Powerbook battery life

I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour.
Expletive Deleted wrote on :
I have a 15" titanium Powerbook (OS 10.3.8, 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM) that I bought in 2003. I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?
Roy Smith replied on :

Expletive Deleted dsmcconn@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have a 15" titanium Powerbook (OS 10.3.8, 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM) that I bought in 2003. I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?

You got two years out of your battery. That's better than I got out of mine. Unfortunately, while rechargable battery technology has gotten better over the years, it's still kind of sucky.

But, you may be in luck. There's an Apple recall on batteries for some 15" PB's. If yours is covered, you'll get a new battery for free.

NonDisputandum.com replied on :

On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 17:16:55 -0400, Expletive Deleted dsmcconn@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have a 15" titanium Powerbook (OS 10.3.8, 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM) that I bought in 2003. I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?

batteries can die or go broken. Anyway,.. it's time for a change.

Spud Demon replied on :

NonDisputandum.com <webmaster_remove@redacted.invalid_nondisputandum.com> writes in article at6651dqkkj51838gsuc1jqb37qsba808r@redacted.invalid dated Tue, 05 Apr 2005 23:14:23 GMT:

On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 17:16:55 -0400, Expletive Deleted dsmcconn@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have a 15" titanium Powerbook (OS 10.3.8, 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM) that I bought in 2003. I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?

batteries can die or go broken. Anyway,.. it's time for a change.

Current rechargeable batteries keep track of their charge, but if they sit for a long time leakage can make this data inaccurate. For that reason, it's good to run it all the way down from time to time. If the computer shut off once at 25% I would say don't worry about it, now the battery is "conditioned". But if it happens again any time soon, replace it.

1 hour is pretty reasonable for a laptop, IMHO. Especially if you have the Airport connection turned on.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

andrewunix replied on :

Wed, 6 Apr 2005 16:45:43 +0000 (UTC), klewis@redacted.invalid suggested: : : 1 hour is pretty reasonable for a laptop, IMHO. Especially if you have : the Airport connection turned on.

Well, it's more or less reasonable, but it's not the expected performance of a Powerbook battery in good condition. I regularly get 3 hours or so with the Airport connection turned on in my 12" Aluminum Powerbook, but the intensity of the usage has a big effect on this.

NonDisputandum.com replied on :

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 16:45:43 +0000 (UTC), klewis@redacted.invalid (Spud Demon) wrote:

NonDisputandum.com <webmaster_remove@redacted.invalid_nondisputandum.com> writes in article at6651dqkkj51838gsuc1jqb37qsba808r@redacted.invalid dated Tue, 05 Apr 2005 23:14:23 GMT:

On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 17:16:55 -0400, Expletive Deleted dsmcconn@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have a 15" titanium Powerbook (OS 10.3.8, 1GHz G4, 1GB RAM) that I bought in 2003. I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?

batteries can die or go broken. Anyway,.. it's time for a change.

Current rechargeable batteries keep track of their charge, but if they sit for a long time leakage can make this data inaccurate. For that reason, it's good to run it all the way down from time to time. If the computer shut off once at 25% I would say don't worry about it, now the battery is "conditioned". But if it happens again any time soon, replace it.

1 hour is pretty reasonable for a laptop, IMHO. Especially if you have the Airport connection turned on.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

no,.. 1 hour is rather poor for a powerbook, even with the airport active imho (i can only compare with a 12inch 1GHz G4)...

Expletive Deleted replied on :

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005, andrewunix wrote:

Wed, 6 Apr 2005 16:45:43 +0000 (UTC), klewis@redacted.invalid suggested: : : 1 hour is pretty reasonable for a laptop, IMHO. Especially if you have : the Airport connection turned on.

Well, it's more or less reasonable, but it's not the expected performance of a Powerbook battery in good condition. I regularly get 3 hours or so with the Airport connection turned on in my 12" Aluminum Powerbook, but the intensity of the usage has a big effect on this.

I used to get 3 hours of mine. I thought it was airport since I recently started using it...but now I'm down to about 30 minutes (even since posting the OP) so its def time for a new one.

Tim Smith replied on :

In article d313nn$msi$1@redacted.invalid, klewis@redacted.invalid (Spud Demon) wrote:

1 hour is pretty reasonable for a laptop, IMHO. Especially if you have the Airport connection turned on.

I get 4 hours web browsing and usenet reading with Airport on my 17" PowerBook.

daystartech replied on :

I've noticed within the last month or so that my battery life is crap, barely 1 hour. Before that I noticed that the Energy readout on the menu was not reliable, the battery would die while the readout still said 25% remaining. The computer has not been sitting idle for long periods (just the opposite I use it alot). Is the battery just worn out? What's the life on those things?

Lithium Ion batteries require cycling every once in a while. You can cycle by running until sleep (no power), then charge without stopping. Two-four complete cycles are required for high-capacity batteries to reach their full potential. For example, at 4daystar.com, we cycle new 7200 Mah batteries up to 4 times, before they read correctly. iBatt is an excellent utility for measuring the battery. Also checkout http://daystartechnology.com/support/lion/