iBook Battery running low fast???

trailmaster308trailmaster308
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Okay guys, I got to work this morning at 8 and dorked around till 9. Pulled out the iBook and it had a 98% battery charge and at 11:20 its at 5%. I have been listening to iTunes with the pretty little special effects going on...so is this about normal? Or does it seem kinda of a fast battery drain?? Whats everyone elses battery life like on the ibook..Oh by the way I have a 600 with 384 (not the newest 600 the one before that one..back when the 600 was the shiznit but not now)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    brianmacosbrianmacos Posts: 548member
    I can get up to 4 hours on my iBook 700.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    trailmaster308trailmaster308 Posts: 699member
    [quote]Originally posted by BrianMacOS:

    <strong>I can get up to 4 hours on my iBook 700.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Is that of continous use? I think my problem was that I had airport turned on while I was at work. Will test tomorrow.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    brianmacosbrianmacos Posts: 548member
    Yes that is steady us... but i didn't use my combo drive during that time either...
  • Reply 4 of 16
    daverdaver Posts: 496member
    Your battery might be going bad.



    Right now my iBook 500 will last less than an hour and a half on a full charge, sitting idle in the OS 9 Finder.



    I plan to get my battery replaced under warranty in the next week or so.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    usurpusurp Posts: 3member
    trailmaster you dont have a problem with your battery. it is not going bad.



    the 12inch ibook should last approximetly 3 hours of normal use. maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less.



    now the reason Brain's ibook lasts for 4 hours is because he has the 14inch ibook. on the 14inch ibook the battery is larger and helps keep it running for an extra hour over the 12inch version.



    hope u r feeling better now
  • Reply 6 of 16
    patchoulipatchouli Posts: 402member
    I thought that Apple portables lasted up to 5 hours on a single charge? I think there may be something wrong with the battery. I don't think a notebook with 600/700MHz should conk out after only 2 hours. Especially if they claim to last up to 4 or 5 hours.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    brianmacosbrianmacos Posts: 548member
    Apple claims that you should be able to get up to 6 hours battery life on all ibook models. The most I can get is up to 4 which is still pretty good. Play around with the energy saver and turn the brightness down on your screen to the last square and you can get a huge amount of time out of your system.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    dreadpiratedreadpirate Posts: 26member
    To give a sense of perspective - last night I watched a two-hour DVD, starting at 97%, and was left at 35%. With that remaining 35% I did some word processing and burnt a 74 minute CD. I plugged it back in at the first low-battery reminder (8% left, I think).



    I don't know exactly how long this all was - probably about three hours or so altogether. But as we know, the battery life is very dependent on what you're actually doing with the system. So for me, with full screen brightness, I get a bit under the average, but generally only when doing intensive stuff like heavy-duty optical drive use.



    I don't know if that rounds out the picture at all, but there you have it.



    (This is on a new 700 12" ibook w/ 640m RAM)
  • Reply 9 of 16
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    When my iBook 500 is on battery, I turn the brightness to the lowest visible level and I get 4-4.5 hours of use easily.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    usurpusurp Posts: 3member
    apple might say the ibook should last for 5 or 6 hours, but they dont mention what the apple was doing. could have been just sitting open with the brightness at the minimum... in the real world its a bit more then half that...
  • Reply 11 of 16
    cyko95cyko95 Posts: 391member
    [quote]Originally posted by usurp:

    <strong>trailmaster you dont have a problem with your battery. it is not going bad.



    the 12inch ibook should last approximetly 3 hours of normal use. maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less.



    now the reason Brain's ibook lasts for 4 hours is because he has the 14inch ibook. on the 14inch ibook the battery is larger and helps keep it running for an extra hour over the 12inch version.



    hope u r feeling better now </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Thats not necessarily true. I have a 12.1" iBook and it lasts about 3.5 to 4.5 hours depending on what i'm doing. The Apple specs say that the 12.1's are up to 5 hours and the 14's up to 6. I don't think this has been the case for the 12's the whole time, but to say that ALL 12.1" iBooks are only getting 3 hours of use is a bit much.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    trailmaster308trailmaster308 Posts: 699member
    Okay well here is the update. Tonight I was working late and listened to iTunes for approximately 3 hours. The whole time I had the black screen saver on with the Apple logo going across the screen. I figured that this would help since the screen wasn't as bright. Anywho..do you iBook users leave yours on all the time? Mine has been on since I bought it 4 months ago and only rebooted when I got updates that required it. I just let it sleep all the time I am not using it. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



    Does the Ti have a poorer battery than the iBook? If so that sucks and I will think twice about getting one after MWNY (if they have updates).
  • Reply 13 of 16
    usurpusurp Posts: 3member
    cyko95 you should be more careful when you read. i never said ALL ibooks run for 3 hours. What i said was "the 12inch ibook should last approximetly 3 hours of normal use. maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less."



    here is the definition of approximetly:





    ap·prox·i·mate Â*Â*Pronunciation KeyÂ*Â*(-prks-mt)

    adj.

    1. Almost exact or correct: the approximate time of the accident.

    2. Very similar; closely resembling: sketched an approximate likeness of the suspect.

    3. Botany. Close together but not united.





    thank you
  • Reply 14 of 16
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    [quote]Originally posted by Patchouli:

    <strong>I thought that Apple portables lasted up to 5 hours on a single charge? I think there may be something wrong with the battery. I don't think a notebook with 600/700MHz should conk out after only 2 hours. Especially if they claim to last up to 4 or 5 hours.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Two hours seems a bit short, but I really don't think any portable computer will live up to its battery claim completely. Also, two hours is actually pretty good for a typical PC notebook. Macs tend to have longer battery life. My laptop claims to have 4-5 hours battery life, and it gets two or less. Of course, it's four years old, but I rarely use the battery, so it should still be in good condition.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    cyko95cyko95 Posts: 391member
    [quote]Originally posted by usurp:

    <strong>cyko95 you should be more careful when you read. i never said ALL ibooks run for 3 hours. What i said was "the 12inch ibook should last approximetly 3 hours of normal use. maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less."

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Nor did you specify which 12" iBook you were referring to. My point was that just because a 14" iBook gets 4 hours, doesn't rule the fact that a 12" doesn't get that. I didn't say that you stated the battery dies in 5 minutes or anything. I'm just saying that the 12" model can get well over 3 hours, not just "a bit more, or a bit less."



    And were glad to see that you can cut and paste definitions.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    zappyzappy Posts: 9member
    [quote]Originally posted by Daver:

    <strong>Right now my iBook 500 will last less than an hour and a half on a full charge, sitting idle in the OS 9 Finder.



    I plan to get my battery replaced under warranty in the next week or so.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That is what I would do if my iBook was still under warranty. My battery used to last over three (3) hours in OS X when new. Now, after a little more than one year, I get a little over one (1) hour out of a full charge. I just got a new battery I ordered and once again I am able to get more than three (3) hours. If it happens again with the new battery I will replace it under warranty this time...



    --

    iBook Dual USB 500(66) - Airport - 10 GB - 384 MB

    iPod 10GB
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