battery life

[montymac]

i just bought a new iBook G4 and i'm wondering if anyone has tips on extending the battery life. with previous computers, i would keep the battery out while i had it plugged in, which seemed to help lengthen its life. this isn't really an option with the way the iBook battery is installed. do most people just work with their iBooks continuosly plugged in? or would be it better to treat it like other portable electronics - charging the battery to full, using it unplugged all the time, and recharging when the battery dies? any thoughts?

 

[muso]

I get really good life out of my 900 G3 (4+ hours) and I treat it pretty badly... I have it plugged in when I can but often I'll unplug it for about half an hour, plug it back in for 2 hours, run it down to 5%, charge it up to 50%, use it for 20 minutes and then plug it in and go to sleep.

I find that even with the brightness turned almost all the way down, the screen is still easy to read in most conditions. There's an option to use 'reduced' cpu performance in the energy saver preference too.

 

[montymac]

thanks for your input muso. i found an interesting thread about it over at macnn.com - http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?threadid=166873.
seems like everyone has their own theory, and that in the end, there's only so long a battery's going to last you. i'm brand new to mac, the new mac at least, and i just don't want to mess up my ibook.