Configuring PowerBook Tweak

When you launch PowerBook Tweak, it will automatically place itself in the background, and the small window illustrated below will be shown.  This window shows the current application (the application in the foreground), as well as the current status of PowerBook Tweak.

 





To configure PowerBook Tweak, click on the little window to bring it to the foreground.  You can then toggle between the settings window (the big window) and the status window (the small window) by hitting either the zoom box in the corner of the window, or choosing "Expand dialog"/"Reduce dialog" from PowerBook Tweak's File menu.

The settings window will look like the window below (although your applications will vary).

 
































Configuration Applications list

In the upper left corner, you'll see a scrolling list that contains all currently recognized applications.  Default settings are the settings that are used when an unrecognized application is running; recognized applications are listed below it.

Delete button

Deletes the presently selected application from the list.  Default settings cannot be deleted.

Add... button

Adds an application to the list of recognized applications.  When you press this, the standard file selection dialog will appear, and you can select the application you want to add (you can also add the finder if it hasn't already been added).

Enable PowerBook Tweak button

If checked, PowerBook Tweak will actively change the power conservation settings, depending on which application is in the foreground, and whether or not the AC Adapter is attached.

Settings for AC Adapter

This section contains the controls for adjusting the settings when an AC adapter is attached...
Enable Cycling - When checked, the processor will cycle to conserve battery power.
Screen - the amount of idle time before the screen will be dimmed.  The slider can be adjusted from 15 seconds on up, in 15 second increments.
Drive - The amount of idle time before the drive will spindown.   The slider can be adjusted from 15 seconds on up, in 15 second increments.
Sleep - the amount of idle time before the PowerBook will go to sleep.   The slider can be adjusted from 15 seconds on up, in 15 second increments.
Restore settings to defaults - if you press this, all the AC adapter setting will be restored to be the same as the default settings.

Settings for Internal Battery

This section contains the controls for adjusting the settings when you are running off the internal battery.  The controls work just like the controls in the AC Adapter section.

Adding an Application

Once you've decided to configure a particular application, you must first add it to the list of recognized applications.  Press the Add... button, and the standard file selection dialog will appear.  Once you've selected the appropriate application, press the Open button.  The name of the application will then be added to the scrolling list.

Configuring an Application

Once you've added an application, you can adjust the power conservation settings that will be used when that application is in the foreground.

For each application, you can adjust the internal battery settings, or the AC adapter settings.  Use the scroll bars under each value to adjust it - the times are adjusted in 15 second intervals.

Any changes you make will be saved automatically.

The Default Settings

The very first item in the application list is the default settings item.  When an unrecognized application is in the foreground, these settings are used instead.

Some Suggestions

You shouldn't worry about configuring PowerBook Tweak for each application you use.  Instead, you should determine which applications have different power conservation requirements from the defaults, and configure them.

For example, Microsoft Word is notorious for accessing the hard drive.  If you normally set the hard drive spindown time to a short period, using Word can become very annoying, because you'll keep waiting for the hard drive to spin up whenever Word wants to access something.  You can configure the drive spindown time to a large time.

Another favorite setting I use is for the Finder.  I've defined the drive spindown and screen dimming times to be very short for the Finder.  When I'm going to be away from my PowerBook for a minute or two, but don't want to bother sleeping it, I just click on the desktop, and the Finder comes to the foreground.  Its power conservation settings then kick in.

There are also programs where you'll want to disable CPU cycling.  Any program that you leave unattended while it processes stuff is a candidate, because letting it cycle will slow down its processing.