Battery and shutdown issues

well its my wife's, i have the desktop, and thats mostly what she uses it for. she will be traveling and also watch movies on it. which brings up a question = i know i have to set the computer sleep to never and i also set the display to never. i know the computer has to be set to never, at least i think it has to be, but what about the display, will it stay awake as long as theres something playing on it, like a movie. well that answers my question about watching movies, at least on the batteries.

hotrod351 said:

well its my wife's

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Yes I understand that it's your wife's computer. But you & your wife are a "team"...so when I use the word "you"...that's a "catch-all" phrase for "whomever" is using the computer.

hotrod351 said:

which brings up a question = i know i have to set the computer sleep to never and i also set the display to never. i know the computer has to be set to never, at least i think it has to be, but what about the display, will it stay awake as long as theres something playing on it, like a movie.

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Why would you set the display & computer sleep settings to never?? These settings are very important to conserving battery power. Especially if someone needs to momentarily walk away from the computer for a short/long time.

If the display & computer sleep settings are set to "never"...then if someone walks away from the computer...the computer will continue to "chug away" at 100% power until the battery is almost completely discharged. Then it will be forced to shut down when battery power becomes absolutely minimal.

Sure...if you (your wife) will be in front of the computer 100% of the time...then the display & computer sleep settings can be set to never. But then again who can predict this 100% of the time...and this is why you also set the screen saver to "kick-in" BEFORE the computer goes to sleep. This way the screen saver acts as a warning.

Also...in many cases...you set the display sleep setting to a shorter time than the computer sleep time. This way when the display goes to sleep (or the screen saver kicks in)...it acts as a warning that the computer will go to sleep soon.

So for example...you could set display sleep to 15 minutes...and computer sleep to 20 minutes (or whatever works for you/your wife). When the display goes to sleep...then you just tap the trackpad or the keyboard...then the display wakes up again. Of course if someone is constantly using the trackpad, trackpad clicking, or typing on the keyboard...then the diplay or the computer will not got to sleep...as long as it's detecting that someone is actually using the computer.

- Nick

And in case you (or your wife) are not aware...having the display brightness on a high setting will also consume more battery power than a lower setting. Of course if display brightness needs to be "cranked up" to see things...then you gotta do what you gotta do.

But then you (your wife) also must accept shorter total runtime on a single battery charge. A brighter display setting does not come without consequences.

So let me summarize. To REALLY get the shortest possible runtime from a battery on a single charge:

- watch videos
- play games
- have the volume turned up high
- have the display brightness turned up high
- have a movie DVD spinning in the DVD drive

This will guarantee you the shortest battery runtime possible!

- Nick

Hello to you all.

First time writer, long time reader.

On my MBA 5.1 running 10.8.4 I noticed that running safari on pages with flash apps running drains battery significantly even in standby (don't understand why also in standby).

I would say I could get maybe 2,5h battery time doing that.

On the other hand I have 3,5h video time and over 4,5h surfing non flash pages, office use etc.

Hope this helps a little.

Don't believe I've ever gotten 4 hours on my '06 MBP unless I was doing almost nothing. Perhaps browsing the web/forums with flash turned off - brightness at about 20-30% (I am usually in a dark room). Maybe 2 hrs or a little over playing WoW.

ok pigoo3 i get it, me ( my wife). alright already, lol. but if i set my computer to sleep at 20 minutes and my display to 15 minutes while watching a movie, wouldnt it shut down on me. isnt the best i could do is set them both to 2 hours.

hotrod351 said:

but if i set my computer to sleep at 20 minutes and my display to 15 minutes while watching a movie, wouldnt it shut down on me. isnt the best i could do is set them both to 2 hours.

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Please read very carefully what you wrote. If the display sleep is set to 15min...and computer sleep is set to 20 min...why would the computer go to sleep at 15 min (when that's the sleep setting for the display)??

Doesn't the action at 15min happen BEFORE the action at 20 min?

- display sleep at 15min
- computer sleep at 20 min

When the display goes to sleep...it just goes dark...the computer itself is still awake and operating.

You're too single mindedly focused on movie watching. Sure...if you (your wife) is watching a 90-120 minute movie...you can temporarily set the display & computer sleep to a longer setting.

What I'm trying to explain is...when operating under other computing conditions...having the display & computer sleep settings set to a shorter time can be better. Just in case the computer is running on battery power...the user needs to step away from the computer for a short time...and sometimes...that short time turns into a longer time. If the sleep settings are set to a shorter time...then the computer will go to "sleep"...conserving battery power.

- Nick

hotrod351 said:

ok pigoo3 i get it, me ( my wife). alright already, lol. but if i set my computer to sleep at 20 minutes and my display to 15 minutes while watching a movie, wouldnt it shut down on me. isnt the best i could do is set them both to 2 hours.

