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'Normal' Battery Life on New MBP

C

CuriousGeorgeNC

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2007
22
0
Hi all, I know that this is a bit hard to gauge because there are many variables that one must consider when it comes to battery life, but I wanted to see what sort of performance folks are getting as mine is a far cry away from the quoted 6 hours.

First off, I have the 15.4in, 2.4g model.

I am running my screen at just less than half of the full brightness setting and have MSWord, iTunes and Entourage open. I am also using an external screen (don't know if this is a culprit). My battery is lasting about 2hrs 15min before I have to plug in. I've drained and recharged the battery once while the computer is off and this is the average performance I'm getting.

Any thoughts? Thank you all...
 
I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but remember that emulating PPC processors (using Rosetta for Word and Entourage) drains power. If you don't NEED the advantages they bring, check out NeoOffice for a Word replacement :)
 
Vendor times always off

Vendors always quote a battery life number that is always too high. I'm suprised they get away with it.

Anyway, I get between 4:45-5:05 on my MBP 2.4 with power features set to max battery life, wifi on, and screen at around 60% brightness. Firing up something that maxes CPU and disk access will recaculate to around 3-3:30.

My MBP seems above average for a 15.4" laptop with a dedicated GPU and a similar size battery.
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
Yeah, I certainly am not expecting the near 6 hours of it but even half that would be nice...
Click to expand...

You'll definitely get more than half the quoted battery life but again it comes down to what you plan to do. If you're talking about regular browsing, emailing, ichat etc, then i don't see why you won't be able to get atleast 4 hrs which is pretty good IMO.
 
Well another problem I am having is that it is taking about double the time it says it needs to charge the battery. For example, at 11:45 it said it needed 1:45 to charge and as of 2:05 it still says it needs another 15 minutes...
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
... mine is a far cry away from the quoted 6 hours.

... have MSWord, iTunes and Entourage open. I am also using an external screen (don't know if this is a culprit).
Click to expand...
As others have mentioned, running apps that require Rosetta will drain the battery more. Driving an external display will surely tax your system's resources and therefore, yes, even the battery.

Also, do you have Bluetooth and Airport enabled? If so, those two drain the battery as well.
 
I seem to be getting 5.5 or so with just internet surfing and chatting online. I get around 4, maybe a little more with more intensive programs running. Overall I am pleased with the battery life in a product of this power!!
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
Hi all, I know that this is a bit hard to gauge because there are many variables that one must consider when it comes to battery life, but I wanted to see what sort of performance folks are getting as mine is a far cry away from the quoted 6 hours.

First off, I have the 15.4in, 2.4g model.

I am running my screen at just less than half of the full brightness setting and have MSWord, iTunes and Entourage open. I am also using an external screen (don't know if this is a culprit). My battery is lasting about 2hrs 15min before I have to plug in. I've drained and recharged the battery once while the computer is off and this is the average performance I'm getting.

Any thoughts? Thank you all...
Click to expand...

Your time seems to be way lower than what could reasonably be expected. I suspect, as others have already pointed out, that the second screen and two of the apps may be eating up more power than expected.

What you might want to do is a little bit more of a 'scientific test':
1) Same apps open as listed except no second screen (record the time that the battery lasts)
2) Remove MSWord, keep iTunes and Entourage open and reconnect the second screen (record the time that the battery lasts)
3) Remove Entourage, keep iTunes and MSWord open with the second screen connected (record the time that the battery lasts)

This will give you some data which should point to where the power drain is coming from.

Keep in mind that high energy requirements from two separate items (say the second screen and Entourage/MSWord) will compound the drain when open or operating together.

Report back with your findings as they will be helpful to everyone.

Sopranino
 
Sopranino-thanks for the suggestion. I've launched a bit of a test right now, removing the second screen and turning off AirPort and Bluetooth, assuming this should give me, according to what others have said, a good 4 hours or so. Early indication however is that it is still rather low, the battery has been disconnected for 20min and 16% has drained already with an expected life of just under 2.25hr. This is my second MBP in two weeks which is why I'm a bit bummed that there appears to be a problem as repeat trips to the Apple Store aren't fun.

