Notebook Batteries

pillar

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Hey guys, my dad is about to get a new notebook & i was wondering whats going on when it comes to the battery life on the latest notebooks. Ive tried doing research on the subject, but came to a dead end. So if anyone has any idea on that, it would be awesome to know that.
 
Umm not sure exactly what u mean but my 1 year old comp with the stock batery can hold the charge for 3 hours; that is with everything on highest,WI-FI,mouse,keyboard BUT with no games on.

So expect 4-5+ with a brand new comp.

BTW I have inspiron 1501 if that helps you in anyway
 
Pretty much no matter what the notebook, you'll get 2-4 hr's out of it. Some notebooks have exceptionally good efficiency, and a bigger battery means longer life, but pretty much you'll always know what to expect...

I think I saw a claim that the new Eee lasts 8 hrs, but who knows...
 
[quote1207651430=-nocturne=-]
Pretty much no matter what the notebook, you'll get 2-4 hr's out of it. Some notebooks have exceptionally good efficiency, and a bigger battery means longer life, but pretty much you'll always know what to expect...

I think I saw a claim that the new Eee lasts 8 hrs, but who knows...
[/quote1207651430]

Yep, that's pretty much it. Particularly if you want to run your laptop at full power, you'll find more often than not that you'll be plugging it in. One recommendation however for extending battery life is to always try to exhaust the battery completely before recharging.
 
It depends on everything inside of it. More ram, more CPU power, real gfx card, faster hard drive, larger screen all mean more power consumption. They are all factors.

I have a Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, 2GB Ram, 7400 Go Graphics card, 160GB 5400RPM drive, and a 15.4 inch screen. I have a 12 cell battery pack (which is larger than most) and get almost 4 hours on normal use. Also if you get Vista, or even XP, there are some decent power management options to get the most out of your computer.

And warlock, that would be true if the person has a Ni-MH battery that prefers a full discharge. Lithium ion batteries do not have a problem with the battery memory effect, and you will ruin the life of them if you constantly let the lithium ion batteries run all the way down to nothing. They prefer a partial discharge.
 
My dad isnt looking for much. Remember, im the one in the family that is the gaming computer geek. All my dad needs it for is emailing, checking out sites, & working on powerpoint projects. Yea, if we can find a notebook that can last up to 4 hours, that would be freakin awesome!!
 
It's all been laid out well but I'll chime in.

You can get different batteries when you purchase a notebook computer. Typically you get a 6 cell battery, or some come with a 9 cell. Obviously the more cells in your battery the longer it's going to last. I also have a dell inspiron 1501 and it only has a 4 cell battery, which will give me a 1:30hr life going full out. I'm running linux on it so the screen dimmer doesn't work which would save me an extra 15 to 30 minutes of battery.

Not only does it matter what hardware you are running but how you are running it, and by the sounds of it, he won't be running it hard. If you are compiling, installing, or running intense apps constantly then the battery will drain much faster than it will at idle.

If you have the option then pick up a spare battery or spend the extra 50 and upgrade the stock battery, with a notebook computer it's always worth the extra.
 
Ran my gf's laptop to reserve power today, which took about 90minutes on full performance/brightness.

Dell e1705, c2d 2.15ghz, 2gb ddr2-667, 200gb 7200rpm hdd, 7900GS gfx card, 17" screen, with just the default 6 cell battery pack. Not bad, actually...
 
i guess if you set to the lowest settings.. probably can use between 4-5 hours
 
For that notebook, I'd guess 3 hours with it dimmed down and powersaving on max. The graphics card and 7200rpm hdd are real power suckers, but for gaming it can't be avoided...
 
my dell laptop battery lasted for about 6 months now about a year and a half later my battery doesn't hold a charge at all. i'm not spending over a hundred bucks to buy another >__< i'll just let it say as a stationary computer...
 

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