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Have a look at Lighthead - Caffeine I think it will solve your problem. Set your screen display and computer sleep time to a reasonably setting in Energy Saver preference pane. Then use caffeine as needed to override the setting as needed.

http://revision3.com/tzdaily/2008-04-28caffeine Very short review.

first of all when my wife leaves the computer to do anything thats going to take longer than 15 minutes she turns it off. you make it sound like people are leaving there computers on and going to the store. in that case they need to have it shut down automatically. my desktop is set to never shut down but the screen to shut down after 15 minutes. i may be downloading something thats going to take a hour but dont need to watch it. in fact i turn my display off right when i leave the room. but she is going to be playing games and watching movies on hers and i dont want it to turn off after 1/2 hour. i found out that they wont keep running if your watching a movie. all the sudden the screen goes black and the next thing you know the computer goes to sleep. ill check out caffeine but think the easy way is set them both to never. if she forgets to turn it off after and decides to go do some shopping well than thats her problem. i believe that 98% of the time she will be watching movies it will be plugged into the charger. i do know what you mean by walking away and forgetting its one. big deal, have to put it back on the charger. i think now though that i better set hers to 2 hours, at least then it will have a setting and not many movies run that long.

hotrod351 said:

. you make it sound like people are leaving there computers on and going to the store. in that case they need to have it shut down automatically. .

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But that's exactly what many people are doing. That's part of the reason the screen dim setting is different from the computer sleep setting.I suspect it also had a lot to do with why the Wake on Lan activity feature is supported in consumer level hardware. At one point that was aimed primarily at computers intended to be used as servers.

If you did a survey of forum members I bet you would find quite a few who do not shut down their machines. They simply let them sleep until needed.

then to each there own. depends on your life style, how you do things. guess for most the factory setting are perfect. work on it then walk away without worrying about turning it off. i learned to shut it down when im done. i set it to never on my desktop for downloading purposes. i also read articles on letting it go to sleep instead of shutting it down, back and forth on that one. i shut mine down even if im going to use it in a hour, just what ive always done. what ever works for you. anyway i do appreciate all the information ive gotten here. its been really helpful. i was actually able to bring my macbook pro back from a grey screen with a circle and line threw it to full snow leopard operation. again i have to say thanks for the info, it helps pointing me in the right direction.

hotrod351 said:

first of all when my wife leaves the computer to do anything thats going to take longer than 15 minutes she turns it off.

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You're not thinking open-mined enough. Many of us do step away from the computer...thinking that we will only be away for a few minutes. Then that few minutes turns into hours...why/how...life gets in the way:

- The phone rings
- UPS or Fed Ex is at the door
- a friend or relative unexpectedly stops b
- the kids are whining for something
- something cooking on the stove needs to be looked at
- etc. etc.

There are 1000's of reasons why we may step away from our laptop computers THINKING that it will only be a few minutes...and it turns into 30 min, 60 min, or hours. If the sleep settings are set to "Never"...then the computer will completely drain the battery.

Sure...this is not a SUPER big life-ending issue...just plug it in...and recharge the battery. But guess what. The one time the laptop battery gets completely drained due to improper sleep settings...will be the time that someone needs to leave to go to the airport...school...library...etc....and now you (your wife) has a laptop computer with basically a dead battery at the airport (or on a plane)...without any battery power.

Ever had a cellphone run out of power...and you need to make a VERY important phone call?? Well that's the same situation with a laptop computer having a completely drained battery...that was completely drained unnecessarily due to improperly set sleep settings.

hotrod351 said:

...you make it sound like people are leaving there computers on and going to the store.

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Yes...that and many other things that I mentioned above.

hotrod351 said:

my desktop is set to never shut down but the screen to shut down after 15 minutes. i may be downloading something thats going to take a hour but dont need to watch it.

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Your desktop computer is not a laptop computer that has an internal battery that can operate the computer without being plugged into an electrical outlet....so it's really not a proper comparison.

The bottom line is this. I'm not here to argue with you about how you set your (your wife's) laptops sleep settings. Do whatever you want. I'm simply passing along my knowledge/experiences.

Good luck,

- Nick

hotrod351 said:

i set it to never on my desktop for downloading purposes.

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Again...comparing what you do on your desktop computer is not a proper comparison to what someone else does on a laptop computer.

In this discussion we are talking about sleep settings as it relates to "battery power"...and conserving battery power as necessary. Your desktop computer does not run on a battery...so setting your desktop computers sleep to "Never" is a TOTALLY different situation compared to a laptop computer with a battery.

