Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

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dwallace · #1 Post by **dwallace** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Now I got one of each and the 6-cell is probably near the end of the road. Inventory is a T40 that mostly runs on plug power and a T43/14in. New OEM 6-cell can be had for about $60 plus shipping if anyone wants me to send one from a local Craigslist seller in Boston.

Sorry that search is not working at the moment so I have to post these questions:

-What's the best utility for checking the expected life of each battery?
-When should they be replaced (# of cycles? 2-3 years of regular use has been my habit.
-Is there an average run-time for each 6, 9, or each teamed with the Ultrabay?
-Opinions on whether to run the T40 without a battery when it's plugged in?

Thanks for any feedback
DW

basketb · #2 Post by **basketb** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:50 am

dwallace wrote:...
-When should they be replaced (# of cycles? 2-3 years of regular use has been my habit. ...

Replace them, when they no longer fit your needs. Why replace a good battery just because it is two years old and, conversely, why keep a one-year old battery that only holds a 30 min charge, if you need 3 hours battery time.

dwallace wrote:...
-Opinions on whether to run the T40 without a battery when it's plugged in?...

I wouldn't run it without battery. Folks have reported that the processor may not run at full speed (not sure whether this is true for a T40). But more importantly, if you accidentally unplug your AC adapter or have a short power outage or power fluctuation, then your Thinkpad will shutdown with all the nasty side effects of lost data, etc.

dwallace · #3 Post by **dwallace** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:53 pm

The 6-cell and the Ultrabay batteries each have more than 150 cycles -- can they really be reconditioned? Or better to replace?

Life of the 6-cell is still nearly 2 hours.

Thanks for any opinions
David

basketb · #4 Post by **basketb** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:18 pm

I'd buy a new one. Supposedly, the Lenovo outlet has 6-cell batteries for the T4x on sale cheap.

JoeJoeJoeJoeJoe · #5 Post by **JoeJoeJoeJoeJoe** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:30 pm

Around how many hours should I expect from a 6 cell? I've a battery whose part number is 92P1075, non-protruding - it fits flush with the back of the laptop (that's a 6 cell right?). I get a little over 2-2.5 hours of use even after already underclocking/volting my T43p to down to 800Mhz@0.716V. Everything turned off except WiFi, screen set to the lowest setting, TPFanControl set to "smart mode 1" - all while doing basic tasks such as web surfing, email, etc.

According to NHC, the battery shows 5% wear. I think 2 hours seems pretty low. Should I be getting more? Or is 2 hours really the average use I can get from a 6 cell for my particular ThinkPad model?

dr_st · #6 Post by **dr_st** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:48 am

Who cares how many cycles it has? What matters is the full charge capacity, and the resulting battery life.

Esben · #7 Post by **Esben** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:26 am

On my T42 with a 6-cell battery worn 5%, I get about 4 hours of battery life with high brightness, wifi and XP. With lowest brightness and wifi off I get almost 6 hours.

spot_ex · #8 Post by **spot_ex** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:00 pm

My 6-cell battery on T41 lasts 2.5 hours on movie with high brightness. It's made in 12.2004, 108 cycles, according to the MaxiMizer Gauge.. No thinking of recondition for now, looking for an ultrabay battery but it's hard, because I'm from Bulgaria - no e-bay here

Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

Re: Battery Round-up: Ultrabay,6-cell, 9-cell

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