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#1 2005-03-26 1:02 pm
- hjohns
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-25
- Posts: 161
atrocious battery life
i have a 1ghz 12" PB g4 with 768 megs of RAM. i'm running 10.3.8, and all other updates are current. i have my energy saver settings set up for longest battery life, which is calculated to be about an hour and a half with the screen dimmed down almost to off. while an hour and a half isn't good, it doesn't even last that long. i thought these computers were supposed to be capable of at least 2.5 hours, or longer? what's up with mine? anyone experienced similar problems? it's pretty annoying to have this thing not even be able to hold its charge. for more than an hour.
thanks in advance!
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#2 2005-03-26 1:06 pm
- fizzwinkus
- purebred fizzlewink
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2000-08-10
- Posts: 4016
- Website
Re: atrocious battery life
what programs are you running?
i usually get around 3-4 hours on my powerbook (12" 1ghz, 768mb, 10.3.8) except when i run processor intensive apps. the funniest one was ms office v.x where word would continuously write to the hd and i'd get around an hour of battery life.
Warmest regards.
Sincerely,
Kevin
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#3 2005-03-26 1:15 pm
- hjohns
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-25
- Posts: 161
Re: atrocious battery life
well on the plane yesterday i was running dvd player and using a VIDEO_TS folder off my harddrive.
but just sitting here cruising the 'net (with firefox, on wireless, with the screen dimmed way down) i am still only getting the same...about an hour and a half.
weak...
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#4 2005-03-26 2:03 pm
- zakatak
- Member
- From: Kalamazoo
- Registered: 2004-08-05
- Posts: 565
Re: atrocious battery life
I have an ibook and I get a lot more than that... I'd place myself somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-5 hours depending on what I'm doing, with FF, Safari, NeoOffice, Fire and other various programs open.
I can even get close to 3 hours with it set on "highest performance" though I don't do that often. I find that putting it on 'Presentation' mode is the most energy efficient mode for me, plus then it doesn't shut off on me if I look away too long...
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#5 2005-03-26 2:12 pm
- hjohns
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-25
- Posts: 161
Re: atrocious battery life
jeebus. is there any way to reset my battery? i did the calibration that apple recommends...ie let it run down all the way then charge it up. what else could be eating up all this battery life? are there any other resets i could try?
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#7 2005-03-26 9:43 pm
- hasbeen
- Member
- Registered: 2004-09-23
- Posts: 411
Re: atrocious battery life
It sounds like your's may have just simply run down, and you need a new one. Mine goes for 3-4 hours too. If it is new, you may be able to get a replacement...
Meatwad Makin' Money See...
MacBook Pro 17" ∆ 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ∆ 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3 ∆ APPLE SSD SM128
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#8 2005-03-26 10:30 pm
- iDave
- Member
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 310
Re: atrocious battery life
You haven't said how old it is. If less than a year, it's still under warranty and you should talk to Apple about it. If more than a year, it's not uncommon for LiIon batteries to deteriorate very quickly. If you have AppleCare, talk to Apple about it. They might replace it if you're lucky. (AppleCare doesn't always cover batteries.)
I got lucky with my iBook battery and it stayed pretty strong for almost three years. My 15" Ti PowerBook battery was nearly shot after one year. Good luck with it.
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#9 2005-06-23 6:46 am
- Felix
- Member
- Registered: 2005-06-23
- Posts: 1
Re: atrocious battery life
Anyone here on the forums have any experience with <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/powerbook/battery/ibook-g3-g4-14inch/">NuPower</a> high-capacity replacement batteries?
I need a new battery for a G4 iBook. Wondering if this is a good choice.
Seems like I read somewhere that the light around Apple's charging ring (yellow=charging/green=charged) doesn't work with these replacement batteries.
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#10 2005-06-23 8:18 am
- iDave
- Member
- Registered: 2001-05-24
- Posts: 310
Re: atrocious battery life
I got a NewerTech battery from OWC for my 12" iBook about four months ago. It's holding up well so far. The A/C charging indicator ring works properly.
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