Longest Battery life: Macbook or MBP?

Which of the two has longer battery life? I assume the Macbook because of the lack of dedicated graphics and smaller screen, but I would like to see some figures.

What are your times for Macbook and/or MBP battery life?

 

Well with Bluetooth off and wifi on, and lowest brightness settings I get about 4:30 on my Macbook

 

What sort of use? Light internet only? Any mp3s playing?

Appreciate the input.

 

I remember there was a lot of discussion of MBP battery life, with it usually getting 3-4 hours (with most settings maxed out), and a bit more by turning down brightness, turning off wifi and bluetooth, etc.

 

Well with maxed out settings its about 3:23, I mean honestly I dont know many people that run a computer on battery power that long anyways.

normal usage Pubicthehare. Mail, Safari, Schoolhouse

 

Are you sure it was the MBP getting over 3 hours? I'm curious if that's with bluetooth off, wifi on and medium brightness, light internet use.

I kept reading that people couldn't hit the 3 hr mark, let alone 4 hours.

I'm trying to decide between the MBP and the Macbook and honestly, I like the MB keyboard better but MBP screen is nicer. It might boil down to battery life.

 

I almost changed my mind today after playing with a friends Macbook. But... they keyboard didn't feel right (sure it takes some getting used to.. but...) otherwise it was sweet. What are you looking to use the machine for Public?

 

I think the whole keyboard thing is mostly just psychological, because it looks different people think its actually different.

Anyways one review site I read states that the keys are the same distance from each other as any other keyboard and its all just an illusion

 

I recall that hwen the MBP first came out, Jason O'Grady did some tests and couldn't get 3 hours, but that was without battery calibration. I haven't seen as much discussed about it since then, but more recent discussions have been getting 3 to 4 hours, generally.

I would venture to say that an extra battery wouldn't be a bad idea to have.

 

To be fair, there is definitely a different feel to the keys as well, outside of just how they appear. To some degree I think that might just be because they are flat surfaces, and not curved like the MBP. I think from spending time typing on both that they do have a generally different feel as well. I couldn't say that one was really better than the other, and both seem pretty solid as notebook keyboards go.

-Zadillo

 

Hrm, weird... It definently felt different. I really felt like I had to stretch more to get to keys. But thinking about it now... It feels like it's spaced more like a desktop keyboard rather than a laptop keyboard. With my crappy Sager, my fingers about touch when on the home row, and they weren't on the macbook. But I'm sure it's a fine keyboard once you get used to it.

Oh, BTW, I've heard aroudn 3 hours (bit over at mid brightness) w/ wifi and some mid level use of the system for MBP. Not sure about macbooks.

 

They're both solid but here's the difference:

Macbook - Keys require more force but not too much more, key travel is definitely greater. Their flatness doesn't actually affect typing.

MBP - Curved surface feels nicer when you first touch the keys, but overall it makes no difference on typing speed or satisfaction. Key travel is LESS and personally, I think they keys feel 'mushy' compared to the Macbook's, but I'm almost willing to overlook this for the screen size.

However, the Macbook's 1 hour greater battery life might win me over. Decisions

 

Aye, that battery life almost convinced me to go with the macbook.
I would still like to learn more about some of the issues with the MB though. I hear the yellowing has been fixed but I've also heard a lot of people who have had video issues after about 6 weeks (presumably from the vid card being damaged by heat). I'm not sure how many people have had that, but I've seen mention of it by a few people on apple's MB forums.

 

I can get about 3:30 hours easy with settings set for long life. Under normal use it is closer to 3. So ya the MacBook has about another hour, the trade off is no backlit keyboard, smaller screen, integrated graphics. If none of those are an issue, then the MacBook is for you. If you need/want those other features, then an hour is not a ton of time to give up. Usually you can find somewhere to plug in within 3 hours. Good luck on your search!

 

My vote went with the MacBook, after having the MB Pro 15" for 2 weeks.

- backlit keyboard of MBP is cool but generally went unused
- the MacBook I now have seems much cooler... Certainly can be used on the lap without feeling like it'd cook the nads
- easily clear 4 hrs battery life on the MB (great for flights)
- MB 13" screen easier to travel with (great for flights!), lower res screen though but definately adequate for most purposes so long as you're not looking for a full desktop replacement
- Saved close to $1000 on MB

So there ya go. For business use rather than gaming or massive 3D work, MB works well for me.

 

That was very useful. Thanks a lot for your opinion. I might just go for the MB myself; it was really the larger screen that was seducing me, but battery life and keyboard - I swear there's a difference - may just beat out a higher resolution, not to mention saving all that $$$

 

What would you say is the average battery life you're getting with your MB, Archimago?

I'd be using it with ~80% screen brightness, bluetooth off, wifi on, light internet use and some typing. You can really get over 4 hours? Some people are claiming 4.5 hrs...amazing for a portable, actually.

 

Hrm, too bad they don't have external battery packs that snap on the back (similar to the Dell 700m's). That would just be sweet.

 

Well according to Apple that would be unpleasing to the eye and its design.

I would like to see batteries with with more power, like get an extra 2 hours out of a battery, but they don't offer such a thing.

 

Yeah, higher density battery options would be great.
My ex-gf has a Gateway m280 tablet that she can put 3 batterys on for something like 10 hours of juice... still only weighs in about 7 lbs.

And why the don't we have docking stations for macs yet?

 

Apple was actually one of the earliest companies to make laptops designed for docking stations (the PowerBook Duo series), but they have really sort of dropped it. The early PowerBook G4's did have third party docking stations made for them, but I don't think they sold well.

It seems like it is a matter of market demand; docking stations for Mac laptops haven't really sold all that well traditionally, and that seems to be part of the reason why people aren't bothering with them.

-Zadillo

 

Hrm, well considering the prices that a lot of places charge for them... I'm not overly surprised. Paying 300-400 for a docking station is crazy. But it really would be convenient so that way I don't have to screw in the DVI cable and possibly a mouse and keyboard every time I took it home.

 

Hrmm, just came across this doing a google search:

http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

Looks like they are coming out with a docking station for the MBP in September, and are working on one for the MB. I remember the older PowerBook G4 docking stations these guys made. Certainly might be worth checking out.

 

well thats neat. But yeah.. $300 is a lot for a non company branded docking unit. I'm halfway tempted to see if I can't make one myself.

 

Yeah. Honestly I know some people who just sort of set up a base (or use something like the iCurve: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/icurve/

And then just sort of keep the cables they need for the keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. bound together so that it is relatively quick to just plug them into the right ports when they are using it on a desk.

Maybe not as elegant as a docking solution, but basically gets the job done, and probably not that much more difficult really.

One thing I will say, even though BookEndz is third party, they do very good stuff (I know people who used the PowerBook G4 BookEndz and they worked pretty well), so if you are interested, you should get your money's worth with it.