the calibration profile should not affect brightness when you max it out as described above. You can click on the Spyder icon in the upper right hand side of the screen (next to WiFi and battery status) and quit the application to make sure.
Keep in mind that as your laotop's battery becomes weaker Apple will make the CPU slower and the screen also dimmer when you are on battery power to preserve battery life... so you may need to have it plugged in all the time.