Apple 280C manual Power Management, Power sources, Monitoring the battery charge level

Read this chapter to learn

how you can maximize your

PowerBook’s battery life.

6 Power Management

Power sources

Your computer can draw its operating power from two different sources:

mMain battery Your computer’s main power source is a nickel-metal-hydride battery. The battery provides power for about 2–4 hours of work time (depending on the battery conservation features you choose).

mAC power You can run your computer from any standard electrical outlet by plugging in the power adapter.

Your computer also has a backup battery that maintains the contents of RAM while you replace the main battery. The backup battery does not provide enough power to run the computer.

These power sources are described in more detail in the following sections.

Monitoring the battery charge level

There are two ways you can monitor the charge level of your battery:

mUse the Battery Monitor module in the Control Strip. See Chapter 5 for instructions.

mUse the Battery desk accessory. See the next section for instructions.

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