MBP 15 issues

Hi guys!
I just got my mbp 15 (2.4 ghz i5 processor) and i was just wondering if the battery indicator at the upper right hand of the screen is accurate. The laptop promises at least 8 hours of battery but after a full charge (and with the screen at 50% brightness) the indicator only says that i have 4:35 remaining. Is this normal? The only app that is running is safari and i'm only using it for facebook, this and youtube.

Also, another issue is that the internet connection suddenly dies. I'm loading a page then it suddenly stops loading then after a few minutes, it loads again. I click airport and it intermittently goes from "on" then "looking for network". However, my current router is always the one with the checkmark beside it. It's just frustrating because using my mom's netbook, the internet never lags nor does it suddenly stop working.

I just got this today and idk if i should have it checked or not. Are these occurrences normal?

 

Is it new or refurbished?

 

it is new. my router is a motorola

 

Battery Estimates can change widely depending what your doing.

Also they say you'll get "up to" 8 hours.. not 8 hours minimum. If your pushing it really hard, you may barely get 2 hours... if your keeping its workload light, it can get 8. Light has little to do with how many apps your running, or how intense they seem like they should be. Flash is a major killer of battery power, so if your on YouTube, thats actually not light running.

 

Yeah mine will constantly fluxuate. Sometimes saying 7hrs other times 9, later on it will say 50min, then if i do something as small as close Adium it will go to 1:30 left.

 

Do you dim the screen and keyboard? That will add like 2 hours.

 

be sure you're using something like gfxCardStatus to control which GPU is engaged.