Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Cheers, Ian
Goodness
1 year old 867Mhz 12"
4 Hours 39 here (maximum about 2- 3 hours before)
Of course; it may not last that long:-)
Regards
Stephen
"Ian McCall" ian@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:32dncqF3lo00sU2@redacted.invalid
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Cheers, Ian
Stephen Bennett s.bennett@redacted.invalid wrote:
"Ian McCall" ian@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:32dncqF3lo00sU2@redacted.invalid
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Goodness
1 year old 867Mhz 12"
4 Hours 39 here (maximum about 2- 3 hours before)
Of course; it may not last that long:-)
10month old iBook, gone from 1.5hrs to 1.75hrs :( still haven't got round to moaning at Apple about the battery
Ian McCall wrote:
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Cheers, Ian
Does it, all the 15" PBs are still showing 2:30 of battery time and the USB 2.0 ports are still not powering up host powered hard drives.
S.Chang
In article 1gowcyw.ycmjwqvtnkw0N%sniffthat@redacted.invalid, Jon B sniffthat@redacted.invalid wrote:
Stephen Bennett s.bennett@redacted.invalid wrote:
"Ian McCall" ian@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:32dncqF3lo00sU2@redacted.invalid
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Goodness
1 year old 867Mhz 12"
4 Hours 39 here (maximum about 2- 3 hours before)
Of course; it may not last that long:-)
10month old iBook, gone from 1.5hrs to 1.75hrs :( still haven't got round to moaning at Apple about the battery
1 year old 12" PBook I'm currently running the battery down to see what it will really do. So far it has been running 1.5 hours and claims it has another 50 minutes to go. This is a slight improvement over when I last tried this, and now I am running airport.
When I first tore the charger out, it claimed 1:50, then after fifteen minutes or so, it was offering 2 hours.
(Interrupted by phone calls.) It is now two hours in use with 40 minutes (26%) to go.
I think its an improvement then.
in article 161220041804397271%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 6:04 PM:
Fully charged my g4 14" 1.33 ibook now says "4.30" Can't recall exactly what it was before the update but it wasn't that much.
As an aside - I often get caught out by the battery suddenly becoming empty and the machine shutting down. The visual indicater on the task bar is is i is just not enough for me, it being so small and my eyes being so crap.
Is there a third party proggie that will audiably yell at me when the battery gets low ? I'm pretty sure there is no built in option for this in the system preferences.
Rachael
In article BDE788E0.10D6%me@redacted.invalid, Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 161220041804397271%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 6:04 PM:
Fully charged my g4 14" 1.33 ibook now says "4.30" Can't recall exactly what it was before the update but it wasn't that much.
As an aside - I often get caught out by the battery suddenly becoming empty and the machine shutting down. The visual indicater on the task bar is is i is just not enough for me, it being so small and my eyes being so crap.
Is there a third party proggie that will audiably yell at me when the battery gets low ? I'm pretty sure there is no built in option for this in the system preferences.
Rachael
Just tried my 6 month old 15" G4 and it's giving 2:21 when fully charged...
Al.
Ian McCall ian@redacted.invalid wrote:
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Cheers, Ian
says 2hrs 48mm just unpluged.....
seems to be on cousre for that around about.
roger
Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 161220041804397271%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 6:04 PM:
Fully charged my g4 14" 1.33 ibook now says "4.30" Can't recall exactly what it was before the update but it wasn't that much.
As an aside - I often get caught out by the battery suddenly becoming empty and the machine shutting down. The visual indicater on the task bar is is i is just not enough for me, it being so small and my eyes being so crap.
does it not pop up a your on your on resurve battery life now? i get a warning then if i ingnore it it then sleeps when it gets to zero.
only time i get caught out is when the battery is nearly dead i sleep the powerbook, then wake it few hours later and it wakes and then promply sleeps till a give it some power.
Is there a third party proggie that will audiably yell at me when the battery gets low ? I'm pretty sure there is no built in option for this in the system preferences.
no idea sorry i always have the % as i like having that there.
Rachael
In article BDE788E0.10D6%me@redacted.invalid, Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 161220041804397271%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 6:04 PM:
Fully charged my g4 14" 1.33 ibook now says "4.30" Can't recall exactly what it was before the update but it wasn't that much.
Mine slept at 2:30
As an aside - I often get caught out by the battery suddenly becoming empty and the machine shutting down. The visual indicater on the task bar is is i is just not enough for me, it being so small and my eyes being so crap.
Is there a third party proggie that will audiably yell at me when the battery gets low ? I'm pretty sure there is no built in option for this in the system preferences. In the old days, there used to be a warning panel, but it seems to no longer do that.
