MBOX and Powerbook on batteries?

[Bill Finch]

I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film. The
Powerbook is always plugged in to the AC mains.

I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?

Bill Finch

[Monte McGuire]

In article >,
"Bill Finch" > wrote:

> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film. The
> Powerbook is always plugged in to the AC mains.
>
> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?

It depends on far too many issues to be able to be stated with any
accuracy at all.

I suggest since you have the rig there, you set up Power Saver to show
battery status in menu bar, set it to display remaining battery time,
yank the power supply and see what number comes up. It's fairly
accurate in reflecting the current load on the machine.

If you haven't calibrated your battery recently, then the remaining life
may not be accurate, but for me, the built in indicator seems to be
pretty reliable.

Some things to do to increase battery life: turn down the display
brightness, buy additional RAM so that the machine doesn't have to
access the hard drive much, keep background tasks to a minimum, turn off
AirPort and/or BlueTooth, and minimize the amount of power that the
PowerBook has to provide through its USB and FW ports.

Let us know what you find...


Regards,

Monte McGuire

[Monte McGuire]

In article >,
"Bill Finch" > wrote:

> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film. The
> Powerbook is always plugged in to the AC mains.
>
> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?

It depends on far too many issues to be able to be stated with any
accuracy at all.

I suggest since you have the rig there, you set up Power Saver to show
battery status in menu bar, set it to display remaining battery time,
yank the power supply and see what number comes up. It's fairly
accurate in reflecting the current load on the machine.

If you haven't calibrated your battery recently, then the remaining life
may not be accurate, but for me, the built in indicator seems to be
pretty reliable.

Some things to do to increase battery life: turn down the display
brightness, buy additional RAM so that the machine doesn't have to
access the hard drive much, keep background tasks to a minimum, turn off
AirPort and/or BlueTooth, and minimize the amount of power that the
PowerBook has to provide through its USB and FW ports.

Let us know what you find...


Regards,

Monte McGuire

[EganMedia]

With g4/667 powerbook and an Mbox I can get a little over twenty minutes if I
turn the screen all the way down and unplug the headphones. Needless to say, I
don't try to do a lot of critical recording when AC isn't available.


Joe Egan
EMP
Colchester, VT
www.eganmedia.com

[EganMedia]

With g4/667 powerbook and an Mbox I can get a little over twenty minutes if I
turn the screen all the way down and unplug the headphones. Needless to say, I
don't try to do a lot of critical recording when AC isn't available.


Joe Egan
EMP
Colchester, VT
www.eganmedia.com

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film.

> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?

Why ask? Why not set it up and try it? You don't need a field film
set, plugging a radio into the line inputs on the M-Box will do just
fine. Start it up and see when it stops.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film.

> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?

Why ask? Why not set it up and try it? You don't need a field film
set, plugging a radio into the line inputs on the M-Box will do just
fine. Start it up and see when it stops.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:27:34 -0400, Monte McGuire wrote
(in article >):

> In article >,
> "Bill Finch" > wrote:
>
>> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film. The
>> Powerbook is always plugged in to the AC mains.
>>
>> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
>> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?
>
> It depends on far too many issues to be able to be stated with any
> accuracy at all.
>
> I suggest since you have the rig there, you set up Power Saver to show
> battery status in menu bar, set it to display remaining battery time,
> yank the power supply and see what number comes up. It's fairly
> accurate in reflecting the current load on the machine.
>
> If you haven't calibrated your battery recently, then the remaining life
> may not be accurate, but for me, the built in indicator seems to be
> pretty reliable.
>
> Some things to do to increase battery life: turn down the display
> brightness, buy additional RAM so that the machine doesn't have to
> access the hard drive much, keep background tasks to a minimum, turn off
> AirPort and/or BlueTooth, and minimize the amount of power that the
> PowerBook has to provide through its USB and FW ports.
>
> Let us know what you find...
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Monte McGuire
>

Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
laptop runs on batteries?

Regards,

Ty


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:27:34 -0400, Monte McGuire wrote
(in article >):

> In article >,
> "Bill Finch" > wrote:
>
>> I use an MBOX and Mac 15" Powerbook to do field recording for film. The
>> Powerbook is always plugged in to the AC mains.
>>
>> I've heard that the MBOX is a power hog. Does anyone know how long a freshly
>> charged Powerbook will run with MBOX active and no AC source?
>
> It depends on far too many issues to be able to be stated with any
> accuracy at all.
>
> I suggest since you have the rig there, you set up Power Saver to show
> battery status in menu bar, set it to display remaining battery time,
> yank the power supply and see what number comes up. It's fairly
> accurate in reflecting the current load on the machine.
>
> If you haven't calibrated your battery recently, then the remaining life
> may not be accurate, but for me, the built in indicator seems to be
> pretty reliable.
>
> Some things to do to increase battery life: turn down the display
> brightness, buy additional RAM so that the machine doesn't have to
> access the hard drive much, keep background tasks to a minimum, turn off
> AirPort and/or BlueTooth, and minimize the amount of power that the
> PowerBook has to provide through its USB and FW ports.
>
> Let us know what you find...
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Monte McGuire
>

Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
laptop runs on batteries?

