Spastic battery estimates

[Dyuta]

I calibrated my 17" MBP last night. However, unplugging it today leaves me somewhat perplexed.

My battery meter's fluctuating. It was at almost full brightness when I unplugged it and said 4:30. Then it jumped to 3 hours and a little bit. Once I brought the brightness down to half and it read 3:30 and then began climbing/spazzing. It later went up to 3:46, peaked at 4:00, then dropped to 3:35. Now, it's slowly climbing again.

Anyone know what the deal is?

 

[DMPDX]

Whatever is oing on with the processor, bluetooth and airport will affect the battery meeter. Mine (15" PB) Goes up and down franticaly all the time. I wouldnt worry about it.
-dsm

 

[Dyuta]

Hm. Okay. I'm going to try another calibration to be sure.

Perhaps there's something I missed? It doesn't matter how I deplete the battery does it? Just as long as I follow the steps?

-charge to full
-2 hours connected to AC (either asleep or active)
-deplete (however I see fit - including DVD on full brightness)
-sleep (until reserve is gone)
-plug AC*

*This might be where I screwed up? I plugged in the AC and then booted the computer. Was I supposed to let it charge to full without waking it?

P.S. As an aside... what is the default setting for the backlit keyboard for "Turn off when computer is not used for:"?

Thanks.

 

[Dyuta]

The second calibration seems to have worked and the estimates are much more consistent. However, another question has come up:

Does "Better Performance" actually affect how the computer operates or is it just a set of parameters for sleep and display shut-off?