iTunes Draining Battery Life

[zulumonk]

I've had my Air since Christmas and am very satisfied with how it has performed thus far. I have recently started using iTunes to listen to music while surfing the web or using other non intensive programs such as Inkscape. It appears that iTunes decreases my battery life considerably more than any other program that I use, even if I have a song on pause. While using iTunes my fully charged battery will display 4 to 3.5 hours of life remaining. When I have iTunes closed my computer will display a battery life of 7 to 9 hours, often with usage times the exceed that. Has anyone had similar experiences with iTunes and poor battery life, or am I doing something wrong here?

P.S. I have already calibrated my battery.

 

[miles01110]

It's not necessarily iTunes. Battery time remaining is highly variable and depends on how intensive your activities at the time are.

Also, playing music through speakers drains battery much faster than through headphones.

 

[zulumonk]

Thanks for the tip. I do usually listen to my music through the speakers and will try using some headphones later to see if it helps.

 

[MacRuler]

i have noticed the same issue.is there any other music playing program that is less cpu intensive? thanks

 

[jace88]

iTunes has always been a resource hog on any machine (Wintel or Mac)... not surprised if expected battery remaining halves when using it!

As for alternatives, Googling it led me to this thread: http://www.redditgadgetguide.com/r/apple/comments/b3ise/ask_apple_whats_better_than_itunes/

Wade through the junk a bit and there are a few recommendations such as Ecoute and Songbird.

Note: I personally still use iTunes as I like the library management... but if possible, I'll just use my iPod.