P.S. My screen settings are less than half brightness as well...
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
Sopranino-thanks for the suggestion. I've launched a bit of a test right now, removing the second screen and turning off AirPort and Bluetooth, assuming this should give me, according to what others have said, a good 4 hours or so. Early indication however is that it is still rather low, the battery has been disconnected for 20min and 16% has drained already with an expected life of just under 2.25hr. This is my second MBP in two weeks which is why I'm a bit bummed that there appears to be a problem as repeat trips to the Apple Store aren't fun.

P.S. My screen settings are less than half brightness as well...
Click to expand...

Okay, you're on the right path, however I would not (for the test) turn off the Airport and Bluetooth unless they were not on when you posted the original battery life. The whole idea is to isolate whichever device or app is causing a large power drain. By turning off the Airport and Bluetooth at the same time you risk biasing the test towards a larger delta in energy usage than you would normally get.

Just a suggestion:)

Sopranino
 
Sopranino said:
Okay, you're on the right path, however I would not (for the test) turn off the Airport and Bluetooth unless they were not on when you posted the original battery life. The whole idea is to isolate whichever device or app is causing a large power drain. By turning off the Airport and Bluetooth at the same time you risk biasing the test towards a larger delta in energy usage than you would normally get.

Just a suggestion:)

Sopranino
Click to expand...

Well I think this is my impatience because I figure that if I get anything less than 2.5hrs even with AirPort off then something is wrong with the battery and I should just take it back and start over once again...and I am beginning to think this is the case because the % just keeps falling and I get different time quotes (i.e. 1:30 vs. 2:15) for how long it will last each time I wave the mouse over the battery gauge, even when at the same %age.
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
Well I think this is my impatience because I figure that if I get anything less than 2.5hrs even with AirPort off then something is wrong with the battery and I should just take it back and start over once again...and I am beginning to think this is the case because the % just keeps falling and I get different time quotes (i.e. 1:30 vs. 2:15) for how long it will last each time I wave the mouse over the battery gauge, even when at the same %age.
Click to expand...

You do have a point there. I definitely agree that you should be over 2.5 hours with the tested setup. Good luck

Sopranino
 
Wow lots of battery life for you guys i am getting about tops 3:50 with wifi, firefox and mail.....with screen half way....you guys have any tips.....have bluetooth off
 
After reading this post at 11a EST, I decided to run a cheap test on my new MBP. I unplugged the power that time, and I have been running iTunes, Apple Mail, Firefox, Airport, and Bluetooth. The brightness is set at about 50%.

It is 3.40pm, and my MBP is still alive and kicking... and projects about 15 minutes of more batter power, before it goes to sleep.

Considering the amount of power this thing has, I would say that my battery life is impressive (4.5hrs+)
 
CuriousGeorgeNC said:
OK, I think I might have found my problem:

Under power settings in the Apple Menu:

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5503
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3430

I have 2 cycles on it...
Click to expand...

That is NOT good! Time for a trip to the Apple Store for a new battery.

However it is good to see that the reason is a bad battery and not the apps or devices causing a high energy drain.

Sopranino
 
Sopranino said:
That is NOT good! Time for a trip to the Apple Store for a new battery.

However it is good to see that the reason is a bad battery and not the apps or devices causing a high energy drain.

Sopranino
Click to expand...

Don't know if this was it for sure--here's why. I tried to Apple+Q out of the System Info a few times and when I would look at the remaining charge, the # was the same. For some reason after the 4th/5th time I did it, there was a big drop, so it was just corresponding to the battery being drained.
 
Sopranino said:
That is NOT good! Time for a trip to the Apple Store for a new battery.

However it is good to see that the reason is a bad battery and not the apps or devices causing a high energy drain.

Sopranino
Click to expand...

Sometimes it can take 5-10 cycles to get it going i am on number 6 now..... was getting 1hr on the first few now it quotes 4:20
 
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