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johann · Jul 9, 2002, 01:04 PM

ok.. this last weekend i was outside listening to music streamed from the internet on my airport equipped 500mhz Dual USB iBook (OS 9.2.2).

i had iTunes streaming and playing through external speakers and it played for a little over 5hours. i was mucho impressed as i never exercised the battery this much before.

rozwado1 · Jul 9, 2002, 05:01 PM

That's pretty damn good. I find that I usually get about 2 hours on the battery when playing a DVD. That's with the brightness all the way up and DVD Player as the only open app. Anybody else get that? Nick

G4 Mac User · Jul 9, 2002, 08:35 PM

Nick turn your brightness down just a little and also use your energy option tab and change the processor speed. You do not need full power to properly view a DVD.

Also Nick which iBook do you use? The very latest ones have a 6 hour life while the earlier models have either a 5 hour or even a 4 hour battery life.

I have the new combo 700 and have watched 2 DVD movies at the slower processor life with the brightness turned down about half way. Now of course we would need to find out how long each of these DVD's are, etc but you get the idea.

Honestly what I have found from reading all over the net about battery life is the following
1. what machine
2. which battery
3. brightness setting
4. Did you use energy saver option?
5. How long were the DVD's you watched?
6. Did you you little earbuds or the built in speakers?

Are you getting the idea? Mainly the :"Sahara" chip in the new iBooks is less power hungry and runs much cooler also.

Your Pal

G4 Mac User (iBook Combo User Too)

SeSawaya · Jul 9, 2002, 09:51 PM

wow, I 1 year old battery cant quite make a 1/2 hour anymore. POS

bleee · Jul 9, 2002, 11:03 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by johann:
ok.. this last weekend i was outside listening to music streamed from the internet on my airport equipped 500mhz Dual USB iBook (OS 9.2.2).

i had iTunes streaming and playing through external speakers and it played for a little over 5hours. i was mucho impressed as i never exercised the battery this much before.<hr /></blockquote>Mines 5 months old I get 2.5 hrs tops it even says 2.5 at a full charge. iBook 600Mhz (Late 2001). I hope they release new batteries hopefully they use Lithium "Polymer" Ion instead of the Lithium Ion

RoofusPennymore · Jul 9, 2002, 11:23 PM

I bought a iBook Dual USB when they first came out. I now get 45 mins.

zappy · Jul 10, 2002, 03:05 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by RoofusPennymore:
I bought a iBook Dual USB when they first came out. I now get 45 mins.<hr /></blockquote>I have the same problem. Seems like the iBook batteries are very good at first but wear out after about one year of usage. See this <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=003546" target="_blank">thread</a> for my experiences.

Regards

--
iBook Dual USB 500(66) - 10GB - 384MB
iPod 10GB

johann · Jul 10, 2002, 10:35 AM

wow i'm one lucky SOB then

Carl Norum · Jul 10, 2002, 11:02 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by johann:
wow i'm one lucky SOB then<hr /></blockquote>It may just be that you're old school and still using OS 9. I've never done an actual comparison (no OS 9 on my machine anymore), but I understand that people notice a severe reduction in battery life when using OS X.

sniffer · Jul 11, 2002, 07:16 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by zappy:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by RoofusPennymore:
I bought a iBook Dual USB when they first came out. I now get 45 mins.<hr /></blockquote>I have the same problem. Seems like the iBook batteries are very good at first but wear out after about one year of usage. See this <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=003546" target="_blank">thread</a> for my experiences.

Regards

--
iBook Dual USB 500(66) - 10GB - 384MB
iPod 10GB<hr /></blockquote>A power manager issue? Go to Apple Support page for details and solution. (Sorry but I don't have that link on hand right now :/ ) Hope it helps!

[ 07-11-2002, 07:17 AM: Message edited by: sniffer ]

nest18 · Jul 11, 2002, 02:12 PM

It's strange cause I got my iBook since June last year and I still got at least 2,5 hours on os X which is about the same as a brand new one.... I think it all depend how you use you battery, I usually keep my plug during the day but when I bring it back home at night, I only use the battery, so it has to be charge every day .......