- Nick

I'm going to pose a point worth pondering; does the MacBook use more power booting up vs just letting it hibernate? It depends on your usage, but if it is frequently being shut down/turned on during the course of the day, I'd contend that hibernation would be easier on the battery consumption and on the parts themselves.

im just saying the settings on my desktop are what work for me. really my wife is going to have to figure out whats going to work for her. i know when shes is playing games it wont shut down no matter what. but if when watching a movie she needs it not to shut down. all of this is going to be a learning experience. just like for the both of our cell phones are off all the time, except when we need to call some one or some place. i know most people have there cell phones on 24/7, in fact a lot only have cell phones. her computer will be used in a vech. or room so there will be power. and agree pigoo3, would be bad to have it shut down in a airport or some other place without power. different methods for different situations. anyway i think we have all voice our opinion or this and like the man said = we all two thing = opinions and butts and they both stink. naw again thanks.

doing some searching i found that you can simply go to =about this mac = and under power it will tell you your cycles. so you dont need coconut battery.

hotrod351 said:

doing some searching i found that you can simply go to =about this mac = and under power it will tell you your cycles. so you dont need coconut battery.

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Yes that is totally true. Although Coconut Battery has a much "prettier" interface!

- Nick

So, I've been keeping track. Not a total "diary", but

this is how I've been using my computer, and it's fairly typical for daily use.

7-17
9:09 p.m. - battery at 100% - started editing photos on flash drive, in Photoshop. Had one website open. Edited photos for approx. 1.5 hours, then closed Photoshop and removed flash drive. Switched websites.
11:50 p.m. - battery at 42%. Started playing game on Facebook.

12:43 a.m. - battery at 20%. Finished playing game on Facebook. Put laptop to sleep.

7-18
6:40 a.m. - battery at 17% - started charging. Opened Internet. Emptied trash.

6:55 a.m. - battery at 30% - opened second tab in Internet.

6:57 a.m. - downloaded Coconut Battery and installed. Opened and took screenshot.

8:20 a.m. - battery at 97%. Started Facebook - playing game, and surfing through it.

10:01 a.m. - battery at 100%, took charger off. Online with three tabs open, viewing websites with no automation.

10:19 a.m. - battery at 94%. closed Internet. Put computer to sleep.

11:27 a.m. - battery at 94%. Woke computer up and got online.

12:44 p.m. - battery at 67%. Logged off Internet. Put computer to sleep.

4:51 p.m. - battery at 67%. Put items into trash and emptied trash.

4:54 p.m. - battery at 65%. Logged on to Internet.

5:16 p.m. - battery at 57%. Logged off Internet.

7-19
10:54 a.m. - battery at 30%. Plugged in charger. Played Jigsaws.

11:40 a.m. - battery at 75%, still charging. Opened Internet. Playing Jigsaws.

12:52 p.m. - battery at 99%. Logged off Internet and Facebook game. Put to sleep.

9:38 p.m. - battery at 100%. Unplugged charger. Opened Internet.

11:30 p.m. - battery at 84% after plugging charger back in around 11:00.

7-20
7:30 a.m. - battery at 100%. Logged on to Internet, just browsing.

9:52 a.m. - battery at 39%. Put to sleep.

10:38 p.m. - battery at 31%. Logged on to Internet, just browsing. Put charger on.

11:50 p.m. - battery at 84%, still on charger. Logged off Internet, and put to sleep.

7-21
6:45 a.m. - battery at 100% on charger. Logged on to Internet, just browsing.

8:29 a.m. - battery at 100% because left charger on. Unplugging charger, and putting to sleep.

8:44 a.m. - battery at 99%. Opened Preview to view two screenshots. Opened Pages document.

8:49 a.m. - battery at 97%. Closed all programs, and put to sleep.

12:49 p.m. - battery at 95%. Logged on to Internet, just surfing. Opened a Pages document, and two Previews (screenshots).

1:51 p.m. - battery at 69% after playing a few game on Facebook. Put to sleep.

7:02 p.m. - battery at 65%. Emptied trash. Logged on to Internet. Played Facebook games. Played Jigsaws.

7:31 p.m. - battery at 49%. Logged off Internet and closed Jigsaws. Put to sleep.

9:49 p.m. - battery at 51%. Logged on to Internet.

10:00 p.m. - battery at 48%. Burning disks.

10:29 p.m. - battery at 38%. Plugged in charger. Playing games on Facebook.

11:05 p.m. - battery at 62%. Logged out of Facebook, and into Netflix to watch movies.

11:48 p.m. - battery at 87%. Logged off Internet. Put to sleep.

7-22
6:55 a.m. - battery at 100%. Logged on Internet and browsed.

I do know that the games I play on Facebook will drain the battery more quickly than just browsing. I understand that.

While I do have my display set higher than default (I find it quite dark at default), my energy settings are at default.

Next question, also: should I just run this laptop with the battery charger plugged in, or plug it in when the battery is showing at 50% or less, then unplug it again at 100%?

A class mate always had his plugged in, and he said he's never had any problems running his Macs that way. I've read to do it both ways.