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Anthony Beightol

Q: WHAts the deal with my battery!!!!!!!!

i just got my new powerbook 3days ago and the battery is already low!!!! After i charge my battery fully the icon says i only have a little over 2 hours left. Ive used it for less than probably 15 hours combined and its already down to 2 hours??? Do i have a faulty battery or what???

Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.2), Powerbook G4, iBook G4, Black 60G iPod G5, White 30G iPod G5, iPod 3G, iPod Mini, Black iPod Nano

Posted on Jan 24, 2006 5:09 PM

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Q: WHAts the deal with my battery!!!!!!!!

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  • by Knifedge,

    Knifedge Knifedge Jan 25, 2006 2:53 PM in response to Anthony Beightol
    Level 4 (1,605 points)
    Jan 25, 2006 2:53 PM in response to Anthony Beightol
    2 hours is a little low for a new battery, I would expect to get that much time playing a DVD or video editing. What sort of things do you do on battery power?
  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 26, 2006 1:17 PM in response to Anthony Beightol
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 26, 2006 1:17 PM in response to Anthony Beightol
    Well, 2 hours may be reasonable, or it may not be. It depends on what you're doing. If all you're doing is editing a document in TextEdit, and you have AirPort and Bluetooth turned off, you ought to be able to get much more than that. OTOH, if you're playing a game of World of Warcraft (processor-intensive = faster power drain) over a wireless connection (needs more power to send wireless signals), I'm not sure you should even expect 2 hours.

    Here are some ways to get more time out of your battery:

    - turn off all wireless protocols that you're not using (ie, AirPort and Bluetooth)
    - turn the screen brightness down
    - turn off the keyboard lights, if they're on
    - use Energy Saver settings in System Preferences, especially the one to reduce processor speed when running off the battery

    Also, to get the most out of your battery long-term, I've been told it's important to drain it completely now and then (ie, until the machine forcefully goes to sleep in the middle of whatever you're doing). Don't always use it plugged in without ever draining it.

    Good luck!
  • by Erkki Kangas,

    Erkki Kangas Erkki Kangas Jan 28, 2006 9:21 AM in response to Anthony Beightol
    Level 4 (3,723 points)
    Jan 28, 2006 9:21 AM in response to Anthony Beightol
    And you did calibrate your battery when took in use, right?

    It's normal for new batteries to give their max efficiency after several charges. So for the few first charges you don't get best times.
  • by userremoved,

    userremoved userremoved Nov 17, 2014 7:40 AM in response to Anthony Beightol
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2014 7:40 AM in response to Anthony Beightol
    This has been an ongoing problem with my battery since I got the computer in November. Apple replaced three batteries and I still had the same problem.

    What was even weirder was that all of a sudden, the battery started registering 3.5 hours or more. At one point, it registered 10.5 hours!!

    The computer just went in a second time and had a lot of components replaced. When I got it back yesterday, the battery registered 3.5 hours. All of a sudden after recharging it tonight, the battery dropped from 3.5 hours to 2 hours in about 10 minutes. (from 99% to 88%).

    I am not sure whether the problem is faulty batteries or something is wrong with the computer, but this seems to be a problem with these units.

    Powerbook G4 17 inch Dual Layer DVD   Mac OS X (10.4.4)