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ae86_16v · Dec 7, 2002, 10:46 PM

I got an Ti800 and I generally only get about 2:30~3:00hrs at most...

And that includes all the energy conservation and DIMMING of the screen to less than half brightness.

What else do you guys do to get better battery life?

truth_in_nyc · Dec 7, 2002, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
I got an Ti800 and I generally only get about 2:30~3:00hrs at most...

And that includes all the energy conservation and DIMMING of the screen to less than half brightness.

What else do you guys do to get better battery life?

2 1/2 hrs...

CyberPet · Dec 7, 2002, 11:15 PM

In the beginning I got about 2 hours 50 min, but after I've been using the battery for a while (it's brand new, got it 3 days ago) the more power I get out of it. Now it's about 3.5 hours.

TiBook 1GHz Superdrive

dvd · Dec 8, 2002, 12:21 AM

about 2 hours maybe a little more.. not as much as my previous laptop (ibook 700) which pulled 4 hours.

Stelliform · Dec 8, 2002, 02:04 AM

I get 2.75 on my New TiBook.

It is funny how it miss reads the battery after getting out of the cold. (and I am in Louisiana so We are talking 50 - 60 degrees)

I will wake it up when it is cold and it tells me I have 1 minute left. Then in 5 minutes it is back to 2 - 3 hours. I can literally watch the counter tick up the time. I guess the cold messes with the sensor. If I press the button on the bottom of the battery, the lights always work right.

adamberti · Dec 8, 2002, 02:34 AM

Originally posted by Stelliform:

It is funny how it miss reads the battery after getting out of the cold. (and I am in Louisiana so We are talking 50 - 60 degrees)

I will wake it up when it is cold and it tells me I have 1 minute left. Then in 5 minutes it is back to 2 - 3 hours. I can literally watch the counter tick up the time. I guess the cold messes with the sensor. If I press the button on the bottom of the battery, the lights always work right.

I'm not too sure about the sensor being affected, but batteries in general are affected by cold - with chemical reasons behind this (dont ask me). If you're ever struggling for a little more use out of your batteries(like on a camera - it sucks when you're shooting something that wont be there for long and your batteries die), take them out and breathe on them and warm them in your hands and you can sometimes get more juice out of them. However I 'm pretty positive that this wouldn't work that well, or even be effective, on a PB battery. I can just see someone attempting that now....it would look pretty silly. I think you should leave this trick to double A's and smaller batteries.

RMXO · Dec 8, 2002, 04:40 AM

3-3.5 hrs with my 800 DVI. waiting for my PBSD....

ae86_16v · Dec 8, 2002, 05:08 AM

Originally posted by RMXO:
3-3.5 hrs with my 800 DVI. waiting for my PBSD....

Screen at full brightness?

PowerBub · Dec 8, 2002, 05:49 AM

i've heard that the battery can last up to twice as long using OS 9. Can anyone verify this claim?

DVD Plaza · Dec 8, 2002, 09:04 AM

My 800DVI lasts between 3-3.5 hours. My new 1GHz SD lasts 4 hours - very impressed!

Paso · Dec 8, 2002, 09:10 AM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
And that includes all the energy conservation and DIMMING of the screen to less than half brightness.

Same Settings here and my 1GHz Combo runs up to 4 hours (airport on), I am also VERY impressed!
Screen dimmed to half brightness, which is at least brighter than my Ti 550 at full brightness ...

claughery · Dec 8, 2002, 03:23 PM

2 to 2.5...

t_hah · Dec 8, 2002, 04:23 PM

3-3.5,maybe even 4.
Ti 800 DVI, 1GB of RAM, Airport.

t

RMXO · Dec 8, 2002, 04:30 PM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:

Screen at full brightness?

nope. i never use my screen at full brightness. always at 4-6 setting.

ae86_16v · Dec 8, 2002, 04:32 PM

Originally posted by PowerBub:
i've heard that the battery can last up to twice as long using OS 9. Can anyone verify this claim?

I don't know...since OS 9 is less graphic intensive?

emerrill · Dec 8, 2002, 06:54 PM

Originally posted by ae86_16v:

I don't know...since OS 9 is less graphic intensive?

No, its cause OS X uses so many more system files, and the OS wasn't writen to reduce disk usage. So the OS uses the HD alot more often then OS 9 did.

emerrill · Dec 8, 2002, 06:59 PM

I have a 1GHz 1GB 60GB(I like having all the Specs be in G's:-) ) Combo

With the screen 2 notches down from max, airport on, I can watch a DVD for 245-300.

