Battery life...case...heat...plastic vs. aluminum?

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I've had my Macbook since 3/11 and it seems like the battery life fluctuates. Is this normal? Does my Macbook case trap the heat and my keyboard cover, which therefore decreases my battery life? Are the plastic Macbooks not as good as the new uni-body ones when it comes to heat flow and battery life?
 
len0475

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Describe in details what you mean by "fluctuate" please.

My MacBook fluctuates in battery life also depending on what I'm doing.
 
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len0475 said:
Describe in details what you mean by "fluctuate" please.

My MacBook fluctuates in battery life also depending on what I'm doing.
Click to expand...

Watching something online versus being on a website. I always see my battery time going up and down. Aren't Macbooks supposed to have a battery life of 4-5 from a full charge? It seems like it starts in the 3 range...
 
bobtomay

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The fluctuation of reported battery time remaining is normal.

This is an estimated time and is derived from what you are currently doing and the processes which are running.

The more processor and graphics intensive the application(s) you are using, the faster the battery charge will be consumed.

You can't expect the same battery life while watching video or playing a game as you might achieve while working with a text document.

Having airport and/or bluetooth running will use the battery faster than having them turned off.

Etc.
 
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What bobtomay said + most of those battery life tests/reports are done with the most miserly settings to stretch the runtime. ie: reduced brightness, doing non-processor intensive operations, wifi and/or bluetooth off.

Here's a good faq you might want to check out:

What is the MacBook battery life in "real-world" tests? How does the battery life of different MacBook models compare to one another? @ EveryMac.com

in the first real paragraph of the article, it mentions that using wifi drops the average battery life considerably.

You're watching something online is using battery fast on two levels - processor work to display a video (data streamed in has to be assembled and displayed as a video) and your network connection (assumed to be wifi).
 
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bobtomay said:
The fluctuation of reported battery time remaining is normal.

This is an estimated time and is derived from what you are currently doing and the processes which are running.

The more processor and graphics intensive the application(s) you are using, the faster the battery charge will be consumed.

You can't expect the same battery life while watching video or playing a game as you might achieve while working with a text document.

Having airport and/or bluetooth running will use the battery faster than having them turned off.

Etc.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.
 
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Nethfel said:
What bobtomay said + most of those battery life tests/reports are done with the most miserly settings to stretch the runtime. ie: reduced brightness, doing non-processor intensive operations, wifi and/or bluetooth off.

Here's a good faq you might want to check out:

What is the MacBook battery life in "real-world" tests? How does the battery life of different MacBook models compare to one another? @ EveryMac.com

in the first real paragraph of the article, it mentions that using wifi drops the average battery life considerably.

You're watching something online is using battery fast on two levels - processor work to display a video (data streamed in has to be assembled and displayed as a video) and your network connection (assumed to be wifi).
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link.
 
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I'm sure this has been written

Do any of you hate the battery life from a full charge? What has Apple done in the past up until now with this situation? Do you know if there are going to be positive changes with this in the near future?
 
chscag

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If you're unhappy with the battery life of your MacBook, buy the latest 17" MacBook Pro unibody with the new non removable battery which Apple says lasts 8 hours..... Link

Regards.
 
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Yea...because Apple notebooks have crap battery life compared to the majority of other brands. I suggest you sort out your charge and discharge cycle and stop posting hate threads which are completely pointless.
 
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fvsurfer said:
Do any of you hate the battery life from a full charge? What has Apple done in the past up until now with this situation? Do you know if there are going to be positive changes with this in the near future?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The two Apple notebooks I've owned have both had comparable or longer battery lives than the notebooks of pretty much everyone else with whom I work. Maybe you should try turning off features you know you won't use, like Bluetooth or even Airport if you don't need the Internet.
 
Dysfunction

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True Bassist said:
Yea...because Apple notebooks have crap battery life compared to the majority of other brands. I suggest you sort out your charge and discharge cycle and stop posting hate threads which are completely pointless.
Click to expand...
Donno, the battery life on my 08 mbp is pretty much identical to the battery life on my 08 T61p (WITH the extended life battery).
 
cwa107

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My early '08 MacBook Pro does about 4 hours on a full charge. That's pretty decent in my experience for a notebook of this class.
 
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People who feel Mac Notebooks have bad battery life compared to all the PC Notebooks out there should read Anandtechs test on Notebook battery life. Makes the PC Notebooks look pretty bad.
 
vansmith

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My MB has fantastic battery life. I cab get between 4 and 5 hours depending on what I am doing.

Are you experiencing problems?
 
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chscag said:
If you're unhappy with the battery life of your MacBook, buy the latest 17" MacBook Pro unibody with the new non removable battery which Apple says lasts 8 hours..... Link

Regards.
Click to expand...

Too late. Already bought the new white exactly a month ago. That's way too expensive for me!
 
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True Bassist said:
Yea...because Apple notebooks have crap battery life compared to the majority of other brands. I suggest you sort out your charge and discharge cycle and stop posting hate threads which are completely pointless.
Click to expand...

Sort out my charge and discharge cycles? I'm not posting hate threads, although I can see this thread as pointless in your opinion.
 
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Discerptor said:
I'm not sure what you're talking about. The two Apple notebooks I've owned have both had comparable or longer battery lives than the notebooks of pretty much everyone else with whom I work. Maybe you should try turning off features you know you won't use, like Bluetooth or even Airport if you don't need the Internet.
Click to expand...

Really? My Bluetooth is always off. Turning off my Airport is a good idea when I'm not using the Internet. Thank you.
 
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Dysfunction said:
Donno, the battery life on my 08 mbp is pretty much identical to the battery life on my 08 T61p (WITH the extended life battery).
Click to expand...

What's a 08 T61p?
 
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cwa107 said:
My early '08 MacBook Pro does about 4 hours on a full charge. That's pretty decent in my experience for a notebook of this class.
Click to expand...

Do you charge until the blue light shows? Or passed the blue light?
 

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