Anyways, this was my experience..... for os 9 the battery life is way bigger than in os X.

mark9939 · Jul 11, 2002, 05:11 PM

My iBook's about a month old, running OS X full time. I get about 4hr15min off it w/ Airport on. About when will I have to buy a new battery?

WinTroll · Jul 13, 2002, 10:04 PM

Batteries are physical and chemical devices. They do not last forever and don't generally fail all at once. They get worse over time.

Apple (like all other laptop makers) exaggerate their battery life. You will NOT get 5 hours on an iBook regardless of what you may read. Dropping the processor to 1/4 power, dimming the screen to half and turning off everything else may get you that, but is that how you want run your laptop?

Unfortunately, battery technology has not kept pace with computers.

Phoible · Jul 13, 2002, 10:32 PM

When my iBook was new, I remember getting around 6 hours once with the brightness turned down (at word processing and the like). But that was with OS 9.1. OS X seems to suck significantly more battery power. Other things that suck battery power are a screen at the brightest and Airport.

OreoCookie · Jul 14, 2002, 04:53 AM

Used to get about 4 hrs worth of typing on my 14" Dual USB (600 MHz) at about 80 % brightness. Now it's just 3.5 hrs. I usually fully discharge it at least every second day (I type with it during classes at university).

[email protected] · Jul 17, 2002, 09:15 AM

I get about 5hrs 10mins out of my iBook G3/700 when just doing 'ordinary' stuff. Running a 1hr 25min DVD, I had about 1hr left.

Bankmann

funkboy · Jul 17, 2002, 02:01 PM

I just watched the keynote today and I got an hour and ten minutes into the keynote. An hour and ten minutes on my battery before it was at 1%... that sucks!

This is in OS X 10.1.5.

Do you think a new battery would really help? Can you test how well a battery holds its charge somehow?

Seems I'll learn a lot when 10.2 comes out - I'll see if my 500 is fast enough for 10 into the forseeable future (or if I should get a G4), I'll see if its new energy saver improves my battery much... it'll determine whether to get a new iBook or not.

Man I love owning an iBook, since saving money when I bought it lets me get a new one much easier

Korv · Jul 17, 2002, 03:01 PM

When new and using OS9, I could get 5.5 hours from my iBook battery (original white dualUSB, 10G DVD). I averaged about 4 hours per charge in real-world use.

Now I get about 3 hours per charge in real world use. I haven't stress-tested it since switching to OSX, so I can't say how long it "could" last. I'd say about 95% of that is due to the VAST superiority of OS9's power saving features versus OSX's. The rest is just due to aging batteries (a year now). I've got high hopes for Jaguar. Man do I miss being able to crank down my processor for extended use.

G4 Mac User · Jul 17, 2002, 03:47 PM

Korv

I am running OS X 10.1.5 with my new iBook Combo 700 MHz and I have the option of reduced processor power. Is this an OS X 10.1.5 feature or is it a feature with the new iBook?

Your Pal

G4 Mac User

[email protected] · Jul 19, 2002, 03:33 AM

I just had to do a little test. Just to see. Again.

I fully (?) charged Chiaki at work, let it sleep on the way home, had - a little surprisingly - a 'charge left' of 3hrs 10min when I woke it 7 hours later.
I played 1 hour of DVD (at 'normal size'; not full screen).
This resulted in a 'charge left' of 1hr 20min.
That is to say 1 hour of DVD 'ate away' 1hr 50min of batery time.

However, I really don't know whether Apple's battery timer can be trusted.
I pluged the power cable in and let Chiaki charge while sleeping overnight.
At wakeup, the 'carge left' was 5hrs 11min.
Over the next 5 minutes the timer showed the following:
4hrs 9min
3hrs 59min
4hrs 1min
3hrs 56min
4hrs 2min
4hrs 7min
4hrs 12min
4hrs 11min
4hrs 14min
4hrs 10min
4hrs 13min
while just idling...

I just don't know... <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" />

Bankmann