Complete Guide to Caring for your MacBook

[Lost_Lady]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some general advice on taking care of my MBP. I've had mine for about 9 months and at this moment only use it for internet, iTunes, email, and sometimes Logic and GarageBand (not daily). I take it off power probably 1-2 times a week. I also fully drain the batter once a month and leave it dead overnight then plug it in in the morning. I'm wondering how to improve and keep the performance of my MBP at it's best. I also have iStat Pro and Onyx installed and monitor those as necessary as well. I have attached a snap shot of my current battery status. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Mac OSX 10.5.8
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1067 MHz DDR3

 

[rfe959]

You all ready do more than I've ever heard.

BTW, thanks for the info on your battery maintenance routine.

 

[6string]

Everything you are doing is fine, but you are calibrating your battery too often, and on top of that, your battery stats are average to say the least.
This is my original battery and as you can see, 29months with 337 cycles, as well as original capacity of 5020mAh and current capacity of 4791.
I don't think you got the best battery when you got your Mac, and I would actually take it to Apple esp as your original capacity was 4800mAh and I believe it should have been 6150mAh for your MBP.

 

[Lost_Lady]

You all ready do more than I've ever heard.

BTW, thanks for the info on your battery maintenance routine.

Really? I feel like I could be doing more. Maybe I'm a bit over protective of my MBP.

Everything you are doing is fine, but you are calibrating your battery too often, and on top of that, your battery stats are average to say the least.
This is my original battery and as you can see, 29months with 337 cycles, as well as original capacity of 5020mAh and current capacity of 4791.
I don't think you got the best battery when you got your Mac, and I would actually take it to Apple esp as your original capacity was 4800mAh and I believe it should have been 6150mAh for your MBP.

I will call Apple in the morning. Thanks for the advice! It seems as though the battery runs out kinda quickly when I take it off the power supply, but idk.

Also, is there any suggestions for overall performance (ie; running programs, deleting files, etc.)

 

[the8thark]

You might think about spending $30US for 10.6 (Snow Leopard). A more optimised system will surely help with battery life.

 

[6string]

As for suggestions for overall performance.
Mac's are great like that.... they require very little to no maintenance really
Just keep at least 10-15% or more of your hard drive free, stay on top of emptying your trash, keep your desktop as free of icons, links, etc. as possible.
ie. What I do, is create a folder on my desktop, and keep all my desktop items in there.
Keep as few login items at start up as possible (which you will find in system preferences>accounts), and stay up to date with your updates for Apple and 3rd party applications.
As for running OnyX, best not to run it more than once every 1-3 months, which you should really only use the automation tab, unless there are specific things that you are targeting.
Other than that all I can think of at the moment is to enjoy using your Mac.

 

[quin]

6Strings, how are you able to keep your cycles at only 300+ for 29months... I only have mine for 4 months it's already at 110 cycles. Do you leave the charger plugged in for extended period while using the notebook.

 

[6string]

6Strings, how are you able to keep your cycles at only 300+ for 29months... I only have mine for 4 months it's already at 110 cycles. Do you leave the charger plugged in for extended period while using the notebook.

Absolutely... wherever there is power I keep it plugged in.
At home I actually have an extension chord attached to my charger, so I can drag it around anywhere that I use my Mac in my living room, and keep it plugged in.

The only time I unplug it is when I'm teaching guitar away from home, or on a road trip, but even then, wherever I can keep it plugged in I do.
It's kept my battery life as good as possible.
It's not that I'm pedantic about it, but I just don't see it as inconvenient to have it plugged in when I can.

A lot of people on the forums worry way too much about their laptop batteries, and at the end of the day, they should last most people until they are ready to upgrade their laptops.

The cost of replacing the battery is anywhere from roughly $50-$200, depending on where it is sourced, which for the life we get out of them, is not that bad in retrospect.

 

[Snakedoctor]

And here I am.... After buying 65 laptops (for the Office) from a certain vendor in January with close to 50% of them not holding their battery charge beyond 25 minutes...

The vendor is saying tough luck....

Thank the lucky leprechauns that a) Apple has such great Customer Service b) everything Mac is great and c) EVERYTHING MAC IS GREAT...

 

[6string]

Gotta love those lucky leprechauns .... I'll bet they use Macs too