[chronoguy]

i tested it today. full charge then discharge: playing pandora (streaming internet radio) for 50% of the time, then itunes library. medium brightness. Wifi on all the time. Check occasional facebook through Safari. Played with Lightroom for a few minutes.

According to my precision chronograph, I got 3 hours, 32 minutes, 09 seconds to be exact.

[starkruzr]

Originally Posted by dchao

I don't think Apple will use that cheap Atom processor for their iNetbookTouchTabletTV, it is not going to handle HD stuff.

It doesn't have to decode HD if Apple goes with the Ion platform.

Dual-core, maybe 1.8GHz Atom + Ion = a very sweet, inexpensive, high quality package, your use of "cheap" as a condescending term notwithstanding.

[CharliWag]

Yep, I get 4:14 on a full charge here.
Pretty imppresive!

[drizek]

You can get a desktop version of ion+dual core atom for about $200. It is very interesting, especially considering that blu ray drives are below a hundred dollars now. It can make a great media center pc. for about $400.

[thejokell]

Seems to be no change for me. Is everyone going by how much time the system says you have, or by how long it *actually* lasts for? Because only one of those matters.

[goodstuff3]

Originally Posted by thejokell

Seems to be no change for me. Is everyone going by how much time the system says you have, or by how long it *actually* lasts for? Because only one of those matters.

hehhe yes i agree. there's no point in going by the timer indicated on the screen. people need to time the thing manually and see. i will do so once i get 10.5.7 up

[GreyPaint]

The timer on full charge, on 10.5.7 shows over 4 hours.
I downloaded a few small files and browsed for about 10 minutes, with it also running for about 10 minutes doing nothing, then 5 minutes running Time Machine, and it reports 1.41 remaining! SO, although reporting more, it is actually less for me.... maybe a calibration error is showing more by mistake?

[ishagi]

Originally Posted by CharliWag

Yep, I get 4:14 on a full charge here.
Pretty imppresive!

I also get >4hrs "when it initially calculates" the estimated time. BUT, as you use the computer the time will quickly decay to 3:30 and stay somewhat constant and then drop minute by minute. In my opinion, nothing has changed. If it has, the difference is small.

[TheDoctah]

Originally Posted by goodstuff3

hehhe yes i agree. there's no point in going by the timer indicated on the screen. people need to time the thing manually and see. i will do so once i get 10.5.7 up

I disagree here. The timer on a full charge is probably the only accurate reading collectively in this entire thread.

We are all starting off with the same code written by meklort which measures the battery life according to current consumption and provides the estimated battery life. (Assuming you all have installed DellEFI 1.1 or higher) This code is very accurate at reading the current usage btw.

Everyone is going to experience different battery lives because everyone uses their mini differently.

The atom throttles its speed when not in use, therefore increasing battery life. Just touching the mouse and moving around uses more battery then an idle mini.

The only way to accurately measure the life of the battery is to run it at full load from a fresh charge to empty and even then you can appreciate the fact that you will get a longer battery life then that in realistic usage because very few people will be running their mini at 100% all the time.

fyi, on full charge i also get about 4:13

[TheDoctah]

Originally Posted by GreyPaint

The timer on full charge, on 10.5.7 shows over 4 hours.
I downloaded a few small files and browsed for about 10 minutes, with it also running for about 10 minutes doing nothing, then 5 minutes running Time Machine, and it reports 1.41 remaining! SO, although reporting more, it is actually less for me.... maybe a calibration error is showing more by mistake?

There is no mistake here. Your battery life on light usage will be around the 4hr mark.

Time machine takes a heavy toll on the mini's processor and hence the lower battery life being reported. Especially if time machine is going to an external device of any sort because now your mini is also powering that device.