Maximum battery power...

dacomputernerd · Sep 12, 2006

Hey guys, im brand new to macs. I have done some fixing/IT work on an old G4 Imac at work, and i've built 10+ PCs and maintain them on a weekly basis for my work. (just to give you an idea about my general knowledge)

I am looking to purchase a Macbook Pro 15" 2Ghz (1gig ram), as an upgrade to my HP 850Mhz laptop that i am currently using (SLOW as heck). Ill be running bootcamp for my pc apps yada yada yada, im sure you all have heard this before...

My main concern will be battery life. I am still in school and would like the battery to last 5-5.5 hours on one charge, using only microsoft word in OSX to take notes most of the time. Is it possible to get this much battery life out of the Macbook pro? Apple rates it at 4.5Hrs i believe.

I know all the standard stuff, like putting on max battery power settings, standby when not using, no cd in drive, lowest brightness level, shutoff airport/bluetooth ETC ETC ETC.

Is there anything macbook specific i can do? Yes i have read the tutorial on apple's website on how to conserve battery power, but im looking to get every last bit of battery time out of this thing.

And if 5-5.5 hrs is simply not possible, does someone make a portable external battery/charger for the Macbook pro? Maybe like a small 12V battery with an inverter built in (it would only have to be 85W).

Thanks in advanced for all your help,
Kelvyn

Kulokoy · Sep 12, 2006

calibrate your battery.

climbguy · Sep 12, 2006

Is there anyway i can prevent my mac from going into sleep when i drain the battery all the way down?

Kulokoy said:
calibrate your battery.

trpnmonkey41 · Sep 12, 2006

climbguy said:
Is there anyway i can prevent my mac from going into sleep when i drain the battery all the way down?

thats its built in functionality to prevent data loss.

climbguy · Sep 12, 2006

I understand that, but if i want to drain the battery all the way down when i callibarate it can i turn it off?

trpnmonkey41 said:
thats its built in functionality to prevent data loss.

trpnmonkey41 · Sep 12, 2006

climbguy said:
I understand that, but if i want to drain the battery all the way down when i callibarate it can i turn it off?

It would make sense but you can't. That's why apple says to leave it in the forced sleep mode for a few hours before plugging it back in

dacomputernerd · Sep 13, 2006

Kulokoy said:
calibrate your battery.

Im talking about day to day usage tips, and i would be pretty much draining it down all the way each day, so that wouldnt really be needed too often.

Any further responces would be appriciated

-Kelvyn

Kulokoy · Sep 13, 2006

with these new battery technology, you dont even have to drain them down to zero at all. why do you need to drain it all the way down each day?

do you mean to say once battery is drained, and dont use it until it is fully charged?

"i would be pretty much draining it down all the way each day, so that wouldnt really be needed too often"

- that is like calibrating your battery daily.

Chundermuffin · Sep 13, 2006

dacomputernerd said:
Im talking about day to day usage tips, and i would be pretty much draining it down all the way each day, so that wouldnt really be needed too often.

Any further responces would be appriciated

-Kelvyn

The most I've gotten out of my MBP (specs on left) is 3 hours. That's with minimum screen brightness, Airport on and not doing too much (iTunes, Firefox). From what I read it seems 3-3.5 hours is normal. Any more and you may want to consider the standard Macbook, it apparently gets around 5 hours.

dacomputernerd · Sep 13, 2006

Chundermuffin said:
The most I've gotten out of my MBP (specs on left) is 3 hours. That's with minimum screen brightness, Airport on and not doing too much (iTunes, Firefox). From what I read it seems 3-3.5 hours is normal. Any more and you may want to consider the standard Macbook, it apparently gets around 5 hours.

son. That sucks!

Do you know of any portable charging solutions then?

lifeafter2am · Sep 13, 2006

Where do you go to school? At my college in every classroom there are at the very least 6-10 plugs for people with laptops. Not to mention the library and study rooms which were built for laptop use and have probably 100 or more plugs. I usually run on battery until I need to plug in, and then plug in and let it charge while I work.

--lifeafter2am

maz94protege · Sep 13, 2006

i have the 13.3" 1.83ghz MACBOOK, i get around 3.5hrs of use thats with closing the screen off and on all day.... keeps goin in and out of sleep mode. Still not bad. i always run my battery down to 10mins or less then recharge fully before i unplug it to keep max battery life.

