first post: what would be the best practices for take care of battery of my macBook?

[sugar]

:dummy: hi, i just got my new macbook 13" and i use from 5 to 10 hours per day... i just calibrated the battery according the macbook user-manual, but sincerily its my very first lap top.
what do you recommend me? because im not sure if its better to have it always plugged to a/c (even when its fully charged) or only plug it to a/c when battery needs to be charged... (it means many recharges per day)

thanks in advance


Aldo

[NanoBite]

This is only my experiences with other devices, but isn't a/c going to preserve the battery life?

Like, if you're near a power source and have the adapter, then why use the battery?

[sugar]

and once i use it from battery should i use that way until battery goes low or can i plug to a/c even if battery its half charged? does it affect to the battery life?

[iWonder]

Um.. I would drain the battery then plug it in, just for good measure.

Also, keeping it on the A/C does not effect the battery, Just drain it at least once a month.

[itsdaydrmer]

what u can do is this. you can pull out the battery and just use the ac when u have a wall jack, that way your laptop runs straight of the ac, and when u don't have a ac, just use the battery alone, and when the battery runs low, then use both the ac and the battery. there you go. now you combined 2 strategies into one. xD hope i helped.

[iWonder]

what u can do is this. you can pull out the battery and just use the ac when u have a wall jack, that way your laptop runs straight of the ac, and when u don't have a ac, just use the battery alone, and when the battery runs low, then use both the ac and the battery. there you go. now you combined 2 strategies into one. xD hope i helped.

Just don't have anyone trip over the power cord. It may be magnetic and detach instantly, with no battery your laptop lost its only source of power. Remember: The laptop is smart enough to stop charging the battery once its full and just redirects it to the computer.

[sugar]

thanks to all!
great tips!

[PowerBookG4]

I thought with the new batteries you did not have to do that any more.

[sugar]

guys, excuseme for crossposting, but could you please giveme a hand with this topic?
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/sho...d.php?p=258275
(its mine and under macos x category)

[transamman1999]

why would you drain the battery completely once a month??? using that logic would be similar to saying you should also let your vehicle's battery die once a month???

correct me if im wrong but i thought that the life of laptop batteries depended on the number of times it has cycled between charging and being discharged???
so, in my mind, the more it cycles, and the more times it goes below 50%, the quicker it will lose its ability to hold a full charge.

my old Toshiba PC laptop battery only holds about 1-3 minutes of charge now that it is 3-3.5 yrs old and has been discharged and recahrged so many times. that's why i think that purposely discharging your entire battery is the stupidest thing you could possibly do to a new computer.

[Aslain]

i think that purposely discharging your entire battery is the stupidest thing you could possibly do to a new computer.

It's in the manual; it's the third step of calibration.

[sugar]

yes, i read the manual and im not sure if would be a good practice to calibrate the battery monthly...
once again: its bad to plug the a/c adaptor even if battery is not fully charged?
i asked that because sometimes i need to turn on the macbook without a/c lets say for about 30 minutes and i dont know if let it drain or to plug to a/c for recharge...

[ripfrankwhite]

Depends on how often you use it.

"Repeat the calibration process every two months or so to keep your battery fully functioning. If you use you MacBook infrequently, it's best to recalibrate the battery at least once a month."

I rarely use mine, so I do it every month. But if you use it a lot, then just do it every few months.

[sugar]

i use it such 5~10 hours daily, and what do you recommend me when i use the battery power for 20-30 minutes, should i let it drain or can i plug it to a/c for continue using later?

[transamman1999]

whatever. i never plan on draining my battery completely. sounds utterly ridiculous to me. i dont understand how that can "re-calibrate" your battery.