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11-06-2007, 01:19 PM | #1 |
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Mac Powerbook G4 (before intel) Battery Life SUCKS... normal?
So, my powerbook G4 is about 3 years old... Up until just a couple weeks ago, the battery (at 100% charge) would last approximately 1.5hours with brightness set at max...
Now, at brightness near the very bottom (1 bar brightness), my computer would be drained in approximately 1 hour... Is this deterioration of battery life normal? If i keep the brightness at max, i'll maybe have about 30-45min max before the battery is completely drained... Strangely enough, this just started happening 2-3 weeks ago... wtf? I think it's worth noting that i never really turn the laptop off, i close it from time to time (sleep mode), but i never really leave the computer shut off... any insight? |
11-06-2007, 01:25 PM | #2 |
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that's about right. i think they had a recall on your battery a while ago. it's a little better but not GREAT
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11-06-2007, 01:43 PM | #3 | |
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Do you know how much a replacement battery costs? i'm assumign it's over 100$ |
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11-06-2007, 01:46 PM | #4 |
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It sounds like your battery is worn out. You can find out the cycle count using these instructions http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305405
Mine started to crap out somewhere between 250 and 300 cycles. When it happens, it goes downhill very quickly - I was getting about 2 hours and then suddenly it fell to less than 45 mins and got progressively worse over a few days. I am on my third battery since 2003, although the second was recalled because of exploding risk. It's annoying that they aren't even covered under Applecare, unless they fail prematurely.
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11-06-2007, 01:57 PM | #5 | |
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my cycle count is 136 -- less than 1/2 of what you stated... wtf?! just out of curiosity, how much did your replacements cost? |
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11-06-2007, 02:06 PM | #6 |
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Are you still under apple care warranty? I had a similar issue and got a free battery replacement for my powerbook G4.. Now I am lasting several hours+. New batts cost about $90ish just call them up and they ship them out in a few days.
Go to the apple in the left top, click about this mac then click more info go to the power tab and battery. Battery Information: Charge Information: Charge remaining (mAh): 1135= about 40 mins of battery power under current consumption. (I have the 1.67ghz, 128mb card and 100 gig HD, so I use more power than most powerbooks, I have energy level set at normal battery is about a year old now.) Charging: No Full charge capacity (mAh): 4278=2.5 hours of battery Check out the full charge capacity.. Should be a tad higher than mine for a new battery. Now let your laptop run dead while playing a DVD it will go to sleep, then charge it full without using it, it will increase your full charge capacity since this re calibrates the battery measure by the computer. |
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11-06-2007, 02:18 PM | #7 |
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Full charge capacity (mAh): 3551
Amperage (mA): 381 Voltage (mV): 12572 Cycle Count: 132 Thanks for the info battery price... my specs are: 1.5GHz Memory: 512MB (256 x 2) 80GB HD Idk.. it just seems that since the battery started fading (fast), my performance is diminishing too... All in all, thanks for the info... i'll be looking for a new battery just in case. |
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11-06-2007, 02:21 PM | #8 |
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dam, your battery is 3 years old and cycle count is 136!?!? My macbook pro is a little over a year old and is at 296 I guess im screwed.
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11-06-2007, 02:31 PM | #9 | |
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and still, at battery count 132 (not 136 like i stated in the earlier posts), my battery life is less than an hour at MINIMUM (1bar) brightness... |
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11-06-2007, 02:34 PM | #10 |
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Hmm, thats interesting. I rarely take my mbp off the charger as well. Only to 1 lecture that is 2 days out of the week for about 2 1/2 hours. Like i said, im at cycle 296 and fully charged, i can get ALMOST 3 hours, more like 2hours 50mins with the brightness at 5..6 bars.
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11-06-2007, 02:39 PM | #11 |
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http://coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
Run that app, and tell me how many mAh your battery has left.
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11-06-2007, 06:08 PM | #12 | |
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11-06-2007, 06:20 PM | #13 | |
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11-07-2007, 10:29 PM | #14 |
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iStat Pro will also tell you this by actually telling you your Battery Health % (great widget to have), but in any event, if you're under 3500 for full charge capacity, your battery won't hold for too long.
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11-13-2007, 01:35 PM | #15 |
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ok, so my PowerbookG4 is tripping balls.
I took it to class yesterday, and w/ brightness at 1bar (lowest), with microsoft word and safari applications open, it went from 99% full charge to 70% full charge in 1.5 hours... Before, it could barely last an hour... WTF is going on?!? |
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11-13-2007, 02:36 PM | #16 |
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Go to the battery icon and tell it better power saving, I have the same computer a faster processor and I was able to hi 3 1/2 hours yesterday during a study group.
you probably have your computer on "better performance" setting. |
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11-13-2007, 03:54 PM | #17 |
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A three year battery life is very impressive. From my exprerience, when an apple laptop battery starts to go bad it goes downhill quickly.
A new battery costs $129 plus tax. "Refreshed" batteries cost ~$69 plus tax; you can sometimes find these at apple retail stores. I bought a refreshed one, and it has treated me very well. |
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11-13-2007, 05:20 PM | #18 | ||
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I put it to BetterEnergySaving, and it puts the computer to sleep in 15min... i can't deal with that because a lot of my research requires me to keep WORD open, and type as i find necessary. If the computer goes to sleep, will it close the AIM application, etc? Quote:
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11-13-2007, 05:30 PM | #19 |
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i have an extra, brand new - never used, battery for a 15" PB G4. let me know if you're interested. i'll definitely sell it to you for a lot less than what Apple charges.
i got a Macbook Pro about a year ago and the person who i sold my previous Powerbook to didn't want the extra battery with it.
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11-13-2007, 07:01 PM | #20 | |
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But if your aways from the power source you should be sleeping when not in use. Wi-fi kills battery life. But even then I am still able to get 3+ hours, but I keep it on better battery life and use it constantly so its never going to sleep. |
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