Macbook Pro 17" Looks very good.

[Cybertronic]

Once the battery is charged and it is still plugged in, it will run entirely off the mains so the battery doesn't get killed.

Apple recommends to avoid doing this according to their battery facts:

Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing.

Also the Battery University states another fact along the same lines:

The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries. If used on main power, the battery inside a laptop will only last for 12-18 months. I must hasten to explain that the pack does not die suddenly but begins with reduced run-times.

 

[james.miller]

They don't run at full speed with the battery removed in case it needs more power than the AC adapter can supply, so you wouldn't want to do that anyway!

thats a ridiculous design if thats true. the psu's are supposed to be able to charge the laptop and run at full speed at the same time. if the psu cant cope with the full load of the laptop how is it supposed to charge the laptop at all?

 

[Cybertronic]

MacBook and MacBook Pro: Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor

Additional Information

Important: It is strongly recommended that you do not use your MacBook or MacBook Pro while the battery is removed. Accidently bumping the A/C adaptor could disconnect power and shutdown the computer. Any information that was not saved on your computer would be lost.

It doesn't explain the confusion as to why the MacBook will shut down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide

 

[OllyM]

thats a ridiculous design if thats true. the psu's are supposed to be able to charge the laptop and run at full speed at the same time. if the psu cant cope with the full load of the laptop how is it supposed to charge the laptop at all?

No idea, a great excuse to have a rant at Apple though obviously

I expect it's fairly standard on high powered laptops

 

[james.miller]

No idea, a great excuse to have a rant at Apple though obviously

was that aimed at me?

I expect it's fairly standard on high powered laptops

the macbook is not a high powered laptop. i have no such problems with my vaio, oddly enough.

 

[Cybertronic]

the macbook is not a high powered laptop. i have no such problems with my vaio, oddly enough.

They pretty much are considering the size of them.

 

[james.miller]

They pretty much are considering the size of them.

its the power consumption of the components that decide that factor, not the physical size lol

whats the rating on the macbook pro psu, anyway?

 

[Cybertronic]

Oops

It's 85W for the MacBook Pro MagSafe adaptor

 

[Bes]

So in conclusion, if I want a laptop that I can also use as a desktop off mains etc I should get the 15" and remove the battery when running off mains power or I will kill the life on the batt?

 

[LordSplodge]

So in conclusion, if I want a laptop that I can also use as a desktop off mains etc I should get the 15" and remove the battery when running off mains power or I will kill the life on the batt?

No. Get the 17" and just look after the battery. I.e drain it from time to time and don't forget to follow Apple's advise and do a battery calibration periodically.

Although being on mains a lot will reduce the life of the battery to some degree modern batteries have advanced microprocessor control helping reduce this. Go look at the Apple video on the battery in the 17" MBP

Worst case scenario is you have to have Apple fit a new battery earlier than expected. If it's going to spend most of its time tethered to the mains then what's the problem?

 

[Cybertronic]

So in conclusion, if I want a laptop that I can also use as a desktop off mains etc I should get the 15" and remove the battery when running off mains power or I will kill the life on the batt?

Follow LordSplodge's advice above however, you missed a small discussion in this thread regarding the MacBook running slower without its battery

It's strange seeing demonstrator MacBooks in high street shops that have had their batteries taken out. Not a very good demonstration if it's the case but Apple should really advise these shops not to since their support document seems to be well hidden on their website.

 

[james.miller]

Oops

It's 85W for the MacBook Pro MagSafe adaptor

that is actually less than my lower specd vaio. madness

 

[Cybertronic]

It's 65W for the MacBooks

 

[LordSplodge]

Follow LordSplodge's advice above.

\o/

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Follow LordSplodge's advice above however, you missed a small discussion in this thread regarding the MacBook running slower without its battery

It's strange seeing demonstrator MacBooks in high street shops that have had their batteries taken out. Not a very good demonstration if it's the case but Apple should really advise these shops not to since their support document seems to be well hidden on their website.

They used to run at 100% with the battery removed.

It's only the latest models that downclock the CPU, so it's probably a lack of training in the Apple stores.

 

[Spyhop]

I've ran a MacBook on mains power 95% of the time for over 2 years and the battery's still in good shape when it's used. Might just be lucky...

 

[MrMoonX]

Follow LordSplodge's advice above however, you missed a small discussion in this thread regarding the MacBook running slower without its battery

It's strange seeing demonstrator MacBooks in high street shops that have had their batteries taken out. Not a very good demonstration if it's the case but Apple should really advise these shops not to since their support document seems to be well hidden on their website.

maybe they have the batteries taken out so people dont steal them, would be pretty easy to half inch a battery out of a macbook in a packed mac store

 

[corkhead]

Ive just gone through a full cycle on my new 17 i got around 6 and half hours out of it. During the 6 odd hours i installed windows, surfed the net and installed some other programs so im pretty impressed.

My first mac and ive got to say it's an awesome piece of kit!

 

[Deleted member 651465]

maybe they have the batteries taken out so people dont steal them, would be pretty easy to half inch a battery out of a macbook in a packed mac store

The new Unibody MacBook and MacBook Pros can be locked with a Kensington security cable which also locks the hard drive bay

 

[Maccy]

Nobody mentioned the Logic question - it would run ok depending on how many tracks/effects you were using. A couple of tracks with little/no effects would be ok - the more you add, the more it's going to be an issue.