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    Battery life of Thunderbolt MBPs in Boot Camp?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by SirGeek, May 29, 2011.

  1. SirGeek

    SirGeek Notebook Enthusiast

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    How is the battery life of the new Thunderbolt MacBook Pros running Windows 7? I'm thinking of buying either a MBP 15 or a Sony Vaio SA.
     
    SirGeek, May 29, 2011
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  2. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

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    Do you plan on running OS X or Windows?
     
    ajreynol, May 30, 2011
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  3. SirGeek

    SirGeek Notebook Enthusiast

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    A mix of both, but Windows more often than not. My school is recommending either a MBP or a Dell Latitude E6420, which seems rather bulky.
     
    SirGeek, May 30, 2011
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  4. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

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    In Windows...hmm...I'd expect 3-4 hours at best.

    In OS X, 6-8 hours. Hopefully you find more utility in OS X than you expect. In fact, unless you're using specialized software, you'll probably find an OS X version of whatever you need.
     
    ajreynol, May 30, 2011
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  5. cmczdub

    cmczdub Notebook Guru

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    Yeah I totally agree 3-4 hours is what your probably going to see battery wise. I would also like to put my vote down for the MacBook Pro purchase over the Dell. I just recently (2011) switched from PC to Mac and I don't think I will ever go back...
     
    cmczdub, May 30, 2011
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  6. kornchild2002

    kornchild2002 Notebook Deity

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    It also depends on the model. The 13" 2011 MBPs are going to last longer in Windows than the 15" and 17" models as they have dedicated graphics solutions that are on all the time while the 13" models use only Intel integrated graphics (which consume far less power). The differences probably aren't going to be much but the 13" models will last a little longer on a single charge in Windows.

    I get about 7 hours of solid use with my 13" MBP under OS X but that gets cut down to about 3.5, maybe 4 hours in Windows. I am talking real world usage though with the screen backlight set to 50%, bluetooth off, wi-fi on, running programs, surfing the internet, etc. I am not running some video loop until the MBP shuts down.

    On a side note, you should really consider a MBP only if you are going to run OS X as its primary OS. Otherwise there are less expensive options with similar build quality that can run Windows better (Apple's driver support in Windows is horrendous as they essentially cripple the trackpad). You pay that extra money buying a MBP so that you can run Apple's hardware along with their software. Having the ability to run Windows is a nice feature as it comes in handy but, unless you plan on using OS X 95% of the time, there is no need to buy a MBP or any other Apple computer.

    Given the large software library of OS X though, I don't think you will need to run Windows. Office, AutoCAD, MATLAB (though xlswrite doesn't work so I had to install Windows 7 on my system for this specific purpose), VLC, FireFox, etc. are all available for OS X.
     
    kornchild2002, May 30, 2011
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  7. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

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    Seems we have a consensus here.
     
    ajreynol, May 30, 2011
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