How long does your battery last on T42P 2373KTU?

[borgit]

Hi, guys i got my 2373ktu today. Sadly, it only shows 4 hours of battery time when my battery is fully charged. I heard it should be 6. Does anyone know how to remedy this? Oh, and i have the extended battery. Thanks for any info.

[darrenf]

-borgit,

I might be able to help, but first:

1.) What brightness level is your screen set on and have you modified the BIOS to allow full brightness on battery?

2.) Have you enabled power savings on the ATI controller and wireless card?

3.) What is your power usage in watts?

-darren

[borgit]

The brightness level is at 4 green bars out of 7.

How do you enable the power savings on the ati controller and the wireless card? My wireless card is on always, since i always use it.

Also, sorry for the multitude of questions, but how to check my power usage?

Thanks.

[gcchatel]

If you just set it to super power saver with the battery maximizer, it will show 5-6 hours. Mine does and it is a 2373-GVU (that's a 14 inch model, so it helps a little).

Gael

[nacy333]

I have the exact same model as you. Although I've gotten it down to about 20% I couldn't necessarily say how long it lasted until it got to that point. I believe I got to about 3 hours plus.

Regardless, your battery mileage will vary according to use. Obviously, more CPU intensive tasks or heavy hard disk/optical disc(dvds/cds) usage will lessen the amount of power you have left.

[Plinkerton]

You'll probably never actually get 5-6 hours though. More a long the lines of 4 average. Still decent though.

[darrenf]

-borgit,

Have you tried the setting recommended by gcchatel? When we ThinkPad users brag about battery life, it is usually on the lowest brightness level because if you are most interested in extending run time, reducing brightness is an easy way to do it.

Also, put your ear up to the vent port on the left edge of your thinkpad. Is your fan running? In my experience, this is the single biggest contributor to battery usage. I don't understand why a hard drive spinning at 7200 RPM draws about 1 watt of power and yet that dang fan can draw 2-5 watts! I guess it's the whole air resistance thing. Anyway, anything you can do to keep your CPU usage low will help.

You might want to download and install the MobileMeter system tray applet (I don't have a website but Google should get you there). I leave it on the screen all the time and learn a lot by watching how my usage impacts speed, heat and power drain. It's sort of like those nice cars that show you your MPG consumption in real time on the dash. If one cares about fuel economy, it can lead to driving patterns that are more fuel efficient.

-darren