MacBook Pro Battery Life Problems - only 2 hours with light usage
I found the problem, so I thought I'd update here in case anyone else has this issue.
I'm running a 13", MBP with OS X 10.6.8. This problem will not present itself for previous versions of OS X but will likely appear in later versions.
A few weeks ago I installed some Adobe CS3 software - particularly the Design Suite, although I had later versions of photoshop and dreamweaver already installed. As part of the CS3 suite, I installed Adobe Version Cue CS3. This software does NOT play nice with OS X.
At first, I tried manually removing it (easier for most uninstalls in my opinion). This was a big mistake. When I deleted the preference files, my CPU began running at over 100% for "CrashReport". This didn't stop until I restored via Time Machine (thank God for Time Machine!)
Secondly, I disabled it, which did lower launchd and others by 5% or so, but did not ultimately result in my machine running cooler, or my battery lasting longer.
Note: my fans would come on full speed even while the computer was idling!
Finally, I ran the complete Adobe uninstaller for CS3 suite which cleaned up my problem completely. Turns out Adobe CS3 is Unsupported for Snow Leopard although quietly. You can barely find any mention of this on adobe.com and the software still seems to install quite fine.
Bottom line - if you have a Snow Leopard Macbook Pro - do NOT install Adobe CS3 software - in particular Version Cue.