A short furtle on versiontracker.com got me this SlimBatteryMonitor developer site: http://www.orange-carb.org/SBM/ I'm trying it out now. One of the options is a warning at x% battery left. In combo with spoken alerts, it will do as you ask.
S.Chang wrote:
Ian McCall wrote:
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said - it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Does it, all the 15" PBs are still showing 2:30 of battery time and the USB 2.0 ports are still not powering up host powered hard drives.
8 month old 1.5 15" PB showing 3hr 20 min (using Airport, Bluetooth off, screen 3/4 brightness.
Bob W
Bob Wardrope wrote:
S.Chang wrote:
Ian McCall wrote:
Just come fresh from the Slashdot thread on the update. Apparently, the updated graphics drivers require less CPU power, and the effect is an increase in battery life.
I just unplugged my power cord from the fully charged, mains-connected Powerbook sitting beside me and checked what it said
- it claimed I'd get 3 hours 40 from it (867Mhz 12"), whereas before it would normally claim 2 hours 30.
Veracity of all this hasn't been checked by me, but it's worth passing on I thought. Slashdot thread is here: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/15/2227250
Does it, all the 15" PBs are still showing 2:30 of battery time and the USB 2.0 ports are still not powering up host powered hard drives.
8 month old 1.5 15" PB showing 3hr 20 min (using Airport, Bluetooth off, screen 3/4 brightness.
Bob W
1.5GHz 15" PBs are fine, they are showing between 3:30 to 4:00 with 8 cells batteries, but the 1.3GHz 15" PBs have very inconstant QA check, some came with 8 cells, some have 6 cells, in our case the last order of 15" PBs were all 6 cells and have half neutered USB 2.0 ports which Apple UK still insist they never hear this problem when on their own forum board you can find people's complains about this.
S.Chang
in article 161220041922259706%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 7:22 PM:
In article BDE788E0.10D6%me@redacted.invalid, Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 161220041804397271%nospam@redacted.invalid, Elliott Roper at nospam@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/16/04 6:04 PM:
Fully charged my g4 14" 1.33 ibook now says "4.30" Can't recall exactly what it was before the update but it wasn't that much.
Mine slept at 2:30
After I posted that and it went to sleep for a while as it does on battery juice, it then woke up and informed me it had 5 and a half hours of life in it. Then as soon as I started using it it said only two and a half hours. It then fluctuated madly.
It's all a mystery to me - and obviously to it too !
As an aside - I often get caught out by the battery suddenly becoming empty and the machine shutting down. The visual indicater on the task bar is is i is just not enough for me, it being so small and my eyes being so crap.
Is there a third party proggie that will audiably yell at me when the battery gets low ? I'm pretty sure there is no built in option for this in the system preferences. In the old days, there used to be a warning panel, but it seems to no longer do that.
Yus.
A short furtle on versiontracker.com got me this SlimBatteryMonitor developer site: http://www.orange-carb.org/SBM/ I'm trying it out now. One of the options is a warning at x% battery left. In combo with spoken alerts, it will do as you ask.
I shall henceforth to the page and try it out, ta.
Rachael
Bob Wardrope newsbybobwar@redacted.invalid wrote:
8 month old 1.5 15" PB showing 3hr 20 min (using Airport, Bluetooth off, screen 3/4 brightness.
Well my 3 year old 15" TiBook, which was last battery calibrated maybe six months ago, is saying 2:40, running 10.2.6, screen fully bright. It's counting down about a minute each minute which looks good. But I reckon I'd be lucky if it actually made 1:40. The usual trick is to reach around 1:50 while indicating 50 minutes to go, and then to dive south and need charging within 5 minutes.
I don't mean that this is relevant to 10.3.7 except in that time-to-run is always a bit of a lottery.
Peter Ceresole wrote:
Bob Wardrope newsbybobwar@redacted.invalid wrote:
8 month old 1.5 15" PB showing 3hr 20 min (using Airport, Bluetooth off, screen 3/4 brightness.
Well my 3 year old 15" TiBook, which was last battery calibrated maybe six months ago, is saying 2:40, running 10.2.6, screen fully bright. It's counting down about a minute each minute which looks good. But I reckon I'd be lucky if it actually made 1:40. The usual trick is to reach around 1:50 while indicating 50 minutes to go, and then to dive south and need charging within 5 minutes.
I don't mean that this is relevant to 10.3.7 except in that time-to-run is always a bit of a lottery.
I didn't expect better battery performance from this powerbook, compared to the Titanium 550, as this one has a faster/ larger capacity HDD and the 128MB graphics card. I used to get 4+ hours from the Titanium. I might unbox and give it a full charge to see how good/ bad the battery is now.
Bob W
Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
After I posted that and it went to sleep for a while as it does on battery juice, it then woke up and informed me it had 5 and a half hours of life in it. Then as soon as I started using it it said only two and a half hours. It then fluctuated madly.
