Section 125. Choose a Power-Saving Profile


125. Choose a Power-Saving Profile

SEE ALSO

126Monitor Your Laptop's Battery Life

43 Create and Configure a Location


If your Mac is a laptop, you will have a variety of different conditions under which you can run it: You might run it off of battery power on an airplane while you watch a DVD, or you might have it plugged into wall power while you play a graphics- intensive game, or you might be stuck in a long meeting taking notes for the whole two- hour duration. Each of these activities places different kinds of demands on the computer and its components , and each scenario is affected by what kind of power is available.

NOTE

If your Mac is a desktop modelan iMac, eMac, or Power Macthe Energy Saver Preferences pane does not show the power-saving profile options described in this task. This is because desktop Macs only have a single power source: the wall plug.

If your desktop Mac is asleep, don't unplug iteven sleep mode requires some power! Laptops get their power during sleep from the battery. To shut down your desktop Mac, first awaken it from sleep, and then shut it down using the Apple menu.


125. Choose a Power-Saving Profile


The Energy Saver Preferences pane lets you select from several usage profiles that correspond to different styles of how you stress the computer and use its available power. Some profiles are designed for high performance; others are designed for long battery life; still others provide a balance between performance and battery life for specific uses. You can also define your own custom- tuned power usage profile if necessary.

1.
Open the Energy Saver Preferences

Open the System Preferences application (under the Apple menu); click Energy Saver to bring up the Energy Saver Preferences pane. Click the Show Details button to show the complete set of Energy Saver controls.

2.
Choose a Power Source to Configure

You might want to define different usage settings for whether the computer is plugged in or not. Select the power source from the Settings for drop-down list at the top of the window (either Battery or Power Adapter ) and customize the sliders and options according to the power source selected.

TIP

Remember that you can select any of the different configuration tabs after having selected one of the power sources; all the tabs and their controls pertain to whichever power source and usage profile is currently selected.

3.
Select a Usage Style Profile

From the Optimization drop-down menu, select one of the predefined usage profiles, one that corresponds to the kind of computing you will be doing. Explanatory text at the bottom of the window describes what each profile does: Better Performance prevents the computer from sleeping and uses the processor at its fastest speed regardless of whether the computer is plugged in (using the power adapter) or not. Better Battery Life takes the opposite approach, putting the display and hard disk to sleep after only a couple of minutes of inactivity and running the processor at reduced speed. The Normal setting strikes a balance between these extremes, striving for the best mix possible of performance and battery life.

4.
Create a Custom Usage Profile

To create your own custom power usage profile, select Custom from the Optimization menu. Adjust the sliders to achieve the sleep behavior you want. (The profile name changes to Custom after you move the sliders regardless of what optimization profile you have currently selected.)



MAC OS X Tiger in a Snap
Mac OS X Tiger in a Snap
ISBN: 0672327066
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 212
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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