Switching to PB12" worst decision ever?

LordCoven

LordCoven

Registered
OK. So I've got a PB12". I'm not miffed because of the recent upgrades. They're minor upgrades (to the 12") IMHO. I'm waiting for the new processors to be built in before I get excited :)
I'm miffed because of the battery live in the 12". It sucks. Not just a little, but majorly so. I had an iBook before (first generation of the second generation, so to speak: 500Mhz dual USB fully loaded) and the battery life on that is a dream. I was able to use it at home in the morning, then, say, watch a DVD on the train into work (1.5hrs) and STILL be left with 40% battery life when I got into work (sometimes more) - now I'm afraid to take the bloody thing (PB12") off the mains!!! Even in sleep mode it seems to drain the battery like someone tapping the battery to run a portable heater!
I reckon that in 'normal' use (playing iTunes while working on the train :)) I'll get at BEST three hours out of it.
I've been using it this morning (charged over night, so we're going from 100% here) ... started a bit of browsing and emailing (ie nothing heavy duty) at 08:30am. Its now 08:56am and the battery is already down to 87%. Not impressed.
Anyway - I'm taking a DVD with me on the train today, and if I can't watch that all the way on the train and still switch the notebook on when I'm actually in work, then I'm calling Apple support. If they can't help I'm going to have to seriously consider switching back to the iBook.

Which brings me to the one question I have: does anyone know if the now faster processor in the iBooks (12") has seriously effected the battery life? I was able to get a good 5hrs work out of the 500Mhz iBook. That still so?

Sorry for bending your ears (well, eyes, I suppose) so early in the morning (if you live in Europe at any rate) - but this really is starting to <beep> me off.

Cheers,
C
 
I discovered the same. My brother has the alubook 12 inch as well and the battery has a very low endurance compared to my ibook. Well, it's not the current 900 G3, but even 600Mhz still allows me to watch two divx movies.
And about the thing of the high draining while sleep-mode: have the same with my tibook. And ibooks? I would say I lost 1% after one night of sleep-mode..
 
Good to know mine's not the only one :)
I still think its a bit of a cheek that Apple claim it to have 5hrs battery life ... I would LOVE to know how they managed to get that (probably with the screen switched off and the processor speed crippled, the harddrive removed, no peripherals, no CD/DVD and the PB attached to the mains?)
Apart from the battery its such a SWEET machine. But the whole REASON I got the 12" and not one of the bigger ones was so that I could work on the go ... but I can't do that very well without any battery life :(

I *did* manage to watch a DVD (undercover brother - solid) on the way in. When it woke from sleep it had 83% left in. After the movie it had 16% left in. (The movie's about 85 mins I believe). I then listened to one, mind you ONE, MP3 and the battery was down to 10% (not a very long MP3, either - about 6mins).

Perhaps I just need to re-adjust my expectations as regards Apple. They're good. But apparently not great. Otherwise they would have released a battery upgrade to the 12" instead of just putting in a faster processor and more RAM, which will probably even reduce the battery life(?).

Cheers,
C
 
Unfortunately intel is more succesful with reducing their battery-drain in these days than Apple. The 12 inch powerbook is really great. But there is one little problem I faced. Does yours also slightly whip when it's on a very plane underground? I had this with my first 12 inch alubook and gave it back and the next had the same issue.
 
How much RAM do the aBooks 12" have? With 256 MB of RAM the OS X access the hard disk A LOT MORE than with 512 MB therefore decreasing battery duration... Also, did you check the options at Energy Saver at System Preferences? It has many settings and you could specify your own, too!

One other thing that plays a big role in battery's duration is the versions of OS X.2. I would advise anyone to update into version 10.2.6 and also prefer to install the Combo version of it. The situation will imrove with Panther but still don't expect the PowerBooks to last as long as the iBooks and that's a fact! ;)

One other thing is to use maintainance utilities (permissions, scripts, prebindings, etc) for OS X in order for the system NOT to access the hard disk THAT much... Even after all these things the fact is that PowerBooks running OS X do not last more than 3 & 1/2 hours or 3 & 3/4 hours tops! With OS 9 the PowerBooks that can load and run OS 9 can last up to 4+ hours! I NEVER used a PowerBook that lasted more than 4 & 1/2 hours even with OS 9 :p

PS. Do not Load and Quit constantly the apps you use mostly or even now and then... Keep all apps loaded! I always have at least 10 apps open at any given time! :D
 
Zammy-Sam: now you mention it - yup, it does rock a bit (bottom right to top left). But not too bad, thankfully. Plus I mostly use it on my lap, so I hadn't noticed it till you said :)

Hulkaros: I've done all those things :) I know that the PBs won't last as long - they have a G4 in them after all :) ... I'm hoping that Apple will get the 970 in there soon. I believe that has better (i.e. less) power usage.