A great thing is my battery died in windows yesterday.... Yes i infected it with winblows via Bootcamp.... the mac just went to sleep. and the fan came on for a while i couldnt figure it out but now i know. Cool stuff.

I would like a macbook would get better life then the macbook pro, but they do have a better battery then the reg macbook. if your not doing big apps just get the macbook. its a great size and fits anywhere.

-J

dacomputernerd · Sep 13, 2006

Umm, ya my school doesnt have too many plugs, and they are always being used by other things. Id be draining the battery down everyday in class.

I would LOVE to get a macbook instead of the PRO (smaller, sexier, lighter, whiter, magnetic screen catch etc etc), but i want/need the extra graphics power for games that the pro has.

EDIT

So there isnt even a way to get 4.5 hours like apple says?. Like i said, i would just be using microsoft word for taking notes.

Is there a program to turn off the HDD? I could just load MS word, turn off the HDD, and then save on a flash drive.

climbguy · Sep 13, 2006

Don't get me wrong I like small but would you really take polycarbonate over aluminum?

dacomputernerd said:
I would LOVE to get a macbook instead of the PRO (smaller, sexier, lighter, whiter, magnetic screen catch etc etc), but i want/need the extra graphics power for games that the pro has.

dacomputernerd · Sep 13, 2006

climbguy said:
Don't get me wrong I like small but would you really take polycarbonate over aluminum?

actually, yes.

set0 · Sep 14, 2006

dacomputernerd said:
Hey guys, im brand new to macs. I have done some fixing/IT work on an old G4 Imac at work, and i've built 10+ PCs and maintain them on a weekly basis for my work. (just to give you an idea about my general knowledge)

I am looking to purchase a Macbook Pro 15" 2Ghz (1gig ram), as an upgrade to my HP 850Mhz laptop that i am currently using (SLOW as heck). Ill be running bootcamp for my pc apps yada yada yada, im sure you all have heard this before...

My main concern will be battery life. I am still in school and would like the battery to last 5-5.5 hours on one charge, using only microsoft word in OSX to take notes most of the time. Is it possible to get this much battery life out of the Macbook pro? Apple rates it at 4.5Hrs i believe.

I know all the standard stuff, like putting on max battery power settings, standby when not using, no cd in drive, lowest brightness level, shutoff airport/bluetooth ETC ETC ETC.

Is there anything macbook specific i can do? Yes i have read the tutorial on apple's website on how to conserve battery power, but im looking to get every last bit of battery time out of this thing.

And if 5-5.5 hrs is simply not possible, does someone make a portable external battery/charger for the Macbook pro? Maybe like a small 12V battery with an inverter built in (it would only have to be 85W).

Thanks in advanced for all your help,
Kelvyn

Undervolting.

I can't find any information about doing this for Mac's, but I used to do this with my Centrino-based PC laptop. My maximum battery life increased by about 45-minutes.

I was running Notebook Hardware Control on Windows XP. You have to play around with it a bit before you can find the optimal settings. I have yet to try this on my Macbook, though (as I run Windows through Parallels not Boot Camp).

Here's a bit of reading you can do about it..
http://www.nordichardware.com/Articles/?skrivelse=465

dacomputernerd · Sep 14, 2006

set0 said:
Undervolting.

I can't find any information about doing this for Mac's, but I used to do this with my Centrino-based PC laptop. My maximum battery life increased by about 45-minutes.

I was running Notebook Hardware Control on Windows XP. You have to play around with it a bit before you can find the optimal settings. I have yet to try this on my Macbook, though (as I run Windows through Parallels not Boot Camp).

Here's a bit of reading you can do about it..
http://www.nordichardware.com/Articles/?skrivelse=465

Ah. I am famillier with the concept, as i overvolt my PC to overclock it. Im reading the link now.

Edit-

I read the link and i cant find any software for OSX

dacomputernerd · Sep 15, 2006

bump

IronMac · Sep 15, 2006

Um...how about a spare battery?

rogueace · Sep 15, 2006

I've got one for you - Third party companies usually sell higher capacity batteries for mac and macbook pro laptops. Im sure you could get possibly 4-5 hours with one of those.

Maximum battery power...

dacomputernerd

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Kulokoy

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