Battery status says Normal, but I'm only getting 2 hours tops!

Have you re-calibrated the battery recently? Calibration is considered part of proper maintenance.



Further reading http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764220

You will also want to make sure you aren't unwittingly using the discrete GPU in your machine (which can cut battery run time in half), or running the screen at full brightness (which Apple says can make three hours of difference in battery run time compared with minimum brightness), and that you don't have some background process eating up a lot of processor cycles without your realizing it.

Message was edited by: eww

Message was edited by: eww

As previously mentioned, make sure (using Activity Monitor) that no background tasks are eating up your processing power, and that graphic card isn't used unnecessarily. Calibration of battery is also important.

Note also, that condition: normal doesn't mean battery has 100% capacity. Apple claims that after 300 charges your battery should be at about 80% of original capacity.

In the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences, which is selected: *Higher Performance* or *Better Battery Life?* Select the latter.

In the Displays pane of System Preferences, is "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" checked? If so, and if you frequently use your machine in brightly lit places, your screen will often be operating at maximum brightness. You don't want that, if battery life is a major concern.

If either or both of these settings has been changed to the less efficient option, perhaps without realizing the full consequences of doing so, since you were able to run your machine for 4-5 hours on a charge, then it seems to me that the big drop in battery life is fully explained without recourse to the assumption that your battery is dying.

But while we're on the subject of the battery's condition, Apple expects the built-in batteries in all recent unibody MBPs, including yours, to retain 80% of their original Full Charge Capacity after 1000 cycles, not 300 cycles as another poster has written. What does System Profiler say the Full Charge Capacity of your battery is now, after 324 cycles? It was originally about 6750mAh, so if it's above about 5400 now, it's still OK. If not, you have reason to take it to an Apple Store and ask to have it tested for defects. There's a specific test they can do on it to determine whether it's faulty.

And you've checked those settings I mentioned above?

And literally, as I am typing this, it is counting down by 1% per minute!

Well, that should make a pretty compelling demonstration at the Genius Bar that all is not well with your machine, particularly if it happens while Activity Monitor is showing no significant processor activity. Make an appointment ASAP.