It's all a mystery to me - and obviously to it too !
I'm too wary to upgrade. I've been stung by batery management issues before (once, completely destroying the battery) so I'm not upgrading until it looks like the battery management is just whacky, rather than actually dangerous.
-z-
Bob Wardrope newsbybobwar@redacted.invalid wrote:
S.Chang wrote:
Does it, all the 15" PBs are still showing 2:30 of battery time and the USB 2.0 ports are still not powering up host powered hard drives.
8 month old 1.5 15" PB showing 3hr 20 min (using Airport, Bluetooth off, screen 3/4 brightness.
PBG4 400, three and a half years old, 4:17 remaining on a full charge.
in article 1goxykr.6kl7g61g7fspkN%me3@redacted.invalid, zoara at me3@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/17/04 10:27 PM:
Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
After I posted that and it went to sleep for a while as it does on battery juice, it then woke up and informed me it had 5 and a half hours of life in it. Then as soon as I started using it it said only two and a half hours. It then fluctuated madly.
It's all a mystery to me - and obviously to it too !
I'm too wary to upgrade. I've been stung by batery management issues before (once, completely destroying the battery)
Ouch. What happened there then ?
so I'm not upgrading until it looks like the battery management is just whacky, rather than actually dangerous.
-z-
I couldn't say which of those it really was - wacky is what I'd call it but I'm not planning to be far from a power outlet in the immediate future so I can afford to take it less seriously than some.
Rachael
Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 1goxykr.6kl7g61g7fspkN%me3@redacted.invalid, zoara at me3@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/17/04 10:27 PM:
I'm too wary to upgrade. I've been stung by batery management issues before (once, completely destroying the battery)
Ouch. What happened there then ?
10.2.6, I think, had a whacky power manager that reported the battery as having lower and lower charge; eventually it lasted about 20 minutes (whether the battery had charge or not is still unknown, but the manager thoiught it was near-empty). Apple replaced this as a "good will gesture" after much badgering [1] and it lasted a few months. A subsequent update (10.3.1? - Nov '03ish) did the same but screwed the new battery so badly that it eventually didn't even recognise the battery was present. This time Apple weren't interested - "batteries only have a 3 month warranty, sorry".
Both issues were widely reported on t'internet, and a google here will have me whinging and complaining. The first time, Apple released the update, pulled it the next day, and realesed a 'fixed' update a day or two later; I was too quick off the mark and picked up the dodgy update. The second time around, I sent a letter to Apple but they told me to go screw myself.
so I'm not upgrading until it looks like the battery management is just whacky, rather than actually dangerous.
I couldn't say which of those it really was - wacky is what I'd call it but I'm not planning to be far from a power outlet in the immediate future so I can afford to take it less seriously than some.
I'll be keeping an eye out on the reports. If there are Issues it will become obvious.
-z-
[1] and a snake
in article 1gp03v8.1pnic8p14rs23bN%me3@redacted.invalid, zoara at me3@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/18/04 6:57 PM:
Rachael Nex me@redacted.invalid wrote:
in article 1goxykr.6kl7g61g7fspkN%me3@redacted.invalid, zoara at me3@redacted.invalid wrote on 12/17/04 10:27 PM:
I'm too wary to upgrade. I've been stung by batery management issues before (once, completely destroying the battery)
Ouch. What happened there then ?
10.2.6, I think, had a whacky power manager that reported the battery as having lower and lower charge; eventually it lasted about 20 minutes (whether the battery had charge or not is still unknown, but the manager thoiught it was near-empty). Apple replaced this as a "good will gesture" after much badgering [1] and it lasted a few months. A subsequent update (10.3.1? - Nov '03ish) did the same but screwed the new battery so badly that it eventually didn't even recognise the battery was present. This time Apple weren't interested - "batteries only have a 3 month warranty, sorry".
Oooooh, harsh.
Both issues were widely reported on t'internet, and a google here will have me whinging and complaining. The first time, Apple released the update, pulled it the next day, and realesed a 'fixed' update a day or two later; I was too quick off the mark and picked up the dodgy update. The second time around, I sent a letter to Apple but they told me to go screw myself.
Charming.
so I'm not upgrading until it looks like the battery management is just whacky, rather than actually dangerous.
I couldn't say which of those it really was - wacky is what I'd call it but I'm not planning to be far from a power outlet in the immediate future so I can afford to take it less seriously than some.
I'll be keeping an eye out on the reports. If there are Issues it will become obvious.
-z-
[1] and a snake
Wild fluctuations in estimated time left seem to be an issue that is making itself apparent ATM. More than that we will just have to wait and see.
Rachael