macbook pro absurdly small battery life

My Macbook Pro lasts me about 1.5 to 2 hours max on a single charge. This feels ridiculously low.

What can I do to increase the battery life on Macbook Pro?

Battery Information:

  Model Information:
  Manufacturer: SMP
  Pack Lot Code:    0000
  PCB Lot Code: 0000
  Firmware Version: 0201
  Hardware Revision:    000a
  Cell Revision:    0157
  Charge Information:
  Charge remaining (mAh):   6079
  Fully charged:    No
  Charging: Yes
  Full charge capacity (mAh):   6930
  Health Information:
  Cycle count:  3
  Condition:    Normal
  Battery Installed:    Yes
  Amperage (mA):    2139
  Voltage (mV): 12492

Make sure there are no processes hogging your CPU (this eats battery).

Open Activity Monitor from /Applications/Utilities.
Set the Show menu at the top right to All Processes
Click the %CPU column head so the triangle faces down.
Which processes are at the top? How much are they using?

This may reveal what's going on.

Also, you can check the health of your battery to make sure it's not a hardware problem.
Download the free coconutBattery app and see what it has to say about your batter's capacity.

Use the laptop plugged in as much as possible. Any time you drain the battery at all, and then charge it, the drain + charge is counted towards 'a cycle', where 'a cycle' means the battery has drained, and been charged, 100%.

So if you drain it half way and charge it fully, twice, that counts as 'a cycle'. These batteries will last a certain number of cycles. There are utilities out there that will check your cycle count, I often use one called "Pow!".

Other than that; run as few applications as possible. Turn off any sensors (ambient light sensor, keyboard backlighting, etc). Run the laptop with as dim a setting on the screen as possible.

Also, try to know what's running in the background. If you've got processes you don't need doing stuff, that will drain your battery faster.