Another odd battery behavior

a few nights a week when I've finished using the mac, I'll close the screen and assume it has gone to sleep. The next day I will open the macbook and it will not power on. I'll plug in adaptor and see a dim version of my desktop with the battery icon saying the %left from the night before 65% for example. but at the bottom there will be a row of bars implying it is taking energy from adaptor until the screen will kick in again and the battery will show it has been discharged. Do I have to formally put the computer in sleep or is this a defect with the macbook/and or battery I purchsed it in late august and it started happening about a month into ownernship. thanks for any suggestions about what I should do. I did some of the fixes for improved battery use I saw here.

That's possible, I suppose but more likely:
Overcharing lithium batteries is really bad. So bad that well designed devices turn off charging when the capacity is reached. At this point, I believe one of two things can happen. The device might be powered by the charger, however with the battery no longer receiving any charge, or (easier) the device can run on the battery after the charger has been disabled. The plug icon in the battery icon indicates charger not charging but connected. I think the iPhone is smart enough to run off the charger while not charging, however batteries can lose charge over time even when they are not being used.
The computer takes longer to charge the battery so it spends less time connected but not being charged than when you use the wall plug. I've seen this on a Palm PDA as well, although a little more dramatic. I believe the Palm was not smart enough to run off the charger and instead ran of the battery. Depending on when you disconnected, it could be truly fully charged or a few % low.

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    After spending the better part of this evening/night looking at these discussion forums, I haven't seen any posts that are quite the same as the problem I'm experiencing.
    I've had my iPod for just over a year, and we all know what that means, but I'm convinced it's not a major thing and something I can probably fix myself.
    Enough suspense. About a month ago, I downloaded the iPod updater (I believe the 9/22/05 version) and installed it, and things seemed fine until the next time I used it. I was able to listen to music uninterrupted for about a half hour and then it gave me a low battery warning and shut itself down. (It had been fully charged so it should have worked for MUCH longer than a half hour.) I turned it back on and it went through its whole restart routine and it let me listen to music. I assumed it was a glitch.
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    This evening I restored it to factory settings and have yet to find out if it has done any good. (It's amazing how quickly nearly 20 GB of music can be erased from your iPod!)
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    Has anyone else had a similar problem? And if so, were you able to fix it, and how?
    The thought of being without my iPod for the battery to be replaced makes me sick...

    Looks as if you may need to calibrate the battery meter. See these battery links for more info, and to understand if you may have a legitimate battery problem. The first two articles are quite informative:
    The iPod Battery Unplugged..
    How to Prolong Lithium-Based Batteries
    iPod Service & Support: Charging Your iPod
    iPod Battery FAQ
    Apple – iPod Battery
    iPod Battery Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    Caring for iPod's Battery
    Charging iPod's Internal Battery
    Tips and Tricks to get the Most out of Your iPod's Battery
    Using the iPod Hold Switch to Prolong Battery Life
    iPod's Battery Doesn't Charge
    The Truth About the iPod Battery and Charging
    Apple: Lithium-ion Batteries
    iPod's Battery Indicator is Approximate / Battery Test

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    That's possible, I suppose but more likely:
    Overcharing lithium batteries is really bad. So bad that well designed devices turn off charging when the capacity is reached. At this point, I believe one of two things can happen. The device might be powered by the charger, however with the battery no longer receiving any charge, or (easier) the device can run on the battery after the charger has been disabled. The plug icon in the battery icon indicates charger not charging but connected. I think the iPhone is smart enough to run off the charger while not charging, however batteries can lose charge over time even when they are not being used.
    The computer takes longer to charge the battery so it spends less time connected but not being charged than when you use the wall plug. I've seen this on a Palm PDA as well, although a little more dramatic. I believe the Palm was not smart enough to run off the charger and instead ran of the battery. Depending on when you disconnected, it could be truly fully charged or a few % low.

  • Odd battery behavior

    I took my MacBook Pro last night and flattened it. I put Leopard on it, then installed Vista on it as well. Battery fully charged. I hibernated the machine and went to sleep. This morning, got up, and launched the machine. Battery at 93% (which is about right as I used it a little last night). Within 20 mins, I got the exclamation point and told to get this baby plugged in or I was going to lose data.
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