Regards,

Ty


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[hank alrich]

Ty Ford wrote:

> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
> laptop runs on batteries?

That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
always good for audio.

--
ha

[hank alrich]

Ty Ford wrote:

> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
> laptop runs on batteries?

That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
always good for audio.

--
ha

[EggHd]

My older Lombard has the option of putting another battery in the right "CD"
bay for twice the time. Do they newer powerbooks have this?


---------------------------------------
"I know enough to know I don't know enough"

[EggHd]

My older Lombard has the option of putting another battery in the right "CD"
bay for twice the time. Do they newer powerbooks have this?


---------------------------------------
"I know enough to know I don't know enough"

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 21:25:43 -0400, hank alrich wrote
(in article >):

> Ty Ford wrote:
>
>> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
>> laptop runs on batteries?
>
> That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
> battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
> always good for audio.
>
> --
> ha

Hank,

The apple support guy referred to 'the CHUD Tool" in the software developers
kit tool that turned off processor cycling as a fix for the computer hash
being generated by the Mac and out to the 002. Know anything about that?

Are you saying turning off processor cycling is good or bad/ Why?

Regards,

Ty



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 21:25:43 -0400, hank alrich wrote
(in article >):

> Ty Ford wrote:
>
>> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
>> laptop runs on batteries?
>
> That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
> battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
> always good for audio.
>
> --
> ha

Hank,

The apple support guy referred to 'the CHUD Tool" in the software developers
kit tool that turned off processor cycling as a fix for the computer hash
being generated by the Mac and out to the 002. Know anything about that?

Are you saying turning off processor cycling is good or bad/ Why?

Regards,

Ty



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[hank alrich]

Ty Ford wrote:

> hank alrich wrote

> > Ty Ford wrote:

> >> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
> >> laptop runs on batteries?

> > That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
> > battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
> > always good for audio.

> Hank,

> The apple support guy referred to 'the CHUD Tool" in the software developers
> kit tool that turned off processor cycling as a fix for the computer hash
> being generated by the Mac and out to the 002. Know anything about that?

No. Is that an OSX thing? Or a typo? If it was a chad we could elect to
invoke it?

> Are you saying turning off processor cycling is good or bad/ Why?

It interrupts the flow of data while the processor takes a little time
off to save energy. I can see and feel the effect while doing non-audio
things on the TiBook, with little delays in kybd and screen response if
the proc has been even mildly idle for a short period.

--
ha

[hank alrich]

Ty Ford wrote:

> hank alrich wrote

> > Ty Ford wrote:

> >> Isn't there also something about the processor speed slowing down when the
> >> laptop runs on batteries?

> > That can be enabled/disabled in the Energy saver control panel in the
> > battery settings pane. It's termed "Processor Cycling", and it isn't
> > always good for audio.

> Hank,

> The apple support guy referred to 'the CHUD Tool" in the software developers
> kit tool that turned off processor cycling as a fix for the computer hash
> being generated by the Mac and out to the 002. Know anything about that?

No. Is that an OSX thing? Or a typo? If it was a chad we could elect to
invoke it?

> Are you saying turning off processor cycling is good or bad/ Why?

It interrupts the flow of data while the processor takes a little time
off to save energy. I can see and feel the effect while doing non-audio
things on the TiBook, with little delays in kybd and screen response if
the proc has been even mildly idle for a short period.

--
ha

[Particle Salad]

"EggHd" > wrote in message
...
> My older Lombard has the option of putting another battery in the right
"CD"
> bay for twice the time. Do they newer powerbooks have this?

Nope. Pismo does too, but not the Ti or Al books.

There is a company that sells a power supply that sits underneath the
powerbook and is the same footprint, that offers a lot more capacity... I'm
sure a google search will find it. It's heavy and expensive, but if you
need to record where there's no AC, you're good to go.


--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Now available: new Particle Salad CD "The Track Inside."

See http://www.particlesalad.com for more info.

[Particle Salad]

"EggHd" > wrote in message
...
> My older Lombard has the option of putting another battery in the right
"CD"
> bay for twice the time. Do they newer powerbooks have this?

Nope. Pismo does too, but not the Ti or Al books.

There is a company that sells a power supply that sits underneath the
powerbook and is the same footprint, that offers a lot more capacity... I'm
sure a google search will find it. It's heavy and expensive, but if you
need to record where there's no AC, you're good to go.


--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Now available: new Particle Salad CD "The Track Inside."

See http://www.particlesalad.com for more info.