G4 Powerbook Battery Life - How much?

Hi all,

I'm waffling between the lovely powerbooks (12 or ~15 in) and various PC models. Both will basically suit my needs 99% of the time. I am curious - What real world battery life are users of the 12" and 15" PB's getting? I am particularly interested in the more recent PB's as I'll likely buy a new rather than used machine. Please give average battery life, and what type of computing you are doing - ie. word, excel, email and surfing, or video editing, 3D rendering, or other computationally intense stuff.

Thank you all in advance![ ]

 

On my 14" iBook, I usually get about four to five hours WITH AirPort turned on. Usually I'm using Safari, MSN Messenger, iCal, iTunes, and sometimes Word or Photoshop.

The battery life should be comparable on the 12" PowerBook, maybe slightly less on the 15" model. Regardless, battery life on Apple notebooks should far exceed anything on the PC side. Ever since I've switched to Mac, I carry my charger around a lot less often. [ ]

- - - - -
Former owner of the eMachines M6809 until the hinges cracked on three seperate occasions.

 

Yeah, just like the iBook, 4-5 hours is about what you can expect with the 12" or 15" Powerbook. If you turn off your Airport (wireless), you are looking at close to 6 hours! Another secret to boosting your battery life; 768MB or more RAM will help a great deal, since the hard disk is not required to spin as much (caching temporary information).

BTW, The 17" PB gets about 3.5-4 hours. If you are looking for great battery life, I would stay away from that one.

Barry J. Doyle
Editor in Chief
TabletPCReviewSpot.com
www.tabletpcreviewspot.com

 

I get 4 hours on my 14" iBook and about 3.5 hours on my 17" G4.

Dell Inspiron 8600:
* 1.6 Ghz Pentium M * 1024 MB DDR SDRAM * 60 GB 7200 RPM HD * 15.4" WSXGA+ * Internal Bluetooth * Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 * 4x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) * ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128 MB * Win XP Pro SP2 *

* Apple 17" PowerBook G4 * 14" Toshiba Tecra 8000 * Apple 14" iBook G4 *

 

Thank you all! For those who would like to continue helping with my decision making process, look for a post regarding CAD, mathmatics and finite element software availability in a new thread.[:0]

 

I HIGHLY recommend that you get a second opinion, regarding the battery life of a PowerBook. Especially the 15" one. iBooks, especially the 12" versions, are known to get GREAT battery life (5-6+ hours real-world usage). I did a lot of online researching and found that most users might get 3-4 hours out of a 12" PowerBook and barely 2.5 hours, if that, out of a 15" powerbook. Remember, that different notebooks have different battery capacities/outputs, so it is entirely possible that the 17" powerbook gets better battery life than the 15". In any event, it is a common complaint that the 15" does not get reasonable battery life. Also, it is not true that Apple's notebooks exceed PC battery capacities. I know that my Dell 8600 (WUXGA+ screen) can outlast any 15"pb or 17"pb because I get at least 4.5 hours of real-world usage (wireless card and bluetooth enabled). Not to mention the fact that my screen is far more densely packed than even a 17" pbook can hope to be. I own a TiBook, so don't think that I'm biased against Apple products, I just don't think that you should expect more than 3 hours, if that, out of a large powerbook. Note, too, that if you are going to sell your PC in the future, IBM and Apple computers have high resale values. On the other hand, Dell computers are extremely inexpensive. Read reviews...do the research...

 

I just purchased the new G4 15in powerbook with the 1.68 ghz chip. I am very, very, satisfied with this laptop. Battery life, with airport extreme, web browsing, downloads going is close to 4 hrs. I have not tried it with power saver settings yet. If you can, get this laptop. Except for work, I will never buy another laptop again, unless it is a Mac. The best thing is no windows XP, thank God.

 

Congrats, sofla . . . Enjoy your new rig. [ ]

Dell Inspiron 8600:
* 1.6 Ghz Pentium M * 1024 MB DDR SDRAM * 60 GB 7200 RPM HD * 15.4" WSXGA+ * Internal Bluetooth * Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 * 4x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) * ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128 MB * Win XP Pro SP2 *

* Apple 17" PowerBook G4 * 14" Toshiba Tecra 8000 * Apple 14" iBook G4 *

 

Sofla,

How do you use this laptop? I've considered it, but an leaning to the 12" pb or 12 - 13.3 in pc's, either widescreen or standard. I'm interested in your take on portability. My laptop will travel with me 4 days a week, and wander around the house the rest of the time. The 15.2? pb is light enough, I'm just concerned about the acreage of the footprint. Thanks for your input!

 

[8D]
I'm curious too, SoFla. I'm going to buy a Mac, and operate almost exclusively portable with my Windows machine, and while I'm drawn to the power of the G5's, I'm thinking I would be a WHOLE lot more productive by having a Powerbook. The 12" is too small for me, but my concern is the battery life of the 15.2"

Owning a Dell with a 15.4" wide screen, I can tell you that real estate is definitely a concern, but frankly, when I have to go back to the 15" rectangular screen of my work laptop, it's almost painful. The extra real estate is a very happy thing.

Mas sabe el diablo por viejo, que por diablo.

 

Of course, the 12" powerbook has the same amount of real-estate as the base 15.4" 8600 screen. If you're concerned about being able to have more viewing space, then a sxga+ or better screen is going to kick the crap out of anything Apple offers (in laptop flavors, at least). That said, I would rather buy an Apple laptop and use a desktop PC, not the other way around...just my 2 cents.

 

I pulled the pin yesterday and bought an open box 12" pb from Good Guys. 1.33 combo drive model, 60G HD, 256 Ram, BT, wireless b/g, blah, blah. $899. It seems a decent deal, and I get 30 days to check it out and return it if I decide against it for whatever reason. I'll post a new thread in a week or so once I get the feel of the littl gem. So far, so good.[ ]

 

Cool, you are going to enjoy your new rig. Tip . . . Get an external wireless mouse.

Dell Inspiron 8600:
* 1.6 Ghz Pentium M * 1024 MB DDR SDRAM * 100 Gb Seagate Momentus 5400 Rpm HD * 15.4" WSXGA+ * Internal Bluetooth * Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 * 4x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) * ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128 MB * Win XP Pro SP2 *

* Apple 17" PowerBook G4 * 14" Toshiba Tecra 8000 * Apple 14" iBook G4 *