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15" MacBook Pro Unibody w/7hr lithium polymer battery

Questions for those of you using the new (mid '09) MacBook Pro 15" Unibody:

The new MBP's use a non user replaceable 7 hr lithium polymer battery as opposed to the previous user replaceable 5 hr lithium ion battery. Have you found that the new battery comes anywhere near 7 hours? I'm guessing it will be closer to 5 hours as Apple is famous for exaggerating the battery life on their batteries.

Wondering if I would be better off getting the previous version of the 15" MBP unibody as the user replaceable battery is something I've used in the past when traveling in the Andes in areas where there is no electricity. Carrying 2-3 extra batteries can make the difference when there is no juice, or a power outage.

Also wondering if the NVIDIA 9600GT that came with the 9400M video card on the previous incarnation of the 15" MBP is significantly faster than the 9400? I'm looking for something that will make Aperture run efficiently (read: no spinning beach ball) when processing raw files up to 24 mb.

Thanks for any observations on the early '09 and current 15" MBP's.
Lawrence
 
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Thawley

Guest
Just got mine a few days ago...

Seasoning batteries is said to be a thing of the past, but my insecurities got the best of me and I did it anyway. Haven't yet tried to milk 7hrs out of it. But when I wanted to drain it for seasoning it went 5+ hours to shutdown. That was with all the power savers set to maximum power usage, no screen dimming and a DVD playing. I was impressed.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I normally get about 5hrs give or take with normal use. I personally think the 7 hrs is pretty exaggerated for normal usage.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Two of my kids have them -- my oldest can get all the way from SFO to Logan on a single charge. So call it 5 hours with screen at normal brightness.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I was just reading the rules for carry-on Li Ion batteries -- yeah, there are FAA rules as to what size and how many Li Ion batts you can take on an airplane. Was thinking about this thread. Fwiw, NO LI ION BATTERIES can be in checked luggage unless the battery is installed in something (camera, cell phone, electric toothbrush, etc). :eek:

http://safetravel.dot.gov/documents/airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf
Uh, since the battery is built-in to the MacBook Pros, I assume that counts as "installed in something." :)
 

etrigan63

Active member
Expect a chip refresh for the iMac and MBP now that Clarksfield has been released. Just what I was waiting for: a quad-core MBP with HT!
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
Uh, since the battery is built-in to the MacBook Pros, I assume that counts as "installed in something." :)

That confirms it -- I had always suspected MacBook Pro's were built like electric toothbrushes. :D
 
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