The battery and 5.1 Speakers in MacBook ?

i got my new macbook two days ago

i have switched from Windows to Macintosh and I am enjoying and loving everything in Mac

but i have tow questions , i wish you can help me

1- can i plug 5.1 Speakers to my macbook ?

if not , is there any device to make it work ?

2- should i take off the battery from my macbook if i am working with the AC adapter ?

Is there any problem if i do not ?

i hear from my friends that if i am working with tha AC adapter i must take off the battery to increase battery lifetime

is this right or wrong

thanks a lot

 

1. The Macbook features a Digital optical audio output, just get one of those cords and plug that in, and run it to your reciever which runs your 5.1 speaker setup. I don't believe you can run a audio line right into a 5.1 speaker setup anyways without a reciever.

2. You don't have too, I dont. Apparently theres a thing going around about if you have your AC plugged in you should take your battery out, I don't understand why this started by Lithium Polymer batteries do not suffer the same limitations as older types of batteries did.

3. Just do the battery calibration every once a while like Apple suggests and you'll be fine. personally I don't think I'd use this type a notebook without it especially since you have nothing covering up the bay anyways where the battery exists when you take it out, and that just opens it up for dirt and dust and stuff.

 

thank you very much

 

Hey,
I run an optical cable into my 5.1 reciever but when i play DVD i only get stereo sound on the reciever, even though the DVD has dolby digital and DTS. Do I have to change a setting?
Tom

BTW this is with my MBP not a pc.

 

Hrm, I dunno Tomy. I'd like to know as well for when I get mine.

Anyone know?

 

As for the battery, apparently Lithium-ion batteries have their lifespan maximized if:

a) they stay with a charge of 40%;
b) they stay at a low temperature (not sure exactly how low).

So that' s the origin of the tip to unplug batteries if running on power, since the batt both charges and heat up. It might pay if you run on AC power most of the time, I guess, supposing you would store it at 40% of the charge.

 

Well, as far as battery's go... The radios and pagers we used when I was in my rescue squad definently lost their charges MUCH faster if we continuely recharged them (not using a trickle charger) even if they were at 75% juice. The units we drained almost completely before charging lasted a lot longer.

But hey, not sure if theres a difference between those LiOn batterys and those for laptops.