you my roommate is EASILY getting 4.5 hours on his ti book running the latest version of 10.3. I was shocked to see that. He spent his time chatting, surfing, downloading, watching movies, etc. List goes on.

Actually, I meant the 1 GHz Aluminum PB - that's the one that Apple claims gets 4.5 hours. But I do hope that 10.3 increases battery life across the board.

todrain · Oct 1, 2003, 08:36 PM

In the last series, the 867 got better battery life than the 1ghz.

Speed is probably the major issue... I don't know if something like the Superdrive would have any impact.

ae86_16v · Oct 1, 2003, 10:37 PM

I have a 1.25GHz, on average, I get about 3hrs or so.

PBG4 User · Oct 2, 2003, 07:44 AM

I get between 2.5 and 3 hours on my stock 1.25GHz Superdrive PB. This is with bluetooth turned off, airport on, processor set to automatic, spin HD down checked, and screen brightness around 50%.

Screen brightness seems to be the biggest battery sucker. If I turn screen brightness to 100% I won't get much over an hour or so.

macwalk · Oct 2, 2003, 09:48 AM

WHERE HAVE ALL OF YOU RECIEVED YOUR ADVANCE COPIESD OF 10.3.
I WANT ONE TOOOOOOOO

Porco · Oct 2, 2003, 12:50 PM

Today, when I called AppleCare, I was forwarded to a Powerbook Tech. I had two problems with my AL15".

The first one was that my AC Adapter would not continuously charge the PB when connected to the 20" Apple display. I had to keep unplugging and then reconnecting the AC adapter to get any type of charge (would shut off every 10 minutes or so). He helped me through it and narrowed it down to the fact that I was running everything through a surge suppressor. Since plugging it into the wall socket, I have had no problems.

Now, for the bigger issue - Battery life!

We did some tests with the technician. Turning everything off, with the screen brightness down to first bar - no Airport, no Bluetooth, and no software running except Finder - 2:10 minutes. <--- Unacceptable.

My configuration - 10.2.7, 1GB Ram, 5400RPM drive, SD.

The tech told me that this is acceptable for Apple, given the processor speed and the power draw from the 5400RPM drive. Now, I just owned a 1 Ghz TiBook and with all of that crap above turned on, I got over 3 hours. Are they really telling me that the drive is causing the issue?

I am very disappointed and may be returning the machine today. Any thoughts?

amazing · Oct 2, 2003, 01:04 PM

Returning it? You've opened it, there's nothing wrong with it according to Apple, you'll have to eat the 10% restocking fee. Why don't you buy a second battery instead?

NewerTech will eventually come out with higher capacity batteries for the new models, just as they have for the Titaniums. Here's a link their batteries with the Ti batteries:

http://www.newertech.com/newer_bats.html

The product description for the new laptops says that they have 46 watt-hour batteries. The Ti had 65 watt-hour batteries.

Reading the fine print is what life is all about, sad to say.

Waveman · Oct 2, 2003, 01:06 PM

Originally posted by Porco:
Now, for the bigger issue - Battery life!

We did some tests with the technician. Turning everything off, with the screen brightness down to first bar - no Airport, no Bluetooth, and no software running except Finder - 2:10 minutes. <--- Unacceptable.

My configuration - 10.2.7, 1GB Ram, 5400RPM drive, SD.

The tech told me that this is acceptable for Apple, given the processor speed and the power draw from the 5400RPM drive. Now, I just owned a 1 Ghz TiBook and with all of that crap above turned on, I got over 3 hours. Are they really telling me that the drive is causing the issue?

I am very disappointed and may be returning the machine today. Any thoughts?

A few points:

1. You can't rely on the "time remaining" indicator. The only way to tell how much time you have left is to actually run the battery down.

2. Some people are claiming longer battery life under 10.3. I'm not disputing their claims, but this is one I want to see for myself.

3. Back to my original posted question:

Has anyone here bought one of the 1 GHz aluminum 15" PowerBooks? If so, how much battery life are you getting? Apple's claims of 4.5 hours are for that model, not the 1.25 GHz one.

ae86_16v · Oct 2, 2003, 04:05 PM

Originally posted by amazing:

The product description for the new laptops says that they have 46 watt-hour batteries. The Ti had 65 watt-hour batteries.

Reading the fine print is what life is all about, sad to say.

Watt-Hour doesn't have anything to do with Battery capacity. All it means is that the new Aluminums use less energy. Or more percisely, the new Aluminum batteries generate less electricity over a certain amount of time.

Battery energy storage is usually measured in milli-amps.