MacBook people - batteries?

Hey guys. I'm finding that I feel limited by my battery life when I'm using my MacBook Pro without a socket nearby. What are my options to extend my battery life - does anyone know of third-party battery options that you'd recommend, or am I best off just buying a second MBP battery? I'm looking for your personal experiences here. I find that when I'm actually doing WORK on my MBP I only get a couple of hours out of the battery, which simply isn't enough.

Hm, well first let's see where your battery stands

http//www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

What percent is your battery?

[quote986968be62="JKirk"]Hm, well first let's see where your battery stands

http//www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

What percent is your battery?[/quote986968be62]

Macbook batteries are pretty bad even with minimal use. I don't think I've ever gotten more than 3 hours of battery out of mine; now I get about 2 hours if I'm lucky.

Ouch, both Coconut and iStat Pro (didn't know about this software before - very cool!) say I have 77 charge cycles and about 49-50% health. That's pretty crap, Apple says I should have 80% after 300 cycles. I'm going to calibrate the battery then recheck, if it is still that bad I'll contact Apple. My battery has always seemed to run out fast but this is my first laptop so I dunno.

I have 98% health after 405 charge cycle shrug

[quote01a0ee08f0="JennyWren"]Ouch, both Coconut and iStat Pro (didn't know about this software before - very cool!) say I have 77 charge cycles and about 49-50% health. That's pretty crap, Apple says I should have 80% after 300 cycles. I'm going to calibrate the battery then recheck, if it is still that bad I'll contact Apple. My battery has always seemed to run out fast but this is my first laptop so I dunno.[/quote01a0ee08f0]

Yeah, that sounds like a faulty battery... I have 312 battery load-cycles and 79% health and my Mac is 20 months old.

[quote4ecdfcc027="ilanbg"]Macbook batteries are pretty bad even with minimal use. I don't think I've ever gotten more than 3 hours of battery out of mine; now I get about 2 hours if I'm lucky.[/quote4ecdfcc027]

Fuck, maybe this is because my battery is running at 54% capacity after 393 charge cycles.

[quote8b2789e68f="tylerc"]I have 98% health after 405 charge cycle shrug[/quote8b2789e68f]

You are looking at the wrong percentage, you need to be looking at the lower one. My upper one says 98% too.

Sweet, yay for AppleCare, they are sending me out a new battery.

[quotec252cc70c7="JKirk"][quotec252cc70c7="tylerc"]I have 98% health after 405 charge cycle shrug[/quotec252cc70c7]

You are looking at the wrong percentage, you need to be looking at the lower one. My upper one says 98% too.[/quotec252cc70c7]

No, that shows your current charge %. It shows 35% for me, which is what I have right now when I checked the battery status in the top right of my screen.

i Have 60% after 735 load cycles, and my mac is 32 months old... I need a new battery, too bad I can't afford one...

My new battery kicks ass. Yay!

So I'm at 77 cycles and 86%. Is that ok or should I call Apple?

[quotec840ae2cfb="tjwor"]i Have 60% after 735 load cycles, and my mac is 32 months old... I need a new battery, too bad I can't afford one...[/quotec840ae2cfb]

20 days later, 15 more load cycles, and went from 60% to [bc840ae2cfb]38%[/bc840ae2cfb]! WTF????

[quoted5cf820556="Wolfeman"]So I'm at 77 cycles and 86%. Is that ok or should I call Apple?[/quoted5cf820556]
I'm now at 88 cycles and 83%...