Normal Usage, screen full brightness, airport on, VPC, iTunes, IE, I get about 2

Now, I went on a long road trip, and got a tape deck adapter for my TiB, and I made a long playlist, dimmed the screen all the way off, and got ~6:15!!!! I know thats with the screen off, but I was still throughly impressed. Now its less if you manually change tracks alot instead of in the playlist, cause it has to spin up the HD more often.

yzeater · Dec 8, 2002, 11:15 PM

PB Ti 500. 30 gig. Brightest screen, energy conservation on. 40 minutes

It's at AppleCare as we speak getting that replaced

ngrundy · Dec 9, 2002, 07:18 AM

i get an average of 3.5hours from my 1ghz/combo when using it for notetaking at uni. running full brightness on the lcd.

MickS · Dec 9, 2002, 07:46 AM

I get between 3 and 4 hours on my 667/DVD with brightness at around half.

yticolev · Dec 9, 2002, 07:57 AM

I tried out the latest battery in my original Ti500. Routinely gets 5 hours in 9.2.2 without any power management other than hard drive spin down. Easy to believe that it does have 20% more capacity. And I also believe that it is wise to use the latest power adaptor. It takes well over three hours to recharge using the old one on the Ti500.

RMXO · Dec 9, 2002, 03:14 PM

im curious did all of you calibrated your battery. i notice i got like 30-45 mins longer battery life after calibrating my battery 4 times.

i drained my battery fully until the laptop went to sleep, then recharged if. for ppl that didnt calibrated their laptop. you might want to try it to see if it helps.

im about to order the new PBSD today. hopefully the new 61watt battery last longer than my 800 DVI one.

Over Achiever · Dec 9, 2002, 04:13 PM

Exactly how many times are you supposed to calibrate your battery? Does discharging it multiple times decrease the batt life...whats the middle ground here?

cambro · Dec 9, 2002, 05:57 PM

When I run my Ghz combon on battery, I turn screen brightness down to about 2 clicks below half and generally run on reduced performance mode (which cycles CPU down to 667 according to Sean et al.). I am very impressed with battery life and it will go about 3-4 hours, depending on usage.

UnixMac · Dec 9, 2002, 06:33 PM

Im getting a good 4 hours on a light use, and just under 3 on heavy.

Much better than a pc still.

ngrundy · Dec 10, 2002, 08:51 AM

Originally posted by ngrundy:
i get an average of 3.5hours from my 1ghz/combo when using it for notetaking at uni. running full brightness on the lcd.

a quick update on this, i got 5(!) hours out of the battery on my pb today.

the lecture theatres have the lights turned down due to overheads so i turned my lcd down to the last notch on the brightness. I was still able to read the display fine. I also had all of my network devices disabled and sound was muted. any applications that didn't need to be running wern't running (basicly word and powerpoint were the only apps running)

~Nick

CyberPet · Dec 10, 2002, 11:22 AM

Originally posted by Over Achiever:
Exactly how many times are you supposed to calibrate your battery? Does discharging it multiple times decrease the batt life...whats the middle ground here?

According to the manual it says something like this:

You get the most out of the battery if you drain the battery completly during the first week and then recharge it to maximum again, once.

To calibrate the battery you only need to do this once.

I'm comparing the battery I've been draining completly for a week now (about twice a day) and the second battery that only got two drains and recharges. The battery with the more drains and charges has about 40-45 minutes more juice in it than the battery that has not had the same treatment.

So I'm going to give the other, spare battery, the same treatment for a few days and see if there's any diffrence. If not, then there's big diffrence between diffrent batteries as well. How long they last during the same type of use etc.

StiZeven · Dec 10, 2002, 12:19 PM

Originally posted by CyberPet:

According to the manual it says something like this:

You get the most out of the battery if you drain the battery completly during the first week and then recharge it to maximum again, once.

To calibrate the battery you only need to do this once.

I'm comparing the battery I've been draining completly for a week now (about twice a day) and the second battery that only got two drains and recharges. The battery with the more drains and charges has about 40-45 minutes more juice in it than the battery that has not had the same treatment.

So I'm going to give the other, spare battery, the same treatment for a few days and see if there's any diffrence. If not, then there's big diffrence between diffrent batteries as well. How long they last during the same type of use etc.

If you have the new PowerBook then the one in your notebook is the longer lasting 61wh battery versus your spare battery which is 55wh. Apple is not yet shipping the new 61wh batteries separately so even if you bought a spare TiBook battery along with the new TiBook, it's still the older battery. This could be another reason why the one in your TiBook seems to last longer.

