Power options?

[cjsuh]

I'll be using my ThinkPad for grad school next year and I'm beginning to think the 3.5 hours run-time that the 6-cell battery provides won't be enough. So, I'm considering the available power options and want to know what you all think.

The high capacity 9-cell seems ok, except that it basically makes my current 6-cell useless, since I don't want to carry an extra battery everywhere I go. Plus, I don't really want to make my laptop any bigger.

The ultrabay slim battery seems like a better choice, but the lack of a CD drive makes all my games unplayable, which sort of defeats the purpose of having lots of battery storage to begin with, since part of reason I want the extra run-time is so I can pop in a game every once in a while for distraction.

Or I could just drag the AC adapter with me and plug in whenever I have access to outlets, which should be pretty plentiful on campus. Only problem is the adapter that comes with the laptop isn't the easiest thing to pack up and travel with. I might as well just get another battery if I'm going to be carrying something around.

So, none of these are ideal solutions, but which do you think is the best?

[Greg Gebhardt]

I can't imagine less than my 9cell battery. I do plug mine in when I can but when you can't having 5 hours of power is a real plus.

Ibm gives you the choice of just ac, ultra bay, 6 cell or 9 cell. In all fo these one has got to make you happy. Check out the "other" computers. Not near the choices

[spotter]

as a followup, how long would the laptop last just w/ the ultrabay slim battery and what would the weight of the laptop be in that config (i.e. no main battery, just ultra bay slim)

if one just wants to get the laptop down to minimal weight, yet still be usable w/o AC.