using notebook as desktop

I will be using my notebook much of time as a desktop.
Should I remove the battery since I will be connected to the power supply?
I know that on my windows notebooks the battery will become damanged if continually connected.
Also on my windows notebook the battery slides in and out but on the mac removing the battery leaves an opening.

I dont think it matters as once the macbook is fully charged it stops chargng the battery even when connected.

tobywuk said:

I dont think it matters as once the macbook is fully charged it stops chargng the battery even when connected.

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Sorry, I don't mean the thread-jack you stapler101, but tobywuk...is what you said true? I just purchased my first MacBook about a month ago and I've treated the battery I like would with non-Apple laptops -- discharge fully before charging to keep the battery life in good condition. If what you said is true then that makes things so much easier for me

Its what I have been told by lots of people and what I have read.

tobywuk said:

Its what I have been told by lots of people and what I have read.

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you have been told correct. Once its charged, it stops, like all batteries in ALL laptops these days.

a lot of people are living in the past when they tell you to "take the battery out" to protect it.

On EVERY mac ive owned, when removing the battery while on AC, it downclocks the CPU. A lot of people havent taken notice to this. Im not sure with my 2.2 SR Macbook, but with my 1.83 CD MB, it would clock down from 1.83GHZ, to 1.00GHZ, and not budge, no matter what load is put on the CPU.

My advice: leave the battery in, enjoy it, condition it every 3ish months, and live life happily with your laptop. Dont bother with babying the battery to death, no matter what you do with LiIon, its clock is already ticking.

completely agree with kgeier.

leave it in.

not only do you not damage the battery, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches if you have black/brown out or accidentally yank the power cord.

I've been told that the life of the battery will be severely shortened if it's heated for sustained periods of time, and I think it may be true. For the first couple months I had my MBP I used only as a laptop and it would always run about 4 hours before running out. After about 2-3 months of heavy use as a desktop replacement in closed LCD mode (when it gets a lot hotter due to being closed), the life dropped considerably to barely 2 hours. Now I'm lucky if I get over 30 minutes.

I'll probably buy a new one sometime, but for home use, I'll switch out the new battery with my old one.

fleurya said:

I've been told that the life of the battery will be severely shortened if it's heated for sustained periods of time, and I think it may be true. For the first couple months I had my MBP I used only as a laptop and it would always run about 4 hours before running out. After about 2-3 months of heavy use as a desktop replacement in closed LCD mode (when it gets a lot hotter due to being closed), the life dropped considerably to barely 2 hours. Now I'm lucky if I get over 30 minutes.

I'll probably buy a new one sometime, but for home use, I'll switch out the new battery with my old one.

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30min on a MBP battery? thats unbelievable. I had a MBP and it got no where near the temperature i would think would affect the battery like that. Is something using your CPU a lot?

PC laptops don't get damaged any more then a Apple laptop would, just make sure to cycle the battery once in a while, older laptops may get damaged due to the type of batteries used, but it isn't an issue with newer ones as long as you cycle them.


30mins battery that sounds pretty brutal., heat does damage electronics, where do you live, middle of the desert

a friend of mine has the same problem he has the macbook pro 2.16ghz and only anout 30min battery life.

will applecare cover this?

2Hit6 said:

Sorry, I don't mean the thread-jack you stapler101, but tobywuk...is what you said true? I just purchased my first MacBook about a month ago and I've treated the battery I like would with non-Apple laptops -- discharge fully before charging to keep the battery life in good condition.

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Fully discharging (ie, deep discharging) a LiIon battery is probably the quickest way to kill it (short of, well, throwing it into a bonfire or something.)

If you store a battery when it’s fully discharged, it could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding any charge.

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http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

i bought a new macbook on december 2008, and in that time i was very disappointed for the battery life, after reading some forums i understand now, that the battery life depend of how many applications you are running, specially those who eat huge amount of ram. I design so, photoshop its not a light program you can use for 4 hours.

Today i decided to test it only with msn messenger and safari, (just for fun) and the time now show 4:50 hours... So i recommend keep your screen light at minimum, and set "Better Battery life" under system preferences, and use your mac like if was a troublesome pc, and there you go!

proxy said:

a friend of mine has the same problem he has the macbook pro 2.16ghz and only anout 30min battery life.

will applecare cover this?

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There are tons of battery problems out there with the MB and MBP. I just recently got my battery replaced because of the terrible battery life. As long as the battery is less than 2 years old and has less than 300 cycles, then Apple will replace the battery for free.

^^ that's nice to know! Mine is just over a year old. How do you check the cycles??

if that is the case then cant you just ask for a replacement just before you get to this figure even if your battery is still working fine?

tobywuk said:

if that is the case then cant you just ask for a replacement just before you get to this figure even if your battery is still working fine?

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No, it has to exhibit certain symptoms.

Identifying an affected battery

Affected batteries will have one or more of the following symptoms:

* Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
* Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
* Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
* Battery pack is visibly deformed.

Note: If your MacBook or MacBook Pro battery does not have any of the symptoms noted above, your battery does not need to be replaced.

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http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

My cycle count is only 137! I'll have to time my battery to see how long it actually lasts, but it's good to know I can possibly get a new one free. I wonder what they consider "low charge capacity/runtime".

Just as an example my MBP would literally turn off, not sleep, at 80-90% capacity. About 30 min or less of run time.

My MBP is now 12 1/2 months old. I use mine as a desktop replacement. It is basically plugged into AC power at all times. The battery has never been removed. Once in a while I'll take it into another room or sit outside on battery power.

According to coconutBattery, the battery is 14 months old, it's been thru 5 loadcycles, and still is at 89% of original capacity.

If you are planning to leave the laptop on a table for long periods of time, I would recommend getting a stand for it so it will dissipate heat better. It will help keep the temp down. It also raises the screen up, if you are not using an external monitor