CyberPet · Dec 10, 2002, 04:49 PM

Originally posted by StiZeven:
If you have the new PowerBook then the one in your notebook is the longer lasting 61wh battery versus your spare battery which is 55wh. Apple is not yet shipping the new 61wh batteries separately so even if you bought a spare TiBook battery along with the new TiBook, it's still the older battery. This could be another reason why the one in your TiBook seems to last longer.

Hmmm... how can you tell? Both batteries has the same Model Number and the same Voltage. But I don't see anywhere on the battery where it would say 61 or 55 wh?

StiZeven · Dec 10, 2002, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by CyberPet:

Hmmm... how can you tell? Both batteries has the same Model Number and the same Voltage. But I don't see anywhere on the battery where it would say 61 or 55 wh?

As far as I know, the new 61wh battery model number is A1012 (or is similar to this numbering scheme). If both your batteries show this kind of model number then they should both be the new ones. The older 55wh battery that Apple is still selling at the Apple Store has this model number - M8244G/B. Not sure how accurate any of this is, perhaps someone more in the know can clarify. From what I was told, Apple is not shipping the new batteries separately yet as an accessory (at least not in the US from the date I inquired about it). This is why I haven't purchased a spare battery.

Over Achiever · Dec 10, 2002, 08:47 PM

Ok...so drain completely and recharge only once in the first week? Or throughout the first week discharge completely and recharge multiple times?

ngrundy · Dec 11, 2002, 12:09 AM

I just cycle mine, charge, discharge till there is about 3 mins of battery power and then plug the charger in and not unplug untill the battery is charged again.

CyberPet · Dec 11, 2002, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by StiZeven:
As far as I know, the new 61wh battery model number is A1012 (or is similar to this numbering scheme).

Aaah!

My both batteris has Model No: A1012, so that's good news.

I do notice that when recyling the batteries, i.e. totally discharge and then fully charge increases the life of both batteries. Now I've gained about 10 min on the second battery since yesterday. Whoo hoo.

graphics84 · Dec 11, 2002, 12:52 PM

Ti550

running PSD 7...

I get 2.5 hours

I go to a lot of coffee shops... so I usually know where I can plug in

the only good thing about Starbucks is they don't care abut power usage... Pete's put covers on there plugs...

My dream is a coffee shop with nice wide tables, lots of plugs and free WLAN...

once I win the lottery I'm so building that... guess I should at least play

Over Achiever · Dec 11, 2002, 08:11 PM

Ok...so I need to get this straight.

If I use my computer on battery, then I should use it until there is only a few minutes left then fully charge...everytime? Do it for a day? 2-3 times? For a week? a month?

The length of time is whats confusing me. I want to get the most out of my battery, but I don't want the battery to last me only one year.

Thanks.

dajay · Dec 12, 2002, 08:50 AM

Originally posted by Over Achiever:
Ok...so I need to get this straight.

If I use my computer on battery, then I should use it until there is only a few minutes left then fully charge...everytime? Do it for a day? 2-3 times? For a week? a month?

The length of time is whats confusing me. I want to get the most out of my battery, but I don't want the battery to last me only one year.

Thanks.

For info on battery care, check the threads here and here .

CyberPet · Dec 14, 2002, 12:18 PM

Now both my batteries has been drained and recharged the same amount. Now both batteries has the same amount of usage.

So going this route of charging and then discharging the battery a few times in a row seem to do wonders for the battery. I've gained at least 30 minutes doing this. (now I think I've hit the limit, about 3 hours and 20 min on a fully charged battery with the fan running all the time).

vsurfer · Jan 9, 2003, 11:32 PM

Ti 1 ghz SD

Screen half brightness, airport on, averages about 3.5 hrs.

PS. With Virtual PC on I get about 5 miles to the gallon -- see that battry life indicator drop down from 3:35 to 2:40 in 5 mintues flat!

Cellery · Jan 9, 2003, 11:53 PM

1GHz SD TiBook, AirPort on, screen brightness at 8 dots, 3 hours battery life.

667 MHz TiBook (VGA), AirPort on, brightness at 6 dots, 2 1/2 hours battery life.

I wish the 5 hours Apple lists was actual real-life working time, I've never gone above 3 1/2 hours on any of my TiBooks.

SwarmyCurve · Jan 10, 2003, 12:00 AM

I would say around 3 hours for the 1ghz TiBook (and also my Pismo was almost that much).

How in the world does Apple figure 5 hours?! I mean is it in OSX just staying inactive with only the Finder open and really low lcd brightness?

garetjax · Jan 10, 2003, 05:41 PM

Has anyone ever checked to see how long their batteries last when PB is in sleep mode with lid closed. Mine seem to drain about 10% per day.

Pismo 500, battery last 2-2.5 hrs (max brightness); last 2-3 yrs when computer turned off