I was thinking today - what Apple should do is build in a rechargable battery (very small) which could keep the system going for about a minute (or slightly over) ... hence it wouldn't have to be that big. Then you could 'hot-swap' the battery. A second battery would be really handy then. I know they have the system really tightly crammed in the PBs (and iBooks), but that would be a REALLY cool feature. And I believe that Apple would also be the first, coz I haven't seen that feature anywhere else. Perhaps I should patent it? :)

Cheers,
C
 
Did you know that you CAN hot-swap the battery on most Mac laptops? Just close the lid and let the system go to sleep - it has enough power to keep it alive in sleep mode for a minute, just enough to swap the battery over.
So yes, you could try and suggest it to Apple, but you'd look a bit of a goose. :-)
 
You can buy from other companies batteries that last longer than the ones that PowerBooks come with with no more than $150! And YES they are fully compatible with PowerBooks plus most of those batteries have a full year guarantee...
 
Ooooh - now there are two interesting facts.
I did *not* know that you could hot-swap the battery. Haven't seen mention of it anywhere, neither ... synmphonix - is this something you've actually tried? Or is it hearsay :)

Hulkaros: Do you happen to know the make of these 3rd party batteries?

Cheers,
C
 
symphonix - erm, are you sure you not just talking (typing) out of you backside?? :);) I just tried that with my old iBook for which I have two batteries. And guess what? It didn't stay alive. So no hot swap there. (Yes, I did put it in sleep mode first). I'm fsck'ing it as we speak :)
C
 
Originally posted by LordCoven
symphonix - erm, are you sure you not just talking (typing) out of you backside?? :);) I just tried that with my old iBook for which I have two batteries. And guess what? It didn't stay alive. So no hot swap there. (Yes, I did put it in sleep mode first). I'm fsck'ing it as we speak :)
C
Click to expand...

He isn't typing out of his Mac's behind ;) at least for some PowerBook models :p according to Apple here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88059

Here is hoping that your iBook is ok! :D
 
.... but seeing as this is a thread discussing the relative merits of the PB12" and the iBook, the "you can change the battery without shutting down" (I paraphrase) statement was a bit misleading. Still - it was worth a try. But this is what Apple has to say on the subject of changing the PB12" issue:
#snip#
Removing the Battery
1. Shut down your computer.

Warning: Removing the battery before shutting down your computer may result in data loss.
#end snip#

But I do very much appreciate the sentiment. And it would have been SOOO nice if it had been true. :) (lucky PB17" owners .... but I'm guessing their need is greater than ours, for they're battery life is even suckier! :))

Cheers,
C
 
I also just noted this little footnote for the PB17" and swapping the battery in sleep:
Note: This will not work if you are using Mac OS X 10.0.

Damn them.
C
 
Ok, not sure on the 12" or 17" model, but on my (now old :) ) Ti powerbook model I've swapped batteries several times.

The procedure outlined in Apple's manual that came with the computer is as follows:

Make sure the computer display is latched and the computer is in sleep mode.

Turn computer over, pull out the depleted battery and replace with fresh battery.

That is it.

Maybe the 12" and 17" aren't capable of doing this, but I'm not sure why Apple would omit this feature on thier laptops. ???

Good luck
 
Yes, I was/am running OS X (10.2.6). The computer came with 10.1 preinstalled when new. I've never really ran this computer in OS 9, so I've never tried switching batteries in 9.

Did you say you are running version 10.0?

I can't remember for sure, but I don't think they had that functionality built in with 10.0 (correct me if I'm wrong).
 
Originally posted by LordCoven
Were you running OS X when swapping the batteries? Is the Apple documentation just out of date?
C
Click to expand...

You can switch batteries while in Sleep mode in the following PowerBooks:
PowerBook G4, PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet), PowerBook G4 (DVI), or PowerBook G4 (1 GHz/867 MHz)

The above INCLUDE the 17" model but NOT the 12" one :p

As for the note of OS X 10.0 it means while in X 10.1 and X 10.2 you can do so while in Sleep Mode but NOT under X 10.0 ;)

And YES the documentation is old because it doesn't mention the newer PowerBook models that Jobs showcased in Paris ::ha::

Hope that everything is clear by now :D
 
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