ibook seems to eat battery

D

dbizzle

Registered
Hey everyone. I have a 12" ibook that I bought brand new 1 month ago. I looked on the box and it says that the battery will last up to 6 hours. My battery will last about 2 hours, sometimes less. i am wondering what programs tend to eat battery life, what settings i need to set to conserve batter, and any other tips or tricks that might be useful in extending my battery life. Here is my list of programs that are usually constantly running:

adium
konfabulator with 6 widgets (do widgets eat power?)
thunderbird
firefox (most of the time)
itunes

thanks for all the help.
 
Your screeen brightness can affect your battery power, as can airport (turn it off if not being used). Also, go to system preferences and adjust the energy saver settings. Also, as ma general rule use the battery until it dies. Don't plug it in every time you use it, or it will severely cut your battery usage time.
That's all I can think of to help save battery power.
 
Did you follow the instructions on properly conditioning the battery when you first installed/ran it? If not, that's probably your issue. There's a chip in the battery which tells the computer how much 'juice' is left, but that chip needs to be reset from time to time for best performance.

To reset the chip: Run the laptop on battery all the way down on until it forces the machine to go to sleep and you can no longer wake it up, then plug in and recharge fully (overnight...don't trust the battery meter in the menu bar). If you haven't done this before, it might take 2 or 3 times before everything is as it should be.

You should do this on a regular basis (say once a month) to keep everything working right. I do mine every two weeks since I'm constantly unplugged (daily).

BTW, Apple has used Lithium Ion batteries for quite a few years now, so there's no need to worry about the 'memory effect' that was common with the nickel metal hydride type batteries of days past (what jackgarvey was referring to). Lithium Ion batteries will loose a small bit of capacity with each cycle, but cycles are one complete discharge and recharge. So if you discharge your battery down 20% each time (to 80% remaining) then recharge, it'll take 5 times (20% * 5 = 100%) before one cycle is complete. Three or so years later, and well over a couple hundred cycles, my old iBook's original battery was still over 65% of it's remaining capacity. 2 years out of a laptop battery seeing constant use is considered extremely good.

To conserve power, adjust your Energy Settings for battery mode. Set the processor to use a reduced speed setting (if possible on your model), select the 'automatically dim screen' option, and make sure the screen blanking and sleep settings aren't more than a few minutes (5 to 10) out. Turning off any unused items (like bluetooth or airport), keeping your screen brightness as low as is possible, and keeping the number of programs running in the background (including widgets) to as few as possible will also help out.
 
thanks for all the great tips. i had my wireless and bluetooth on all the time, have never run the battery out or fully charged it, had the screen brightness to full all the time, etc. Great stuff
 
The screen brightness shouldn't cause *that* much of a difference. No way. I have the same exact model as you (12-inch iBook), and I usually have my screen brightness turned up to the max (especially during the daytime), and my battery lasts about four hours on a full charge--sometimes more, depending on how many programs I've got running and what I'm doing.
 
Causes a huge difference for me on the PowerBook: from 4:30 to 5:00 remaining down to 2:30 to 3:00 in a few seconds; going from 2-3 bars to full brightness. The PB does have a pretty large & bright screen though. The old G3 iBook (14") had the same issue, just not as bad. Say 7:00 down to 5:00 or 5:30.
 
jackgarvey said:
Also, as ma general rule use the battery until it dies. Don't plug it in every time you use it, or it will severely cut your battery usage time.
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Is this true? There have been several battery discussions on this board and I seem to remember that the general rule is just the opposite of this, with the suggestion being to keep it plugged in unless you can't, and to keep the charge as high as possible (over 95%), whenever possible.

Can someone address this and let us know once and for all, with regard to the new batteries used in the current model PowerBooks/iBooks?

Thanks.
 
mdnky said:
Causes a huge difference for me on the PowerBook: from 4:30 to 5:00 remaining down to 2:30 to 3:00 in a few seconds; going from 2-3 bars to full brightness. The PB does have a pretty large & bright screen though. The old G3 iBook (14") had the same issue, just not as bad. Say 7:00 down to 5:00 or 5:30.
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Hmm. Nope, not an issue for my iBook. I just tried it. Same.
 
dmetzcher said:
Is this true? There have been several battery discussions on this board and I seem to remember that the general rule is just the opposite of this, with the suggestion being to keep it plugged in unless you can't, and to keep the charge as high as possible (over 95%), whenever possible.

Can someone address this and let us know once and for all, with regard to the new batteries used in the current model PowerBooks/iBooks?

Thanks.
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Yes, I can clairfy this matter. It's simple really: In order to get the most out of your battery, you need to keep the juices flowing. This means using all the battery juice until it goes to sleep, then plugging it in until it's fully charged. Of course, you don't *have* to do this every time; the batteries, fortunately, can handle the "abuse." But you should try to do it as much as possible--at least once a month if nothing else.
 
actually, if you're going to recalibrate them about once a month, it doesn't matter whether you keep the battery charged the other 27 days of the month.
 
fryke said:
actually, if you're going to recalibrate them about once a month, it doesn't matter whether you keep the battery charged the other 27 days of the month.
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Like I said in my above post, the batteris can handle it. But, yes, it *is* better for the battery to constantly keep the juices flowing, even if you calibrate regularly. Which, if you think about it, defeats the point that you're trying to make because: If you calibrate the battery ... you *are* keeping the juices flowing. :)
 
no. if i keep it charged for 99% of the time and calibrate it once a month, that's rather unlike keeping them flowing.
 
fryke said:
no. if i keep it charged for 99% of the time and calibrate it once a month, that's rather unlike keeping them flowing.
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Not really. That's the whole point of calibration.
 
Amie said:
Yes, I can clairfy this matter. It's simple really: In order to get the most out of your battery, you need to keep the juices flowing. This means using all the battery juice until it goes to sleep, then plugging it in until it's fully charged. Of course, you don't *have* to do this every time; the batteries, fortunately, can handle the "abuse." But you should try to do it as much as possible--at least once a month if nothing else.
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She's right...
From Apple's Web site:
======================================
Standard Maintenance

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her iBook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder?
======================================

OK, so, what if I use this laptop all day at my desk (say 8-16 hours per day)? Should I plug it in, charge it, then unplug it and let it drain down, then plug it back in again? (And repeat this process as the battery charges, then drains, charges, then drains?)

The policy above from Apple seems to cover someone who uses his or her portable for part of the day.

We're getting closer... ;)
 
Notice the word "occasionally" in Apple's maintenance tip. I'd say you're good if you normally just plug it in at work. But I'd make it a habit to, say, have one day per week or month where you keep it unplugged until it goes to sleep, then charge it, then unplug it again.
 
I'm know I'm right. I wouldn't lie to you and mislead you and your precious Mac. ;)
 
fryke said:
Notice the word "occasionally" in Apple's maintenance tip. I'd say you're good if you normally just plug it in at work. But I'd make it a habit to, say, have one day per week or month where you keep it unplugged until it goes to sleep, then charge it, then unplug it again.
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LOL

You'd have saved yourself a whole bunch of time if you had just said that in the beginning. Of course, I already said it. You just reiterated what my original reply stated. ;)
 
Ashka said:
Just a link to the Battery University.com Kept as I'm hoping to get an iBook later this year, might help.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
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Great document. I'm pasting the six guidelines below for reference.

Simple Guidelines

* Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

* Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.

* Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.

* Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)

* Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.

* If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.
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