MacBook battery life?

[Endurancevm]

I get about 3.5 hours of usage out of my Mac using the internet and nothing else. My friend however which has the identical setup as me claims he can get about 4-5 hours of battery life using it normally.

I was wondering what other people are getting out of their battery and if i just have some random issue where i dont get good battery life.

 

[rtdgoldfish]

I get about 4 hours of battery life on my 2.0 BlackBook. I always have the bluetooth turned off and the AirPort is always on. It really depends what you are doing on the computer though.

Do you have iTunes playing?? If so, the computer is accessing the HD more often, lowering your battery life.

 

[thugpoet22]

you can also config the usage of the battery a little click on the battery icon at the top. There are three different settings. Either "better battery life" " Normal" and "better proformance". When im in class and far from a outlit i use better battery life. Espeically when i know im just writing notes using word, when im portable around the house or somebody elses house and i have my ac adapter handy i use normal, but when im home and plugged in, i use better proformance, play with these setting a little they will save a little time on ur mac. And it also depends on what ur doing like the last posts said. The hard drive and the screen i think are the biggest drains in energy, so when their on and constantly being used your getting the biggest drainage. I hope this helps.

 

[iminimac]

try turning your screen brightness down
try 2 notches or even less if you can survive (i can and you will get used to it) and that should help improve your battery life

 

[gloss]

Brightness makes a big difference.

edit: Taking my brightness down to half added 45 minutes to my estimated battery life.

 

[Over Achiever]

I use my laptop to take notes in class with the internet on, and I can get through the morning on a full charge (8-noon) so I'd say the blackbook gets at least 4-5 hours battery life for me. It's been great =)