17" MBP: AC Power with and without the battery & Speed Issues

[Dyuta]

Does anyone know why the speed of the MBP is locked at the minimum (1000 MHz) when the battery is removed and the computer is operating on AC power?

I have the 17" MBP and I heard this was an issue for the 15" model after the SMC Firmware update... was the Firmware already pre-installed when I got it?

I figured that when I was doing intensive work in FCP, I'd leave the battery removed so it didn't get worn out by constantly have a current flowing through it... now, it seems that I have to keep it in if I want full power.

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

[Eniregnat]

...I figured that when I was doing intensive work in FCP, I'd leave the battery removed so it didn't get worn out by constantly have a current flowing through it... now, it seems that I have to keep it in if I want full power....

Can't comment on the other stuff. I edit media, use FCP, yada, yada, yada. Your battery turns your laptop into a computer with a built in UPS. If your tight on disk space, it is likely that you are not autosaveing the project often. So if the power is interupted, you could loose a good chunk of work. You aren’t really saving much battery life by removing it. I'd rather buy a new battery in a year or two than loose a good edit, or corupt a project. But thats me, and I rarely use FCP, as I work mostly with audio.

I have 3 bats, but I roam around a lot. I am curious as to how the MBP works with FCP.

 

[Dyuta]

Well, I'm fairly new to FCP but things seem to be running lickety-split in my limited experience.

...and I take every precaution when running on AC sans battery. The MagSafe is secure and there's virtually no chance of it coming out and the cable's not lying out in the open where it can be snagged. I'd probably have to grab my 17" and yank it off the table to unplug the power.

You bring up valid points, but I was burned by a battery that died after 1 1/2 years on my Dell laptop when I ran intensive programs for extended periods on AC with the battery in. It's a situation unlikely to be repeated, but I'm still cautious (but only in this respect, ironically enough).