Battery Level indicator is eratic

This weekend my MBP battery indicator has been acting very eratic. I put the machine on charge. Take off the power cord and it shows 100% charge, but says i only have 1hr 5 mins of usage. Yet as recently as yesterday that would show 3 hours plus. As im typing this post the indicator has risen back from 42 mins remaining to show 50 mins. (oh scrap that it suddenly dropped to 46mins again) I have 69% of the charge remaining. The indicator on my battery is showing 3 1/2 lights.
Do i need a new battery? Is it normal for a battery to go from full performance to this without any period of decline?
Any help appreciated.

You might try resetting the SMC and calibrating your battery:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411?viewlocale=en_US
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490
Your battery should have up to 80% of its capacity at 300 cycles. How old is the battery? They do decline with age as well as with cycles.
Also, check the battery carefully for any distortion, bulging, or leaks. Here is another battery article that might apply if you feel your battery has a problem. It will describe the characteristics of a faulty battery:
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
Good luck!

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